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ROYAL ASIATIC SOCIETY
NORTH CHINA BRANCH
JOURNAL
OLD SERIES
1
1858
KRAUS REPRINT LTD.






Due to narrow inner margin, this
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JOURNAL
tfoyl ASM/'* 3o"et> °f <?>*«f«rf«-
^vW* y^1 ehf'/vf try* Vol),
SHANGHAI
LITERARY AND SCIENTIFIC SOCIETY.
No. L Junk, 1858.
BHANSHAIi
PRINTED AT THE OPPICE OP THE NORTB-CHINJ HXRMLD.
MDCCCLVIII.
KRAUS REPRINT LIMITED
Nendeln / Liechtenstein
1967


A s
y, h >■
Reprinted from a copy in the collections of
The New York Public Library
Printed in Germany
Lessing-Druckerei - Wiesbaden
INDIANA UNIVERSITY LiBRABT


PREFACE.
Thk nnmerone works Mi China.-wlilrh have Issued from the press daring the
recent part, lienr witness to the interest token hy occidental nations. In what
re'ale" t" tlila nnclent empire; nnd if we might nrcept the quantity of letter-
press as an li'dcx of the ainomit of accumnlntrd information, assuredly our
literatnre wnu:d present no mean evidence of the In hoar* of our predecessors.
Such however form* no fiiir criterion, anil we shall prnhohly not exceed the
truth, if we reduce the nmoivt of original matter to one third of nhtit baa heen
aclna'ly published; and even from that a considerable reduction must be made,
if we discard what i» not borne oat by existing facts.
While venturing this general statement, it is fur from our intention to nnder-
Talne tile services of those, who have employed their talents in endeavouring to
remove the obscurity that hnt.gs over everything pertaining to the "Middlo
Kingdom." Among sucli are to be found instmce* of erudition, of laborious
research, and of enlightened scholarship, which will ever claim the esteem and
admiration of posterity. Much has been done, atill more remains to be dona.
The field is smple, and the prospective reward is adequate to the encouragement
of all oho are in a position to lend a helping hand. We have distinguished
cotemporaries In the west, who have devoted and are still devoting themselves
to the development of matters connected with this unique natinu; and while
sinologues resident within the borders of the empire need not feel ashamed to
look np to such men for instruction, in the studies to which they are attached,
yet it must be admitted, that the peculiar position of scholars in the west,
lesves them exposed to insurmountable difficulties, which can only be overcome
by aaslltaurs from those who have access to the land and the people of China,—
who can form an estimate of the institutions of the empire, from personal
observation,—and who ran investigate, at the fountain head, all that bears upon
the physical, Intellectual, and moral condition of this countless population.
This is a work beyond the compass of any single Individual; and yet there are
probably few, who hare shared any degree of intercourse with the black-haired
people, but can add their mite to the general fund. A single well-authenticated
fact would frequently be of greater value, than volumes of compilation of a more
ephemeral character.
Influenced by such views, the fonneil of the Shanghai Literary and Scientific
Society have commenced the publication of a Journal, of which the first number
is here presented to the public.
Feeling assured that the tendency of this step is not detrimental to the pros-
perity of.a sister Institution iu the south, they look with some confidence for
that patronage which may ensure a continuance of the project. Aware of the


numerous and important duties that prsH upon most of the foreign residents in
China, they would not urge an undue sacrifice of time from those who are
friendly to the object; but in consideration of the advantagee, which most
accrue to the interests of religion, of science, of commerce, and of civilisation In
general, from an increased knowledge of the nation where we dwell, they would
respectfully commend tbe matter, as worthy of the attention of all those who
have been led, by various interests, to sojourn for a season in these U tra-Gangetic
regions. The object aimed at is essentially to bring to light and accumulate
facts, which may aid in the onward progress of Christian civilisation; and it is
well known that there are questions of historical interest and philosophical
theories in the west, which only await the revelations which this empire, and
this alone, can furnish, to supply those lacunas, which sometimes leave a doubt
regarding tbe most plausible hypotheses. To sinologues this appeal addresses
itself In a special manner, but by no means exclusively; for the man of science,
and the general Inquirer, as they have each the opportunity of followiog np
their several pursuits in this portion of the globe, so have they in a corresponding
degree the means of adding to the stock of facts already on hand. This remark
Is sufficiently confirmed and illustrated by Articles II. and VI. of the present
number.
By combined effort such an inroad may thus be made upon tbe Held of
research and observation, which lies before us, as shall enable us to present a
very acceptable contribution to Western Sinology.
Ed. Com.


CONTENTS.
Abticlb I.—Inaugural Address, 1
Abticlb II.—On Cyclonee, or the Law of Storms, 17
Abticlb 111.—Colni of tha Ts-tt'lng, or pre—it Dynasty of China,.... 44
Abticlb IV.—Contrlbotion to tha Ethnology of Eaatarn Asia, 109
Akticlb V.—A Buddhist Shastra, Translated from tha Chinese, 107
Abticlb VI.—Visit to Simoda and Hakodadi in Japan, 199
Abticlb VII.—Record of Oconrreocee in China, 13a
1*





JOURNAL
OF THB
SHANGHAI LITERARY AND SCIENTIFIC SOCIETY.
ARTICLE L
INAUGURAL ADDRB88,
Br R»T. B. C. BaisoitAir, b. d., tbb Pbbsidbht op thb Soant,
DeliTerad October 16th, 18*7.
Literature and Science, next to true religion, are the richest,
noblest, brightest ornaments of man. In these, great advances
have been made without the aid of revealed troth, but the greatest
advances only where literature and science have been cultivated
under its hallowed influences. Here in this ancient empire, if I
mistake not, it is mainly or solely on account of the absence of
such influences, designed evidently by our Creator to give vigor
to all the faculties of the human mind, that the Chinese never
have been able to rise higher than to a secondary grade on the
scale of nations, and that, in their literary and scientific attainments,
while quite superior to most of their immediate neighbors, they
are yet, taking them all in all, far inferior to the nations of
Christendom.
To determine the position, which, in a purely liteiiry and
scientific point of view, is justly due to the Chinese,—as compared
with all other races of heathendom on the one side and with the
people of Christendom on the other,—is a question surrounded with
so many difficulties that no judgment, given ex eathedra, conld
possibly be entitled to deference; I most cheerfully wave it,
therefore, for the present, not doubting that, erehmg, it will be
taken up in course, and all its merits fully canvassed and fairly
exhibited.
i


s
8HAHOHJLI LIT. AHD SCI. SOCIBTT.
If the ancient Chinese were surpassed by any of their cotem-
porary pagan nations in the vest—Egyptian, Phoenician, Greek, or
Roman,—as most modern historians and philosophers maintain,
it was, no doubt, only because those occidentals enjoyed some faint
rays of light derived from the early patriarchs of the human
family. Moreover, as touching the earliest generations of the
Chinese, it is quite probable that some knowledge—radiating from
the same point of high antiquity, where men, after the flood, built
their first altars to the one true God—did take an eastern direction,
travel over the vast regions of eastern Asia, and eventually, on
this far off domain, (subsequently referred to in prophetic vision
as "the land of Sinim,") did kindle up here the bright fires
of civilization. Admitting it to have been thus, then the founders
of this empire were only a few generations removed from the
founders of the earliest kingdoms of the west, and both alike
must have shared, in some degree, in whatever of literary and
scientific knowledge survived the Deluge.
That Yau and Shun and their ootemporaries were, in matters
of pure science, far in advance of their successors, there seems to
me scarcely any reason to doubt. If so, then the highest antiquity
of this nation is really its brighest period. I know the idea has
been often advanced, by native and foreign authorities of no mean
reputation, that the ancient Chinese were all rude savages, utterly
without science, living like the wild untaught islanders of the
Pacific; but the more erudite native historians generally, and with
good reason, I think, discard this hypothesis.
If then any weight is to be given to well-authenticated records
now extant, it must be admitted that the progenitors of the
black-haired people, at a very remote period, reached and took
possession of what they early designated Skin Cheat, "the Goodly
Land" and subsequently called "the Middle Kingdom." The
exact time of their migration, and the precise bounds they first
marked out for their abodes, are indeed at present quite unknown.
On these two points no reliable testimony has come down to our
times. We may, however, naturally enough suppose that almost
immediately after the confusion of tongues, or at whatever period
"the nations were derided in the earth," some one of the several
elans, then comprising the entire race, began to move towards the
rising sun, carrying along its effects, perhaps driving a few flocks
and herds, seeking a convenient place of residence. The onward


ART. I. INAUGURAL ADDRESS.
3
progress of these adventurers would necessarily be slow, and, as a
matter of mutual convenience, they would keep close to each
other, traveling' as nearly as they could on the same parallels of
latitude, where they would be likely to find the most congenial
climate. After moving on thus from stage to stage for a series of
years, they would at length become stationary on some mild
fertile and well-watered region, where they might hope to secure
greater advantages than had elsewhere brightened their prospects.
Then the migratory state of the adventurers would begin to
be laid aside, and all the habits common to nomadic life, by
degrees, would be succeeded by others better suited to their new
circumstances.
At such a time and in such a situation, it is reasonable to sup-
pose, the Chinese came to assume a national character. Lands
were now cleared and houses erected; agriculture was encouraged;
regulations, by common consent and for the good of all, were
established; and, as the people multiplied and had much intercourse
with one another, their language, and the arts of domestic, social
and civil life, were gradually improved and began to assume fixed
and regular forms. These may have been the days of Yau and
Shun, or of their immediate ancestors, who, for aught We know,
living at a period when man's life was greatly prolonged, were
partners in the proud and audacious scheme of Babel.
This is the simplest account I am able to give of the origin of
the Chinese people and their empire. While the descendants of
Noah were yet all of one language and of one speech, and were '•
devising ways and means to prevent their being scattered far
abroad over the face of the whole earth, Jehovah, in his wise and ■
inscrutable providence, we know, was pleased to confound then-
language so as to frustrate their perverse and impious design.
Beyond these simple historical facts, I am not aware that we have
any direct testimony that can help us in this matter. A link, a
very short one it may be, is wanting in the historic chain; and in
its absence, I see not why we may not accept this supposed origin
of the Chinese as a fact, one in perfect accordance with the truth,
concerning the dispersion of the nations, as recorded by Divine
Inspiration, and, also, as a fact rendered in the highest degree
probable by native historians.
In favor of the literature and science of the Chinese, ancient or
modern, I have no wish to claim one iota beyond what is rightfully


4
SHANGHAI LIT. ABB SCI. SOCIETY.
due. In the eyes of the Confucian literati, their beautiful chiro-
graphy and their classical books are indeed their most precious
idols; but, knowing something of their defects, we hare no in'
tention of unduly exalting these remarkable productions. It will,
however, be our duty to lay these, as well as whatever treatises
they may have produced on the various sciences, all under tribute,
and fetch from their store-houses more or less valuable contribu-
tions to the noble cause of natural and revealed truth. While
therefore demanding a high place for their literature, I am equally
ready to admit that it is not pure, and lofty, and rich like the
writings of Moses, or of the glowing stanzas of the sweet singer
of Israel. In their oldest records, whether historic, philosophic, or
scientific, there is, we must confess, a total absence of that wisdom
and sound learning and true logic, so conspicuous, not only in the
poetry and the prose of inspired seers, but in the select writings of
most of our Christian philosophers.
This society, in commencing its researches, cannot be too scru-
pulous in accepting as historic facts and accredited truths such
things only as are well substantiated by evidence; or if, in the
nature of the case, direct and positive evidence is not to be had,
such as shall not only not be opposed by truth, but shall be yet
every way most probable. Not only are various and extensive
researches to be made, but also, at every step of our progress, the
most rigid analysis should be instituted, so that whatever is false
shall no longer enjoy currency as sober and solid reality. In
almost every sphere of learning, the ground is to be cleared;
mountains of superstition are to be leveled; and old foundation,
laid deep in error, are to be broken up, so that new structures,
beautiful and substantial, may be erected in their stead.
It is not at all here, in China, as it was on the British Isles and
in the wilds of America, when Christian men first landed on those
shores. There, wherever they went, all was forest or desert, with
but few inhabitants, and those few illiterate and without science;
here, now living on every side of us, there is a world of intellects,
an almost innumerable multitude of people—inheriting, as their
own, immense literary stores and vast systems of recondite lore,
venerated for their antiquity and strongly cherished in their affec-
tions. There are here false theories of religion and of ethics; false
theories of physics and methaphysics; false theories of domestic
and international government—all cemented and indurated by


ART. I. INAUGURAL ADDRESS.
5
science falsely so called. These, or all the falsities in them, are to
be exploded, and must give way and disappear before the march
of truth and right reason.
Leaving as open questions, for future investigation, the general
topics already touched upon, we will now take a cursory survey
of the field which this society may he expected to occupy; and,
as we pass very rapidly on, I will simply indicate a few of the
many leading topics that invite our attention, glance at the ways
and means to be put in requisition, and, in conclusion, notice
some of the incentives to action that bear directly upon us,
who, in the providence of God, are now residents in the Middle
Kingdom.
As it has been made my duty, by the worthy Council of our
Society, to occupy this chair on the present occasion, I will
endeavor to describe, with the utmost brevity, the character and
extent of the work which now opens out before us, and show that
this work is such as may, with all propriety, command the time
and the talents of many laborers.
Work there is here in China—abundance of work—for the
scientific and erudite, who love to take geographical surveys, and
who, as the empire opens, sallying away from these narrow limits
over its whole wide surface, comprising an area of not less than
fifty-three hundred thousand square miles, will hasten to traverse
its broad plains and rivers, ascend its high ridges and lofty
mountains—sketching and delineating, as all naturalists delight
to do, rocks, hills and dales, birds, beasts and fishes, with every
kind of trees and shrubs and flowers, breathing the pure fresh air
of the highlands and quaffing the wholesome limpid waters as they
gush forth from crystal fountains.
Work there is here—abundance of work—for those who love to
extend their quiet and unobtrusive researches deep down beneath
the surface, and who will bring up and out to light treasures
hidden for ages, and so make the everlasting hills, the old rocks,
bear their testimony to the power and wisdom of their great
Creator and give in their evidence to the faithfulness of His
Inspired Volume, our Holy Bible.
Work there is here—abundance of work—for those who, ele-
vating their thoughts, love to mark and measure the courses of
the celestial orbs, and who, grappling with the more subtle fluids,
will develope the laws of our atmosphere in its terrific cyclones,
•LM. II


8
BHANOHAI LITERARY AND SCIENTIFIC SOCIETY.
sporting' with big ships, breaking massive cables and rolling high-
swelling waves like mountains far on quite beyond their ordinary
landmarks.
But time would fail, and your patience would be exhausted, if
I should linger here to enumerate, in detail, the multifarious
objects which bid us come on to work, as zealous laborers, in the
wide domain of science and letters.
In the three great departments of natural history, the mineral,
the vegetable, and animal kingdoms, there are thousands and
thousands of objects, great and small, wooing the lovers of nature's
forms and of her ever-changing drapery. A few enthusiastic
men, such as Peter Osbeck, J. de Loureiro, Dr. Abel, Robert
Fortune, and others of like genius, have borne away some brilliant
specimens, and told the western world how rich and beautiful are
the works of the Almighty in these eastern empires. But not
the half, nay, not the thousandth part, has yet been told.
The geographical surveys, executed by learned Jesuits under
the auspices of the Manchu government in the days of the emperor
Kanghl and long ago published by Do Halde, still constitute our
very best authorities for the position and character of the cities
and other important localities over the whole empire, excepting on
the coasts, which have been so well surveyed by our modern
navigators, especially the English. But I need not stop here to
say how much more work, of this sort, in the China Sea, around
Formosa, Liuchiu, Japan, and up the Manchu coast, remains yet
to be performed.
The fragmentary notices we already have, about the Artesian
wells in the province of the Four-rivers, about the aberrations of
the old Hwang ho, and, traveling eastward, about the isles of the
Pacific, and other strange things, archaeologists are bringing to our
ears,—full of novelty and romance—if of less practical importance
than more sober narratives, do not lack interest as matters of
curious inquiry.
In order of time, perhaps, ethnological researches should pro-
perly take precedence of some branches already noticed. Intense
interest gathers around this subject; and it is as vast as it u
interesting. Whence all the tribes of men in Eastern Asia, and
on the isles of the wide North and South Pacific? Who will search
out their origin and rehearse to us the narratives of the first
adventurers in these half-unexplored regions? Among all the


ABT. I. INAUGURAL ADDRESS.
7
inhabitants, both on the continent and on the islands, none are
more interesting than the tribes long known to us as Miaut&z,
seemingly identical with the Karens, or "aborigines," of Burmah,
who, on account of their ready reception of Christian truth, are
at the present moment especially worthy of our consideration.
In intrinsic importance, as we hasten on to conclude our outline-
surrey, intellectual philosophy comes up as paramount. The
powers and capacities of the Chinese mind, and its literary and
scientific products, hare not been fully understood by foreigners,
and consequently not fully appreciated,—excepting by a small
number, and generally those who have given most attention to
native books. I have no hesitation in declaring the opinion, that
die native mind here, even when compared with that in our most
favored lands, is in no way of an inferior east: this declaration,
however, must be restricted to it in its earliest stages of child-
hood, before the darkening influences of error, in any considerable
degree, come in to weaken and destroy its expanding energies.
Then is, in this connection, yet one other point, long ago
accepted as a fixed fact by my own judgment: it is this, that the
Chinese people exhibit die most oomplete specimen, which the
generations of past ages, or we ourselves, have ever had of what
the human mind can attain to without the aids of true religion.
It is my settled and firm conviction that Jehovah has been pleased,
for reasons unknown to us, to allow the experiment here to be
tried, that all men might see and know just how far human intel-
lect, unaided by wisdom from above, can go, to what height it
can attain, and to what limits it can expand.
Behold, then, the spectacle: look here upon this picture, and
there on that -. here is Heathendom; there is Christendom. But I
need not pause, one moment, to mark the various lines and points
of contrast^ your own reminiscences wfil easily draw out the re-
quisite objects upon our canvas, and add the proper coloring of
light and shade, to fill up and complete these two pictures. .
It is in the political system of the Chinese that we have, beyond .
all question, if not the most satexoeptianaUe, yet certainly one of'
the most remarkable, (levelopments the world has ever witnessed
of what mere intellectual power and human wisdom -can produce.
The government of this empire, suhstantiaBy what it now is, from
time almost immemorial has stood forth, in oolossal grandeur, a...
matchless piece of mechanism. The great body-pohtio, olteh con-'.


8 SHANGHAI LITERARY AND SCIENTIFIC SOCIETY.
raised and torn asunder, still coheres. It seems like some strange
imaginary monster, always decaying, and yet ever vital in every
part. During the lapse of more than forty centuries, six-and-
twenty dynasties, each claiming absolute dominion, have here
risen, flourished and disappeared. Between the downfall of one
and the establishment of another of these dominant families, there
has been, not unfrequently and of greater or less duration, a period
of complete anarchy, signalized by dreadful carnage and most
horrible cruelties. At every such period, the supreme power, if
it really existed in any individual person, was set at naught utterly,
or was kept wholly in abeyance, so that, instead of one united
government, there were scores of petty kingdoms, each contending
for the dragon-throne. Moreover, as it was often in days of old,
so now, there is here, in the Middle Kingdom, no small amount
of pure democracy. Hence their old proverb: "The people are
the Emperor's Heaven."
Vox Populi, vox Dei.
Why now has it been thus with the Chinese? How have the
inhabitants of this great empire been so long bound together and
kept within the limits of Eastern Asia? Why have they not
burst forth in their strength and overrun the surrounding countries (
Or, why have not invading armies come and carried them away
into captivity 1
Both in its structure and in its modus operandi, this govern-
ment presents points of inquiry far too numerous to be here now
recited, and all of them most excellent themes for the philosophic
statesman. Its laws of succession and inheritance; its legislative,
executive and judicial forms; its mode of electing officers; its
magistracy in its higher and lower grades; its competitive
examinations; its rules of taxation; its balancing of duties between
the governing and the governed; and then, proceeding outwards
to neighboring states, its policy towards them: these are but a
few of the many grave matters that come up for our investigation,
than which no themes can well be more suggestive—especially
when, as at present, great changes, external and internal, seem
pending. Just now, indeed, we hear no clash of arms, no shouts
of contending belligerents. The murky clouds that gathered near,
not long ago, have passed off; they still, however, lower in the
distance; and there is significancy in the very silence that prevails
on every side of us both far and near.


ART. I. INAUGURAL ADDRESS.
9
Never before, in these eastern seas, were there to be seen such
naval armaments, so numerous and so strong,—and plenipoten-
tiaries from so many states, all clothed with such full powers, and
having such large prerogatives. We seem to be on the eve of
some great convulsion. In China, as in India, momentous revolu-
tions are doubtless near at hand. Already indeed important
changes have been effected, and we expect soon to see others still
more important.
Before the members of this Society and the ladies and gentlemen
I have the honor to address this evening, surely I need feel no
hesitation in saying frankly, what I most fully believe, that these
gathering fleets, comprising so many strong ships and brave hearts,
are all most needful and every way suited to the occasion. The
more potent and formidable the better. For all political purposes,
at least, such an array is absolutely necessaiy in order to give
legitimate effect to the most simple and just demands for inter-
national rights—rights honestly due from man to man,—rights
which, I doubt not, we all alike ardently hope are to be resolutely
insisted on, but which, we fear, will never be yielded with any
grace or sincerity, so long as these noble sons of Han fancy them-
selves to be, physically, the stronger party.
By speaking thus freely, let no one suppose that I would be an
advocate of hostilities. Such I am not. AS a minister of the
gospel of peace, I am every way and in all things strongly inclined
to a pacific policy. Strife, even deadly strife, too long already
has here been the order of the day, between Chinese and foreigners.
Hitherto the treaty stipulations, for peace, have been scarcely
more than a dead letter. Had the Imperial government only the
power and the means to carry into execution its old exclusive
policy, all its solemn compacts, with Russia, with England, with
France and with the United States, would be worthless. "A
great demonstration" would at once be made, and all barbarians
driven from the empire, or shut up in some narrow corner, as they
were of old in Canton. Let the Son of Heaven, (impious assump-
tion,) only have full sway, and woe to the'foreigners who shall
then dare to approach his capital, except as vassals. 'Bring
tribute and do homage they may, but never shall they tread the
soil of the celestial empire, as the equals of the black-haired
race. As there is only one sun in the firmament, so beneath the
heavens there can stand but one supreme sovereign, one Son of
ILM. HI


10 SHANGHAI LITSBABT AND SCIENTIFIC SOCIETY.
Heaven! It is time a better order of relations was introduced,
and by means thoroughly peaceful, if indeed it can be so done;
but if it cannot be so, why then let it be by constraining force.
As a literary and scientific body, we surely may be allowed,
as it doth behoove us, to ask; Shall the great contest, to which the
nations seem to be here hastening on, be one of mere physical
force, or one of intellectual power? Rather, ought it not, and
must it not combine both of these? To what extent are our
'high functionaries, deputed to negotiate with the Supreme govern-
ment of China, prepared to grapple with the master-minds of this
t empire? In what manner and to what degree are both,—the
foreigners on the one side and the Chinese on the other—armed
and equipped for a conflict of principle founded in truth, in reason
and sound wisdom?
. In toil connection, two things, it seems to me, must force them-
selves on the attention of every careful and impartial observer.
They an these; on the one hand, our great ignorance of the
political machinery of the Chinese, ignorance that makes us unable,
"« while having the physical power, to deal prudently and skilfully
. With them, so as in the greatest possible degree to secure the best
ends; on the other hand, the still greater ignorance of the Chinese
in regard-to the just rights of man generally, and especially in
regard to our own free institutions, our modem ^veoveries and
inventions, and the many and great advantageawhich wfl} accrue to
themselves as a vast and populous empire from friendly intercourse
with the nations of Christendom.
It may be weU to bear in mind that, if the Chinese are beyond
compare the weaker party in arms and martial discipline, they
nevertheless do possess powers and capacities, intellectually, tor
great and severe contests, provided they can be met on their own
domain and in their own way. On intellectual ground, therefore,
and in the proper use of their own language, Jet come the tug of
war, and let the dread trial for supremacy be fairly and honorably
met. On this broad arena and with these weapons, -let the battle
ho waged as sharply as they please; let the search for right
principles be instituted; let the conflict of opinions, guided by
reason and sound logic, be urged and pressed on to legitimate
issues -r and eventually truth and freedom, in their majestic spheres,
-will be victorious and triumphant.
vi Here than, in the great Republic of Letters, and with forces as


ART. I. INAUGURAL ADDRESS.
11
large as possible, let the Shanghai Literary and Scientific Society
bet itself in battle array, and let eacli and all of its Members be
prepared and resolved to quit themselves like mon.
Now however important it may be for us to acquire a profound
and thorough knowledge of the mind and intellectual capacities
of the Chinese, this can be effectually done only by means of their
language, written and oral. For this end, as well as for all
subsidiary aims, the study of their language, no matter how hard
to he acquired, must be taken up and in a greater or less degree'
mastered. There is no discharge in this war. Foreign officials,
in China, have frequently been greatly embarrassed, and have
suffered not a little, for lack of interlocuters, men able to spenk
and write both in their own and in the native tongue. With but
very rare exceptions, all our consuls and all our high commis-
sioners, their full powers notwithstanding, have been compelled,
in this matter of written and oral communication, to work by
proxies. It is indeed a grave fault in our home executives that
they have so much neglected to encourage the study of the Chinese
language. The Russian government, by early establishing a
college in Peking, has prudently and easily secured to itself and
its subjects great advantages.
It will be the duty of this Society, and of its Council, to look
early and well to this most essential department of its work, and
in regard to it to devise liberal things. In the limits of this short
address, it is quite impossible to do justice to a subject of such
ample dimensions; but I regret this the less because I see around
me so many sinologues, both lay and clerical gentlemen, younger
and much stronger than myself, who will, I feel confident, supply
my deficiencies on this topic, and in due course give large pro-
minence to, and provide all the helps requisite for, the study of the
Chinese language. Both in philology and grammar, a great deal
needs to be done in the arduous business of working out & complete
apparatus for the study of this language and literature; and this
Society will not, I trust, be backward in giving countenance and
support to all those who, with proper ability and Zfeal, enter on
these highly important studies.
A series ftf carefully written essays, unravelling the history of
Chinese literature, unfolding the nature and genius of this language,
and illustrating by proper examples all its grammatical forms of
dialect, intonation, and so forth, is now greatly needed; and its
2


12
SHANGHAI LITERARY AND SCIENTIFIC SOCIETY.
production will afford work enough for many able pens. The
field is so wide that, to investigate it thoroughly, and describe
it well, in all its parts, scores of men are required, all zealous and
devoted lovers of polite literature.
Much injustice, it has often seemed to me, has been done to the
Chinese by undervaluing their literature. They have indeed a
hard language; and if is remarkably unique. For capacity, and
power, and terseness, it is hardly surpassed. Its copiouness is
unrivalled. Generally, it is not so much the language in itself,
as it is our own means and methods of acquiring it, that must be
pronounced faulty. That so few foreigners have hitherto tried to
acquire this language, and in numerous instances with such
indifferent success, must not be placed to the account of the
Chinese, but rather it should be charged against ourselves.
In advancing from the study of the rudiments of this language—
its philology as a primary sphere,—to the general literature of the
Chinese, we enter on a field truly immense, wheie the separate
branches of study are almost innumerable, and the extent of each
branch veiy great. The ancient and modern classics, the historical,
poetical, and philosophical writings of the Chinese, are far more
elaborate than those of any other people. Digests of their laws
and statutes, the general statistics of the empire extending through
many successive generations, voluminous treatises on religion,
education, music, the healing art; these, and many other kindred
subjects, all claim from the members of this Society early and
careful consideration.
Such is a panoramic view of the work which now lies before us,
and invites, as to action. The more we gaze upon it, the more
do its height and depth, its length and breadth, expand, and the
more urgently does it call for united enterprise. Such then being
its magnitude, what, in conclusion, shall I say in regard to ways
and means and incentives for its prosecution?
In the first place, laborers are needed, scholars, who love literary
and scientific studies, and who will come to these high intellectual
pursuits, not as to irksome toil, but as to sources of real pleasure
and rich entertainment. Among all those who come to reside in
China for a longer or shorter period, there can be very few, I
fancy, who may not be able, by proper economy of time, to secure
many half hours, or days, or long winter evenings, for pursuits so
worthy of the well-disciplined and the well-furnished mind.


ART. I. INAUGURAL ADDRESS.
18
In the second place, for such diversified work, and for so many
laborers, an extensive apparatus is needed; especially do we want
a collection of books and also a repository of natural and scientific
productions. In the Library, every valuable book extant in
Chinese, and every foreign publication regarding China and its
inhabitants, should have its appropriate place; and in the Museum,
the number and variety of objects, each and all properly labeled
and arranged, should be as complete as possible.
In the third place, as this Society advances in its researches,
ways and means will be required in order that we may add our
own literary and scientific contributions to the list of new publica-
tions, which characterize and make illustrious the remarkable age
in which we live. A public journal, to be published quarterly, or at
such times as the Council may direct, will be an essential auxiliary.
From a body of educated men, so large as that now resident in
Northern China—if we may so designate this part of the empire,
it seems to me the public has a right to expect a publication of
this kind.
In order to carry into effect the requisite measures for giving
reality to these plans, some means will of course be needed. For
the advancement of such objects, as those we have been contem-
plating, I feel that I should be doing wrong to a community, like
that in Shanghai and in the other foreign settlements in China,
even to suppose that any desirable means, of a financial kind, will
not be cheerfully afforded, whenever really needed. I feel bound
to testify, and I am happy in being able to do it thus publicly,
that for a period of eight-and-twenty years, I have always found
generous hearts and liberal hands, willing and ready to aid in
enterprises designed for intellectual and moral improvement. In
instances not a few such aid has been proffered.
In assuming the attitude of a Literary and Scientific body, the
members of this Society find themselves in circumstances fitted to
inspire a large measure of enthusiasm. Many believe, as well they
may, that, at no very distant day, Shanghai will be one of the
great centers of interest and of influence, perhaps the greatest, in
the eastern hemisphere. As surely as it becomes such by the
presence and the agency of the educated men of Christendom,
all active in their various callings and professions, so surely will
literature and science, under the hallowed influences of revealed
truth, here find a nursery and a home, and shed forth healtnful
■Las, iv


14 8HANOHAI LITERARY AND SCIENTIFIC SOCIETY.
influences on all sides of us, and to the very remotest limits of
this vast empire.
Our incentives to action are great and manifold, and they appear
especially so, when they are compared with those which surrounded
other similar bodies, in other times and in other places. Here we
enjoy the old and the new; here is an empire more ancient than
any other on earth, with literature and science seemingly coeval
with its origin; and around us is a population numbering, probably,
not less than four hundred millions, comprising full one-third part
of the whole human race.
Occupying here such high vantage-ground, Gentlemen of this
Society, let us not be faint-hearted nor slack of hand; and, while
anxiously commending our work to the benignant care of our
God and to the kind consideration of our fellow-men, let us try, as
much as we can, to make all these labors honorable to ourselves,
beneficial to our generation, and every way promotive of the
Divine Glory.


ART. I. INAUGURAL ADDRESS.
IS
NOTES.
In preparing the foregoing Address for the pages of (he Society's Journal, two
or three paragraphs, apposite only to the occasion on which it was delivered,
have been erased; two or three also have been added; in others, some slight
changes have beeu made. I add the following five brief notes.
No. 1.
Standard orthography for indicatiny the sounds of Chinese words.
On this point, and in the very name of tills Society, the need of a standard
becomes apparent, for we find the name of this city written in more than half a
dozen various forms. The Rev. VT. C. Milne, in his new publication, "Life in
China," enumerates the following, Changhay, Xanghay, Zonghae, Shanhae,
Shaiighay, Slianghae, Shanghai; and one or two other forms.
Dr. Williams, in his "Middle Kingdom," alluding to this subject says:
"Almost every writer upon the Chinese language seems disposed to propose a
ww system, and the result is a great confusion in writing the same name; for
Instance, eull, olr, ul, uth, Ih, urh, 'rh, f, e, lur, nge, ngi,je,ji, are different ways
of writing the sound given to a single character."
In fact, so great is the diversity of usage, especially in writing the names of
|»-rsoii3 and places, that it is quite impossible to determine what orthography
should be adopted. Ail however see and feel the need of a uniform system, that
may be employed everywhere and for all the dialects as well as for the general
language; and the time has come, I think, when sucli a standard should be
formed. The Shanghai Literary and Scientific Socity will, it is hoped, do
all it can to secure the cooperation of all students of this language, for the
attainment of the desired standard orthography.
No. 3.
Geographical extent of this empire.
Page 6, line 23.
Fifty-three hundred thousand square miles, (5,300,000 sq. m.) McCulloch's
estimate, is the most satisfactory yet given; still it can be accepted as only an
approximation to the truth. This is evident from the fact that, at the present
time, no man, not eveu the one man himself, the emperor, knows what are the
boundaries of the Chinese empire.
No. 8.
Dynasties and Chronology of the Chinese.
Page 8, lines 3 ana! 4.
In reckoning only eix-and-tweuty dynasties, we mnst commence with the
His family, B.C. 3205; and of course exclude the mythological era of eighty
thousand and odd years, and also the period of the Five Sovereigns.
The common Chronology of the Chinese, recorded in their cycle of sixty
years, begins with the sixty-fir t year of the reign of Hwang ti, who ascended
the throne, B.C. 2697, or about 274 years after the birth of Noah. It has been
suggested that "this should not be set down as a real date, but rather aa
an imaginary epoch, invented in recent times." "Oo the credibility of the
Chinese early Chronology," a short but very valuable paper is contained in the
Shanghai Miscellany (or 1854.
2 *


16 SHANGHAI LITERARY AND SCIENTIFIC SOCIETY.
No. 4.
Russian ColUge in Peking.
Page 11, line SO.
According to ths term* of the Treaty between Russia and China a mission
consisting of ten Russians is allowed a residence in Peking; of these, four are
ecclesiastics, and six are students, two studying the Chinese, two the Hancbu,
and two the Mongolian language. The mission is renewed every ten years; its
location in the capital is within the walls, but without the precincts of what is
called "the forbidden city," and not for from the nortb-east corner of the city.
The highest estimate of the Population, three hundred and sixty and odd
millions, as given in Chinese statistics, and hardly believed by foreigners a few
years ago, is gradually gaining credit, as our knowledge <-f empire extends.
I have no hesitation in saying that the weight of evidence is greatly in favor of
the native census, published in 1812, which gives to the eighteen province* and
Shlngking 362,447,183 as the number of inhabitants at that time. It i* highly
that lines that date, there ha* been a large increase. Recently,
causes have been operating that must have more or less retarded
No. 6.
Population of China.
Page 14, line 9.

of population.


[17]
ARTICLE II.
ON CYCLONBS, OR THE LAW OF STORMS.
A Paper Bt Sir F. W. Nicolson, Bart., Captain op H.M.S. "Piqcb;"
Read October 16tb, 1867.
A pew tears only have elapsed since the discovery of the Law
of Storms. Previous to the researches of Redfield, Reid and
others, all winds were supposed to blow in straight lines. At
present there is a tendency to consider the variable winds as
rotating in obedience to certain laws. All the violent storms, on
which observations have been made, have been proved to have a
rotatory motion. They are known under various names in different
parts of the world. In the West Indies they are termed hurricanes,
and in the Chinese seas, tyfoons. A new name, cyclone, in-
dicating their revolving character, is coming into general use.
These names are used indiscriminately in the following pages.
Colonel Capper, of the East India Company's service, published
a work on winds and monsoons in 1801. In this publication he
suggests the possibility of ascertaining the position of a ship, in a
whirlwind, by noting the strength and changes of the wind.
Notwithstanding this suggestion of Colonel Capper's, Mr. Red-
field of New York may be considered as the discoverer of the
Law of Storms. He collected numerous records of storms, which
had occurred on the American coast, and published these records
in the American Journal of Science, for 1881. Mr. Redfield's
investigations led him to the conclusion, that all storms are whirl-
winds of considerable diameter, rotating in a particular direction,
and having likewise a progressive motion over the earth's surface.
Mr. Red field was the first to explain the oscillations of the
barometer, as connected with the veering of the wind, a pheno-
menon which had perplexed the ablest philosophers, since the
invention of the barometer by Torricelli.
ma.


18 8HANOHAI LITERARY AND SCIENTIFIC SOCIETY.
Sir William Reid, a well-known officer of the Royal Engineers,
has greatly increased our knowledge with respect to storms. He
was employed at Barhadoes in restoring the government buildings
destroyed in the hurricane of 1831; when 1,477 persons are said
to have lost their lives in the course of seven hours. Sir William's
attention being thus turned to the subject of hurricanes, Mr.
Red field's paper came under his notice. Being impressed with
the conviction that the views expressed in that paper were correct,
Sir William sought to verify Mr. Redfield's theory, and for that
purpose collected data from every quarter.. He has published the
results of his investigations in two considerable works, in which
a most valuable collection of facts relating to meteorology will be
found. From these volumes, and from Mr. Piddington's Horn-
Book, a great portion of the information contained in the follow-
ing pages has been gathered.
The labours of Redfield, Reid, and Professor Dove of Berlin,
were in the first instance confined to gales in the northern hemis-
phere. Extending their researches to storms in southern latitudes,
they all three, although working independently of each other,
came to the same conclusion, that gales south of the equator
would be found to rotate in the direction opposite to those in the
northern hemisphere. Observation has fully confirmed this theory,
which they simultaneously advanced on purely speculative grounds.
Among other labourers in the same field, Dr. Thom and Mr.
Piddington deserve particular notice. Dr. Thom has chiefly
devoted his attention to storms in the Indian Ocean, both north
and south of the equator.
Mr. Piddington holds an appointment under the Indian govern-
ment at Calcutta. He has thus been enabled to collect a mass
of data respecting storms. In addition to many memoirs on the
subject, he has entitled himself to share with Sir William Reid
the gratitude of every seaman, by publishing, under the title of
the Sailor's Horn-Book, an excellent guide for the mariner in the
regions of hurricanes and tyfoons.
The Law of Storms, may be thus stated: All strong winds to
the northward of the equator are whirlwinds, revolving in a
direction opposite to that of the hands of a watch. To tlte
southward of the equator the rotation is in the contrary direction.
In addition to this rotatory movement, storms have likewise a
progressive motion, which may be thus described: Taking th*


ART. II. CYCLONES, OR THE LAW OF STORMS.
19
West Indian hurricanes as an example, for the northern hemis-
phere, we find that they move to the W.N.W. in the first instance;
as they recede from the equator, their course becomes northerly,
and they gradually recurve to the N.E. Their path is a species
of parabolic curve, whose vertex lies towards the Gulf of Mexico
in about 80° of north latitude.
Storms in the southern hemisphere move in a westerly direction
in the first instance, then bend to the southward, and afterwards
recurve to the eastward. The final direction of those best known,
which have been chiefly observed in the neighbourhood of the
Mauritius, is E.S.E. Although fewer storms have been accurately
observed in the southern than in the northern hemisphere, a
sufficient number of storm-tracks have been laid down to prove
that their paths are curves of a parabolic form, similar to those
north of the equator, and that their vertices are situated in about
20" to 26° of south latitude.
The investigation of the recent storms in the Formosa Channel
and in the neighbourhood of Shanghai being the chief purpose for
which this paper was written, no further allusion will be made to
the remarkable storms which have from time to time occurred
near the Mauritius and the Island of Rodriguez in the Southern
Indian Ocean, with the exception of one instance, to which reference
wfll be made when treating of another branch of the subject.
The storms' rates of progress, as ascertained by the comparison
of numerous observations, exhibit the most remarkable differences
of velocity.
RedfleM estimates the rate as 9.6 to 48
Thorn Do. 9 to 9 or 10
Piddlogtun Do. I to 89
Betd Do. 7 to IS
It is worthy of note that the hurricane of 1822, which caused
an inundation of the Ganges and Burrampooter, in which 60,000
people perished, is the storm whose rate of progress is the slowest.
The diameters of cyclones vary as much as their rates of progiess.
Some have been found as small as 60 miles in diameter; while
ethers are said to have expanded to 1,000 miles and upwards.
These storms of vast circumference have principally been noticed
in the North Atlantic The average diameter of a cyclone may be
estimated at from 800 to 600 miles.


20 SHANGHAI LITERARY AMD SCIENTIFIC SOCIETY.
In the Chinese seas, and in the Formosa Channel, the tyfoons
are generally of small diameter; they may therefore be easily
avoided, provided there is sea-room; and when they are of these
small proportions they pass over a vessel in a shorter space of
time. In the hurricane which devastated Coringa on the western
side of the bay of Bengal, it was found that the violence of the
wind increased as the diameter of the cyclone contracted. The
converse may likewise be true, that the force of the wind decreases
as the cyclone's diameter increases. This may probably explain
why the gales felt on the British coasts are less severe than the
West Indian hurricanes; for they are generally storms of very
large diameter.
In considering the phenomena of cyclones, it should be remem-
bered that they are confined to the lower strata of the atmosphere.
At a comparatively moderate height, clouds and winds do not exist.
Cyclones must not be considered as cylindrical in shape; they are
in fact flat discs, whose thickness is very small as compared with
their diameters, and they have a concave upper surface. The axes
upon which they may be supposed to revolve are often inclined at
a considerable angle to the horizon. We may thus conceive the
rear of a storm to be tilted up, while the anterior semicircle alone
impinges upon the earth. We thus see how it may be possible
for a vessel to encounter only a portion of a cyclone, although the
centre may have passed over her. Many of these severe storms
appear and disappear so suddenly, that they are supposed to have
dashed down upon the earth, like the swoop of an eagle, and then
soared up again after touching only a small part of the earth's
surface. Many great storms have probably terminated in this
manner, for it is frequently found impossible to trace them beyond
a certain point, and we can hardly suppose them to cease suddenly,
without any previous symptoms of gradual subsidence.
To persons who have never experienced either a tyfoon or a
hurricane, it is impossible to give an idea of the extreme violence
of the wind, and of its fearful roaring when the storm is at its
height.
We read of boats being entirely rent to pieces by the force of
the wind alone, of masts broken although no sails were set, and
sails blown away from the yards although furled and secured with >
double gaskets. Even the most sheltered harbours afford no
certain security in these terrific storms. At Hongkong, and even


ART. II. CYCLONES, OR THE LAW OF STORMS. 21
in Malta harbour, vessels have been totally wrecked. On the 4th
of August 1835, the Raleigh corvette was upset in a tyfoon
when under bare poles. The crew scrambled upon the upper gun-
wale and managed to cut away the rigging; fortunately the masts
carried away and the ship righted with four feet of water in
her hold.
Sir W. Reid records the following anecdote as an instance of
the roaring of the wind in a hurricane. During the Barbadoes
hurricane of 1831, Colonel Nickle of the 36th Regiment, while
standing under the arch of a lower window of his house, did not
hear the fall of the roof and upper story, although he was covered
with dust from the falling ruins.
Such being the terrific fury of the wind near the central part of
a cyclone, it becomes a question of the utmost importance to the
seaman, how the extreme violence of a revolving storm can be
avoided. In the first place he must ascertain the bearing of the
storm's centre. This he can readily do, by means of a figure
similar to that of diagram I. See next page.
He will find that the bearing is eight points of the compass
from the direction of the wind. Thus, in the northern hemisphere,
with the wind at north, the centre bears east; wind east, the centre
bears south; wind south, the bearing is west. In the southern
hemisphere we must reckon the eight points of the compass
the other way. The wind at north, shows the centre to bear
west; wind at east, the centre bears north; and so on. The
incurving of the wind near the centre may in some degree modify
tliis rule; but for all practical purposes it will be found sufficiently
accurate.
In addition to the bearing of the storm's centre, the direction in
which the whole body of the storm is travelling; and its rate of
progress, as well as the distance from the vortex, are matters of
the greatest interest to the seaman.
In the bay of Bengal, Chinese seas, and Formosa Channel, the
course of revolving storms lies generally between N.W. and W.S.W.
In the West Indies they likewise travel to the W.N.W. j but as
they afterwards recurve to the N.E., this fact must not be over-
looked when navigating the North Atlantic.
Among - islands and in narrow channels, hurricanes may
frequently be deflected from their usual directions; in these
cases a seaman has rarely sufficient sea-room to avoid them;
UM, VI


99
SHANGHAI LITERARY AND SCIENTIFIC SOCIETY.
Diagram I. Northern Huuimu.
WIND EAST.

WIND WEST.
Diagram II. Southern Hemisphere.
WIND WEST.

WIND BAST.


ART. II. CYCLONES, OR THE LAW OF STORMS. 93.
hence the direction in which the storm is advancing becomes of
less importance.
The barometer affords an invaluable test for ascertaining whether
the centre of a storm is approaching or not. Since this instrument
measures the weight or pressure of the atmosphere, it is evident
that if the column of air above a barometer is diminished, the
pressure supporting the mercurial column is lessened, and-the
mercury, or as we loosely phrase it, the barometer falls. Bearing
this fact in mind, let us examine in what manner the rapid rotation
of the wind can affect the barometer.
When a rotatory motion is given to a fluid in a glass or jar,
we find that the centrifugal force drives the water away from the
centre, causing a depression at that point. In fact the surface of
the fluid, instead of being level, becomes concave. A similar
depression takes place in the atmosphere during a cyclone; the
air is spread out by the centrifugal force and the heights of the
atmospheric columns diminish gradually from the outer edge or
circumference of the cyclone to the centre. We can thus explain,
what experiment and observation teach us, that the barometer
falls as the centre of a rotating storm approaches, and rises as that
point recedes from the place of observation. Consequently it may
be assumed as a rule that, the lower the barometer, the nearer is
the centre of the storm.
The connexion between the movements of the barometer and the
changes in the direction of the wind, may be noticed during any
revolving gale. While the bearing of the wind shows the centre
to be approaching, the mercury falls, but no sooner has the wind
shifted to that quarter which indicates that the centre, is moving
away from the observer, than the mercury begins to rise.
Although it is generally found that the violence of the wind in
a cyclone is greatest at the centre, this does not always hold good,
for at times die barometer rises before the most violent portion of
the storm has passed. This peculiarity is probably caused by the
upper part of the whirlwind moving forward more rapidly than
the lower portion, which is retarded by the friction of the earth's
surface. The axis of the whirlwind would thus be inclined forward,
and the least atmospheric pressure would occur before the most
violent part of the cyclone had reached the place of the observer.
In considering the disturbance of the air by whirlwinds we must
remember that no permanent diminution of pressure at a particular


24 SHANGHAI LITERARY AND SCIENTIFIC SOCIETY.
spot can take place, for the equilibrium must be speedily restored
by other portions of air rushing in to equalize the pressure.
The diameters of cyclones, and their rates of progress are so
exceedingly variable, that all estimates of the distance from the
centre must of necessity be very vague; however, careful watching
of the barometer, and of the changes in the direction of the wind
during a Storm, may enable us at times to form a tolerably accurate
.estimate of our distance from the vortex.
We may now proceed to illustrate the manner of avoiding the
most violent portions of revolving storm3. Confining our atten-
tion solely to gales in tbe northern hemisphere, whose progress is
in a westerly direction, we shall avoid confusion, and be enabled
to place the subject in a clearer light. A seaman who thoroughly
understands the means of avoiding a cyclone in the northern hemis-
phere, will have little difficulty in applying this knowledge, should
he encounter a storm to the southward of the equator. He must
then reverse every operation. Where he would have steered north
in the northern hemisphere, he must steer south, Ac.; or if the
port tack was the safest in the northern, the starboard tack would
be the one of least danger in the southern hemisphere.
Before explaining the management of a ship in each quadrant of
a cyclone, we must remember that the wind veers in a different
manner in the northern and southern semicircles of a revolving
storm. If the centre is passing to Ae northward of us, the wind
being north at the commencement of the gale, we shall find that
it veers round to N.W. then to W. and S.W.; but should the
center be passing to the southward, the wind veers from N. to
N.E., E., and so on. This difference has frequently perplexed
seamen and other observers, and has given rise the supposition
that all revolving storms do not obey the same law, and that they
occasionally revolve in either way in the same hemisphere. A
consideration of the changes of wind which a ship must experience
in each quadrant of the cyclone will explain this apparent anomaly.
8.E. Quadrant. Suppose a vessel sailing through the Formosa
Channel, in the tyfoon months, between June and December, and
that she has a strong wind from .the W. or S.W., with a high
confused sea; the barometer low but inclined to rise; a heavy
bank of clouds hanging to the north and north-westward. These
are symptoms of a cyclone passing to the northward of this vessel,
which is in the S.E. quadrant of the storm. If bound to the


ART. II. CYCLONES, OR THE LAW OF STORMS. 25
northward, the only caution to be used is not to steer too much to
the westward until the barometer rises and the weather clears. If
hound to the southward, the vessel will be soiling' nwny from the
storm, she will therefore be in no danger of encountering- it.
S. W. Quadrant. In the S.W. quadrant of the same, or of a
similar cyclone with the wind at N.W., the vortex can be easily
avoided, either by steering' to the southward if bound in that
direction; or, if bound to the northward, a vessel may sail round
the southern part of the gale, keeping well to the southward until
the change of wind and the rising of the barometer show that the
centre has passed away to the north-westward. The winds will
be N^., then W., S.W., and finally S. and S.E. The case of
the Maruart, which will presently come before us, affords a striking
example of thus avoiding the central portion of cyclone.
N.E. Quadrant. The ship drawn in the N.E. Quadrant (see
diagram I.) with the wind at S.E., represents the Pique on the
11th of May, 1855, in the North Paoific, Lat. 42° 43' N.,. Long.
188° 1' E.
In the morning a fresh breeze was blowing from tne S.E. with
heavy rain, which became a perfect deluge in the afternoon. At
half past five o'clock, the studding-sails and royals were set, but
the wind increased so rapidly, that the ship was under close-reefed
fore and main topsails and reefed foresail at 7 o'clock, running
10 foots before a strong gale. At soon the Bar. was 29.58; at
3 p.m. 29.42; and at 8 p.m. it bad fallen to 28.94.
The course steered was N.W., and the centre was approaching,
as shown by the falling barometer. As this appeared to be a
favourable opportunity for testing the accuracy of the Law of
Storms, in a region where few observations have been made, the
course was altered from N.W. to N.N.E. thus steering away
from the centra. As we anticipated the barometer immediately
ceased to fall; and in half an hour it had risen 0. 02; in an hour's
time it rose 0. 07, and the weather began to clear. A dense heavy
bank of clouds pointed out the position of the gale to the westward.
Having thus shown the immediate effect on the barometer by
steering away from the centre of a storm, the course was again
altered to N.N.W. The mercury still continued to rise, but less
rapidly than when stowing to the N.N.E., and the weather im-
proved, though more slowly than before. During the night the
wind veered round from S.E. to S.; and at 4 a. m . it was blowing a
•us.


26 SHANGHAI LITERARY AND SCIENTIFIC SOCIETY.
strong breeze from the S.W.; the Bar. having1 risen to 29.20. A
heavy confused sea was running from the westward. On the da}'
previous to this breeze, the wind was northerly and the barometer
rising; during the night of the 10th and 11th of May it was quite
calm. This rise of the barometer and the dead calm frequently
occur immediately before the approach of a revolving storm. The
rise of the barometer is caused by the atmosphere being as it were
heaped up in front of the advancing gale.
If. W. Quadrant. The last instance to be considered is one of
a ship in the N.W. quadrant of the cyclone. In the northern
hemisphere and with a gale moving to the N.W. this is the most
dangerous quadrant. The wind will be about N.E., rapidly in-
creasing and veering to the northward; the barometer falling
fast. The ship in the diagram is first shown as on the starboard
tack; to remain in this position would expose her to the danger
of being taken aback. She must therefore either heave to on the
port tack; or, should the risk of thus meeting the whole fury of
the storm be considered as too hazardous, she may bear up and
steer about S.W. gradually hauling round, (as the barometer rises,)
first to the westward, and then to the northward, if bound in that
direction. The vessel would thus pass across in front of the storm,
and would probably run no greater risk than if hove to on the
port tack.
In all these cases, sea-room is essential to enable the seaman to
avoid the central part of a cyclone. Unfortunately the navigator in
these seas is frequently too near the coast of China to do more
than get an offing. And as all the galea in these regions come
from the east or south-eastward, vessels are generally unable to
escape from the most violent portions of these storms.
These instances have been selected from many others; for we
may imagine a vessel in every possible position with reference to
the centre of a revolving storm; she may be running in advance
of it; or following it at nearly the same rate as the storm is
travelling, occasionally dropping behind, and then coming up with
it again; or she may run round and round in the storm, as actually
happened to the Charles Heddle, a fast sailing brig belonging to
the Mauritius. This vessel encountered a hurricane when about
106 miles north of that island, and she continued running under
bare poles before the wind at the rate of 11 and 12 knots for five
days, marking out the peculiar cycloidal track shown in the


ART. It. CYCLONES, OR THE LAW OF STORMS. 27
diagram. Mr. Piddington considers this storm to have been
advancing at about 4 miles an hour. We must remember that
this circumstance occurred in south latitude, whei-e the rotation of
the wind is in the opposite direction to that experienced during
severe storms in the northern hemisphere.
Diagram III.

Clio. Heddle, Feb. 97th, 1845.
The dates on the curred line muk the vessel's position at noon each day, while tboee on
tbe straight llnet point out the estimated position of the storm's centre.
We may now examine the phenomena observed during the gales
which visited this coast in the month of September; one of theft
3


28 SHANGHAI LITERARY AND SCIENTIFIC SOCIETY.
Ftonnfl confirms in a striking manner the correctness of the theory
by which tho Law of Storms has been established.
A severe gale passed over Shanghai and its neighbourhood on
the 7th and 8th of September 1867. This gale fell short, of a
tyfoon in violence, yet it was sufficiently severe to cause serious
damage to several vessels at anchor in the Yang-tse Kiang, and
among the Parker Islands at the mouth of that river. Although
the changes of wind, experienced at Shanghai, were confined to a
few points of the compass, they indicated, by the order in which
they occurred, that the storm was one of a rotatory character.
Hence it became a matter of interest to procure data from vessels
arriving in the port, and by thus extending the field of observation,
to ascertain the dimensions of this cyclone, its direction and the
rate of its progress.
With this view a few extracts were made from the Log-books of
vessels arriving.at Shanghai after the gale. The information thus
obtained failed to throw much light upon the Shanghai gale; for
it was found that all the vessels had experienced the same winds,
and the changes appear to have occurred nearly at the same times
as those observed at Shanghai and Woosung. In making these
extracts, it became apparent that a tyfoon of unusual seventy had
passed over the north end of Formosa, and across the Channel
between that island and the coast of China, earl)' in September.
Although inverting the order in which the two gales occurred,
it will place their peculiarities more clearly before the reader, if
a few remarks are mode in the first plnce on the Shanghai gale,
and if we then proceed to investigate the remarkable phenomena
recorded on board the vessels which encountered the cyclone of
the 3d and 4th of September.
H. M. S. Pique, at Shanghai. Between Friday Sept. 4th, and
Monday Sept. 7th, a strong breeze was blowing nt Shanghai from
N.E. to E. On Monday afternoon the weather became squally
and the barometer began to fall. At noon the wind was N.N.E.,
Bar. 29.706; and at 8 p.m. it had fallen to 29.076. During the
night the breeze freshened rapidly; especially between midnight
and 4 a.m. of the 8th of Sept.; the barometer fell in that time
from 29.556 to 29.406 and the wind increased to a strong gale
from the northward. Throughout Tuesday Sept. 8th it was blowing
a heavy gale with rain. The barometer fell gradually until 11 a.m.,
when it had reached its lowest point 29.366. At that level it


ART. II. CYCLONES, OR THE LAW OF 8TORM8. 29
remained until 4 p.m., when it began to rise slowly, the wind
veering' round to the westward. The wind blew hardest from
N. by W. At midnight the barometer had risen to 29.496 and
the wind had sensibly moderated, although still blowing a fresh
gale from W.N.W. with rain.
H. M. S. Hornet rode out the gale in the Yang-tse Kiang, off
the entrance of the Woosung river. On the 7th of Sept. the wind
was generally N.E. to N.N.E. After midnight the wind increased,
rapidly veering round to N. From 8 a.m. until 3 p.m. of the 8th
Sept. it was blowing a severe gale, first from N., and latterly from
N.N.W. The barometer reached its lowest point at 2 p.m., 29.18;
thus it remained until between 3 and 4 o'clock when it began to
rise slowly; at midnight it stood at 29.35; the wind had then
veered to N.W. by W., and the gale was abating.
The Log-book of the Light Vessel, in the Yang-tse Kiang, records
the same changes of wind and nearly the same variations in the
height of the barometer as are shown in the Logs of the Pique
and Hornet. On board the Light Ship, the barometer fell to its
lowest point 29.28 at 11 a.m. of Sept. 8th. In the afternoon of
that day the cables parted, although of sufficient size to hold a
frigate, the small anchors were let go, and held the ship until next
day. After parting one cable, an ineffectual attempt was made to
work to windward under sail. Ultimately the Light Vessel was
towed into Chinhai by the Erin, one of the Ningpo sailing boats.
The Harkanay rode out the gale under the Parker Islands.
After the extreme fury of the gale had passed, her windlass gave
way. The bight of the cables tore from its fastenings and swept
away everything above the deck. Although the foremast brought
the vessel up, it was found necessary to cut away the masts; for
the bight of the cables would soon have made its way through
the mast and would probably have torn out the bows.
At the same place the Wdverley had a narrow escape of becoming
a total wreck; and the Egypt was totally lost on the rocks of
Bonham Island, only one man being saved out of a crew of
fourteen persons.
From the Log-books of these vessels it appears that the gale
increased in strength as the wind veered from the N.Ed, to the N.;
during the height of the storm the wind was N. by W. to N.N.W.
As the wind became more westerly, the gale moderated, the
barometer rising at the same time.
UN
VIII


90
SHANGHAI LITERARY AND SCIENTIFIC SOCIETY.
The following relative positions of the vessels and the times at
which their bnrometers were at the lowest point prove that the
storm was approaching from the south-eastward, while the veering
of the wind shows that the centre of the cyclone passed to the
eastward of all the vessels.
H ARXAWAY.
Light Ship bore N.W. ) If. 40 mile*. Lowest Bar. 9 A.M., Sept. 8th.
Pique bote N.W. by W. 60 miles.
Light Ship.
AeroUtt bore W. by N. ] N. 10 miles. Lowest Bar. 11 a.m., Sept. 8th.
Hornet N.W. by N. 28 miles.
Pique W. by N. 27 miles.
Abholite.
Hornet bore N.W. by N. 18 miles. Lowe«t Bar. Noon, Sept. 8th.
Pique bore W. } N. 16 miles.
Hornet bore from Pique N. by E. \ E. 10 miles; and the
barometers of both these vessels, which were to the north-westward
of the other vessels, did not rise until 3 or 4 in the afternoon.
The observations made at Shanghai and in its neighbourhood
are confined to a small portion of this gale, they in consequence
fail to give any idea of its dimensions or rate of progress. We
may yet hope that information from vessels farther to the eastward,
between the 7th and 9th of September, will be obtained by persons
interested in the Law of Storms; for many vessels outward bound
from Shanghai must have encountered this severe gale.
Although our information respecting this Shanghai gale is less
complete than could be desired, the observations on the storm
which passed across the Formosa Channel on the 3d and 4th of
September afford a clearer illustration of the Law of Storms.
Commencing with the Log-book of the Antmitn, we find that
she anchored on the 23d of Sept. under the islands of Cuinki and
Taluk in Lat. 28° 6' N., and Long. 121° 23 E. As the gale
freshened, a heavy swell from the S.Ed, set into this anchorage,
gradually increasing until the sea washed completely over the
vessel. On Sept. 4th the Antonita weighed one anchor, slipped
the cable of the other, and ran for shelter into Lotsin bay, a short
distance to the westward of her former position, and remained
there until the gale moderated. It is evident that this vessel was
in the northern semicircle of the cyclone, for the wind veered from
Tf.E. to E.N.E., then to E. and finally to EJ3.E., when the gale


ART. II. CYCLONES, OR THE LAW OF STORMS. 81
began to moderate, and the barometer rose. It reached the lowest
point at noon on Sept. 4th, being then 20.40.
The position of the storm's centre as fixed by the Peninsular
and Oriental Company's steamer the Cadiz, bore S. j W. 90 miles.
The first symptoms of the approaching1 gale aro noted on board
the Lanrick on the 4th of September. A heavy confused sea is
seen rising from the N.Ed.; the barometer%nd sympiesometer
are both falling, and the wind freshens rapidly, first from the
W.N.W., then veering to W.S.W., and moderating as it comes
round to S.W. The Lanrick's barometer was at its lowest (20.03)
at 11 a.m. on Sept. 4th. At noon on that day she was in
Lat. 24° 62* N., Long. 119° 47' E., 67 miles south of the White
Dogs, well-known islands off the entrance of the river Min, which
flows past the city of Foochow. The Antonita bore from the
Lanrick north 220 miles, and the storm's centre, as placed by the
Ca&z at noon Sept. 4th, bore N.N.E. \ E. 115 miles.
The winds blowing from opposite directions, experienced at the
same time by the Antonita and Lam-ick, furnish a convincing
proof that the centre of the cyclone passed between them. A fact
we are enabled to verify by the accounts of the gale received from
the Water Witch and Cadiz.
'Before describing the remarkable phenomena observed on board
these two vessels, we may notice the Log of the French ship
Mantart, the only vessel from which any information has been
received respecting the weather to the eastward of Formosa. This
vessel met the cyclone, between the north end of that island and
the small adjacent island of Kumi, in the evening of September 2d.
Finding the gale" to be freshening rapidly from N.Wd. with every
indication of bad weather, Captain Gravereau bore up to seek for
shelter under the Meiaco islands. As the gale increased, the
Mantart continued scudding before it, altering her course so as to
keep the wind right aft, as it veered round from N.W. to W. and
finally to S.W. She thus sailed round the southern semicircle of
the cyclone, and eventually steered to the N.Wd. passing between
the Meiaco and Loochoo group of islands. This happened on the
4th of September, when the weather had moderated and the wind
had Veered to S.E.
"The Mantart't Log shows the gale to have been at its height
m the afternoon of Sept. 3d, the wind "being then S.W. Calculating
the-position of the storm's centre at that time by the rate of progress
S*


82 SHANGHAI LITERARY AND SCIENTIFIC SOCIETY.
obtained from its positions as noted on board the Water Witch
and Cadiz on the 3d at midnight and 4th Sept. at 11 a.m., we
find that it bore from the Mansart N.W. 140 miles. The Mantarf*
barometer stood lowest (28.31) from 4 p.m. to midnight, on Sept.
3d. It does not appear to have been registered very frequently.
Captain Gravereau describes both wind and sea as terrific, his
crew were constantly at the pumps, and a portion of the cargo
was thrown overboard to save the vessel from foundering.
The Logs of the Antonita, Lanrick, and Manmrt indicate the
changes of wind at different points of the storm's circumference.
We may now examine the Log-book of the Water Witch, and
the account of what happened to the Cadiz, both of these vessels
having passed through the vortex of the cyclone. During the
whole of Sept. 3d, the Water Witch had a heavy gale from N. by
E. to N. It is worthy of notice that the wind remained steady,
indicating that the vessel was lying nearly in the track of the
advancing centre, whose bearing therefore remained, very nearly,
if not exactly the same. The aneroid, as may be supposed, was
falling very rapidly; if it has been correctly registered, it fell one
inch and 3-10ths between 6 a.m. and midnight. At that time a
hurricane was blowing from the north, when it suddenly became
completely calm. The sky was clear overhead and the stars were
shining brightly, while around the horizon all was in gloom and
darkness. An awful sea rising in huge masses broke over the
vessel on all sides, sweeping her decks from end to end. Birds
were flying about in all directions; a fact likewise noted on board
the Cadiz. After about ten minutes of treacherous calm, the
hurricane again burst forth with redoubled furyj from the south,
exactly the opposite point of the compass. Until 10 a.m. the wind
was terrific, the ship appeared about to sink; all efforts to cut
away the masts or to work the pumps were unavailing, for the
crew were completely paralyzed. The gale then moderated and
veered round to the S.Ed., but a "tremendous sea still ran
mountains high." The barometer fell to 28.35.
The Cadiz was 15 miles N.N.E. of Tung-ying at 10 p.m. on
Sept. 3d. The weather looked threatening, the barometer was
falling, and a strong gale was blowing from the northward. Being
desirous to call off the White Dogs for the Foochow mail, Captain
Aldham hove to on the port tack, the ship's head being about
E.N.E. The wind increased during the night, but remained quite


AHT. II. CYCLONES, OR THE LAW OF STORMS. 33
steady showing that the centre of the storm remained on the same
bearing as it approached the vessel. Between 5 a.m. and 11 a.m.
the wind blew with the greatest fury. The storm then ceased
and a calm succeeded, lasting for about three quarters of an hour.
Birds and butterflies were dropping on the decks in great numbers.
Suddenly the hurricane again commenced with a blast from the
S.S.J?., veering gradually round to the eastward as it moderated.
Fortunately none of the wreck from the spars became entangled
in the screw, for had the engines once stopped, the Cadiz would
most probably have foundered. The screw alone kept her bow to
the sea, which is described as tremendous, especially at the time
of the sudden change of wind, when it appeared like a huge wall
of water about to overwhelm the vessel.
On the arrival of the Cadiz at Amoy it was ascertained that
the tyfoon had not been felt there. The barometer on board the
Cadiz fell to 28.40.
The Logs, which have been selected for investigation, are those
of a few vessels whose positions were most favorable for illustrating
the remarkable features of this cyclone. The observations made
on board other ships, such as the Banshee, Aerolite, and Pride of
the Ocean, prove this storm to have been one of limited extent,
especially as" regards its southern portion. For all the vessels to
the southward of the Lanrich had moderate weather; but in all
their Log-books a heavy N.E. or easterly swell is noted.
The Banshee saw the Friendship, a Siamese vessel, lying dis-
masted in Lat. 27° 2/ N., Long. 121° 52/ E., on the 5th September.
This vessel must have been very near the vortex of the cyclone on
the 4th Sept. The Siamese ship Bangkok Mark met with the
Texas, hkewise dismasted, in Lat. 20° 48' N., Long. 120° 54' E.
As might have been expected from the position of Foochow,
the gale was felt there in all its violence. During the night of
Sept. 3d it was blowing a gale from north veering to N.N.W.
At 8 p.m. the barometer was 29.43; at midnight 29.39. On the
4th September, at 9 a.m. 29.05; 11 a.m. 23.96; at noon 28.88;
at 1 p.m. 28.80; 2 p.m. 28.68; and between 3 and 4 p.m. it
reached the lowest point, 28.58. The wind was then west, veering
to the S.Wd. The storm was at its height between 2 and 4 p.m.
The howling of the wind was fearful and its force terrific. Many
houses were unroofed and two are said to have been blown down;
the largest trees were uprooted. Excepting among the Chinese
iiti.


31 SHANGHAI LITERARY AND SCIENTIFIC SOCIETY.
craft, no serious disasters occurred to the shipping in the river
Min.
H. M. S. Camilla was lying at the Pagoda anchorage about 10
miles S.E. from Foochow. On Sept. 4th her barometer at 8 a.m.
was 29.09; at noon, 28.76, wind W.N.W. force 10. At 2 p.m.
wind west, blowing a hurricane with heavy rain, sea breaking over
the ship, even in that well sheltered river. At 4 p.m. barometer
lowest; wind S.W.; after this time the gale moderated.
The insecure anchorage of Tamsui, at the N.W. corner of the
island of Formosa, must have been exposed to the most severe
portion of the cyclone. The only information received from there
is contained in the following extract from a record kept on board
the barque Wkampoa.
Date.
SkipU Name.
Tim*.
BuramttfT.
Wind.
8ept. 3d
Sept 4th
8 P.M.
89.80
29.70
29 60
28.80
N.N.W.
veering
o »
midnight
to
W.8.W.
• and
S.W.
•i
e a.m.
slightly riling
The rush of water from the river at Tamsui was so great that
the ships were driven from their anchors against the wind. Four
vessels were at anchor there during the gale. The commander
of the Whampoa, finding her drifting out with four anchors down,
dropped his foresail and beached the vessel. The Vixen schooner,
and another vessel of the same class, drifted to sea and immediately
foundered. The barque Melenia drifted; but escaped to sea
without damage.
Keelung harbour bears east about 18 miles from Tamsui,
measuring across the promontory forming the north end of
Formosa. The ships at Keelung must have been in some measure
sheltered by this promontory from the western portion of the
cyclone. The following brief account is extracted from the Log-
book and sea protest of the Dutch barque Jeannette $ Cornelia.
During the night of Sept. 3d a light breeze blew from the north;
in the evening the sky became cloudy and the breeze increased.
At 8 p.m. the barometer was 29.83; at noon 29.67. In the
afternoon the breeze freshened from N.N.E. with heavy rain. In
the evening the weather was stormy, and a higher tea rolled in
. than had before been experienced in this harbour, although a far


ABT. II. CTCLOKE8, OB TBE LAW OF STORMS. 36
more severe gale occurred there on the 16th of July 1867. At
8 p.m. barometer 29.37; 10 p.m. 29.25; midnight 29.07.
Sept. 4th. After midnight the wind veered to the N.Wd., then
to west, and finally at 4 a.m. to S.W. At 2 a.m. barometer 28.90;
4 a.m. 28.84. From midnight until 4 a.m. the gale was strongest.
At 5 o'clock the barometer commenced rising, being then 28.87 r
7 a.m. 28.97; 9 a.m. 29.09. After 6 o'clock the gale moderated,
and in the forenoon a light breeze was blowing from S. to S.S.E.
At noon barometer 29.25; 4 p.m. 29.36; 8 p.m. 29.43.
It is an additional proof of the comparatively small diameter of
this cyclone and of its slow rate of progress, that while the weather
was moderate at Keelung on the evening of Sept 2d, the Mamtart
only 50 miles distant had a strong gale from the N.Wd.
From the data obtained we may form, a tolerably accurate
estimate of the storm's rate of progress, and of the direction in
which it was advancing. Assuming the Water Witch to have
been in the vortex at midnight Sept. 3d, and the Cadiz to have
been in the same predicament at 11 a.m., on the 4th, we can lay
down these two positions of the centre. Drawing a line through
them and producing it until within the shortest distance from
Foochow, we thus ascertain the position of the centre when nearest
to that city. The time when the centre arrived at this position is
shown by the barometers, which reached their lowest point at
three p.m. of Sept. 4th. Measuring the distance between the two
positions of the centre at midnight on the 3d, and at 8 p.m. on
the 4th, we find that the storm has travelled 160 miles on a
W. by N. | N. course in 15 hours, or at the rate of 10 "miles an
hour. The same rate of progress results from taking the mean of
the following estimates:—
Bala of prograM at manured
Between. Wattr mtek and Cadi* 7 mile* an hoar.

IGutlMBMaaof the whale. '.
Having thus noticed a few of the observations made daring this
severe cyclone, we may briefly recapitulate its moat interesting
features. We find it to be a distinctly marked revolving storm,


86' - SHANGHAI LITERARY AWD SCIENTIFIC SOCIETY.
26th and 27th parallels of north latitude. Its coarse was nearly
W.N.W. and its rate of progress averaged 10 miles an hour.
Beyond the Antonita to the north, and beyond the Lanrieh to
the south, the winds were comparatively moderate. That portion
of the cyclone, where the wind exceeded a strong breeze in force,
cannot he considered as more than 300 miles in diameter.
How beautifully is the truth of the Law of Storms confirmed
by the winds noted on board the Antonita, Lanruk, and Mansart.
On the northern verge of the storm's circumference we see the
Antonita riding in Lotsin bay, the wind blowing a tyfoon from
the eastward; at the southern limit, about 200 miles from the
Antonita, the Lanrieh has a severe gale from the westward.
East of Formosa the Manmrt is flying before U - -ale, marking
its rotatory character by her semi-circular track while in the
centre of the circle, on whose circumference thev -seie are placed,
the dismasted Friendship and the Water Witt... nd Cadiz are
lying,helpless in the vortex of the cyclone!
However incomplete may be the information, collected in the
preceding j>ages with respect to the gales, whose phenomena we
have been considering, it is sufficient to prove that more detailed
observations would be of the utmost service in extending our
knowledge of the cyclones so prevalent on the coast of China,
. especially between Foochow and Shanghai, and in the Formosa
Channel.
Two phenomena, in some, measure connected w. h great storms,
have yet to be noticed.
Nearly all severe gales are accompanied by a considerable rise
of water at the places where they occur. Captain Baylis, com-
manding the Folkftone at Woosung, estimated the rise of the river,
on the 7th and 8th of September, at about three feet above the
highest spring tides. Happily this flood was not sufficiently high
to cause any serious damage. In this flat country, so nearly on
a level with the waters of the Yang-tse Kiang, a rise of only a
few feet might be attended with disastrous consequences, such as
have already been mentioned as having occurred, during a hurricane
in 1833, at the mouth of the Hoogley in the bay of Bengal.
The diminished atmospheric pressure, which is a constant pheno-
menon during heavy gales, is probably the chief j. >se of the rise
of water. A fall of one inch of mercury denotes a diminished
pressure on the surface of the water of half a pound per square








AST. II. CTCLOIfEB, OR THE LAW OF STORK*. 87
inch; in other words, a load of 72 lbs. is taken off each square
foot of water. In addition to this cause, the wind may be blowing
on shore and would thus check the ebb and increase the flood tide
in rivers like the Yang-tee and Hoogly.
Although St. Helena and Ascension are rarely visited by severe
gales, a singular phenomenon is occasionally witnessed at these
islands. Heavy rollers suddenly set in from seaward, breaking
into a tremendous surf where they reach the shallow water. It
has been supposed that these rollers are caused by the swell from
distant hurricanes.
The Julia, sloop of war, was totally wrecked at Tristan d'Acunha,
an island about 1,300 miles S. 16° W. of St. Helena. The rollers
suddenly rushed in, and in a few minutes not a vestige of the
vessel remained.
The following table, copied from Piddington's Horn-Book, shows
the connexion between the periods at which great storms occur and
the sun's motion in declination. In the northern hemisphere the
greatest number of hurricanes take place in August and September,
while they are most prevalent in the southern hemisphere during
the corresponding months of February and March.
Table of the average number of CyeUmee in different monlke of the
year, and in tmriont parte of Ike World.
= >.
:!
J a
M
123
60
LOCALITT.
Weat India*,
'Do.
( Southern j
< Indian Ocmn }
{ 180Utol848, I
j Manrithu (
| 189010 1044, j"
i Bay of Bengal (
I 1800 to 1846, t
| China Sea I
I 1780 to 1846, t
AUTHORITY.
Nautical Magazine,
(Tuhed Service)
Journal 1843, V
page 3, I
I Heid,Thorn, H.)
| Piddiuicton,
IM. Labatta;
TranaaetfawM) of(
Royal Society,
Mauritlual840,
H. Piddiugtoii,.
H. Piddington,.
Moxth*.
13
10
1516
J
13
10
13|13[
|
mm
a Lb*.
X


88 SHANGHAI . LITERARY AND SCIENTIFIC SOCIETY.
Although nearly all parts of the earth are subject to severe
storms, the most destructive are chiefly confined to the inter-
tropical regions. The West India hurricanes, the storms in the
bay of Bengal, and the tyfoons of the Chinese seas are the best
known cyclones in the northern hemisphere. South of the equator
the investigations have hitherto been limited almost exclusively to
the hurricanes in the neighbourhood of the Mauritius, with the
exception however of several records which have been made of
rotatory gales near New Caledonia to the eastward of Australia;
other hurricane regions will no doubt be found as our knowledge
of the southern seas becomes enlarged.
A reference to a Mercator's Chart of the world shows a remark-
able similarity of position, as regards the trade-winds and the
continents towards which they are blowing, between Formosa,
the Mauritius, the West India islands and New Caledonia; for
the adjacent island of Australia may from its size be considered as
a continent. If we examine the paths of the cyclones in both
hemispheres, we shall find that the vertices of the parabolic curves
which they describe, He very nearly in the same latitudes as the
limits of the trade-winds. Hence it is evident that an intimate
connexion exists between rotatory storms and the permanent winds
on the surface of the earth. The solar heat and the rotation of
the earth, by which the trade-winds and monsoons are produced,
are doubtless the chief agents in the production of cyclones and
their attendant phenomena.
In speculating upon the causes which give rise to these remark-
able meteors we leave the firm basis of ascertained facts for the
regions of vague hypothesis. Hitherto we have been dealing with
a simple and well-defined law, confirmed by numerous observa-
tions; but in our speculations upon the origin and termination of
storms, we find few data to guide us, and they bear only in an'
indirect manner upon the problem we are anxious to solve.
As before mentioned, we know that the sun's action upon the
atmosphere, combined with the rotation of the earth, produce
those remarkable winds so well known by the appropriate name
of trade-wnids. The monsoons of the eastern seas are simply
trade-winds, whose direction has been modified by the effects of
the solar heat on the continents of Asia and Africa.
We can likewise explain the causes which produce many local
and partial disturbances in the atmosphere; such, for instance, a*


ART. II. CYCLONES, Oil THE LAW OF STORMS. 89
the land and sea breezes, which succeed each other with such
beautiful regularity on the consts of many tropical countries. A
fair knowledge has also been obtained of the other aerial phenomena,
by which the temperature of the earth's atmosphere is regulated.
The heated air, from the equatorial parts of the earth, flows in
two continuous currents through the upper regions of the atmos-
phere, towards the north and south poles. These currents carry
into higher latitudes the great velocity due to the rapid movement
of the earth's surface at the equator. The movement towards the
]toles, combined with this rapid motion from west to east, produce
as their resultant a N.W. wind in the southern, and a S.W. wind in
the northern hemisphere, beyond the limits of the trade-winds.
The velocity of a point rotating at the equator is, in round
numbers, 1,000 miles an hour. At latitude 80° it is 860 miles j
at 40°, 766; and 50°, 643 miles an hour: varying as the cosine
of the latitude. It is therefore easy to understand that a portion
of air, with a velocity of 1,000 miles an hour from the west,
descending to the earth's surface at latitude 40°, where the velocity
is only 766 miles an hour, will have the effect of a westerly wind
of about 200 miles an hour. Fiom this we must make a large
deduction for friction, resistance of other strata of air, Sec; still
there is a sufficient residual excess of velocity to account for the
prevailing westerly winds in both hemispheres, between the Arctic
regions and the trade-winds.
Sir John Herschell appears to consider this circumstance as
likely to afford some assistance towards discovering the origin of
.storms, for he suggests it as worth inquiry, "whether hurricanes
in tropical climates may not arise from portions of the upper
currents prematurely diverted downwards before their relative
velocity has been sufficiently reduced by friction on, and gradual
mixing with, the lower strata; and so dashing upon the earth
with that tremendous velocity which gives them their destructive
character, and of which hardly any rational account has yet been
given. But it by no means follows that this must always be the
case. In general, a rapid transfer, either way, in latitude, of any
mass of air which local or temporary causes might carry above
the immediate reach of the friction of the earth's surface, would
give a fearful exaggeration to its velocity. Wherever such a nuns
should strike the earth, a hurricane might arise; and should two
such masses encounter in mid air, a tornado of any degree of


40
SHANGHAI LITERARY AND SCIENTIFIC SOCIETT.
intensity on record might easily result from their combination."'
Her&cheWs Astronomy, Note, page 149.
The sudden contact with the earth of a current of air, retaining
the immense velocity due to a low latitude might produce a wind
of fearful violence; tut we still have to account for the rotatory
and progressive motions, which characterize all severe storms; nor
does the present state of our knowledge afford any satisfactory
explanation of these phenomena.
It is remarkable that rotatory motion should be so general
throughout the universe. The planets and their satellites revolve
round the sun and rotate upon their axes at the same time. The
sun itself has a rotatory motion. The double stars revolve round
each other; and the movement of the whole solar system in space
is probably a vast circular motion round some inconceivably
remote central body.
A new theory, now attracting notice, supposes eveiy molecule
of matter to be in a state of rotation, and heat, and electricity to
be peculiar conditions of these revolving atoms. How startling is
the idea that matter, which we are accustomed to regard as solid,
should be composed of innumerable rotating particles, infinitely-
near to each other, yet never touching, all of which are whirling
round and round with marvellous rapidity.
Small whirlwinds, which have been termed whirlpillars, are
frequently seen at sea, where they produce water-spouts. At
times they have been noticed revolving within the circumference
of the great cyclones. But these peculiar gyrations of the atmos-
phere are most common on the hot arid plains of India, and on the
sandy deserts of Africa, where they have been seen chasing each
other in rapid succession, overturning tents and carrying up in
their vortices any light articles they may meet in their path. It
is not impossible that these small whirl-winds may, when better
understood, afford a key to the solution of the perplexing problem
we are considering.
Professor Daniel considers an atmosphere floating over a heated
plain to be in a state of unstable equilibrium. In other words, an
atmosphere in this state is liable to be disturbed and set in motion
by the slightest cause. The dense surrounding air will at times
break in and produce horizontal revolutions and vortices of greater
and less extent, such as are common in all fluids when acted on
by concurring horizontal and vertical forces. This account of the


ART. II. CYCL0NE8, OR THE LAW OF STORMS. 41
manner in which these strange whirlwinds are produced may be
perfectly true, and cyclones may in some degree resemble them;
yet there is one fatal objection to the theory that cyclones and
whirlpillars result from the same causes. Cyclones invariably
rotate in one particular direction in each hemisphere, while the
whirlpillars have been seen to revolve both ways in the same
hemisphere. We must therefore reject this explanation of the
manner in which revolving storms originate, as it does not account
for all their observed phenomena.
Sir W. Reid has suggested that electricity may be the original
cause of rotating storms. This peculiar condition of matter, for
such it is now presumed to be, plays so important a part in the
economy of nature, that it would be rash to deny the possibility
of its being the agency by which storms are produced. Yet we
can scarcely feel confident that the electrical phenomena exhibited
during heavy gales are not effects rather than causes. May not
the disturbance of the atmosphere approximate clouds charged
with different electricities, and thus give rise to the display of
intense electrical action?
In support of his views, Sir W. Reid mentions a remarkable coin-
cidence, which in some measure confirms the supposition of a con-
nection existing between hurricanes and Electricity or Magnetism.
The islands of Mauritius and St. Helena lie nearly in the same
latitude, yet the neighbourhood of the former island is a noted
hurricane region, while at St. Helena even a gale rarely occurs.
Now it appears that at St. Helena the magnetic intensity^ the
earth is a minimum. In addition to this fact, the meridians which
- pass through two, of the four magnetic poles, likewise pass through
the Chinese sea and near the Caribbean sea, the chief localities of
tyfoons and hurricanes; and in these regions the earth's magnetic
intensity is most strongly displayed.
Without pursuing these speculations any farther, enough has
been shown, to prove the importance of recording all meteorological
observations. The commander of every vessel sailing on the wide
ocean has frequent opportunities of adding to the information
already collected; and from no seafaring men would recorded
observations be more valuable, than from captains of vessels trading
on the coast of China between Hongkong and Shanghai.
The sea to the eastward of Formosa, lying directly in the track
of vessels sailing between Australia and the north of China, has
DM. XI


ART. II. CYCLONES, OR THE LAW OF STORMS. 43
C.implex as the phenomena of that science appear to lis at present,
«e have seen that the law which one portion of them obeys, has
already been discovered. We may therefore expect that in due
time the whole subject will be elucidated. When future philoso-
phers aided by diligent observers shall have accomplished this task,
the laws which govern the winds and the waves will prove to be
»« certain in their operation, as those by which the movements
of heavenly bodies are regulated. The seaman, exposed to the
terrific fury of a hurricane, fails to perceive the utility of these
dfvastating whirlwinds. Yet we cannot doubt that they have been
ordained to serve some wise and useful purpose.
Could we but scan the wonders of nature with the eye of
omniscience, we should cease to marvel at these seeming anomalies.
For we should then understand what we can now only surmise, that
cyclones, like other apparent evils, are not capricious interruptions
of the harmony of nature, but essential portions of the grand scheme
of Divine Beneficence.
"All nature is but art, unknown to thee;
All chance, direction, which thou can'st not see;
All discord, harmony, not understood j
All partial evil, universal good."


[ 44 ]
ARTICLE III.
COINS OF THE ^ |H TA-TSING,
OB PRESENT DYNASTY OF CHINA.
By Mr. A. Wylie.
Laid before the Society, November 17tb, 18T<7.
The following catalogue of Coins, cast in China during the
domination of the Manchu dynasty, does not profess to be complete,
but it is believed the number omitted is inconsiderable. The
greater part of the cuts are copies from actual specimens; some
of the extra-legal coins are from representations given in the
|j| ^ ,/J\ jj^j Seitdn ts'ing iteadu stw!en, "Numismatic Memo-
randa;" a very few are given from detailed descriptions in
the W jfj? Tueen pe k'adu, "Researches on Coins;" and
some few others from an unpublished manuscript, entitled |||
tfe jW Tseen pod te hang, "Essence of Numismastic Treatises."
The notes have been for the greater part checked off by the
Til ^Jfl^.^ #J t& ufins hmf,y uin Ki u> "Officii
details relating to the Statistics of the Tn-ts'ing dynasty;" which
contains a large accumulation of facts regarding the imperial
coinage. It is well known that in the different issues of the same
coin from year to year, at the same mint even, there is greut
variety, both in the diameter and thickness, and also in the quality
and colour of the metal. Moreover, besides the government works,
illegal coinage is always carried on to a great extent, notwith-
standing the severe penalties for the offence, which exist on the
statute book. The great variety being thus further supplemented,
any attempt to form a complete collection, or to classify the
existing specimens would prove a vain endeavour. The following
list merely includes one of each kind as distinguished by the
i; to have given the varieties of each, even that are in
i circulation, would have increased the number many fold.


ART. III. COINS OF THB TA-Ts'lNG DYNASTY. 40
We find a greater regularity in the coins issued from the Ho6-po6
mint, these being intended as models for the empire, but differences
are observable among them also; however, nine-tenths of a Chinese
inch may be taken as about the standard diameter, and it will be
found that the variations either in excess or dificit, ezoept within
the last two reigns, do not exceed a twentieth part of an inch.
In 1644, the first year of Shun-che, the weight fixed upon for
the cash was 1 Ueen. The following year, it was increased to
1 Ueen 2 fun, and later in the same year un more was added.
In 1654 the standard weight was 1 Ueen 1 fun 5 le. In 1657
the weight was fixed at 1 Ueen 4 fun. In 1684 the weight was
altered to 1 Ueen. In 1702, the coinage of 1657 was taken as
the model, and the weight again fixed at 1 Ueen 4 fun. In 1734
the weight was altered to 1 Ueen 2 fun.
The alloys used have varied greatly, according to the exigencies
of the time and place, but the authorized proportions may be
generally stated, from the commencement of the dynasty till about
1722, as,—copper 50, zinc 41 J, lead 6J, tin 2. After that time,
the composition consisted of equal parts of copper and zinc. The
official statement for recent times has not been obtained.
1 2

Nos. 1 and 2 were coined by ^ jjjf^ T'ae" tsob, the founder
of the now reigning Manchu dynasty, about the time of his instal-
ment as prince of tile nation in 1616.
•LSI. XII


46
SHANGHAI LITERARY AND SCIENTIFIC SOCIETY.
The superscription on No. 1 is, at the top and bottom, ^ $f
T'een ming "Heavenly Mandate," that being the national designa-
tion adopted for his reign; on the right and left sides, is fung
pabu "current coin;" making together "Current coin of the
Heavenly Mandate (period)."
No. 2 is the counterpart of the preceding, in tbe Manchu
character, giving a specimen of the same in the partially-formed
state at which it had then arrived. It is read in the order—left,
right, top, and bottom,—Apkai fuhngga han tziha "Imperial
coin of the Heavenly Mandate (period)."
No. 3 was coined on the accession of the succeeding monarch
fcto T'ae tsung, who ascended the throne in 1627. The char-
acters at the top and bottom are ^ ffy T'een Wung "Heavenly
Intelligence," that being the newly-adopted national designation;
the two side characters are the same as on 1,—t 'ung pabu, giving
as the full inscription, "Current coin of the Heavenly Intelligence
(period)."*
No. 4 is another coin of the same prince, bearing the characters
^ Ttfung tih at the top and bottom, signifying "Eminent
Virtue," that being the new national designation adopted in 163C,
when T'a6 tsung was acknowledged emperor. The full inscription
reads,—"Current coin of the Eminent Virtue (period)."
These four coins are without inscription on the reverse.
6 6

• I find it stated In the Turn pi k'adu, that there was a large cash coined
during this term, with a Manchu reverse, signifying "Coin of the Intelligent
Emperor."












40








ART. III. COINS OF THE TA-TS'lNO DYNASTY. 68
67 68

The above sixty-five coins were issued during the reign of
"St jfifl. She tso6, the first of this dynasty who ruled over China;
they all bear the same inscription on the obverse,—yj^
Shun che, "Compliant Government," being the national designa-
tion adopted for that prince's reign, which gives the superscription
in full,—Shun che t'ung padu "Current coin of the Compliant
Government (period)."
No. 6 was coined in 1644, the first year of the emperor's reign.
This was issued from the mint attached to the ^ Hodpod,
"Board of Revenue" at Peking, and bears the inscription in
Mancbu characters,—Pau Uiorvan, being the transcript of the
two Chinese characters ^ jjj^ "Fountain head of the Currency."
The money from this mint served as a model for the various
provincial coinages.
No. 6 was issued from the mint attached to the 1_ -qjj Kunq
pod, "Board of Works." The reverse has the inscription in Manchu,
—Pau yvman, being the transcript of the two.Chinese characters
5f ^ "Source of the Currency."
No. 7 has a plain reverse. There are a "number of coins of the
Shuu-ohe period like this, without any indication of the time
when, or the place where, they were cast; they are said to have
been issued about the commencement of the reign.
UN. XIV


54 SHANGHAI LITERARY AND SCIENTIFIC SOCIETY.
No. 8 has the character pjjS Lin, for Ltn-ts'ing, a departmental
city in Shan-tung, where a mint was opened in 1644.
No. 9 has the character j||J Ke, for Ke-chow in Ch'ih-le, where
a mint was opened in 1644.
No. 10 has the character Jj^i Yuen, for T'ae-yuen in Shan-se,
where a mint was opened in 1645.
No. 11 has the character King, for King-chow in Ho6-pih,
where a mint was opened in 1646.
No. 12 has the character ]pf Ho, for H6-nfin, a mint having heen
established at the capital of that province in 1647.
No. 13 has the character jjjjg Fuh, for Fuh-chow in Fuh-ke'en,
where a mint was opened in 1649.
No. 14 has the character f^t Ning, for Ning-po, where a mint
was established in 1649.
No. 15 has the character j|£ Tung, for Shan-tung, in which
province a mint was established in 1649.
No. 16 has the character ^j- Che, for Che-keang, at the capital
of which province a mint was opened in 1649.
No. 17 has the character Ydng, for Yfing-h6 in Shan-se,
where a mint was opened in 1649.
No. 18 has the character || Ch'ang, for Woo-ch'ang the capi-
tal of Hoo-pih province, where a mint was established in 1650.
No. 19 has the character Seang, for Seang-yang in Hoo-
pih, where a mint was established in 1650, and stopped in 1652.
No. 20 has the character Jjf* Chung, the application of which
is not clear. There are two cities of this name; Chung-chow in
Sze-ch'uen, and Chung-chow in Kwnng-se.
The preceding thirteen coins all have the character on the
reverse above the aperture. On the following seventeen, it is
placed on the right.
No. 21 has on the reverse (the character ^5 Hob, indicating
its issue from the mint in connexion with the Ho6-po6.
No. 22 bears the character ^ Kung on the reverse, shewing
that it is issued from the mint belonging to the Kung-po^. This


ART. III. COINS OF THE TA-TS'lNQ DYNASTY.
66
and the preceding one were coined during the first decade of the
jieriod Shun-che.
No. 23 has the character Tung, for Ta-t'ung in Shan-se,
where a mint was opened in 1645. This was removed to Yang-
bo in 1649.
No. 24 has the character ^ Y&n, for Meih-yun in Ch'ih-16,
where a mint was opened in 1645.
No. 25 has the character Seuen, for Seuen-fod in Ch'ih-16,
where a mint was opened in 1649.
No. 26 has Lin, for Lin-ts'ing in Shan-tung.
No. 27 has Tung, for Shan-tung.
No. 28 has Yuen, for T'a6-yuen in Shan-se.
No. 29 has Yang, for Yang-hd in Shan-se.
No. 30 has Ho, for H6-nan.
No. 31 has Che, for Che-kgang.
No. 32 has King, for King-chow in Ho6-pih.
No. 33 has Ke, for Ke-chow in Ch'ih-16.
No. 34 has Fuh, for Fuh-chow.
No. 35 has the character ^ *Yun, literally "To say," but the
meaning of it on the coin is doubtful.
No. 36 has the character —• Yih "One," which is also of un-
certain meaning.
No. 37 has the character ^ Urh "Two," the meaning also
uncertain.
In 1653, orders were issued for an improvement in the work-
manship of the coinage, the various mints receiving instructions
to issue a coin with the two characters —■ JjJ Yih U on the
reverse, accompanied by the names of the respective mints; on
which occasion the coins Nos. 38 to 54 inclusive were cast, each
having the characters Yih Id "Onele"+ on the left side of the
reverse, indicating its value in silver. The right sides have the
local names, as follows:—
No. 38, Hod, for Ho6-po6, "the Board of Revenue."
* Ai this ia the original form of the character it may poadblv be intended
for Mdh-yon in Ch'Ih-le.
t A k ia the n»a thoieandti part of a tael (King), or Chinete ounce.


56 SHANGHAI LITERARY AND SCIENTIFIC SOCIETY.
No. 39, Kung, for Kung-poo, "the Board of Works."
No. 40, Lin, for Ltn-ts'ing.
No. 41, Ke, for Ke-chow.
No. 42, Yuen, for T'ae-yuen.
No. 43, Hd, for Ho-ntin.
No. 44, Fuh, for Fuh-chow.
No. 45, Ning, for Ning-po.
No. 46, Tuny, for Shan-tung.
No. 47, Che, for Che-keang.
No. 48, Yang, for YAng-h6.
No. 49, Ch'ang, for Woo-ch'ang. Cast in 1053.
No. 50, Yun, for Meih-yftn.
No. 51, T'fing, for Ta-t'ung. Cast after the reopening of the
- mint in 1656.
No. 52, Seuen, for Seuen-fod.
No. 53 has Keang, for Keang-nlng (Nanking).
No. 54 has Slien, for Shen-se province.
The two following coins are the only ones that have a single
Chinese character on the left of the reverse.
No. 65 has the character ${E Yen, for Yen-suy in Shen-se,
where a mint was opened in 1644, and stopped in 1648.
No. 56 has the character l|£ Tung, probahly for Kwang-tung,
where a mint was established in 1647.
Nos. 57 to 69 inclusive, all bear the name of the mint on the
right of the reverse in Chinese, with the same word in the Manchu
character on the left, as follows:—
No. 57, Lin, for Ltn-ts'ing.
No. 58, Ke, foV K6-chow.
No. 59, Yuen, for T'a6-yuen.
No. 60, H6, for H6-nan.
No. 61, Ning, for Ning-po.
No. 62, Tung, for Shan-tnng.
No. 63, Che, for Che-keang.
No. 64, Ch'ang, for Woo-ch'ang.
No. 65, Seuen, for Seuen-fod.
No. 66, Keang, for Keang-ning.
No. 67, Shen, for Shen-se. This and the ten preceding were
issued in 1653.


ART. III. COINS OF THE TA-TS'lNO DYNASTY.
67
No. 68, T'ung, for Tfi-t'ung; the mint having been removed
from Yang-h6 to this place in 1666, this coin was issued the
same year.
No. 69 has ^ Yin, for Yun-nan, in Chinese and Manchu; a
mint was opened in this province in 1660, when this coin was








60
SHANGHAI LITERARY AND SCIENTIFIC SOCIETT.
96

On the death of the emperor in 1661, the national designation
adopted for I|| jjj&-Shing--tso& his successor was |£ EE K'ang
he "Peaceful Lustre;" when a new obverse was cut, with the
superscription K'ang he fwtff padu, "Current coin of the Peaceful
Lustre (period);" which is the device on the face of all the above
twenty-nine coins.
No. 70 was cast at the mint of the Board of Revenue in the
year of the accession, as a model for the provincial mints. The
reverse has the inscription in Manchu,—Pau Uioman "Fountain
head of the Currency."
.No. 71 was issued from the mint of the Board of Works, and
has the inscription on the reverse,—Pau yurvan "Source of the
Currency," in Manchu characters.
In 1662, all the provincial mints, except that of Nanking, were
closed, and were again opened in 1667. The following twenty-
five coins all have the local names on the reverse, in the Chinese
and Manchu characters.
No. 72 has Keang, for Keang-ntng (Nanking). This mint
seems to have been in operation from 1662, throughout the K'ang-
he period.
No. 73 has T'&ng, for Ta-t'ung in Shan-se, a mint having been
in operation in that city from 1667 till 1670.
No. 74 has Puh, for Puh-keen. This coin was cast at the
capital of that province, where a mint was re-established in 1667,
and continued in operation till 1670.
No. 75 has Lin, for Lm-ts'ing; at which city a mint was in
operation from 1667 till 1675, when it was closed.
No. 76 has Tung, for Shan-tung. This was issued at the
capital city of that province, where a mint was in operation from
1667 till 1670, when it was closed.
No. 77 has Seuen, for Seuen-fod. This mint was in operation
from 1667 till 1671, when it was finally closed.


ART. III. OOIKS OV «HB TA-TS'lWG DT1CA8TT. 61
No. 78 has Yutht, for T'ae-yuln; where a mint was in operation
from 1067 till 1670.
No. 79 has Soo, for Soo-chow in Keang-nftn. A mint was
established at this city in 1667, and closed in 1670.
No. 80 has Ke, for Ke-chow. Coining was carried on at this
mint from 1667 till 1671, when the establishment was finally closed.
No. 81 has Ch'ang, for Wod-ch'ang. A mint was in operation
at this city from 1667 till 1670, when it was closed. It was re-
opened in 1687 and again closed in 1699.
No. 82 has Hd, for H6-nan. This coin was issued at the capital
of that province, where a mint was in operation from 1667 till 1670.
No. 83 has fff N&n, for Hoo-nAn. A mint was established at
the capital of that province in 1667, and continued in operation
till 1700, when it was closed.
No. 84 has Che, for Che-keang. A mint was in operation at
the capital city of that province, from 1667 till 1674, when it was
closed. It was reopened in 1696, and closed again in 1699.
No. 85 has JfE Kteei, for Kwei-ftn the capital of Kwang-se.
A mint was in operation in this city from 1667 till 1670, when it
was closed. It was reopened in 1679, and again closed in 1681.
No. 86 has Shin, for Shen-se. A mint was in operation at the
capital of that province, from 1667 till 1670.
No. 87 has Y&n, for Yun-nan. A mint was in operation at tba
capital of that province, from 1667 till 1670, when it was closed.
It was reopened in 1681, and again stopped for a time in 1689.
No. 88 has W Xitng, for Kung-ea'ang in Kan-enh province.
A mint was established at this city in 1667, and continued tQl
1670, when it was closed.
No. 89 has JJ£ Tung, for Kwang-tung. A mint was in opera-
tion at the capital of that province, from 1667 till 1670. It appears
to have been opened at a later period, and again closed in 1692.
No. 90 has J|| Ch'uen, for Se£-ch'uen. A mint was in opera-
tion in the capital of that province, from 1667 till 1670..
No. 91 has KmHy for Kwei-cbow. A mint was in «pen>
tion at the capital of that province, from 1667 till 1670.


02 SHANGHAI LITERARY AND SCIENTIFIC SOCIETY.
No. 92 has Chang, for Chang-chow in Fuh-keen. A mint
was established at this city in 1680, which was closed in 1683.
No. 93 has Ning, for Ning-po; this coin having been first cast
in that city in 1681.
No. 94 has p| Kwang, for Kwang-tung, the coin having been
issued at the provincial city in 1681.
No. 95 has ^£ TaS, for Tad-wan (Formosa). A mint was
established at this place in 1689, and was stopped in 1692.
No. 96 has the character B§ Se "West." This enters into
the names of several of the places where mints were established.
It is doubtful to which it belongs.
No. 97 is slightly different from the others, in the form of the
character he on the obverse. This cash is much sought after by
the Chinese, who use it for making rings for the finger. The
common name is L6-hdn tfiing tteen "Lo-han cash;" the word
L6-hdn* being the transcript in Chinese characters, of the Sanscrit
word Arhan "Venerable," the name applied to the eighteen at-
tendants of Buddha, which are frequently seen ranged along the
two sides of the principal hall in Buddhist temples. The current
tradition is, that while the emperor was intimately associated with
the European missionaries, he became imbued with a feeling of
contempt for Buddhism, and illustrated this phase in his faith,
by having a set of eighteen brass Lo-han images melted down
and cast into cash. This brass is said to contain a considerable
portion of gold, hence the great demand for the cash. The reverse
has the inscription in Manchu,—Pau tsiowan, shewing that it is
issued from the mint of the Board of Revenue.
No. 98 has on the right of the reverse, a character of an un-
common form, which is said to be a contraction of jpl Ke, for
Ke-chow. The left has the word Pau "Circulating medium," in
Manchu. The coin is much less in diameter and thinner than the
ordinary cash.
* Thti li the term in colloquial usage, but the word In full, as given in the
Buddhist books, is HAS O-li-hin.





64 SHANGHAI MTBRARY AND SCIENTIFIC SOCIETY.
100 "0

f On the death of the emperor Shing tsod in 1722^ ^ Yung
ching "Agreeable Rectitude" was adopted as the national de-
signation for the reign of |f£ §J5 Sh6 ts'ung his successor; on
which occasion a new obverse was cut, with the inscription—Yung
chlng fung padu "Current coin of the Agreeable Rectitude
(period)," which was used on all the coins of this reign. From
this time, all the coins issued in China proper bore inscriptions on
the reverse entirely in the Manchu character, except the large
cash of the present reign.
No. 99 has on the reverse—Pau ttitman "Fountain bead of
the currency." It was issued from the Revenue mint in 1722,
and was circulated as a model for the various provincial mints.
No. 100 has—Pau ytiman "Source of the currency" on the
reverse, which shews that it was issued from the mint of the Board
of Works.


ART. III. COINS OP THE TA-TS'lNO DYNASTY.
05
No. 101 lias on the reverse—Pan Trhvn-an, literally "Currency
Cli'uen," i. e. "Sze-ch'uen (branch) of the coinage," or "Sze-
cii'uen mint;" it being a transcript of the Chinese charucters
j|| I'aiiu Ch'ven. The Mancha inscriptions always begin
with the left side, being read tho reverse way of the Oliinese. A
mint was established in the capital city of Sz6-ch'uen in 1722, wliich
was stopped the following year; and was again opened in 17;12.
No. 10"J has on the reverse Pau Nan "Y fin-nan mint," ln>inpr
a transcript of the Chinese ^ Pawn Aitn. A mint was
established in the capital of that province in 17-2, which issu-nl
this coin; it was stopped in 1724.
No. 108 has Pau Gung "Kung-ch'ang mint," being a transcript
of the Chinese ^jf Pobu Kung. A mint was in operation
at this city for a short time in 172(1, and again in 172ft, where a
great quantity of the small cash previously in circulation, we»e
melted up, and large ones cast.
No. 104 has Pau Tzi "Tse-nan mint," being a transcript of
the Chinese $| fff Padu Tsc- This ™tlle
capital ot Shan-tung,
where a mint was opened in 1720.
No. 105 has Pau Tim "Shan-se mint;" it is a transcript
of the Chinese W Pabu Ttin, Tsin being the ancient name
of the country now known as Shan-se. A mint was oi>ened in the
capital of that province in 1729, which was stopped for a time in
1731, and reopened in 1734.
No. 100 has Pau Ho "H6-nan mint," a transcript of the Chinate
^ ff$ Pabu Hd. A mint was opened in the capital of that
province in 1729, and was temporarily closed in 1731.
No. 107 has Pau Tchang "Ndn-ch'ang mint," a transcript of
the Chinese ^ ||| Paou Ch'ang. This is the capital city of
Keaug-se, where a mint was opened in 1729, and stopped for a
timo in 1733.
No. 108 has Pau Che "Che-keang mint," a transcript of the
Chinese 9 fffj Pooh Che. A mint was opened in the capital
of that province in 1729.
No. 109 has Pau U "Wo6-ch'ang mint," a transcript of the
Chinese 8 jg£ Paou Woo. This is the capital of Ho6-pih,
where a mint was opened in 1729.
•us. XVII


68 SHANOHAI LITB&ABY AHD SCIENTIFIC 80CIETT.
No. 116 has Paw Kan "Hoo-nftn mint," a transcript of the
Chinese ^ |ff Poom iViin. A mint was opened in the capital
of that province in 1729.
No. Ill has Pau Y&n "Yftn-nan mint," a transcript of the
Chinese ^ ^ Poom Yun. This was coined in 1739, the pro-
Tincial mint having been reopened. In 1783, this mint was re-
moved to Tung-ch'uen.
No. 112 has Pau An "Gan-hwuy mint," a transcript of the
Chinese 4jr Padu Gan. A mint was opened in the capital
of that province in 1731.
No. 113 has Pau Soo "■ Keang-soo mint," a transcript of the
Chinese ^ Padu Soo. A mint was established in that pro*
vince in 1734, when this coin was cast.
No. 114 has Pau Kiyan, probably the transcript of ^ ^
Padu Keen, for Fuh-heen.
lie' 116





08
SHANGHAI LITERARY AND SCIENTIFIC SOCIETY.
I*1 13i

The emperor She1 ts'ung died in 1730, nnd was succeo<ffd bj
^2 Kaou ts'ung, whose reifrn was dti-^nated |fj£ Kirn
Ivinj "Celestial Support." The above twenty-two coins of this
period, bear on the obverse, the inscription—KPen lung t'ung padu
"Current coin of the Celestial Support (period)." A model coin
was issued from the capital, on the occasion, when the various
provincial mints all cast coins with a similar face. The following
are the respective reverse inscriptions, all in Manchu, down to
No. 1:32 inclusive.
No. 115 has Pau Ts'wwan, being1 issued from the mint of the
Hoard of Revenue.
No. 116 has Pau Yuwan, being issued from the mint of the
Board of Works.
No. 117 has Pau Su, being issued from the Soo-chow mint in
Kemg-soo province.
No. 118 has Pau Che, from the Che-keanR mint.


AHT. III. OOINB OF THE TA-Ts'lNO DYNASTY. 69
No. 119 has Pau Y6n, from the Yun-nan mint.
No. 130 has Pau Fu "Fuh-keen mint," a transcript of the
Chinese Pabu Fuh.
No. 121 has Pau Kiyan, probably also from the Fuh-keen mint.
No. 122 has Pau Gui "Kwei-ltn mint," a transcript of the
Chinese Ife Padu Kwei.
No. 123 has Pau Tzin, from the Shan-se mint.
No. 124 has Pau Tchurvan, from the, Sz6-ch'uen mint.
No. 125 has Pau U, from the Woo-ch'ang mint.
No. 126 has Pau Tchang, from the Nan-ch'ang mint.
No. 127 has Pau Nan, from the Hod-nan mint.
No. 128 has Pau Tzi, from the Tse-nan mint.
No. 129 has Pau Tz'i "Ch'ih-U mint," a transcript of the Chi.
nese ^jf j^[ Padu Ch'ih. A mint was opened at Pa6u-t5ng in
that province in 1745, ftom wjiich this coin was issued.
No. 130 has Pau Guwang "Kwang-tung mint," a transcript of
the Chinese w P( Padu Kmang. A mint was opened there in
1745.
No. 131 has Pau Shan "Shen-se mint," a transcript of the
Chinese ^ Padu Shin. A mint was established in that
province in 1743.
No. 132 has Pau I "E-le mint," a transcript of the Chinese
W Pabu E. A mint was established at the capital citj of
that region in 1774.
The following four coins were cast for the use of the Moham-
medan tribes of ^ B|| Chin-ho-urh "Soungaria," newly sub-
jected by the Chinese emperor, and bear the names of the respec-
tive localities on the reverse. Previous to the subjugation of these
tribes finally in 1759, the coins in use among them were denomi-
nated $g Tang-hih* and ^ Poo-iirh; 1 p'ob-urh was
* The p[ ffe £Q Kwing y* ki, • Chinese geography, In giving an ae-
a—I of Bengal, states that they have a silver coin named fjft Vang kin.
(Book M, p. 87). This word, Remaiat says ia derived from the Turkish or
Mongolian lam/a, tamoga, an object marked, as money or teah. (Melanges
Aaiaiiqnes. Tome t, p. 363) We find the same word in various Asiatic
languages. In the g§ 4j£ jfe S* ytt fing wan cU "Polyglott
UM. XVIII


70
SHANGHAI LITERARY AND SCIENTIFIC SOCIETY.
equal in value to 5 Chinese cash, and 1 tang-kih to 50 plob-urh.
It was the policy of the Chinese to have these collected and
melted up, Keen-lung p'ob-urh coins being substituted for them.
Mints were first established there the same year, and the weight
of the coins fixed at 2 tseen. A new coinage took place in 1771,
when cash of a smaller size were issued.
No. 133 has the name Aksu on the left in Manchu, and the
same on the right in Arabic.f
No. 134 has Ushi on the left in Manchu, and right in Arabic.
No. 135 has Kashigar on the left in Manchu, and right in
Arabic.
vocabulary of the Western regions," the Soungarian word
L^n" ^§ '^r] t'a-mi-ko "a brand for camels," is given in .the Kalmuc
character. (Book 1, p. 32). The Ouigour language has tamcha
"a signet"—Old Tatar IjuJ tamgha. (Klaproth's Uigurisches Worterver-
zeichniss, p. 21). Mongolian,

I'an-ha "a seal." (f|| }fe ^ Hwa I yih yu "Mongolian-Chinese
Tocabulary. Part 1, p. 42). Manchu, "Oiffi^O '""*"'*" "* token or
stamp." (^pj Ts'ing wan keen "Manchu-Chinese dictionary."
Book 3, p. 9). Tibetan, ^ ^ "SI "a "eal'" ( S
gj£ Se Fan yih yu Tibetan-Chinese vocabulary, p. 35). Bengalee,
|^ j dhaka "money." (Pearson's Bengalee Exercises, p. 21, tc).
The won) has also passed into the Persian and Arabic languages:—la*)'
tamgha "The royal insignia, a royal diploma or charter." (Richardson's
RnglUh, Persian and Arabic dictionary. Vol. 1, p. 301). Prom these exam-
ples, it seems probable that the Tang-kih spoken of above, is a word of kindred
origin.
t This cut is copied from an actual specimen. The superscriptions on the
three following, bto taken from the Se yih I'ung wan chi. There were coinages
at several other cities in the same country, but they are not mentioned by name
In the Ta-ti'iug hwiy lien.


ART. III. COINS OP THE TA-TS'lNQ DYNASTY. 71
No. 136 has Yerkiyang (Yarkand) on the left in Manchu, and
right in Arabic.
In 1792, a Chinese silver coinage was issued in Tibet, the obverse
bearing the inscription ^ ^ ^ Keen lung padu Ttang
"Tibetan branch of the Keen-lung coinage." The reverse had
the same inscription in the ^ "j^f ^ T'dng kod t'ih "Tanguth"
or "Tibetan" character. The date of the coinage was put on the
border.
137 138





ART. III. COINS OP THE TA-TS'lNQ DTNA8TT.
73
On the abdication of the emperor Kaou tsung, the national de-
signation adopted in 1796 for his successor £3 ^jJ Jin tsung, was
|g| Xea k'ing "Increasing Felicity;" when a new obverse
was cut, with the superscription Kea k'ing thing pabu "Current
coin of the Increasing Felicity (period)," the reverse inscriptions
being all in Manchu. A very perceptible deterioration in the
national coinage, appears from this period downwards, both as
regards the sue of the cash, and quality of the metal.
No. 137 has Paw Taotean, and is from the Board of Revenue mint.
No. 138 has Pau Yuwan, from the Board of Works mint.
No. 139 has Pom Su, from the Soo-chow mint.
No. 140 has Pern Che, from the Ghe-keang mint.
No. 141 has Pan Thing, from the Shan-tung mint.
No. 142 has Pau Fu, from the Fuh-keen mint.
No. 143 has Pau Xiyan, probably from the Pub-keen mint.
No. 144 has Pau Gut, from the Kwei-ltn mint.
No. 146 has Pau Tzin, from the Shan-se mint.
No. 146 has Pau Tchuman, from the Sze-ch'uen mint.
No. 147 has Pau U, from the Woo-ch'ang mint.
No. 148 has Pau Tchang, from the N&n-ch'ang mint.
No. 149 has Pau Nan, from the Hoo-nan mint.
No. 160 has Pau Tz'i, from the Ch'ih-16 mint.
No. 161 has Pau Ouwang, from the Kwang-tung mint.
No. 152 has Pau Shan, from the Shen-se mint.
No. 153 has Pau An, from the Gan-hwny mint.
No. 154 has Pau Y&n, from the Yun-nan mint.
166' 166





ART. III. COINS OF THE TA-Ts'lNQ DYNASTY.
75
Jin tsung was succeeded at his death by Seuen tsung j|l
in 1820, who ascended the throne with the national designation
jH ^ Tlw/i/ kwang "Lustre of right principles (or Reason)."
A new obverse was struck on the occasion, with the superscription
Tabu, ltrcang t'ung pavu "Current coin of the Reason's Lustre
(period)," the reverses as before being all in Manchu, as follows:—
No. 155 has Pan Tsiowan, from the Board of Revenue mint.
No. 156 has Pan Tutsan, from the Board of Works mint.
No. 157 has Pau Sv, from the Soo-chow mint.
No. 158 has Pau Che, from the Che-keang mint.
No. 159 has Pan Dung, from the Shan-tung mint.
No. 160 has Pau Kiyan, probably from the Fuh-keen mint.
No. 161 has Pau Gvi, from the Kwei-lin mint.
No. 162 has Pau Tan, from the Shan-se mint.
No. 163 has Pau Tchutvan, from the Sae-ch'uen mint.
No. 164 has Pau U, from the Woo-ch'ang mint.
No. 165 has Pau Tchang, from the Nan-ch'ang mint.
No. 166 has Pau Guwang, from the Ewang-tung mint.
No. 167 has Pau Y6n, from the Yun-nan mint.
No. 168 is also a Pau Kiyan, having an additional circle at the
top of the reverse. The only explanation given generally by the
Chinese, of marks of this class, is that they are put on by the
coiners for amusement.

171
172








78 SHANGHAI LITERARY
AND SCIENTIFIC SOCIETT.


ART. III. OOINB OK THE TA-TS'lNG DYNABTT.
79


80
SHANGHAI LITERARY AND SCIENTIFIC SOCIETY.





82
SHANGHAI LITERARY AND SCIENTIFIC SOCIETY.
On the accession of the present emperor to the throne in 1850,
■h *£ HSen Jung " Prevailing Abundance," was selected as the
national designation, when a new obverse was cast with the super-
scription Been Jung t'ung pabu "Current coin of the Prevailing
Abundance (period);" the reverses being in Manchu as before.
The specimens of coinage during this reign, in general circulation,
appear to be among the worst that have been issued in China,
especially those cast at Soo-chow.
No. 169 has Pau. Tsiowan, from the Board of Revenue* mint.
No. 170 has Pau Yurvan, from the Board of Works mint.
No. 171+as Pau Su, from the Soo-chow mint.
No. 172 has Pau Che, from the Che-keang mint.
No. 173 has Pau Gwvang, from the Kwang-tung mint.
No. 174 has Pau Fti, from the Fuh-chow mint.
The insurrection, which is about coeval with the present reign,
soon began to shew its influence as a wJurce of financial embarrass-
ment to the government. The continued drain on the treasury, for
sustaining military operations, caused the difficulty to be felt by
1853 to such an extent, that proposals of plans were invited for
meeting the emergency. Various schemes were sent in and par-
tially acted upon. Prominent uftTong these was the issue of a
paper currency; and the substitution of iron, lead, and even leather,
has been mentioned, for copper, in the manufacture of cash;
but the plan most extensively carried into operation was the
issue of large cash, having a nominal value much beyond their
intrinsic metallic worth. This experiment was tested most com-
pletely at the metropolitan mints, but it was also extended more
or less partially to the provinces. Coins wen east by the Board
of Revenue of the value nominally, of 6, 10, 50, 100, 200, 300,
400, 600, and 1000 cash. Those above 100 cash seem to have
had a very limited circulation. The following seafa for the weight
of large coins was find by the Board of Revenue:—
for 100 cash 2 Uttng A Men,
50 „ I „ 6 „
10 „ 4 „ 4/tm.
6 „ 2 „ 2 „
This gives a little more than J of the weight used in the same
number of full-sized cash in the earlier part of the dynasty.
No. 175 is one of the new coins of the value of 5 cash. The
obverse has the inscription jj£ "H£ He enfung cMngpadu


ART. III. COINS OP THE TA-TS'lNG DYNASTY. 83
"Heavy coin of the Prevailing Abundance (period)." The left
and right of the reverse has Pau Yuwan in Manchu, shewing that
it is issued from the Board of Works; above and below the
aperture is ^ggf 3l Tang mod " Equal to Five," in Chinese, that
being the value of the coin.
No. 176 has the same obverse as the preceding. At the top
and bottom of the reverse is ^ -J- Tang shih " Equal to Ten,"
indicating the numerical value; on the left and right is Pan Che,
shewing that it is coined at the Che-keang mint.
No. 177 is another of the same nominal value as the preceding,
but differing considerably in size. The only variation in the in-
scription, is that this has Pan Su on the left and right of the
reverse, shewing that it is coined at Soo-chow.
No. 178 has the same inscriptions on both sides, and is of the
same nominal value as the preceding, but is much smaller in size.
No. 179 has the same obverse as the preceding. The reverse
has Pau Tsiowan, the mark of the Board of Revenue mint, on the
left and right, and ^ i -J- Tang Wod-shih "Equal to Fifty,"
above and below.
No. 180 has exactly the same inscriptions as the preceding, but
is considerably smaller in size.
No. 181 has the same obverse. The reverse has Pan Ynwan
on the left and right, indicating its issue from the Board of Works,
and Tang Wod-shih above and below.
No. 182 has the same inscriptions as the preceding, but is smaller
in size.
No. 183 has on the obverse Jj^£ jfc Seen Jung yuen
paou "Large coin of the Prevailing Abundance (period)." The
reverse has Pau Tsiowan in Manchu, on the left and right, and
^ U Tang pih "Equal to a Hundred," in Chinese, above and
below, indicating the conventional value of the coin.
No. 184 has the same obverse as the preceding, the reverse
having Pau Yuwan on the left and right.
No. 185 has. the same obverse, the reverse having Pau Su on
the left and right.
No. 186 has on the obverse the inscription H'eenJung fung
paou "Current coin of the Prevailing Abundance (period)." The
reverse has Pau Fu in Manchu on the left and right, shewing that


84 8HANOHAI LITERARY AND SCIENTIFIC BOCIETT.
it is cast at Fuh-chow, and Yihpih "One hundred," in Chinese
above and below. This coin which is much larger than the others,
appears to have a great portion of iron in the alloy.
The small specimens of the several values are probably illegal
coinages, but they are in general circulation, the same as the
others. Both the legal and illegal ones however, have always
bees reluctantly taken by the people. In some places they will
not pass at all; at others, they are only taken for a given per-
centage of any payment The gradual reduction in the size has
almost effected their extinction as a circulating medium.
167


ART. III. COINS OF THB TA-TS'lNO DTNA6TT. 80
189

Although the only silver coinage of impoi fnuce issued under
the MancLn imperial patronage, was that first employed in Tibet
about the close of last century, yet it is no uncommon occurrence
for foreign dollars Jo he counterfeited by the Cliine?e; and that
not merely by private speculators, hut even at. the present time, or
very recently, several attempts have been made, under the direct
•auction of the high mandarins, to fiibricate the Carohw dollar.
In the time of Taoo-kwangt two kinds of dollars were issued at
the instigation of the provincial officers of Fuh-keen, both bearing
Chinese devices, as above, and intended for the payment of the
soldiers:
Mo. 187 has on the obverse a bust of the Genius of Longevity,
with four words on the breast ■ ^ K'oSping Weih iirk
"Seven (Ueen) two (J'vn) by the Treasury balance." The two
inscriptions on the border are in the seal character; that on the right
04ulff J£ t$L Sk fto TmX wan yin p
g "Silver cnke of the
standard purity (or Sycee);" the left has jj 3fc ^ fl$ Tabu
kwavg nien choo "C;ist in the time of Ta&u-kwnnfr." On the
reverse, the four words enclosing the vase ire in the Mnnchu cha-
racter; those above and below are Tut wan, the transcript of the
two characters <j£ jflj, which is the Chinese name for Formosa,
where the coin was cast. The meaning of the other two words is
not so obvious; that on the left, appears to be Kiyahi, possibly a
local name in Formosa; on the right is Itoo, which may perhaps
be intended for "Treasury," of which it is both the transcription
from the Chinese, and also the translation.
No. 188 has the two characters Tttih wan "Pure Sycee" at
the top of the obverse, the two characters below being Tung king
UM. XXII


86 SHANOHAI LITERARY AND SCIBNTIFIO SOCIETY.
"Genernlly current." The reverse bears the horizontal inscription
Chang chow keun h'eAng " Chang-chow commissariat. Under this,
a running-hand inscription gives the four characters ^ -p
J/l^ Wei U'eih ihih sze "Value seventy-four," i. e. seven Ween
{ow fun, weight in silver.
Mo. ISO is a coin of a tael weight, produced in Shanghae, under
the direction of the Intendent of Circuit, about the end of the year
1858. It was struck from a steel die, and tolerably well executed;
but it had scarcely made its appearance, wben spurious imitations,
of baser metal were put in joint circulation with it, so that confi-
dence in the new coin was speedily at an end, and it is now only
to be found as a numismatic specimen. The inscription on the
obverse is // en fvng lull neen ShAng hob hein hadu shang Wdng
Yung nhtng tstth wan yin ping " Hecn-fung, 6th year: a cake of
pure syeee silver, from the firm of Wang Yung-shtng, in the district
of Slninghae." The reverse has Choo Yuen yu keen k'ing tsacm
ping thih chhng yik hang yin Uedng Wan Tse&en Uadu "One
liing of silver, true weight by the ordinary balance, cast under
the inspection of Choo Yueii-yu, and executed by Wan Tseuen,
Silversmith."








ART. III. COINS OF THE TA-T8'lNO DYNASTY. 89
S10

The copper coins described in the preceding pages, are all
numbered among the legitimist currency of the Manchu dynasty,
having been issued by the several emperors in succession; but during
the first years of the Tartar supremacy, several attempts were
made by scions of the Ming, to re-establish the' sovereignty of
that house; on which occasions, cash were issued cotemporary
with the Manchu coinage.
When the last Ming emperor ||| Hwae-tsung was dead,
the adherents of that dynasty selected jjj jjgjj Yew-sung, a grand-
son of the emperor JQify jj2 Shin tsung, to fill the throne. On
the election of the new prince, known as jjjg f Fuh Wdng
"Prince of Fub," who held his court at Nanking, ij/, Hung
kmang "Great Lustre" was chosen for the national designation, in
1045. On the 1st day of the 10th month of the same year, the
coin No. 190 was issued, bearing on the face, the inscription Hung
kreang t'ung padu "Current coin of the Great Lustre (period)."
Tiie reverse is blank.
No. 191 is another issue, differing from the preceding, in having
a circular point at the top of the reverse.
No. 192 is another coin of the same prince, with a similar
obverse in the seal character. The reverse has the single character
Fung above the aperture, implying that it was east at (£r
Fung-yftng, under the jurisdiction of ^Ql Ma Sze-ying
when he was Governor-general there, in the year 1645.
No. 193 has the same obverse in the common character. The
reverse has the character jj|> drh on the right of the aperture,
which is a form of 22 ^r* "two," used in official documents,
and implies that the coin is equal to two of the ordinary cash.
In 1646) another member of the Ming family, entitled ffif J
T&ng Wdng " Prince of T'Ang," being a descendant of the ninth
IUI. XXIII


90
SHANGHAI LITERARY AND SCIENTIFIC SOCIETY.
generation from HjJ Tut tsoo the founder, declared himself
the representative of the falling dynasty, established his court in the
Treasurer's office at Fuh-chow, and selected £ j£ Lung rood
"Exalted Prowess" for the national designation. On this occa-
sion, the two following coins were cast, bearing on the obverse
—Lung woo t'ung padu "Current coin of the Exalted Prowess
(period)."
No. 194 has Ho6 on the reverse, the mark of the Board of
Revenue.
No. 195 has Kung, the mark of the Board of Works.
On the death of T'ang Wang, in 1646, another grandson of the
emperor Shin tsung, named S i^j J Yilngming Wdng "Prince
of the imperishable Ming," was immediately raised to the imperial
dignity at Cha6u-k'ing in Ewang-tung, with the title ^f? ■£
Kwei Wdng "Prince of Kwei;" when j$ B YUng leih "En-
during Progression" was selected for the national designation, and
a variety of coins were cast, all bearing on the obverse the inscrip-
tion— Yung leih t'ung padu "Current coin of the Enduring Pro-
gression (period)." They are distinguished by their several re-
verses as below. This prince with his mother and consort, were
baptized in the Christian faith, as were most of his courtiers.
No. 196 has Hob, for the Board of Revenue, from which the
coin appears to have been issued.
No. 197 has Kung, for the Board of Works, implying that to
be its source.
No. 198 has the character Yue, the ancient name of the
country now known as Ewang-tung and Kwang-se.
No. 199 has Ting, which perhaps stands for R jjjf Ld-ting
a departmental city in Ewang-tung, near the seat of this prince's
government.
No. 200 has fjj Ming, apparently intended for the Ming
dynasty.
Chaou-k'ing being taken by the Manchn troops in 1647, Kwei
Wang and his retinue sought refuge at Ewei-lin in Kwang-se, but
soon after abandoned that post, leaving it in charge of his viceroy
and general J||| 5^ iffi E'eu Shih-sz6, who determined to stand
or fall in the defence of Ewei-lin for his royal master. A mint


ART. III. COINS OF THE TA-TS'lNG DYNASTY. 91
was opened by him, to furnish the money necessary for his military
operations; and the reverses of the following coins indicate their
issue under his rule.
No. 201 has @ Lew "Remaining," in reference to tae re-
sident Governor K'eu Sliih-sze remaining in charge of Kwei-lin.
No. 202 has ^ ^"Governor."
No. 203 has ^ Pod "Tribunal." This and the preceding
together form the official title of K'eu Shih-sze, TuJi^pob, being
the contracted style of jj^ p$ ^ Tuiing tuh pod t'Ang
"Governor-general."
No. 204 has $$ Fo6 "Aid."
No. 205 has §3 Kwo "Nation." Tliis and the preceding to-
gether form Fob kwo "Vicegerent," indicating the status of K'eu
Shih-sz6.
No. 206 is another specimen of a larger size, with a plain reverse.
No. 207 is another, with the obverse in the running-hand, and a
plain reverse.
No. 208 is another still larger, with a plain reverse.
No. 209 is much larger than any of the others, and has on the
reverse ^ ft Yih fun "One fun," being equal in value to that
weight of silver.
In 1645 another of the Ming descendants was in arms against
the Manchus in Che-keang, where he fixed his seat of govern-
ment at T'ae-chow. This prince, who was entitled ^ jj» Lob
Wang "Prince of Loo," issued the coin No. 210^ with the super-
scription -fc jj§ ^ TA mtng t'ungpabu "Current coin of
the Great Ming dynasty." The Hob on the reverse implies its
issue from the Board of Revenue.
211


92
SHANGHAI LITERARY AND SCIENTIFIC SOCIETY.
SIS

In 1637 the rebel ^5 (=} fl£ Le Tsze-ching commenced his
revolt against the Ming government, which after a course of seven
years, prepared the way for the entrance of the Manchns into the
capital. In 1644 he fixed his seat of government at jf§
gan, the capital of Shenfse, took ^ AP Ta sMn "Thorough
Compliance" as the name of his dynasty, and appointed the tan
jjjt |§ Tung ch'cmg "Enduring Affluence" for the national de-
signation. The coin No. 911 was cast on the occasion, equal in
nominal value to one lidmg of silver. The inscription on the
obverse is— Yung ch'ang t'ungpabu "Current coin of the Enduring
Affluence (period)." The reverse is blank.
No. 212 is another coin cast under the same authority, but
much smaller. The obverse has the same inscription, and the
reverse is also blank. This coin weighs nine J'un.
S13 314

Nearly contemporaneous with the preceding, a ferocious rebel
named $ Jjfj Chang Heen-chung made himself master of
a portion of the west of China, and established his metropolis at
J$t $ Chtng-too the capital of Sz6-ch'uen, in 1644, when he
took ^ 2§ Ta se "Great Western" for the name of his dynasty,
and J|p T& shim "Thorough Compliance" for the national
designation of his reign. The coin No. 213 was cast on the occa-
sion, having on the obverse—Tu shim fungpadu "Current coin of


ART. III. COIHS OP THE TA-TSfING DYNASTY. 93
the Thorough Compliance (period)." The reverse has the cha-
racter Kung below the aperture, implying its issue from the Board
of Works. The weight is one tseen three fun.
No. 214 has a similar obverse, but the reverse is blank. These
two coins are sought for by sea-faring people, with the impression
that they secure favorable weather to the possessor.
815

After the death of Chang He'en-chung, one of his associates
named Sun K'6-wang rendered himself notorious by
his insurrectionary movements. In 1655, he attempted to esta-
•LM. XXIT


94
SHANOHAI LITERARY AND SCIENTIFIC SOCIETT.
blisli his seat of government at J§|" Kwei-yftng in Kwei-chow,
and having chosen Q ^ Hing-ch'aou "Rising Dynasty" for
the designation of his reign, three different coins were issued by
him.
No. 215 has on the obverse—Hing ch'aou t'ung pabu "Current
coin of the Rising Dynasty (period)." On the reverse, above and
below the aperture are the two characters Yih fun "One
fun," implying that it is equal in value to that weight of silver.
The coin itself weighs six tseen four fun. The characters are in
the U shoo "Official hand."
No. 216 has the same obverse as the preceding. The reverse
has the two characters L J|l Wob U "Five U" signifying that
the coin is worth that amount of silver. The characters are also
in the Official hand.
No. 217 is a smaller coin with the same obverse, and the reverse
blank. The weight is one Ween five fun. The characters are
also in the Official hand.
S18

/


ART. MI. COINS OP THE TA-TS'lNQ DYNASTY. OS
280

The Chinese general ^ — Wod San-kwei, who had de-
feated the rebel Ld Tsze-chtng, and was the immediate cause of the
introduction of the Manchus into China, was established as a feudal
prince in the western provinces, and in 1678 raised the standard
of revolt against his new masters. Fixing upon Yun-nan as his
metropolitan seat, he adopted as the national designation of his
period of rule, JjJJ j£ Chaou mod "Resplendent Prowess."
No. 218 has on the obverse Li yimg fung paou "Profitable
Employment current coin." The reverse has ^ JIJ Urh W
"Two li," on the right and left of the aperture, indicating its
value in silver. This is said to have been issued by Woo San-
kwei, previous to his adoption of a new national designation;
/f] Li yung "Profitable Employment," being the name of a mint.
The weight is one tsein five Jun.
No. 219 is a smaller coin than the preceding, having the some
inscription on the obverse, but the reverse is blank.
No. 220 was issued by Woo San-kwei after he had adopted the
new designation. The inscription on the obverse is in the Seal
character,—Chaou mod fung paou "Current com of the Resplendent
Prowess (period)." The reverse has ^ Yikfun "One fun,"
indicating its value in silver.
7*


96
SHANGHAI LITERARY AJTD SCIENTIFIC 10CIBTT.
No. 221 which is smaller than the preceding, hss the same
inscription on the obverse, in the common character. The reverse
is blank. The coin weighs eight fun.

After the death of Wod San-kwei in 1679, his grandson ^
"fff" 3^ Wo6 She-fan endeavoured to resuscitate his cause, and
having fixed his seat of government at Kwei-y&ng in Kwei-chow,
he selected $t ^ Hung hn>& "Extensive Reformation," for his
designation, and issued the coin No. 222, having on the obverse
Hung hwd t'ungpadu "Current coin of the Extensive Reformation
(period)." The reverse has the character Hod on the right of the
itperture, implying that it is cast by the Board of Revenue.
No. 220 has the same inscription on the obverse as the preceding,
but the reverse is blank. The weight is one tiicn three fwn.
224

Cotemporary with the rebellion of Wod San-kwei, in 1674
Jjfc Kang Tsing-cbung headed an insurrection in the
provinces of Fuh-keen and Kwang-tung, which was sup-


ART. III. COINS OF THE TA-TS'lNO DYNASTY.
97
pressed in little more than two years from its commencement.
The two following coins were issued by this chief.
No. 224 hears on the obverse the inscription—Yuh mln t'vng
pabu " Enriching the People current coin." The reverse has the
two characters — ■fo Yih fun "OneJun" on the right side of
the aperture, implying that it is equal in value to that weight of
■ilver. ^j? Yvh mln "Enriching the People" is the designa-
tion of a mint. The weight is one tseen six fun.
No. 225 is another with the same obverse as the preceding, but
much smaller, and having a blank reverse.
2-26

In 1832, ^ fit! Chaou Kin-lung one of the chiefs of the
Yaou, a mountain race inhabiting the south-west of China,
rose against the Manchu powers, and declared himself emperor of
China, taking his own name Kin lung "Golden Dragon" as the
imperial epithet. While carrying on the contest with the imperial
forces, he had the coin No'. 226 cast, bearing on the obverse the
inscription Kin lung t'ung padu " Golden Dragon current coin."
827 8M

The most recent specimens of insurgent coinnge are probably
> those issued by the Triad rebels who took possession of the city of
Shanghae in 1863. Although not in immediate connexion with
the insurgent body at Nanking, they were desirous of claiming
affiliation, and in the following year adopted the dynastic appella-
tion of $j ffi Hung Sew-tseuen the Nanking chief, *F
KM. XXT


98
SHANGHAI LITERARY AND SCIENTIFIC SOCIETY.
sfl ^*a* Pin9 *'';<fW ^n'° "Great Tranquility Celestial State,"
and copper coins were issued accordingly by the chief J\
Lew I/L-ch'uen.
No. -'27 has on the obverse T'akping t'ungpabu "Current
coin of the Great Tranquility (state)." The reverse has a crescent
above the aperture, and below is the character Ming, for the
Ming dynasty; the professed object of the Triad Society, being to
restore that dynasty to the supremacy in China.
No. 228 is another coin issued on the same occasion as the pre-
ceding, and having the same inscription on the obverse. The
reverse has a circle above the aperture, possibly intended to re-
preseut the sun, and a crescent below for the moon, the device
being a cipher for the character Ming, which is composed of the
sun and moon. These two coins are inferior in material and
manufacture' even to the general run of the Tadu-kwang and
Heen-J'ung cash.

Besides the legal coins issued from the government mints, some
are occasionally met with bearing the same devices capriciously
dispo-ed. These are said to be made for diversion, by the work-
men in the mints, and sometimes find their way into circulation,
along with the ordinary cash. The above are four specimens of
such coins.
No. 229 has on the obverse the common inscription of the Yung
ching coins,— Yung ching t'ung pabu "Current coin of the Agree-


ART. Itt. COINS OV THE TA-TS'lNO DYNASTY. 90
able Rectitude (period)." The reverse has on the left and right
of the aperture, the two Manchu words Pau Titiowan, implying
that it was cast at the mint of the Board of Revenue. The same
inscription is repeated in fainter characters in a horizontal form
above and below the aperture.
No. 230 contains a reverse inscription on each face; one having
Pau Taiwan in Manchu, the legend belonging to the Board
of Revenue mint, ami the reverse, the same inscription placed
transversely.
No. 231 has also two reverse inscriptions in Manchu, being
Pau U for the Woo-ch'ang mint, the two faces corresponding
with regard to top and bottom.
No. 232 has two obverse inscriptions in Chinese,—Keen lung
tfung pabu "Current coin of the Celestial Support (period)."
These two inscriptions are placed transversely with regard to each
other.
The invention and priority in the use of paper money by the
Chinese, is now very generally admitted. Klaproth, Chaudoir
and others have given details to some extent, regarding the history
of this currency. From native records we learn that it was first
used by the imperial government in the ninth century, and was
continued with intervals till near the close of the fifteenth; from
which down to very recent times, no attempt has been made to
revive the practice. The extensive use of promissory notes how-
ever, in various parts of the empire, and the exhausted state of the
imperial treasury, has suggested the desirability of another attempt
by this means, to relieve the state from the financial pressure; and
after a cessation of four hundred years, government banks have
again been opened in the large cities for the issue of a new paper
currency. The success that has attended the experiment is not
such as to promise a long continuance of this expedient. The
accompanying plate represents a note for a hundred cash, issued in
the city of Fuh-chow; of which the following is an explanation
of the several marks:—
Within the blue ink border, the blue column on the right reads—
P*ing peaou ckun tteen yihpih wan "Authentic note for the receipt
of one hundred cash." The left column in blue is—Heen Jung woo
ncen (sz6) yue (ts'eih) jih (Seuen) Uze (kew yih yih) haou "Pre-


100
SHANGHAI LITERART AND SCIENTIFIC 80CIETT.
vailing Abundance, fifth year, (fourth) month, (seventh) day.*
(Seuen) signature, (nine hundred and eleventh) number." The
words in brackets are not in blue ink; those in red are stamped
in, after the original form is printed; such is the-number of the
month, "fouhth," and the character "Seuen," which is used as a
numeral, being the 601st character in the =f* ^ ^ Tseen teze
wan "Book of a Thousand Characters." t Between the characters
tsze and haou, is the Bank stamp in red,— Yung fung kroan k'euh
"Lasting Abundance government office." On the right hand
column, covering the characters yih pih wan, is the same inscrip-
tion in red, given in the seal character, with an ornamental border.
In the upper part of the note, between the blue columns, the red
stamp has the following four lines:—Yuen kin shang min, yih leuh
hint/ yvng, che tseen ch'ung tsuh, chadu peaou che Wei. "Used
by common consent of the merchants from far and near; the full
tale of standard coin, will be paid on presentation of this note."
Near the lower right corner is an octagon seal in red, enclosed in
an ornamental border. Immediately within the border are the
eight trigramsj of Fo-he. Within these, separated by a^line is a
quotation of eight characters from the last section of the 9fe
Td heo "Great Study," one of the Four Books:— £
£ ^ Sang che chdy chung, yung che chay shoo "Th«
producers numerous, and the users easy." In the centre is the sign
of the Bank jft §!J Yung Jung, in a form of the seal character,
different from the one above. At the upper right corner is another
red seal, the border of which is in eight divisions, each containing
a representation of a package of precious ware. Within this is an
ancient couplet in sixteen characters, fumiliar to literary men:
King e ch'e hi, shod i taejtn, h'tn e pod chue, keen i yang lien
"Conduct yourself with respect, treat others with indulgence,
remedy deficiencies by deligence, cultivate economy by modera-
tion." Within this, an ornamented circular ring encloses the Bank
• May 82, 1858.
t Thin <• a popular little tract, consisting of exactly 1,000 character*, no on*
of which la rented. The several character* are used in catalogue* and such
like, in exactly the same manner a* ordinal numbers.
t These form the nucleus of the £ ijjig Yih king "Book of Changes,"
one of the Fire Classics.








ART. III. COIHS OF THE TA-TS'lNO DYNASTY.
101
•tamp Tung Jung kwan k'euh. The characters in black are all
written in with the pencil, when the note is issued. The character
at the foot of the right column is said to be the abbreviated running-
hand form of UK Chabvk "Certified." The single character in the
left hand column between yue and jih is tfeih "seventh," being
the day of the month when issued. The three characters written
over the red stamp are the number of the note in the signature
Seuen, i. e. hew yih yih (nine one one, or) "nine hundred and
eleven." The parts of characters on the right hand edge of the
paper show that the note is cut out of a book, in the fashion of a
cheque. The complete column would read—(Seuen) UtS (kew yih
yih) haou ho ifung UeSn peaou "Gash Cheque: No. Ill of the
signature Sbcbn." The number here is also written over a red
official stamp.
In bringing these notes to a conclusion, it will perhaps appear
to some, that they have been allowed to reach an undue length,
and the writer is little disposed to defend them against the charge.
It may be observed however, that they were put together more
especially for the assistance of those who are unacquainted with
the Chinese and Manchu languages; that such might be able, by
comparison with any cut and the annexed description, to ascertain
at a glance, the particular category to which any modern Chinese
coin should be assigned. The writer has availed himself of the
various information on this subject within his reach; but un-
fortunately nearly all the Chinese numismatical works leave off
at the point where this begins, the currency of the reigning dynasty
being a subject of elucidation for its successor. He labours under
the disadvantage also, of not having seen the treatises that have
been published in Europe on the same subject, by Hager, Endlicher,
the Baron de Chaudoir, Biot, <fcc. But as these works treat upon
Chinese coins in general, both ancient and modern, it is presumed
that there may be something in the preceding pages, which is not
included in such comprehensive publications. An important ques-
tion connected with the study of Chinese coins, which has not
been adverted to here, is the determination of ancient weights and
measures, ancient coins being almost the only criterion which has
survived the lapse of ages. Biot has given some attention to this
question, but bis memoir on the subject is now extremely rare,
HH. XXVI


102 shanghai umun avbioisntipic socibtt.
There is reason to believe however, that a treatise win shortly be
published by a gentleman in France, who has thoroughly studied
the matter in all its details, and wffl be enabled to resolve several
points of difficulty, which have hitherto withstood the researches
of scientific antiquaries.
Errata.
In wme of the impreatona, In the 3rd line from the top of the foot-note on
page 70, the Ouigoar word tamcha in the original character, hai been altered
after being- put on the preat; the correct form It ^PHf( -V
Page 96, top line, for has, read has.


[ 103]
ARTICLE IV.
CONTRIBUTION TO THE ETHNOLOGY OF EASTERN ASIA.
Br. D. J. Kacoowan, M.D.
Ctmtpomdiag wumttr of tk$ Awurican Oritntal Society; of tkt Atiatic Society of
Rwd, Nil I Ml II 17th, 1867.
It appears to have been the duty of Chinese historiographers, from
high antiquity, to put on record all information of interest respect-
ing foreign lands, which the various embassies to China afforded,
respecting the countries whence they came. Accordingly the
annals of this empire are found to contain accounts of states, of
whose existence we have either no trace, or which are known to
us only by name. From such notices of adjacent countries found
in the Urk-thi-yih Ski, and from other reliable Chinese authorities,
we propose gleaning some facts, calculated to throw light on
questions of ethnographical inquiry; although in thus restricting
ourselves, we are guilty of neglecting, for the time, matters of
historical and geographical interest, that enrich the field from
which we glean. These fragmentary notices are chiefly designed
to serve as foot-notes, for those who like Mr. Logan, the learned
editor of the Journal of the Indian Archipelago, are specially
directing themselves to the task of elucidating the ethnography
of this part of the world.
I. OaDBAM.
From the dawn of history to the present day, the belief has
been wide-spread, that in dubious cases involving guilt or innocenoe,
the gods, if formally appealed to, would miraculously interpose to
convict or exculpate the accused. Antiquarians point to evidences
of the existence of ordeals under the Mosaic Code, and adduce
instances of the practice in remotely separated lands. To those
already on record, may be added the following cases, serving
further to show the extent of the belief in such providential inter-


104 SHANGHAI LITERARY AND SCIENTIFIC SOCIETY.
Our earliest case is drawn from the farthest east. In the Nan
Shi (69th kiuen), forming part of the Urh-shi-yih Shi, is a notice of
the Wan-shin (tattooing) country, 7,000 le N.E. of Japan,* the
Chinese knowledge of which, appears to have been derived from
Japanese ambassadors who came to China at the close of the fifth
century. With the people of that country, the ordeal consisted in
exposing the accused a whole night to wild beasts, under the
belief that the animals would retire from the presence of an in-
nocent person.
From the same work we learn, at about the same period, that
the Japanese besides inflicting torture on criminals and suspected
persons, compelled the accused to draw stones out of a vessel of
boiling water,t those who were guilty being scalded, while the
innocent were unscathed. A more formidable ordeal consisted in
seizing a viper confined in a jar, those who escaped death by the
exposure being acquitted.
Analogous customs prevailed in ancient Siam (Funan), where
the fire and water ordeal were both in use. Suspected per-
sons were required to walk seven steps, holding heated chains
in their hands, which were hurtful to the guilty only. At other
times they were required to take a ring out of boiling water; or,
* The difficulty we experienced, in endeavoring to recognize places described
as lying to the east of China, the existence of legends, and of some well-attested
physical changes on the adjacent sea, led os long siuce to surmise, that there
has been a submergence of populated lands in the Pacific, at no very remote
period. The conjecture seemed more plausible, when subsequently we met
with the hypothesis of Steffen (quoted in Onyots Earth and Han, Sect. II.)
"that the vast basin of the Pacific occupies the place of a continent of the early
ages, uniting the two worlds, but sunk and submerged at present under the
deep water* of the Ocean, in consequence of the latest great revolution of our
globe." More recently we have seen that K. D'Eichtal in endeavoring to show,
that Polynesian civilization is original, and the earliest in the world, also sup-
poses the submergence of a continent Our surmise is simply, that some large
islands, which in later archaic times were inhabited, have disappeared from the
North Pacific,—a limited cataclysm, unaccompanied by any great physical
revolution. There can be little doubt, that as we become acquainted with the
history, traditions, and ethnic development of Corea and Japan, much light
will be thrown on the questions relating to the peopling of America, in pre-
historic times.
t Wilkes (TJ. 8. Exploring Expedition, v. 4, p. 449) mentions a ceremony
practised among the Oregon Indians, of seizing heated stones and plunging
tbem in water, apparently to propitiate the spirits—the hot stone* not burning
those, who by previous fasting, are "clean."


ART. IV. ETHNOLOGY OF EASTERN ASIA. 105
were exposed for three days in a pond to crocodiles, or, in an
enclosure, to wild beasts; and if uninjured, at the close of that
period, they were released. Another class of accused persons were
thrown into water; those who floated were acquitted.
On the Indian Peninsula, according to the records of the Ming
dynasty, in a country called Kulin, seemingly Tranquebar, the
ordeal was in use. That state was ruled by two Mahomedan
ministers, who caused accused persons to thrust their fingers in
boiling water. If, after three days, the fingers were not ulcerated,
the accused were honorably acquitted, and sent to their homes
with music, where friends were assembled to offer congratulations.
In the records of the Tang dynasty, an account is given of an
Indian state, Mokihto (Magadha, the present Bahar), which sent
an embassy to China in the reign of Tai-tsung (027—650). The
people are represented as very mild, and as never inflicting capital
punishment, murderers being banished to a desert mountain. Thov
resorted in doubtful cases to an ordeal, that was probably peculiar
to themselves. To the suspected, a diuretic was administered; if
the secretion was limpid, it was considered a proof of innocence,
as turbidity was of guilt.
Although we have restricted these notices to information derived
from Chinese sources, it may not be amiss to add, that the papers
of the day contain an account of the recent trial of a witch by
some Hindoos. An old woman, suspected of witchcraft, was thrown
into a tank and nearly drowned, by order of a rajah, despite English
law. The Company's officers are represented as investigating the
case.
We have met with no evidence of the use of the ordeal in China.
Litigants sometimes appear before the image of a god, or in an
o|)en space before heaven, and agree in calling imprecations on the
guilty person, invoking the divine intervention, by striking the
guilty one with "thunder," or by some dire and signal visitation.
II. Flattening Heads.
3n far as our reading extends, there is no evidence, within reach
of Western ethnologists, of the practice of flattening infants' heads,
except among the aborigines of the Pacific coast of America. It
was with no small interest that we met with proofs of the existence,
on this side of the Pacific, of this remarkable custom, to which the
Spokane or Flatheads are addicted.
8 sua. xxtxi


106
SHANGHAI LITERARY AND SCIENTIFIC SOCIETY.
In the records of the Han dynasty and subsequently, mention is
made of tbe Shin-han, a Gorean tribe, who flattened the heads of
new-born children with stones. Again, in the earliest accounts of
the Sulus, who sent an embassy.to China in 636 A.D., it is stated,
that one of the customs of those people, was flattening the heads
of infants. The practice haf perhaps become obsolete in those
countries; nevertheless traces of it still exist in Eastern Asia.
Modern accounts of the Coreans represent them, as not possessing
the occipital protuberance to which is attached the ligament of the
neck. Indeed the opinion is common among the Chinese, that all
the Manchus are very flat at the occiput, and the story obtained
currency, that when the Kwangsi insurgents massacred the Manchu
garrison at Nanking, they examined the heads of doubtful persons,
decapitating those whose occipital bones were flat. The custom,
which obtains in Siam, Manchuria and Corea, of keeping infants
on their backs, lashed to a flat board, no doubt serves to give an
unnatural form to the occiput, in the plastic state of the scull at
that period.
III. PCBBFBmjB.
The monstrously cruel treatment to which mothers in Siam are
subjected immediately after parturition, by being exposed for a
long period to a fierce fire, is now probably confined exclusively
to that people, but, in the account given of the Liuchiuans in the
reign of Yang-ti, in the beginning of the sixth century, it is stated
that one of the customs of that people, was the exposure of women
to a fire immediately after delivery. The torture on those islands
was however continued five days only, whereas among the
Siamese, it is kept up for weeks. In the history from which we
have uniformly drawn the cases described in this paper, a reason
is assigned for the strange usage;—it was designed to promote
perspiration. The patient was required also to eat the placenta.
In the Chinese pharmacopoeia, that viscus holds an important
place.*
In the account of a people called N&h-pih-shen, near Manila,
parturient women are placed in a tub, into which water is poured
with the design of facilitating the accouchement.
* In the statistical account of Liachiu ^£ a writer to quoted
who says that there customs, like that of eating with the flayers instead of chop-
sticks, no longer extols.


[ 107 ]
ARTICLE V.
A BUDDHIST SHASTRA, TRANSLATED FROM TUB CHINESE:
WITH AN ANALYSIS AND NOTES.
Br tbi Ret. J. Bdeikb, B.A.
tad, Norember 17th, 1867.
The Buddhist translations from Sanscrit are, as is well known,
like the originals, in three divisions, consisting of Sutras, Vinaya
and Shastras, or king, liuh and lun.
The Sutras are the teaching of Buddha himself, and their
statements of doctrine are considered by faithful Buddhists as
authoritative. The reference made to the Sutras in the present
brief treatise, will be found to illustrate clearly the light in which
these works, the holy books of the -religion, are regarded. They
are the umpire in controversies and are supposed to be sacred and
infallible.
The Vinaya division treats of discipline. It contains treatises
on the vows of the ascetic community, their mode of life, and the
manner of admittance to their body. In the Chinese collection,
many works in this division ore still called king. In the form of
their com]>osition they also resemble that class of works.
The Shastras (lun) are controversial. Their authors are the
Hindoo Buddhists who lived at the beginning of the Christian era.
They opposed in them the doctrines of rival systems and defended
their own. From these works, profoundly studied, light may be
derived on the Indian philosophy.
The work now chosen for translation is an extremely short one,
by one of the best-known Buddhist authors. This was Nagakro-
juna, in Chinese Lung shu (dragon tree). He has been identified
with a personage, who is much spoken of by the Singhalese
Buddhists, under the name Nagasena (see Hardy's Manual of
Buddhism). He belongs however more properly to the northern
Buddhists, who flourished in Cashmere, Tibet, Nepaul and China.


108 SHANGHAI LITERARY AND SCIENTIFIC SOCIETT.
He was a voluminous author of the works called the Great develop-
ment, school, ta shftig. For example, he wrote the Vibhasha shastra,
and that called Ta-chl-tu-lun, both treatises of gTeat extent.
Beside being the writer of many of the more important Sinistra?,
he also composed several of the Sutras, though these works nre
attributed to Shakvamuni Buddha. This is the meaning of the
following story. When he had formed the conception of widely
extending the Buddhist doctrines, he was taken up by the mira-
culous power of the Great-dragon-Bodhisattwa, Ta-lvng-p'u-mh,
into the pnlace of the sea. Here the collection of holy books,
called that of "the seven precious stones," was opened for his
inspection. For ninety days he studied them, and after commit-
ting veiy many valuable Sutras to memory, he was escorted by a
drag-on, back to India, his native country. Among the works he
saw, was the much-prized Hwa-yen-king. Of the three forms
shewn him of this treatise, he chose the briefest to lay before the
world. The only natural explanation of this story is that Lung
shu or Nagakrojuna is himself the writer of several of the larger
Sutras e. g. the Hwa-yen-king.
Although the predominant tendency of Lung shu is to minute
metaphysical discussion, he has also been claimed as a founder of
the school of the "Western heaven." This very important branch
of northern Buddhism, based on the legend of Amitabha Buddha
and "the peaceful land" Uiitg tv, elevates itself by a figurative
interpretation of its legends, to a place among philosophical schools,
and claims Lung shu on the ground that he mentions and praises
Amitabha Buddha in the Vibhasha Shastra.
Another school that more correctly claims Lung shu as its
founder, is that of the Madhyamiha philosophy. He wrote the
Central Shastra, Chung lun, in which the germs of that system are
found. By this work he exercised a wide influence over the sub-
sequent development of Buddhism, both in Tibet and in China.
Lung shu has also a place among the twenty-eight patriarchs.
The tradition of these chiefs of the Buddhist religion was brought
into China A.D. 526 by Bodhidharma, and the system he founded,
and which has since been very popular in this country, he termed
the Djen-na doctrine. He probably belonged to that sect of
Buddhists, now known as Jains, still existing in India. In his
series of patriarchs, Lung shu is the thirteenth, Bodhidharma
himself being the twenty-eighth.


ART. V. TRANSLATION OF A BUDDHIST SHASTRA. 109
Lung shu lived about the beginning of the Christian era, and
war a native of Southern India. He is one of the very few
historical personages in Buddhism, who is honoured with the title
of Bodhisattwa, or in the modern Chinese form P'usah. In the
Juh-Lanka-king, he is represented as being foretold by name by
Buddha. The following is what Buddha says of him. "Address-
ing Ta-hwei, he said,—Ta hwei! ydu should know that after my
peacefully passing into the Nirvana, in a future age there will be
one who will firmly believe in my doctrine. He will be born in
Southern India, will be a Bikshu of great reputation, and he will
be called Lung shu, the dragon tree. He will be able to conquer
in argument upholders of false systems, and will make illustrious
in the world my unsurpassed doctrine of the Cheat development"
The work in which this passage is contained belongs to the
Great development school, and consequently was written several
centuries after the time of Buddha.
A keen reasoner, acute thinker, and voluminous author, such as
Lung shu, deserves to be better known, and it is hoped that the
following translation of one of his lesser works will prove not
altogether useless in the elucidation of Buddhism.
It is called ^ fpfo j^D fjjj} Yih-shu-lu-kia-lun, the Shastra
of one sUoka. The three characters shu-lu-kia arein old Chinese
pronunciation sho-lo-ka. When a double consonant begins a syl-
lable, it is usual to employ the same vowel after each consonant in
transcribing them in Chinese characters.
Shloka is a Sanscrit term for a couplet of a certain kind. .1
take the following account of it from Williams' Sanscrit grammar.
"The Institutes of Manu are written in the shloka, or anushtubh
metre. This is the commonest of all the infinite variety of Sanscrit
metres, and is that which chiefly prevails in the great epic poems
of the east. It consists of two lines of sixteen syllables each, but
the rules which regulate one line apply equally to the other."
"The 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 0th, 10th, 11th, and 12th syllables may
be either long or short. The 16th, as ending the line, is also com-
mon; so too the 8th." "The 5th syllable ought always to be
short. The 6th may be either long or short, but if long then the
7th ought to be long also, and if short then the 7th ought to be
short also." "The last four syllables form two iambics."
. The Hindoo author has in the present instance taken a single
couplet as bis theme, and hence the name of bis short treatise.
g ^ »L8S. XXVIII


110
SHANGHAI LITERARY AND SCIENTIFIC SOCIETY.
This couplet, consisting in its Chinese form of four short sentences,
appears at the commencement.
We are also informed by an introductory note, that the treatise
was translated into Chinese, from the original of Lung shu p'u sah,
by the Brahman Gaudama Pradjnaluti, at the city Loyang, in the
reign of the Yuen Wei dynasty. This city is that now called
Honan fu, on the south bank of the Yellow River, in Honan
province. The time of the translation, is the fourth century of
our era.
Translation of Yih-shd-lu-kia-lun,
the 8habtba of one 8hloka.
"My body (or snbstaiice) in its nature it not permanent;
"Thai, then, my body la not a body.
"My body in iti nature not being a body,
"I therefore say that it it empty and not permanent."
"It is asked—why write this stanza (Gatha)? What is its
meaning? What man's opinions is it intended to overthrow? I
reply it is written on account of those who in reading Shastras of
great length grow weary, and also for those intelligent persons, who
have studied many Shastras, and exercised their thoughts (deeply)
in the sea of Buddha's law, but growing fatigued have begun to
doubt about the doctrine, not by any means to be questioned or
suspected, of the non-permanence of things and the nothingness of
my own body. To destroy such doubts I have composed this
Shastra.
"What says my doctrine? That all kinds of acting (fah
are non-permanent, and my own body is nothing. The non-
reality of my body is not separate from the non-permanence of all
action, my nature and my body being nothing. Therefore there
is no such thing as permanence.
"All the Buddhas, and their disciples of the two classes Yuen
kioh and Sheng wen (ligtenert, shravaka) have obtained their libe-
ration from ignorance by means of this principle of nothingness,
not by the opposite principle which maintains the existence of
breaking off and of permanence in actions. The G&tha says,—
"Loae sight of this principleof nothingness, and prefer to reside in body;
"Yoa then obtain a view of things as permanent.
"If yon say that afterwards they are to be destroyed,
"You thus come to see things as having cessation."


ART. V. TRANSLATION OF A BUDDHIST SHASTIIA. Ill
"With this meaning I speak of all actions as being in themselves
without real embodiment. The Buddhas, the enlightened (Yuen
kioh), the listeners, and the Arhans, have gained their benefits
and successes by believing in this principle.
"I will now speak of what men are to be opposed. If a man, who
has gained some knowledge, says that without reference to action
(hing), there is non-permanence, his view is not the correct one.
If the so-called non-permanence is separated from existence (yeu
wei), (or actuality), in order to be called non-permanent, then
permanence becomes nothing. Thus then actuality and non-
reality are not essentially different. If actuality and non-reality
combine, the actual being joined to the unreal, a bottle cannot
be broken (whick is absurd, a bottle being an actual thing).
If the unreal and the actual combine, the unreal being joined to
the actual, the Nirvana is destructible (which is absurd, the Nirvana
being not an actual thing). If the actual and the unreal are, as
thus argued, identical, all kinds of teaching (or action J'ah) are
indestructible, like the Nirvana, which is permanent, and is
therefore not produced from any cause. If actions (hing) are not
produced from causes, they do not differ from the empty Nirvana.
In this case the method or state of actuality (yeu wei) need not
be called constant. But if the things done, being not produced
from causes, are Still non-permanent, then the empty Nirv&na is
not called permanent If this be true, the methods of actuality
and of non-reality are neither of them good. If the non-permanent
is parted from actuality and is still called non-permanent, then
actuality apart from constancy ought to be called constant But
this is not correct reasoning. In which of the Sutras are there
such words as these?
"What ideas are to be discoursed upon? What meaning is there
in that which you now say? There is much in it that is un-
reasonable, such as your crooked mind cannot fathom. Therefore
what you say is not correct doctrine. If men, who have gained
some knowledge, maintain that the (action or) law of the past,
present and future is in each case completed from and in itself,
this is to be regarded as a false view. Why so? Because it is a
view which omits the notion of cause. If we speak of the future
as not being produced from causes, but as formed from and in itself,
then the present is also not produced from causes, but is formed
from its own nature. For the future and the present are in their


Hi! SHANGHAI LITERARY ANi: SCIENTIFIC SOCIETY.
own nature even and equal, without any difference. If so, and
the law of the present, conies from causes, why in this case, should
not the law of the future come from causes also? You ground
this view either on the Sutras, or upon your own judgment But
the statement is incorrect, and unreasonable. Being unreasonable
it is not to be believed. If the law that regards the future is not
produced from causes, but comes from its own nature, it must be
an empty thing. Being cut off from any connection with causes,
it cannot be produced from any cause. It is therefore not truly
future in itself. But if the future is non-existent, then the present
and past are also non-existent The present and the past being
non-existent, then time in its threefold aspect is really nothing in
itself. If it be said that it has a real existence, this is to say that
it is "permanent, and is produced without a cause.
"If the disciple of Buddha thinks so, who has reached some depth
in perception, he does not differ from the heretical teachers Kapila
and others. This Shastra however is not made for such as Kapila
and Uluka, but for you who hold the same views with me. What
I have thus far said, in opposition to the opinions of certain persons,
is for the sake of you who have made some advancement, that you
may reject incorrect views.
"It is on this account that I have compiled this Shastra and the
'Gfitha of one shloka' (Yih sholoka), which commences my book.
I shall now explain the meaning of this Gatha.
"When it is said, 'my body in its nature is not permanent,' 'my
body' refers to that which is born and acts, and which is therefore
called 'my body.' He who has made advancement in right
perception, being in the midst of this acting, thinks out for himself
that this is the body (or takes it to be the body). This acting
commences in the region of the physical and mental operations.*
In it are involved also the sheriff men and yuen kwh who wander
circuitously (in this lower region). Thus when we speak of bodies,
as one, two, or several, or of men, as one, two, or several, each is
considered as having a body independent of the rest, and they are
commonly spoken of as such. As earth, water, fire and wind are
respectively hard, moist, hot and moveable, each according to its
nature; so every man (and thing) has his own form and substance.
Hence the expression 'my body.'
* The human operation* are five 3£ |^ wo jlo, namely eheh, vitiam, then,
reception, siang, thinking, hing doing, ahih, pnaption.


AHT. V. TRANSLATION OF A BUDDHIST SHASTHA. LIS
"If he who has made some advancement in knowledge says, that
man in his birth, in his continued life, and in his death is the same
in form, he speaks erroneously. The body of man is in its nature
not permanent, and therefore its being called body has arisen from
the circumstance, that men who have advanced somewhat in true
knowledge, have mode this distinction. Therefore apart from the
various modes of action, there is no non-permanent body, because
man is in his form not permanent.
"Therefore Buddha, in instructing the Bikshus respecting
various acts, represents them all as not constant This is on account
of what has been already said.
"If it be maintained that, apart from acting, men and things are
non-permanent, retaining their own form, such an opinion is wrong.
Should you not understand why the phrase non-permanent is used,
I will now explain it. It is because of what is said in the opening
stanza, 1 body is not body.' The notions of body and not body,
you easily distinguish. The non-permanent, what is it? It is
without body. Therefore it is that body is not body. In its own
nature it is not body, and therefore it is formally stated to be
without body.
"When it is said, my substance in its nature is not substance, it
is asserted that there is no substance but that which is not substance
(wufi). For this reason it is said that substance in itself is not
such. If you hold that there is some substance existing beside
wu fi, you ore wrong; this mode of arguing is not that of "the
Sutras. If you assert that the absence of body (wu fi) ia what
constitutes substance, this also is incorrect; because the Sutras do
not say so. In what Sutra has Buddha, the world's honoured
one, taught such a doctrine? It is not to be found in any Sutra,
for it is not correct teaching (king shwo, the teaching of the
classics); such arguments cannot succeed, because they are not
the doctrine of the great holy Sutras; they ought not therefore
to be believed. It is then, not only my own words that I bring as
evidence.
"The last sentence says 'therefore it is stated to be empty and
not permanent.' Refer, for example, to the Sutra, Tiau fuh San-
mih-t'i king, Narrative of Buddha pacifying and tubduing Sa-
midhi, which says that Buddha addressed Samidhi with the words,
—' The eye of man is empty and not permanent. There is no eye
that does not move, that does not perish, that does not change.


114
SHANGHAI LITERARY AND SCIENTIFIC SOCIETY.
And why? It is its nature so to do. The ear, nose, tongue, body
and mind, have all the same changeable and destructible nature.'
"Buddha, the world's honoured one, speaking in this Sutra of
emptiness and of non-permanence, on this account expressed the
opinion here stated. Thus we know that all acts are empty and
non-permanent. Being not permanent they are without body (t'i).
Consequently, all acts are in their nature and of themselves without
bodily form. It is in this way that the meaning of the words
tvu tfi, without body is established.
"If in this manner an. opinion be tested by the Sutras, it will be
well established. If it will not bear this test, it must fall to the
ground. In my view, what is in the Sutras must be completely
satisfactory. Therefore it is that the opinion, that '(my) nature
(sing) is in itself without body,' has been now employed to bring
to its completion 'the Shastra of one Shloka.'
"All kinds of action (or existence) such as body, nature, act
(doctrine), thing, matter, existence (yeu), are different in name,
but the same in meaning. Whichever of these we speak of, the
only difference between them is in the word yeu, to be.
"This word yeu is in the original language Sibhava.* It is
translated in several ways, as 'the substance which gives substance
to itself' (tsl t'i t'i), or as 'without action and with action,' (wu
fab. yeu fab.), or as 'the nature which has no nature of its own
(wu tsl sing sing).'"
Analysis and Remarks.
The author begins with stating in a rhythmical form the prin-
ciples he is about to establish. My substance or body i. e. my
whole nature, material and intellectual, is a passing, changing
thing, and is consequently not a real substance at all. It is there-
fore only right to say of it that it is empty and not permanent
This principle agrees with the description given of the Bud-
dhists by Colebrooke, who observes that they are called by their
adversaries, the orthodox Hindoos, Sarva-vainasicas or those who
argue total peruhableneu. They deny the permanent existence
* Thlf won! I lappois to be a compound of bhiva, an important philosophical
term. By Colebrooke and Professor Wilson it ia rarloiuly translated, disposi-
tions, sentiments, conditions of being. Abhava Is privation or negation. Praga-
bhiva is present-negation of what will be. Anabhura is notion.


ART. V. TRANSLATION OF A BUDDHIST SHASTRA. 115
of atoms, and only allow that images of things are formed which
immediately pass away.
The author then gives his reasons for composing the treatise,
and the gfttha or rhythmical statement with which it commences.
He wrote it for the sake of such persons as cannot read through
the very long, and tedious works found in the Buddhist library.
He also wished to place in a short compass the argument for the
transitory, unreal nature of all existing things, for the use of
advanced students, lest they should be influenced by those argu-
ments, self-suggested or presented by others, which go to prove
that the world is real and that the information given by the senses
is trustworthy.
The composition of Buddhist works is varied by the frequent
introduction of passages in a rhythmical form, not indeed with
rhymes or any fixed succession of long and short syllables, but
with lines constantly of the same length. In the Nepaul originals
there is also a difference in dialect between the prosaic and rhyth-
mical parts, the Sanscrit and Pracrit being interchanged. There
is no such transition of dialects in the Chinese translations. The
rhythmical parts are called gfttha, <f& kie, in old Chinese pro-
nunciation gat
The author lays down as his order of procedure, that he will
first unfold his meaning, then attack the upholders of opposite
views, and afterwards support his own opinions.
He holds that all kinds of action are transitory and not lasting,
that the actor or observer is himself nothing real, and that
these two things are connected. Hence the doctrine of non-
permanenoe.
The Buddhas and their disciples, he says, had in the belief of
the principle of nothingness obtained liberation (m6ksha) from the
bonds which restrain the souL The opposite doctrine which holds
that things are permanent, or break off, has never had such an
exemplification of its truth.
Colebrooke says that the followers of Kanftde maintains! that
things are partly perishable and transitory, but in part also na*
changeable. His followers are called Vaiaeshikas.
The disciples of Buddha here alluded to, Yuen kioh and Sheng
wen, occupy the third and fourth rank in the Buddhist scale of
being. Their position will be understood by the following scheme
copied from a Buddhist work.


116 SHANGHAI LITERARY AND SCIENTIFIC SOCIETY.
Four degree*
Buddha.
Intelligence.
in
Bodhiaattwa.
Knowledge and mercy.
holiness (sheng).
Yuen kio.
Reception gained by the study of causes.
Sheng wen.
Listenera.
Six (tales
Deva.
Gods, ^ t'ien.
of
Aauraa.
Monsters, demons.
ignorance (fan).
Han.
Pretaa.
Hungry ghosts.
Animals.
Naraka.
Hell.
Four lines in the form of Gfitha are here introduced, representing'
the doctrines of opponents. Two views are given, that which regards
the universe as permanent, and that which describes it as liable to
cessation. Both are considered as erroneous by the champion of
Buddhism. Safety is only to be found in the doctrine of nihility.
In again appealing to the testimony of the Buddhas and their
disciples, he mentions the Arhans. These form the last in a series
of four grades of discipleship. The attainment of a certain amount
of enlightenment in the Buddhist doctrine is represented as "fruit."
These four grades of discipleship, or "fruits," are called, Su-da-wan,
Si-da-gam, A-na-gam, and A-la-han. In Sanscrit these names
are read Surtaban, Sagardagam, Anagama (?), and Arhan. They
are also called the four paths to the Nirvana.
Lung shu proceeds to controvert by argument the opinions of
two classes of reasoners, and first of those who hold the doctrine
of non-permanence in an incorrect manner. It ought not to be
held so as to deny the reality pf action, or so as to confound action
and inaction. These terms, in Chinese yeu tret, ton net, may
perhaps be translated actuality and non-reality. Their meaning
will be seen by the illustrations used. An earthenware bottle is
adduced as an example of an actual thing (yeu wei), while the
Nirvana belongs to the non-actual or wu wei class. These instances
are brought forward to shew that things of the two classes of objects
must not be confounded. For if actuality be identified with non-
reality, a bottle it is said, would become a non-actual thing, and it
would be wrong to say that it was destructible. So if non-actual
things were identified with what is actual, the Nirvana would
cease to be indestructible. The distinction then between the actual
and the non-actual must be preserved.


ART. V. TRANSLATION OF A BUDDHIST SHASTRA. 11?
The Sutras are again appealed to in proof of this doctrine. These
works are thus seen to be in the view of the Buddhist, the standard
of truth. They contain the very words of Buddha, which are held
to be necessarily true. Several hundreds of these books, thus
shewn to constitute the scriptures of this religion, have been
translated into the language of China, and of the other countries
where Buddhism prevails. These treatises are not said to be
divine, or to be inspired, for the Buddhist has neither God nor
inspiration in his creed. He only knows Buddha, the self-elevated
human intellect, as the most exalted being, and he looks on his
teaching to be the purest truth and the highest wisdom. Through-
out the Shastra, which is now presented to the reader, Lung shu
supports his opinions by the authority of the Sutras which Buddha
has left for the use of his disciples, as the repository of his doctrine.
He goes on to overthrow the notion that the past, the present
and the future are self-produced and do not come from the action
of causes. He observes that the present and the future are as to
their nature similar, and controlled by the same laws, but the
present results from causes, and therefore the future must also
originate in the same manner. If the past, present and future do
not come from causes, he argues, that they can be nothing real at
all. The holder of such views would thus fall into the error of
Kapila and other heretical teachers.
Kapila, here referred to, was a remarkable personage, perhaps
the most noted of the Indian philosophers. He founded the
Sankhya school. "This system," says Cousin, in his History of
Modern Philosophy; * "is at once a system of physics, psychology,
dialectics and metaphysics. It is a universal system, a complete
philosophy." Cousin says of Kapila that he advocated sensualism,
and that "one of the ideas which are most opposed to sensualism
being that of cause, Kapila made an effort to destroy it The
argumentation of Kapila is, in the history of philosophy, the
antecedent of that of iEnesidemus, and that of Hume. According
to Kapila there is no proper notion of cause, and that which we
call a cause is only an effect in its relation to the cause which
precedes it, which is also an effect for the same reason, and con-
tinually thus, so that the whole is a necessary concatenation of
effects, without veritable and independent cause."
• Tnmill11 by O. W. Wight, vol. l.
sua. zxix


118
SHANGHAI LITERARY AND SCIENTIFIC SOCIETY.
Professor Wilson, in his learned comment on the Sankhya Karika,
cri^.'^ses this statement of the French philosopher, and denies that
Kapiia asserts the non-existence of cause. He admits however
that "he may so far agree with the philosophers referred to, in
recognizing no difference between material came and material
effects:" and adds that "his doctrine is that of Brown in his
lectures on power, cause and effect."
There being such a difference of opinion on the views of this
Hindoo philosopher, it is interesting to notice in the treatise of
Lung shu that Kapiia is incidentally condemned for denying the
existence of cause. Our Chinese evidence goes to uphold the
statement of the French philosopher where he is called in question
by his English critic.
Colebrooke questions whether Kapiia be not altogether a mytho-
logical personage. With this distinct allusion to him in our little
work, dating indubitably from near the beginning of the Christian
era, we may perhaps infer his historical reality, and we also obtain
an approximation to the period in which he lived.
Lung shu proceeds to say that he did not write for the purpose
of confuting such philosophers as Kapiia and Uluka,* but for the
sake of correcting and confirming the view s of the disciples of
Buddhism.
The philosopher Uluka, I "have not found mentioned by Cole-
brooke or other writers on the metaphysical systems of India.
It appears to me, that Lung shu makes an unfair assumption, in
his argument for the production of events from causes, where he
asserts that the present proceeds from causes, and therefore the
future does also, being in all respects similar to the present in its
nature. He does not prove his assertion that the present proceeds
from cause.t
As already remarked, Lung shu appeals repeatedly to the autho-
rity of the Sutras. So the advocates of the Sankhya philosophy
appeal to the Sutras of Kapiia, which are however brief aphorisms,
and not, like those of Buddha, long treatises. Yet Lung shu has
* $E WH' fit Kia-P|-,°- Iu the0,Jpronunciation Ka-pl-la, ^ j& $11
Yira-lea-kta (U-lu-ko).
t A friend li.a however suggested lo me, that he mty regard Uiia a* obvious,
boiug what conactoiMiesa la ever teaching as.


ART. V. TRANSLATION OF A BUDDHIST SHASTRA.
119
besides this another test of the validity of doctrines, namely their
reasonableness or unreasonableness. To this second test he here
brings the doctrines he opposes and condemns them.
In explaining the introductory stanza, Lung shu first discusses
the origin of the phrase "my body." He observes that it consists
of the body and its actions i. e. it means myself. In the region of
mental and physical actions we come to the consciousness of myself.
In this region the inferior classes of Buddha's disciples continue to
wander partially enlightened.
Advancing from this incomplete view, we speak ordinarily of
men and things, in the singular, dual and plural number, as
separate beings existing independently of each other, thus in-
creasing the first error. The four elements, earth, water, fire and
wind differ in their nature, as being hard, moist, hot and moving,
and so each man and thing is looked at as having its characteristic
differences from others. Hence the common but erroneous ex-
pression my body, my self.
Lung shu complains that some persons maintain birth, duration
and destruction to be the same thing. He then proceeds to state
that the body in its nature is not permanent, that its being called
body has arisen from the distinctions which men in their ignorance
have made, and that the correct doctrine of the body being non-
permanent is inseparably connected with the various physical and
mental operations, which spring from the body, because, he adds,
man is in his entire form non-permanent.
Buddha in the instructions he gave to the Bikshus his disciples,
always held the doctrine that actions are non-permanent. This
must ever be kept in mind in making the statement that the body
is non-permanent.
Bikshu is one of the names given to the followers of Buddha
generally. They are also called Shamen and Hoshang.
The author then undertakes to prove the second sentence of his
theme, namely, "Thus then my body is not a body." The doctrine
of non-permanence has been introduced to aid in proving this. The
non-permanent is necessarily unsubstantial. The things we see
are liable to perish. Therefore they are not real things. We
must speak of things as they really are. Hence the words "my
body is not body," are correct and appropriate.
The third sentence, when it says, "my body in its nature is not
body," asserts that apart from the unsubstantial and the vanishing,


120 SHANGHAI LITERARY AND SCIENTIFIC SOCIETY.
no body exists, and that therefore it is right to say of my own
body that it does not exist.
Cousin, in his lectures already referred to, speaks of the psycho-
logy of Buddhism as being contained in two propositions, extracted
by Burnouf from Buddhist books.
1st, Thought or spirit, for the faculty is not distinguished from
the subject, appears only with sensation, and does not survive it
2nd, The spirit cannot itself lay hold of itself; and in directing
its attention to itself, it draws from it only the convinction of its
powerlessness to see itself otherwise than as successive and
transitory.
Burnouf adds, these theses are radically opposed to Brahminism,
whose first article of faith is the perpetuity of the thinking subject.
We see that the non-permanence of things, which is so important
a principle with our author, also pervades the bocks of Nepaul
which Burnouf studied, and constitutes a watchword of Buddhism.
Lung shu proceeds to observe that some persons hold false views
on this subject. One opinion is, that independently of the un-
substantial there is substance, but this is contrary to the Sutras.
Others say the unsubstantial is my body, but this is wrong
(although it is correct to say that my body is unsubstantial), because
it is not found in the Sutras. Such are not the words of Buddha,
nor are they met with in the great holy Sutras, and they must not
be believed.
The last sentence, "I therefore say that it is empty and not
permanent," is illustrated by appealing to the teaching of Buddha
in one of the Sutras. He takes the eye as an example. There is
no eye that does not move, that is not destroyed, that does not
change. It is therefore empty and non-permanent. So it is with
the other sensorial organs. The nature of them all is to change
and decay.
The Buddhists in enumerating the organs of sense, after men-
tioning the eye, ear, nose, tongue and body, add the mind. Lung-
shu does so in this passage. The mind as the organ of conscious-
ness is viewed as a sense. We limit the term sensorial organs to
those which are material, but the Buddhist, not believing in the
reality of material things, calls every organ by which impressions
are communicated a sense.
Buddha having thus expressed his opinion in the Sutras, it is
added, we know that all acts are empty, non-permanent, and


ART. V. TRANSLATION OF A BUDDHIST SHASTRA. 121
therefore without body. Thus we arrive at the doctrine that body
does not exist.
It should be remembered that the Buddhists regard the acts of
the thinking being as one with his substance. They do not
distinguish between the agent and the act, but deny the reality
and permanence of both in their unity. Thus they will say, as in
this case, all acts (yih ts'ieh fah) are without body, instead of
predicating this of the actor.
Hence also he proceeds to say that human nature is without
body, resting this doctrine on the authority of the Sutras, and
adding that it is the object of this entire treatise, "The Shastra of
one Shloka" to illustrate it.
The same confusion of the agent with his acts, presents itself in
the closing sentences of the treatise, where it is asserted that all
kinds of action, including body, nature, acts, thing, being, are but
different names for the same thing.
All these varieties in phraseology, he adds, are but differences
in the term yeu, being. The original word, adds the translator
into Chinese, is sibhava which is variously explained "the substance
which gives substance to itself," "without action and with action,"
and "the nature which has no nature of its own."
Bhawo, says Gogerly in his Essay on Buddhism,* is twofold;
consisting of moral causative acts, and the state of being. Of
these, he adds, kamma bhawo, or moral causative acts, are merit,
demerit, and all those actions which lead to existence. The various
worlds of the Buddhist universe are designated by the term bhawo.
"Worlds of sensual pleasure and pain are kama-bhawo. The brahma
worlds are rupa-bhawo. The incorporeal worlds are ariipa-bhawo,
and so on. Here the term bhava, means states of being.
The numerous modifications of meaning belonging to this word,
help to account for the three translations of the related word
sibhava, which close the treatise.
I may observe here, that it is common with the modern Chinese
Buddhists, to defend the doctrine of the non-reality of material
things, by appealing to their liability to destruction. A priest
will contend that a wooden table, on the application of fire, passing
into smoke and ashes, there is necessarily nothing real in it.
* Quoted in Hardy's Eastern Monachism.


SHANGHAI LITERARY AND SCIENTIFIC SOCIETY.
The truth is that reality and changeableness are both rightly
affirmed of a table, or any other material thing. The Buddhist
asserts with perfect correctness that the objects of sense are non-
permanent, but he is wrong when he argues that therefore they
are unreal. Christianity, modern science, and all sound philosophy
agree in ascribing reality and changeableness to the objects of
sense. Lung shu- erred in not seeing that these two things can
be reconciled.
Note.
Tho following pages give a transcript of the original work in the Chinese
character, the succession of the vertical lines being from left to right, which,
although the reverse of the native method, is thought to harmonize best with
the English letter-press.
Ed. Com.


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124 SHANGHAI LITERARY AND SCIENTIFIC SOCIETY.

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AHT. V. TRANSLATION OF A BUDDHIST SHASTRA. 125

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126 SHANGHAI LITERARY AND SCIENTIFIC SOCIETY.

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ART. V TRANSLATION OF A BUDDHIST SHA8TRA. 127
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128 SHANGHAI LITERARY AND SCIENTIFIC SOCIETY.

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[ I2» j
ARTICLE VI.
VISIT TO SIMODA AND HAKODADI IN JAPAN.
EXTRACTED, BT PBBXISSIOH, FROM A LBTTBR VBOM CAPT. A. H. FoOTB,
V. 8. Ship Portnuuth, dated September 16th, 1857.
Reed before the Society, December 16th, 1657.
The passage of the Portsmouth from Shanghai to Simoda, as
might have been anticipated, in the month of September, was long
and dreary. The Sunday previous to our arrival, "breakers ahead"
were reported by the look-out on the fore-topsail yard. We stood
on until they were plainly visible from the deck; by which time
the ship was so near them, the wind being light and the current
setting towards the newly discovered danger, that it was cleared
with difficulty on the opposite tack. By right of discovery, as
our charts showed a clear open sea in this vicinity, we named the
danger, "Portsmouth Breakers,"—which lie some thirty-five
miles in a south-westerly direction from Simoda, and thirteen miles
from the land immediately abreast of them. Had it been 3 a.m.,
instead of 3 p.m., when the danger was discovered,—and we had
been running at night on several occasions, equally close in with
the land,—the cruise of the Portsmouth would have come to an
abrupt termination. But a kind Providence spared our lives and
enabled us, on the following evening, Sept. 8th, to anchor in the
harbor of Simoda.
The appearance of the bay, in fact the entire country around
Simoda, is strikingly picturesque and beautiful. Deep ravines lie
between the mountain ranges; while the highly-cultivated terraced
fields stretch up to the very hill-tops. Again green thickets were
seen creeping up the valleys; and lawns of verdant turf here and
there overlapped the precipices. The appearance of the town, it
must be confessed, added no beauty to the scenery which surrounds
it As soon as we had anchored, a large boat came alongside
with four officials, high in rank, who, in the name of the governor,
(bear in mind the duality of the Japanese,) gave us a courteous and
SLSS. XXXI .-


130 SHANGHAI LITERARY AND SCIENTIFIC SOCIETY.
cordial welcome. These representatives, were inquisitive, and
manifested a degree of intelligence and culture corresponding to
their urbanity and courtesy. We were favorably impressed with
the cleanliness of person and dress of the officials, as well as of all
the men in the boat: a practice, which their celestial neighbors, in
their houses, towns and cities, as well as in person and dress, might
advantageously adopt.
Mr. Harris, our Consul-genertJ, welcomed us with that emotion,
which the seclusion, for a year, from one's countrymen naturally
inspires. Leaving the Consul's we strolled through the town of
Simoda, with its thousand small houses and numerous temples,
followed by a crowd of men, women, and children, expressing
in significant ways, their gratification at our presence among
them.
Simoda was formerly, from its position at the entrance of the
bay of Yedo, a large town, where much business was transacted,
but has greatly declined and certainly now has the appearance of
rather a poverty-stricken place. The streets intersect each other,
in most cases, at right angles. Several of the houses are built of
stone, others of bamboo, and some are stuccoed with mud; while
thatched huts are abundant. The roofs are generally formed-of
colored tiles, black and white. No chimneys are seen in Simoda;
and the smoke from the cooking fires finds its ways out of holes,
in the upper part of the walls, left open for the purpose. The
slightly-constructed buildings are better adapted to the shocks of
earthquakes, so prevalent in this vicinity, than a harder material
would prove. The cleanliness of their houses far surpasses any-
thing of the kind I have ever seen, the Quaker settlements in our
country not excepted.
In every house is a platform of framework, occupying a good
portion of the interior; this is matted with several thicknesses,
giving it softness and an agreeable elasticity; and remains unsoiled,
as every Japanese on entering a house, shop, or temple, leaves his
sandals at the door. On the platform, comprising most of the in-
terior of the house, the inmates eat, drink, sleep, trade and receive
company, the elastic mats forming a comfortable lounge or bed.
A slight moveable or sliding bulk-head, divides this platform into
several compartments when required. The furniture is plain, and
according to our ideas, rather limited in quantity and variety.
Neither chairs nor sofas, and rarely tables, are found even in the


ART. VI. VISIT TO SIMODA AND HAKODADI IN JAPAN. 131
residences of the officials. Transparent or rather thin light paper
supplies the place of glass in the window-sashes.
The dress of the people is uniform and simple, being regulated
according to the caste or class of the person. No ornaments are
worn by either sex, as far as our observation extended. Even the
little top cue of the governors, like that of all ranks, formed by
bringing the hair from behind and the sides, to the shaven part on
the forehead, is tied by a piece of raw silk or thread.
The common people, as well as many of the officials, seldom get
beyond rice and fish in their diet.
Thus 3-0U see the Japanese are ns simple and frugal in their
mode of life, as were the Spartans of old. They ore the best
developed, most intelligent, healthy and happy-looking people, we
have seen on this side of the Cape of Good Hope. The married
women, I am sorry to say, blacken their teeth, which adds nothing
to their attractions, while the men, boys and maidens, display
snow-white rows of ivory, improved in appearance by the frequent
use of the celebrated Japan powder.
The streets of Simoda are fifteen or twenty feet wide and partly
paved with stone. At the sides are gutters and sewers for drain-
ing the refuse water and filth into the harbor, or into a small stream,
running through the outskirts of the town,—another evidence of
an advanced state of civilization over the Chinese.
While in Simoda, I made an official call on the governors,
accompanied by the Consul-general and four of the ward-room
officers. The Consul and myself, were seated opposite to their
Excellencies on a bench level with their own, denoting equality;
while the ward-room officers were placed on a level with the vice-
governors and officers of coi icsponding rank. The Yedo spy was
of course present, taking notes of all that was said. Tea and con-
fectionary, with pipes, were brought in, and the whole ceremony
was not unlike thnt with which we were received by the Chinese
officers last .year when at Fuhchow. The governors were well in-
formed about our country, and evinced a strong desire to learn how
the President and'government of the United States regarded Japan.
One of them remarked, that he hoped the day was not fur distant
when the Japanese would visit America. They readily admit our
superiority, and seem to be strongly impressed with the power of
our country. The frequent presence of this power is therefore
imperative, with this people, to the establishment of trade and the


132 SHANGHAI LITERAHY AND SCIENTIFIC SOCIETY.
introduction of Christianity. The missionary and the commercial
interest, are equally benefitted by naval protection. For, as
Christianity and commerce are carried into heathen and uncivilized
lands, their supervision and defense necessarily follow. The
governors were to have returned my call on the day following,
but a strong wind and heavy sea, in the exposed harbor of Simoda,
necessarily prevented.
We availed ourselves of this visit to Simoda to make extensive
purchases in the beautiful lacquered-ware of Japan. This, with
sundry articles, was taken from the shops to the bazaar, where the
officials, supervising the shop-keepers, almost equalled the latter
in number. The purchases of tho officers for themselves and friends
amounted to more than $1,000. Goods exceeding $40,000 in
value were displayed. The price is affixed to each article, and no
abatement is ever made. One selects what is wanted; the list is
made up by the salesman and officers; an order is given, and
payment made by weighing the Mexican dollars, which are now
current, minus 6 per cent, for the expense of recoinage into the
Japanese ittelue.
The credit of equalizing the value of the Mexican and the Ja-
panese currency of the same weight, belongs to our Consul, Mr.
Harris. Formerly the dollar was only current at one third of its
weight. We are also under obligation to this faithful represen-
tative, for the adoption of the following articles by Convention; in
reference to which, he says, as the language itself will sustain,
that missionaries and their families will enjoy the right of resi-
dence in Simoda and Hakodadi, from and after the prescribed
time, the 4th of July 1858. Their liberty to preach and publicly
teach the doctrines of Chistianity does not necessarily follow.
Still all American citizens, by the terms of the said Convention,
will then be subject to American and not to the law of Japan.
Such however is the desire to acquire knowledge, among the people,
that scholars of both sexes, in any number, can be secured for the
purpose of being taught the English language. The future must
be left to the leadings of His providence, who is evidently causing
the portals of hitherto impervious, heathen and uncivilized lands, to
be thrown open wide for the introduction of Christian civilization.
"Article II. A* it has been known that American ships coming to the
ports of Simoda and Hakodadi cannot have their wants supplied by the Japanese,
it is agreed that American citizens may permanently reside at Simoda and
Jlakndadi."


AHT. VI. VISIT TO SI MOD A AND HAKODADI IN JAPAN. 133
"Thii article to go into eflfect oo the 4th day of July 1858."
"Abticlb IV. American* committing offences in Japan, aball be tried
by the American Consul-general, or Consul, and shall be punished according to
American Laws."
Hakodadi, Japan, Island of Jesso, Lit 41° 60' N., Long.
140° 481 E., October 5th, I now resume my narrative.
After remaining four days in Simoda we run out to sea, without
a pilot, in the afternoon of the 12th ultimo, with a fresh easterly
breeze; and after spending a thick moonless night, during which
we were drifted forty miles by the current, found ourselves in the
morning at the entrance of the passage between two islands, lying
in our course towards Hakodadi. In the run of five days from
thence we had variable winds, and, until the day before our arrival,
clear and pleasant weather. On the 15th ultimo, being some
fifteen miles from land, the ship passed through a fleet of more
than one hundred fishing boats, containing on an average twelve
men each. The men in the boats offered us fish and manifested
no fear at our presence among them; in fact they were disposed to
come alongside the vessel. The evening previous to entering the
Straits of Sangar, the wind set in strong from the N.E., and a
falling barometer at the same time indicated heavy weather. We
stood in to the Straits however, having treble-reefed the topsails at
4 a.m. At 10 o'clock, the fog lifting and wind moderating, we
found ourselves within thirty-five miles of Hakodadi,—the land
being in sight six miles distant on either side; light variable winds,
however, prevented our entering the bay and reaching the anchor-
age until 6 o'clock. A boat with two or three officers was then
sent alongside by the governor, to ascertain who we were, and
why we had come to Hakodadi: on being answered, a paper in
English was handed to me, prescribing certain port regulations:
among them, one forbidding the discharge of guns or fire-arms
while in the harbor. I handed the paper back to the officer,
telling him to say to the governor, that men-of-war fired blank
cartridges in any port whenever they had occasion to do so; and
that such a paper ought not to have been presented to me. An
apology by the officer, and afterwards by the governor himself,
was made, averring that the character of the vessel was not
remembered when the paper was presented.
On Monday, succeeding our arrival, I called on the governor,
with our commercial agent, Mr. Rice, and three of the lieutenants
of the ship; we were seated on a level with the governor and his


134 SHANGHAI I.ITEHARY AND SCIENTIFIC SOCIETY.
suite, denoting1 equality. Tlie same cordiality and courtesy, mani-
fested nt the interview at Simoda, was here observed by the
authorities. After an hour or more of conversation, at the suggestion
of Mr. Rice, I infoimed the governor, that I had made a request
of the commercial agent, to procure fresh beef occasionally for us
during our stay in port. The governor said that 3uch a supply
was impossible: that "the law of Nippon forbade it;" and that
fresh beef had never been supplied to a foreign vessel of any cha-
racter in Japan. I replied that our Consul-general, Mr. Harri?,
informed me that such supply could here be procured: and that
Mr. Rice also had with him a letter from Mr. Hams, notifying
him that this arrangement had been made; also that a supply of
necessaries were guaranteed in the 2d article of the Treaty; and
the Dutch at Nagasaki, I understood, were furnished with fresh
beef. I then referred to the 9th article of the Treaty: giving us
all advantages of other nations. The governor was informed, as
we rose to take our leave, that a treaty stipulation was aboye,ihe
law of the land of the respective parties, and that I should expect
a bullock alongside the Portsmouth at 10 o'clock on the following
morning. On reaching the residence of Mr. Rice, an pffiper ♦as
sent by the governor to inform him that two bullocks voald.be
sent off to the Portsmouth at the prescribed time; wkicb eras dope.
The following week the governor again declined furuuhiag the
bae( but on a strong representation from Mr. Rice, a bullock w*s
sent off the following day. Considering it possible that the au-
thority .for him to act in this matter, might not have yet gome
from Yedo, and as we had so readily obtained other supplies at a
cheap rate, I intimated to the commercial .agent tbftt 9* further
request for beef would be made at present^ bjtt (hat I should
report-1 the state of the case to the commodore, on my return to
Hoogkong, who would probably give definite instructions to the
next man-of-war visitiag Hakodadi, wha*.gourde to take ut this
matter. In all other respects the. authorities have manifeetod a
desire to do all in their power to render our Tj*it agreeable.
The governor and suite returned my ca^ on Saturday 20th
instant, accompanied by thirteen boats witk numberless streamers
flying, which, with his large guard iu uniform, was a display quite
creditable to these orientals. I entertained him, with suite of ten
or twelve, at my table, who were more expert with the use of the
knife and fork, than we had been with tire "eaop-stickV on. our


ART. VI. VISIT TO SIMODA AND HAKODADI IN JAXAN. 135
call upon his Excellenoy. The party freely partook of the viands,
and seemed to have a high appreciation of the champagne. We
saluted the governor with thirteen guns, and gave him an Op-
portunity of seeing the explosion of our shells. I permitted his
officers to take the dimensions of the ship; and enjoined it upon
our officers and men, when on liberty, to treat the people with
consideration and kindness. The result has been, that we were
welcomed by all classes, and I trust that our visit will have a good
influence upon our future intercourse and relations with the
Japanese. Great firmness with moderation, asking nothing but
what is right, and letting them see that you expect that to be
accorded, will enable us, ultimately, to establish ourselves on a good
footing with the authorities and people of Japan.
The bay of Hakodadi i6 expansive and of easy access, especially
with the chart of Perry's Expedition. The harbor is completely
land-looked and capable of containing two hundred sails in an
anchorage from five to twelve fathoms. The shallowness of the
water, a spit making out from the town a distance of twelve hundred
yards, and the moderate ebb and flow of the tide, render the
anchorage perfectly secure at all times. This, with the healthiness
of the climate, the means of supplies, the good disposition of the
people, and the order of the government that no liquor shall be
sold to persons on liberty, render it decidedly the most desirable
place, in point of health and enjoyment, for a man-of-war, that I
have ever visited; while its position to California, its importance
to Russia, as a trade is'opening at the Amoor river, and with the
coal mines in its vicinity, make it worthy of consideration, not
only as a place of frequent resort by our men-of-war and whale
ships, but even as an auxiliary depot for government stores. On
the other hand, Simoda has but limited resources, while its confined
harbor renders it of little or no value for commercial or other
purposes. The well-sheltered and capacious harbor of Osaoo, the
port of entry for Ifiaco, ought if possible to be substituted for that
of Simoda. If Osaco cannot be obtained, as Hiaco is the residence
of the spiritual emperor, Uraga, which is further up the bay
towards Yedo than Simoda,—from whence the native commerce
for several years has been tending,—might be selected as the port
we must have in case the other is refused. Our Consul-general with
his secretary at Simoda, and the commercial agent here, are
the only foreign residents in the two ports open to us by treaty


l.'Ui SHANOHAI MTF.RAHY AND SCIENTIFIC SOCIETY.
ftipuiations. And iu tbi>se desolate waters, in fact since leaving
China, we have not lteen relieved by the sight of a single vessel
except the native junks.
If you could fancy yourself cruising in the Mediterranean, the
town of Hakodadi and the country around,—were it not for junks
in place of square-rigged vessels, and less pretentious private and
public buildings on shore,—would be taken for Gibraltar. Here
it stands before me,—the isolated rock of a thousand feet altitude,
with its houses on the base and acclivity: there Europa Point:
here the neutral ground separating the rock fortress from Spain:
further on around the bay lies Algesiras: while on the oposite side
of the straits, the Pillars of Hercules with Ceuta and Tangier, loom
up, completing the resemblance. The scenery therefore is bold
and impressive.
Hakodadi, in police and general appearance, bears a resemblance
to Simoda, although the droves of pack-horses and general activity
show a more enterprizing people. The roofs of the houses slope
down from the top, projecting with their eaves beyond the wall,
and are covered with shingles kept in their places by slips of board,
which have cobble stones laid on them to keep the shingles in their
places. The shops are large and contain a greater variety than
those in Simoda. Here is the goyosha, filled with lacquered-ware,
crape, scarfs, silks interwoven with gold-thread, and furs, to say
nothing of edibles in large quantities. Cheap books, with wood-
cuts, are seen in every house: these are drawn with freedom and
a humorous sense of the grotesque and ludricrous.
We frequently hauled the seine on the smooth sandy beach, but
with the exception of one salmon and several flounders, have
realized nothing beyond the sport and excitement arising from
hopes of "better success next time." In our rambles in the country,
I have occasionally taken a gun to assist the doctor, in procuring
birds and other specimens of natural history. One can hardly
imagine the relief and enjoyment derived from our visit to this
bracing climate, and free run around a country, "where every
prospect pleases and only man is vile."
But enough of Japan.—I have imposed a long penance, and
will now giant you absolution after reading the following order
just received from the imperial government at Yedo.
"In Japan, from ancient time, bullocks were only used as for beasts of burden
and for trade But from this time they shall bo fattened in a village near


ART. VI. VISIT TO SIMODA AND HAKODADI IN JAPAN. 137
llakodadi, and ready to be delivered when you shall want them. At no other
port in Japan will bullocks be delivered but Hakodadi. This you will under-
stand and make known to your people."
P.S.—October 7th. One word more, as beef sometimes involves
a principle. The governor having again refused supplies on the
ground that the Portsmouth had had her share of beef, I called
on his Excellency this morning, accompanied by the commercial
agent and four senior lieutenants, directing the interpreter to
say to the governor, that "he must not send such messages to a
man-of-war, it will not be permitted: that the order has come for
the governor to furnish bullocks, and he must send two bullocks
to the Portsmouth by 10 o'clock to-morrow morning, or there will
be trouble, as he not only violates the order from Yedo, but also
breaks the treaty by this refusal." The governor acceded to the
terms, and offered as many in addition as might be required; and
also promised a full supply to all American men-of-war, merchant
vessels and whalers, in future. On taking leave, his Excellency
presented me with a box of Japan tea and two beautiful waiters
from the city of Yedo.
SUSS.
XXXII
1 0


[ 138 ]
ARTICLE VII.
RECORD OF OCCURRENCES IN CHINA.
Pbbpabed bt tbi Editorial Committee. Jum lit 1858.
Great events, rather than great men, characterize the times in
which we live. We admire the deeds performed, while we scarcely
notice the actors. Indeed, an advance in improvements, constantly
more and more accelerated, seems to be the settled order of the
day. This results, doubtless, not so much from superior genius
and learning, as from accumulated experience and observation,—not
so much from any masterly exploits of a few, as from the combined
exertions of many. In numerous instances the events resulting
from united efforts have become surprisingly great Accepting
this as the correct view of our times, we may fairly anticipate
greater and still greater improvements, which in their good in-
fluences will reach the remotest parts of the Chinese empire. The
construction and employment of new machinery, the extension of
telegraphic lines, spanning oceans and continents, with other works
of like sort, seem destined to bring out new and wonderful results
all over the world, so that its inhabitants everywhere shall rise to
higher attainments in all that makes human life valuable.
As the Editorial Committee of the Shanghai Literary and
Scientific Society, at this incipient stage of our labors, it is not
our province to scan the motives of our fellow-men, nor will we
try to notice the thousand minor acts that properly fill the columns
and pages of daily or weekly journals. We shall be well satisfied,
if we can give the true bearings of a very few of the leading events
which have recently transpired in this hemisphere,—if we can with
suitable distinctness mark here an advance of truth, and of such
truth as shall, as it gradually gains ascendency, sweep away all
those systems of error and of wrong that have hitherto in Eastern
Asia prevented in large measure the prosperity of the people.
These few thoughts premised, we will proceed directly to recent
events in China, and especially to those that have occurred at
Canton and at the mouth of the river which is the grand thorough-
fare from the Gulf of Chihli to Peking!


ART. VII. RECORD OF OCCURRENCES IN CHINA. 139
The occupation of the city of Canton on the 29th of December
I8b7, nnd the destruction of the forts at Taku on the 20th of May
1858, by the Allied forces of England and France, mark the tide
of events'in different and remote parte of this empire.
The taking of the city of Rams was effected, as expected, without
any very serious losses on the part of the assailants. That act
and the capture and deportation of Yeh Ming-chin are memorable
events, and as'such will form a part of a long catalogue of occur-
rences, reasonably to be anticipated, ere this old secluded empire
is made easily accessible along its coast and far into the interior.
The rendezvousing of an armed expedition in the Gulf of Chihli
is another occurrence far in advance of anything witnessed there
in bye-gone ages or even in our own times. Tribute-bearers have
been seen there in great splendor, and there some demonstrations
of power have been made on the part of foreigners. But hitherto
all have been insufficient to answer reasonable demands. What
are to be the issues, immediate or remote, of the present combined
movement, we need not be anxious to ascertain. We may feel
assured, however, that none but weighty reasons could have moved
simultaneously the governments of four great nations, in circum-
stances and with interests so diverse, as are those of England,
France, Russia and the United States, to unite in one common
suit,—all determined to have a better understanding with the court
of Peking. This unprecedented movement is one of the signs of
the times, and under an all-wise and overruling Providence will, we
confidently anticipate, introduce new and better relations between
the east and the west.
Before attempting to chronicle any of these recent occurrences,
in their order, some prior ones must be specified, as their antecedents.
Foreign monopolies in China ceased with the termination of the
English East India Company's exclusive rights, on the 22d of
April 1834. A Royal Commission arrived at Canton that same
year; and after a resolute but ineffectual attempt to open direct
intercourse with the high provincial authorities, Lord Napier retired
to Macao, where he died on the 11th of the following October.
It was believed that his illness and death were caused mainly by
the cruel treatment he received at the hands of the Chinese officers.
The two main points of his offending were found in his requiring
direct access toj (or at least direct communication with,) tha
emperor's high provincial officers, and on terms of equality.


140
SHANGHAI LITERARY AND SCIENTIFIC SOCIETY.
The written correspondence that took place on that occasion,
between the parties at issue, should be carefully read by those who
wish to judge impartially of the events that have followed, up to
the present crisis. To the stand then taken, by the governor-
general of Canton and his colleagues, no effectual remedies were
interposed. Deep wounds were caused, but never healed, while
they were greatly irritated by repeated acts, such as that specified
in the following extract, dated Canton, Feb. 26th 1839.
Sir :—A gross and shocking outrage against the foreign community having
been perpetrated by the Chinese authorities, by causing a man to be strangled
this afternoon in front of our factories, we, the undersigned British subjects,
most earnestly request that the British flag may not again be hoisted until
reference has been made to Her Majesty's Chief Superintendent
This note, addressed to the Deputy Superintendent, was signed
by all the British subjects in Canton. Public affairs, at once
assumed a threatening aspect, and the bearing of the native autho-
rities towards foreigners daily became more and more hostile,—in
u},ter disregard of the remonstrances of all the resident Consuls.
On the 10th of March, Lin Tsih-te'tt, as Imperial Commissioner,
made his public entry into Canton, having large powers from his
august master to deal with the Fan-krsei. A few days later, on
the 25th, the whole foreign community were prisoners, shut up in
their factories, and all intercourse between them and the Chinese
people was interdicted. No parcels, nor even the smallest note,
could be sent to Macao or Whampoa, except at the most imminent
hazard of life. The struggle, thus begun, was steadily carried
on,—in the surrender and destruction of twenty thousand and odd
chests of opium,—in the expulsion of all British subjects from Macao,
and in three armed expeditions during three successive summers,
till the signing of the Treaty before Nanking, on board H. B. M.
ship Cornmallu, August 20th 1842.
By the terms of that Treaty the co-hong system was abolished
for ever, twenty-one millions of dollars were to be paid, the island
of Hongkong was ceded, and the cities of Canton, Amoy, Fuhchau,
Ningpo and Shanghai were opened for the residence of British
subjects, "without molestation or restraint" A treaty, supple-
mentary to this, was signed Oct. 8th 1843.
The Treaty between the United States and the Chinese was
signed at Wanghia, near Macao, July 3d 1844; and "that between
His Majesty King of the French and the Emperor of China," was
signed at Whampoa, near Canton, Oct 24th the same year.


AIIT. VII. ItECORD OF OCCURRENCES IN CHINA.
141
At the request of the French ambassador, LagrenS, Kiying me-
morialized the throne, and on the 28th of Dec. 1844, an Imperial
decree was granted, for the toleration of Christianity. A question
having been raised, whether this was applicable to Protestants or
not, an edict was Issued on the 23d of Oct., the following year,
declaring that, "all the great western nations being placed on an
equal footing, only let them, acting well, practice their religion,
and China will in no way prohibit or impede their so doing."
The right of entrance to the five cities above named and of
residing within their walls was at once enjoyed, excepting only at
Canton. There it was denied, and very soon became a vexed
question, which, unfortunately, was left pending when the last
instalment of the $21,000,000 was paid and the island of Chusan
restored to its original possessor. With a view to put this question
at rest, the following was made one of the Articles of a Convention,
signed the 4th April 1846, by Sir John Davis and Kiying.
"Bis Majesty the Emperor of China having, on hi* part, distinctly staled
that when in the courts of time mutual tranquility shall have been limned, it
will be sale and right to admit foreigners Into the city of Canton, and the local
authorities being for the present unable to coerce the people of that city, the
plenipotentiaries on either side mutually agree that the ixeeation of the above
measure shall be postponed to a more faroroble period; but the claim of right
is by no means yielded or abandoned on the part of Her Britannic Majesty."
Along with this Article, another was introduced, indicating
certain localities and limits, "outside of the city," for excursions.
These precautions, however, brought no amelioration; and on the
8th of July following the factories were assailed by a furious mob,
which was quelled with no small difficulty, and not without serious
damage. Again, in the following spring, an attack was made on
a small party, while on a trip to Fuhshan; and as a sequel to this,
naval and military forces were moved up to Canton, dismantling, on
their way up, all the forts at the Bocca Tigris with those on the
river. "Seven propositions" were then agreed upon, between Sir
John Davis and Kiying, one of which provided that "two years
from this day's date [April 6th 1847,] British officers and people
tkmll hate free entrance into the city." On the 5th of the follow-
ing December the massacre at Hwangchuki occurred, and after the
two years had expired, Canton was still kept shut against foreigners,
all treaty stipulations and remonstrances notwithstanding.
The views of the British government, on the state of affairs at
that time, are- seen in a note from the Foreign Office, dated
Aug. 18th 1849. "You will say," writes Viscount Palmerston to
10*


142
SHANGHAI LITERARY AND SCIENTIFIC SOCIETY.
Mr. Bonham, "that the observations you are to make are as
follows:"—
"The Chinese authorities teemed, more than ten rein sgo, to believe that
because Great Britain is far distant from China, the Chinese might, with im-
punity, ill-iue British subjects in China. The Chinese officers found that they
were mistaken. The British government sent ships arid troops to China; the
Chinese troops were conquered in fight, and the Chinese government was com-
pelled to grant to the Britisli government the satisfaction that was demanded,
for the injury that had been done to a British officer and to* British ^subject*.
The Chinese great officers at Canton seem to he falling again into the same
mistake which was committed by their predecessors in 1839; and they appear
to be encouraging and exciting, among the people of Canton, hostile feelings
towards British subjets. But let not the great officers at Canton, nor the
government of Peking, deceive themselves on these matters. The forbearance,
which the British government has hitherto displayed, arises not from a sense of
weakness, but from consciousness of superior strength. The British government
well knows, that if occasion required it, a British force would be able to destroy
the town of Canton, not leaving one single house standing, and could thus
inflict the most signal chastisement upon the people of that city.
"The British government, however, would be very sorry to be compelled to
resort to such measures of severity, and will avoid doing so ss long as possible.
But the Chinese government and its officers must assist the British in its
endeavors so to forbear. The government of Peking must take care that the
treaty engagements of the Emperor are faithfully fulfilled: and the high officers
at Canton must he dilligeut to inspire the people of that city and of its neigh-
borhood with friendly sentiments towards British subjects. So will peace be
maintained between the two empires, and so will commerce flourish between
them, to the mutual advantage of both. This ia the wish of the British govern-
ment; let it also be the wish of the government of China."
Such was the state of affairs, and such the attitude of the two
governments, when the case of the Arrow, raised again the vexed
question of direct access to the high provincial authorities, within
the walls of the city and on terms of equality. Each of the two
evidently had long since defined its principles and course of pro-
cedure. It was not any one single act, but scores of acts, that had
brought matters to the issue that was then made. The time had
come for the ultima ratio regvm.
Seven years after the above admonitory notice was given, by
the British government to the Chinese at Canton and Peking,
Admiral Seymour, having bombarded Canton, visited the premises
of the governor-general within the city walls. The foreign factories
were burnt on the 14th of December following. Thus the contest
went on till, as already stated, the city was taken by the allied
forces and Yeh made prisoner.
Lord Elgin's dispatch to the high commissioner Yeh, delivered
to him a few days previously to the fall of the city, must here be
referred to. It is dated Dec. 12th 1857; it states that he is the
bearer of letters of credence to the Emperor of China; that he is
invested with full powers to settle certain difficulties and conclude


AIIT. VII. RECORD OF OCCURRENCES IN CHINA. 148
a treaty with any minister holding similar powers; it then alludes
to the treaty of 184:2, and to the one exception to the favorable
state of affairs at the five ports, indicating a few leading incidents,
declaring that t/ie season for remonstrance is past, and that the
governments of England and France are united in their determina-
tion to seek, by vigorous and decisiee action, reparation for past,
and security against future, wrongs:" the dispatch then closes
with these three emphatic paragraphs.
"Uuder these circumstance*, tlie undersigned thinks it his duty to state
distinctly to the Iinperiul Commissioner, that he cannot assume the responsibility
of arresting the progress of hostile operations against Canton, until Hie following
demand* of the British Government are absolutely and unreservedly conceded:
the complete execution at 1'unton of all Treaty engagements, including the free
admission of British subjects to the city; compensation to British subjects and
persons entitled to British protection for losses incurred in consequence of the
late disturbances.
"If these moderate demands, and those preferred on behalf of the Emperor of
the French by His Imperial Majesty's High Commissioner and Plenipotentiary,
be frankly accepted by the Imperial Commissioner Yen within the period of ten
days from this date, the blockade of the river will be raised, aud commerce will
be permitted to resume its course. But the English forces, in conjunction with
the forces of the French, will retain the Island of Houau and the forts on the
river as a material guarantee, until the terms of a Treaty for regulating these
and all other questions |>eudii>g between the Government of Great Britain and
that of China shall have been agreed to between the undersigned and a Pleni-
potentiary, of equal rank, appointed by the Emperor of Chins to negotiate with
him, and until the Treaty so agreed upon shall have been ratified by their
respective Sovereigns.
"If, on the contrary, the Imperial Commissioner shall meet these demands
by a refusal, by silence, or by evasive or dilatory pleas, the undersigned will
deem it to be his painful duty to direct the naval aud military Commanders to
prosecute, with renewed vigour, operations against Cauton, reserving to himself
the right to make, in that case, on behalf of the British Government, such
additional demands on the Government of China as the altered condition of
affairs may seem, in his eyes, to justify."
It should be observed here, in passing, that so far hack as Sept.
1856, official notice was given by the French government, to the
English, that reparation would be demanded for the murder of the
French missionary, Chapdelaine, and if necessary by force.
Shortly after the occupation of Canton, we find the representatives
of the Four Treaty Powers on their way, from the south, to
""o-haij having severally first dispatched communications to the
chief cabinet minister at Peking. Answers to those, received here,
being unsatisfactory, they again addressed others in like manner;
and early in April proceeded in person to the Gulf of Chihli, where,
negotiations failing, more vigorous action was renewed.
We have much confidence in the prudence of those, who, under
a wise Providence, are charged with the direction of this movement.
Lord Elgin, Baron Grot*, Count Poutiatine, and the Hon. Mr. Reed,


114 SHANGHAI LITERARY AND SCIENTIFIC SOCIETY.
are men of high repute, have devolved on them weighty respon-
sibilities, and their objects may diverge on unimportant points:
Russia has a boundary line to settle, France her form of Christianity
to vindicate, England her commerce to foster, and America such
objects to gain as will enlarge her influence ;* but all are united,
we believe, in agreeing to such measures and demands as will open
this empire to all nations. May the Almighty, in his mercy and
for his glory, crown their action with complete success.
From Peking there bare been of late unfaTorable reports, touching the health
and habit* of the young Emperor, and the deposition of the people,—at present
topics of more than usual interest. It has been said that the ladles of the
Emperor's harem are learning to ride on horseback, so that, in an emergency,
they may be ready to make their escape to a more northern latitude, perhaps to
the ancient capital of the Manchu race. Hlen-fung, was born In August 1831,
and ascended the throne in 1850, then in the nineteenth year of his age. Sorely
he has fallen on Inauspicious times!
On the 17th of December last, two days before the fall of Canton, the city
of Chinklang was reoccupied by the Imperial troops—the long-haired rebel*
having evacuated It and retired to Nanking. In the other provinces, it is not
known to us that any important movements have been made by the follower* of
Hung 8iu-tsinen. On the western frontiers of Chehkiang and Fuhkien some
advance* have been made by the insurgents, during the hut spring months ;Jbut
whether their cause, taking it all in all, is waning or waxing stronger, we do
not know; nor do ae know whether Hung himself 1* dead or living.
The report of the rising of the Mohammedan* in the province of Tun-nan,
noticed m the Peking Oaxettee last winter, Is recently confirmed by intelligence
received here from India. The governor-general of Tun-nan, having lost hi*
provincial capital, committed suicide.
Passing now, from the empire of China, to "the lurrounding nation*," we'
find only a few occurrences to record, yet more than enough to fill up the
short space assigned for this Article.
From Japan there ha* been current a rumor that II* government >■ about to
make new and important modifications in its foreign policy. This is probably
true, though Captain Foote's letter, as given on preceding pages, does not afford
any very palpable evidence of such a disposition; that letter does, however,
indicate, in the Japanese, a tendency in the right direction.
From Liuehiu the Rev. Mr. Morton, the missionary successor there of Dr.
Bettelheim, hes been compelled to withdraw, for a season at least, on account
of personal infirmity induced by hi* residence In that climate.
In Cochin-china troubles exist, and of such a nature, it is said, that a French
naval force will move in that direction, a* toon a* some graver matters in China
shall have been settled.
From Siant a royal messenger, an envoy, has been sent to Europe. This
may be a small matter, but it augurs well. The Siamese kings are certainly
showing themselves to be under some new influences; and by encouraging
Christianity, modern science and commerce, they are in the right way to make
good tbe claim to their native name, Muang Thai, "Kingdom of the Free."


JOURNAL
THE NORTH-CHINA BRANCH
OF THE
ROYAL ASIATIC SOCIETY.
No. IL Mat, 1859.
SHAKSHAIi
PRINTED At THE OPPICK OP THE NORTH-CHINA UERALB.
MDCCCLIX.





PREFACE.
8ihcb the publication of the firit No. of the Journal of the Shanghai
Litbbabt AID SciEMTiPio-SocibtT, the Society has become connected by.
affiliation with the " Royal Astatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland." This
step waa contemplated from the commencement, and it mi only pending mom
aary preliminaries, that the designation of «Shanghai Literary and 8oientiflo
Society" was proTisionally adopted. The relationship thus newly entered into,
having involved a change in the name of the Society, this second No. of the.
Journal consequently appears, with the new title of Joubmax of thb
NOBTH-CHIlfA BRANCH OF TBI ROYAL ASIATIC 80CIBTT.
The contributions, ainee oar last issue, warrant as in looking forward to a
sphere of much Interest and usefulness, in the future progress of our juvenile
institution; and in making a selection from these for the number In hand, it
has been our aim to give variety of subject, bearing in view especially questions
touching on our present position in the east Fortunately the range of our
operations give ample scope to such diversity, and the rich field for literary,
scientific and antiquarian enterprise, which current events are opening up to
as, encourage the assurance, that the undertaking, we have embarked in, is
destined to secure results of no mean importance in the future.
We refer with much satisfaction to the elaborate paper of Captain Ward on the
navigation of the Yang-tsze Kiang, highly important in itself, as anticipating
the openings to commerce in that direction,—interesting by comparison,' as
being probably the first scientific survey of a river which has been constantly
navigated for upwards of two thousand yean,—and of some value as confirm-
ing so far, the accuracy of the survey of the empire by European mathematicians
at the commencement of the present dynasty.
From Captain Shad well's Magnetic statistics, we are taught the valuable aid
which, may accrue to that partially developed branch of science, by a steady
course of careful observations in this hitherto secluded region.
The article oo Musical notation by the Rev. E. W. Syle, though brief, is an
interesting addition to onr knowledge,—by one who has studied the subject cm
amort,—of an art which has been cultivated by the Chinese from remote an-
tiquity, and with regard to their theory of which, we are yet but very imperfectly
acquainted.
In the unexplored department of Chinese literature, the names of the Rev.
Joseph Bdkins and Dr. Macgowan are a sufficient guarantee of originality; and
the respective contributions of those gentlemen, are calculated to throw light
upon the state of letters in this peculiarly literary nation.
Turning our attention from China to the islands on the east, we find every
Incident relating to the Japanese nation replete with instruction, and at the
present peculiar juncture of our mutual relations, it Is natural that information


should be eagerly sought for. It it gratifying to os, to be able to cod tribute
towards the dissemination of such information. Through the kindness of Dr.
Williams, we now present our readers with a comprehensire epitome of Japanese
affairs. While much may be gained from the works of Siebold, Thunberg,
Titslngh, and other writers of the Dutch school, regarding byegone times, it is
most important to hare their statements confirmed or refuted, by an actual
witness of the state of matters at the present day; and from his extensive
sinologies] researches, perhaps no one is better qualified than Dr. W. to fulfil
the task. The remarkable contrast between the conservative exclnsiveness of
the sons of Han, and the thirst for knowledge recently displayed by the native*
of Japan, is a study deserving the attention of the ethnologist. Much curious
information bearing on this point, la given in the paper of Dr. Van Heerdervoort.
The Island of Formosa has also furnished us with two valuable papers from
the pen of R. Swinhoe, Esq. As this is comparatively unexplored ground, we
trust the future will put us in possession cf the means to satisfy the desire for
further details, induced by Mr. Swinhoe'* contributions.
Much new information may be accumulated by navigators in these eastern
seas, and we would respectfully remind those gentlemen who have the opportu-
nity, that the object of our institution is to afford the means of circulating such
information for the public benefit. In connexion with this, we would acknow-
ledge the urbanity of Capt. Fedorovitch, in transmitting to us his meteorolo-
gical observations, which is an initial step in the right direction.
It may be well to notify to our readers that most of the papers are printed in
the absence of the authors; while it is just, therefore, that we relieve our con-
tributors from the onus of typographical and other imperfections, which will
unavoidably creep in, even when following carefully executed manuscripts, we
would also crave indulgence for ourselves, in cases where, in the absence of
authority, we may have been betrayed into errors of judgment. In the ortho-
graphy of Chinese names, we are particularly liable to this failing, and with
the greatest care, it is almost impossible to secure a faultless sheet where many
such words occur. Even among sinologues, who are well acquainted with the
Chinese character, we are very far from having attained to anything like
uniformity. Under such circumstances, it can scarcely be expected that strangers
to the language will succeed, where the initiated have so signally failed; and it
need not be a matter of surprise, therefore, that great diversity obtains in China*"
names, however much this practise is to be deprecated.
Ed. Com.


CONTENTS.
rag*.
Abticlb I.—Narrative of a visit to the Island of Formosa, 145
Abticlb II.—Notices of the character and writings of Hah Ul, 16S
Abticlb III.—Chinese Bibliography, 170
Abticlb IV.—On the Musical Notation of the Chinese, • 176
Abticlb V.—Lactate on Japan, 180
Abticlb VI.—On the Study of the Natural Sciences in .Japan, 211
Abticlb VII.—Memorandum on the present state of some of the
Magnetic Elements in China, 922
Abticlb VIII.—Notes on some new Species of birds found on the Island
of Formosa, 226
Abticlb IX.—Sailing Directions for the Yang-tsze Kiang, from Vfoosnng
to Hankow, 281
Abticlb X.—Thermometries! Observations, taken during a passage from
Nsgasaki to Shanghai .'. 247
Abticlb XI.—Record of Occurrences in China, 248





JOUBNAL
0*
THE NOBTH-CHINA BKANCH
THE BOYAL ASIATIC SOCIETY.
ARTICLE I.
WARRATIYK OP A VISIT TO THE ISLAND OF FORMOSA;
Br Robbbt Swornon, B*^., of B. B. M. Coiinun, Ahot.
Bead bafan Ike Society, July 90th, ISfiS.
Hatimq had the pleasure of accompanying H. M. Str. InflexiUt
am interpreter, on her late expedition to Formosa in March for
information relative to the rumor of the detention there, by garages,
of Messrs. Smith and Nye, a few notes, extracted from my
journal, will perhaps not fail to be of interest to the members of
this Society.
Leaving Amoy on the afternoon of the 7th June 1868," and
passing the Pescadores, we arrived next'day off Kok-*i-k<m and
anchored about a mile from the shore. All we could see of the
land was a sandy beach, interspersed with patches of woodland,
and a line of trees extending some distance inland at the foot of an.
indistinct range of hills. On the 10th, the wind blowing from the
shore and the surf beating less heavily, we managed to effect a
landing in the gig close to some huts. The inhabitants—Chinese
fishermen—came out to meet us in a good-natured manner: we
explained to them our object, and distributed soma proclamations
amongst them', offering $50 reward for every shipwrecked European
and 120 for every Asiatic. These- poor people live in straw huts,
in front of which they hang their nets on. rows of poles. A few
■cants
I


146 NARRATIVE OF k VISIT
pigs formed their only live stock. We learnt from them that their
families lived further inland, and that they visited this sand shoal
only at various seasons to prosecute their fishing.
These shoals are not large, and are surrounded on all sides by
shallow water. On most of them there were huts. The banks
consisted of a mixture of mud and sand, on which a vast number
of T\ger-beetle* (Cicindela?) were moving about. They ran very
fast, and if pursued took immediately to their wings. Their food
seemed to consist of the flies and small Diptera found in the
neighborhood of the huts. A few of the Lesser Tern (Sterna
minute) were seen flying about us.
Getting into the boat and passing over a bar, with only one
foot of water, across which the Saracen was able to pass when
on her Surveying expedition, we ran the boat alongside another
sandy island. The few Chinese here were equally as civil as those
on the other shoal; and the same beetles abounded. Neither
of the shoals had a sign of vegetation; indeed from their appear-
ance they must be under water a good part of the year. We
saw only one junk, and that was drawn up on the beach; all the
other native craft were catamarans, formed of large bent pieces
of bamboo lashed together and fastened to other pieces stretched
crosswise on the top, with a mast and sail when required. These
catamarans are wet it is true, for the water flows constantly over
the feet of one standing on them, but they are well adapted for
encountering the surf.
The ship got under way at five o'clock and was soon riding at
anchor off Fort Zealandia.
June 11th—Early this morning the gig and the cutter left on
a visit to the mandarins of Tai-wan-foo, the capital of Formosa.
We were at first doubtful by which channel we could enter,
whether by Fort Zealandia or some way further north past a
group of junks; but luckily we fell in with a fishing catamaran,
and taking one of the seminude fishermen into the gig, he piloted
ns round the sand spit, over which the surf beat violently and into
the channel close to Fort Zealandia. This Forty which 200 years
ago. was erected by the Dutch to beat off the Fuhkeen pirates,
was now in ruins; a large tree has grown out of the centre, and the
west wall, some twelve or fifteen feet in thickness built of bricks
and chunam, was battered down and the materials used for the
erection of mandarin dwellings.


TO THE ISLAND OF FORMOSA.
147
About two miles distant from this Fort,' the city of Tai-nan
was approached by a shallow canal, in many parts nut, more than
forty yards broad. The banks were high and intercepted our
view, but the pretty green Goat's foot creeper, with its convolvolus-
like purple flowers, gladdened our eyes, as we glid along, and the
merry carol of innumerable larks (Alanda minuta) in the air beyond
our ken showered melody upon us; verifying Tennyson's beautiful
idea—
"The lark became a sightless eong."
When arrived at Paksekwei, in the suburbs of the city, we
were obliged to halt the boats, as there was little water beyond.
We then sent a despatch to the Taoutai, and one to the Chintai,
by a messenger, and proposed to meet them at 12 o'clock in the
Yamun of the former. At that hour, after a walk of three quar-
ters of a mile, we arrived at the Taoutai's Yamun, where we were
met-by some of the underlings, who desired us to repair to the
Prefect's office, as that was a more central place for all the offi-
cials to meet in. After some consideration we acceded and one
of the petty officials acted as our guide. On reaching the place,
before the Taoutai and other officers arrived, we were requested
to walk into the waiting hall; but we preferred standing at the
gateway, with the marines and blue-jackets stationed around us to
keep off the crowd. Presently we heard a cry of the Taoutai's
coming, and three Chinamen with buttons came riding in without
any order through the gate, the foremost bowing as he passed
to the marines who stood on the left. I thought of course that
these were the usual equestrian precursors of the great mandarin,
and consequently did not take much notice of them; but ima-
gine my astonishment when I heard it was the Taoutai himself
on the foremost horse, a pretty spirited little animal. A civil
mandarin was actually riding on an unled pony!
Virgil would here have said, "luntd mora;" not so the Chinese.
Some more delay took place, and we were at last admitted into
the reception hall, where we found assembled the Taoutai, the
Hee-tai, the Chefoo, and the Chehien. The Chintai, whose dwell-
ing was some distance off, did not arrive till a later hour.
The Taoutai, KungChaou-tsze, declared himself willing to assist
us by issuing a proclamation to accompany cur's, to be distributed
throughout the towns and villages under his jurisdiction; and if
any shipwrecked foreign ere were discovered they would modi
1 1


148
NARRATIVE OP A VISIT
■Mindly be sent across to Amoy. He said that he had lately
arrived from Foochow; no wreck had yet come to his knowledge.
He had heard of the aboriginal Sang fan, or raw savages, on the
hills, but had never seen them; they were a savage race, who fed
on raw flesh, and never spared any one that fell into their hands;
it was almost impossible that Messrs. Smith and Nye could be in
thraldom under them, they would long ago have eaten them; if
they still existed in the sulphur mines near Kelung it was impos-
sible to ransom them, as the savages know not the value of money;
the Chinese had no dealings with the savages, excepting those
who were domesticated, and who traded with the settlers; a thou-
sand dollars was a large sum to offer for a man; there was no
necessity for a reward at all on our part; if there were any fo-
reigners cast away, the Chinese would ransom them and send
them across the channel to Amoy. If any one, who had been
shipwrecked, should be brought to Amoy we might reward his
deliverer, but there was no necessity for it; they would attend to
that themselves.
The Chintai soon arrived, a large, good-humored, full-faced
man, with a few straggling hairs for a moustache. His name was
Shaou Lien-kaou, a native of Foochow. He cruised about occa-
sionally on the coast, and had been to Kelung and Tamsuy; there
were, he said, no pirates on the coast now; he had seen a few,
but they always ran away when he approached; there was very
little coal in Kelung, and that difficult to be obtained.
On our asking these officers to permit the people to sell us pro-
visions, they said they would make us a present of some. Chairs
were now sent for, and, taking leave of the Taiwan mandarins, we
returned to our boats. The tide had gone down considerably and
we found it impossible to get the boats afloat, so we landed and
strolled about. Inside of the banks there was nothing but mud-
dy sand intersected with streams. A species of crab, with one
large white claw, dotted the mud like flowers. They were very
quick, and off in an instant into their holes. Birds were scarce;
a Caspian and a Lesser Tern (Sternae caspiae and minutae) and
a few Kentish Plovers (Charadrius Cantianus) were all that I
saw. Provisions were absurdly dear, but the mandarins kept
their word and sent us off a fair supply. We had some difficulty
in getting out of the river, as the tide did not rise till late in
the day.


TO THE ISLAND OF FORMOSA.
149
June 12th—We were off Takow, commonly called Ape's Hill,
from the large-sized Monkeys that abound on it. The passage
into the harbor is very narrow; and as the tide was running out,
there was a heavy swell at the mouth. The harbor, though small,
is commodious for a few vessels of moderate draught; and, as it is
nearly land-locked, affords very safe anchorage. A receiving-
ship lay inside of the harbor, with a fine godown on shore belonging
to the same parties; but trade, we were informed, was slack; there
was some sugar, but it commanded high prices; and rice too,
just then, was to be bought at cheaper rates in China than there.
The natives were drying a vast number of small white fish,
spread out on the sand in the sun, which when dried are taken
away in large bags by the junks. Several junks lay in front of
the chief village, in the harbor Kee-aou. We walked through
this place, and found many of the houses, built under large Banyan
trees, surrounded by a thick hedge of the Prickly Pandanus or
other impenetrable shrubs, and approachable by narrow zigzag
lanes. Here under the shade of these fine spreading trees the female
members of the family would be sitting at work, while the men
were in the fields. But the neighborhood of Takow, visited as it
constantly is by foreigners, is too well known to require further
remark.
June 14th—We weighed anchor at five o'clock, and after two
hours dropped again off Fang-leaou, (in the chart marked Pang-le,)
a village twenty-five miles south of Takow. We now tried to
get ashore in the gig and cutter but found the surf so great that
the boats were obliged to anchor, and we had to land in catamarans
with the water washing up to our knees. This village is at war
with the one we were going to visit, Laileaou, where Dancheang
the outlaw chief lived. But we were not molested while led over
some lovely country; the rice fields however were lying waste on
account of the disturbances. We passed through one village,
Chuyleaou, built in the midst of lofty bamboos, where we found
fine broad lanes marked with cart ruts. The scenerv was a good
deal like that in Ceylon.
After walking a few miles we arrived at Laileaou, situated at
the bottom of the first range of hills and surrounded by a hedge,
backed by tall graceful bamboo trees, with a fosse partly encircling
it on the side of the hills. There were two entrances, one of which
was closed. Bancheang's house, with an upper story, occupied


150
NARRATIVE OF A VISIT
the east side; and all about within the enclosure were ranged the
houses of his dependants; over his door were written the words
Wan Ke, nnd spears and other ai ms were lying1 about in his court-
yard. "The Hero in his house we found," not as we expected to
meet him, a dashing Robin Hood, but a thin stooping1 elderly man,
with bad teeth.
In asking1 us to enter his house he displayed none of the polite-
ness and atfubility common to the Chinese. He was wedded to a
savage woman; perhaps he had taken lessons from her. We told
him the object of our present visit, and questioned him about a
foreign Ring and Telescope, said to have been once in his posses-
sion, and to have been presented by him to some mandarin. He
denied all knowledge of the affair, and assured us that he had
never heard of any wreck on his part of the coast, since the loss of
the Larpent in 1851, near Langkeaou. He made the captain a
present of a bow and some arrows, used by the savages, with whom
his people tmded, as also some cloth manufactured by their women
from the bark of a tree, with which he was not acquainted.
We then took our leave; and, returning to Pangle, had a look
at the village as we passed through the streets and called upon
one of the officials stationed there. The Chinese officers have had
a great dread Of Bancbeang, ever since their last expedition against
hit*. They sent an army of a thousand men to invade his terri-
tory; and when within shot-range, Bancbeang himself loaded a gun
and discharged it at the invaders, knocking over eighteen men at
one discharge. The Imperialists were bewildered and immediately
made good their retreat!
Among the bamboo woods, Orioles (Oriolus Sinensis) were very
abundant, and Black Drongos (Dierurus Malnbaricus) were swing-
ing1 to and fro in their nests, suspended from the bending bamboo
boughs. The Tiger Swallows, winter visitants in Amoy, were
building their nests under the overhanging roofs of the shop-sheds,
some of them within arm's reach. These nests were built of clay
in an oval form and lined with feathers, resembling much the nest
of the English martin, (Hirundo urbica,) and contained three or
four pinkish white eggs
We now repaired to our ship and got nicely drenched in working
off the catamarans against the surf.
On the ] 5th we were at anchor in Langkeaou bay, where the
surf presented difficultias as at Pangle against our effecting a


TO THE ISLAND OF FORMOSA.
151
landing, but we managed to get on shore not far from the village
on the south side of the bay. The natives, more or leas, are half-
breeds, and many of the women are pure aborigines. They were
mostly fishermen, though they had a lew cattle grazing on the
neighboring bilk. They could give us no information, except
what we knew before about the crew of the Larpent.
Past Langkeaou, farther south, the hills extend right to the
sea, and the savage roams over them ai large. It was here the
crew of the unfortunate Larpent were cruelly murdered by the
natives, with, the exception of the three men, who escaped into the
bands of the Chinese and were by them treated with kindness,
till they were enabled to get a passage to Amoy.
June 16th—Bad weather now coming on, we were obliged to
pass the south cape at some little distance, and steering north and
passing in sight of the islands of Botel Tobago and 9ama Sana,
we then stood in and coasted along past Black Rock Bay. The
bills, some of which were of a good height, were covered with
vegetation, and one peak, which we caught a glimpse of through
the clouds that encircled it, had a flat top like a crater. There
was no appearanoe of natives, except some lights that were visible
at night on the hills.
. On the 17th of June we were off a place in lat 24° 6' 18', where a
river is marked on the chart A. ravine runs between the hills, but
there is only a small mountain stream.* The ship was about eight
hundred yards from land, yet we got no sounding at one hundred
and, fifteen fathoms. The' morning was fine, with very little sea*
so we pulled away for the shore in the gig, steering towards a
collection of huts' at the foot of the hills. As we approached the
land, the deep blue waters ef the Pacific were divided from the
ooast-waters by a distinct line, so that one part of the boat was in
the colourless, the other in the deep cyanean blue waters! When
only one hundred and fifty yards from the shore, we sounded with
eleven fathoms of boat line, and got no bottom; when at about
fifty yards, we had eight and a half fathoms. Several natives
appeared on the beach, many of whom were Chinese; but among
them we could distinguish six men who were almost in a state of
nudity, wearing only a piece of cloth round the waist with a flap
in front.
These latter were armed with spears and sabres in a sheath,
stuck through the girdle and hanging behind. Their hair was
11*


1513
NARRATIVE OF A VISIT
short and fringed on the forhead, behind it hung loose. They
had a good deal of the Malayan cast of countenance, but were
much fairer than Malays and slightly fairer than the Chinese,
who were with them. Their arrows singularly enough have no
feathered shaft. The surf was too great for the gig to go in close
to the shore, so we called the Chinese, who were pushing a boat
into the water, to come out to us. They were just going to shove
off when four of these savages jumped into their boat, and the
Chinese, finding they could not hold them back, beckoned us to go
away. The savages meanwhile, enraged that they could not get
out at us, began to shake their spears and brandish their sabres
with threatening gestures; but a shot, fired over their heads, soon
put them to flight and they took shelter behind a mound. The
Chinese then came off to us; and taking one of them into our
boat, we asked him various questions.
These savages, according to his account, were called Tai-lo-kok
and their tribe numbered about four thousand; they inhabited the
surrounding woody hills and subsisted on sweet potatoes, taro and
deer's flesh; the bare patches of land, we saw on the hills, were
cleared away by them for cultivation. The greater part of the hills
was thickly covered with Camphor trees; and the boat they were
in was made of Camphor wood. He said there were about two
hundred Chinese in the village, who subsisted on the produce of
their fuhing; they had been sent there, many years ago, by the
mandarins (and were probably convicts); if we were to kill any
of the savages thev would avenge themselves on the Chinese, for
the savages had arms, the Chinese had none. A village that used
to exist a little further up the coast, where we could see a wreath
of blue smoke rising, had been burnt by the savages and every
one killed. One man, who had lived here fifteen yean, had never
'seen or heard of any wreck. Foreign ships had before been seen
passing by that place, but none had ever come so near to the land
as ours.
We now gave these Chinese, who had come off to us, some
proclamations, offering rewards for shipwrecked people, and asked
them to bring off one of the savages, that we might, through an
interpreter, get some information. They returned on shore and
explained the matter to the six savages who were squatted apart
by themselves, but they would not venture off. Fearing that, if
we remained any longer so near them, these wretches might make


TO THE ISLAND OF FORMOSA.
153
our visit a pretext for wreaking their vengeance on the Chinese, we
returned to our ship without molesting them further. It seems
very strange that so savage a race of men should have existed for
so many years close to the abodes of civilization; but their
wooded hills form their best protection. The Chinese mandarins
doubtless have done all in their power to exterminate them, but
without success. With a view to their destruction, tigers even
were brought over from China and let loose among them on the
the hills many years ago, but the savages were found to be too
skilful hunters to allow themselves quietly to be eaten!
Getting under way, we passed some lovely mountains of an
immense height, covered to the top with wood. At times their
summits only were visible; then gradually they would stand out
in bold relief, as the clouds cleared away. A valley was now seep
running from the beach right through between the hills; but no
river or stream was visible.
As we neared Soo-au bay, we fell in with several small boats,
pulling out from shore. Calling to one of the^e, we took a man
on board, and the boat in tow. The people in the boats were
Chinese and half-castes, who gained their living by fishing and
were then out seeking forJlying-JUh. With a few directions from
this man, we cast anchor outside the bay in thirteen fathoms.
At five o'clock a.m., on the 18th, we entered in boats the harbor
of Soo-au (or 8am 0, as it is called by the natives). We found deep
water close in shore with good protection for ships, though a little
«x[»sed to the south-east gales. Fine green hills i-Ose on both
sides of us, many of them covered with verdure to the tops; and
the central village, for which we made, was situated some little
way inland on the side of a stream, which in its meanderings
flowed between the hills into the sea. The houses of the Chinese
inhabitants were built of round stones and mud, thatched with
straw. These people told us that the savages dwelt on the hills
to the left amongst the thicket, and they took us to see one of
them who had recently come down to their village; but unfor-
tunately we were too late, for he had returned.
The Chinese here trade with these savages in various articles,
such as cloth and skins, and many of them had on cloth of abori-
ginal manufacture. In exchange they barter cloth, imported
from China in junks. To defend themselves from the savages
they keep in pay a kind of sharp-shooting militia who patrol the
■ca&M ii


154
NARRATIVE OF A VI8IT
hills. Tliese men, many of whom came to see us, were armed
with very fine matchlocks, kept in splendid order, and with knives
worn in their girdles. One man had a gun-shot wound in his leg,
which he received from a savage while on protecting duty. They
showed us some deer-shins and skins of the Muntjak (Cervulua
Reevesu), as also the hide of a Felis; all these were for sale; but
the people evidently did not attach the same value to the Mexican
dollar as we did, if one might judge from the prices which they
asked for their several articles.
The only specimens I procured of ornithological interest were a
Pomatorhinvs and .a Black Tern.
Leaving the central village, we proceeded across the harbor to
a little bay on the left, and finding a village there we ran the boat
in to the shore. A great many men and women came down to
meet us, and we were delighted to find that they were what the
Chinese call Siek krvan, or domesticated savages.
Some of the men had loose hair, but not a few of the younger
among them had their heads shaved in the Chinese fashion.
They were a shade or so darker than the Chinese, with a Malayan
oast of countenance. Of the women some were brown, others
nearly fair; while many, with European physiognomies, exhibited
nothing of the slanting eye. A few wore coats or something
thrown over the shoulders; but the majority had no other covering
than a wrapper round the loins, secured with a cloth girdle. Their
hair hung loose, with a white or red fillet laid just above the.
forehead. Most of these people smoked pipes, or rolls of tobacco
shaped like cigars.
One of the men spoke a little Chinese and we got him to interpret
to the others. When we inquired about their origin, they said
they only knew that they had come from the hills. They could
not even tell us their own ages, having apparently no means of
noting them: They would not be called Chin hwan, or "raw
foreigners;" they were simply Hman-ah, or "foreigners," the same
as we were. They seemed to be as much afraid of the true savages,
Sang fan, as were the Chinese themselves.
Their language abounds a good deal in the "R" sound, a£d
I will here mention a few of the commonest words which I nottd
down at the time.
Man, L&rrat. Son, Wdn-nak.
Woman, TarroSgan. Daughter, Kct-ah.


TO THE ISLAND OF FORMOSA.
155
Boat, Bactrim: Dog, Wtexoo.
Fire, La man. To Fight, Pah bo6l.
Water, Lal6m. No, Mai.
To smoke, Khan lammacko. Head, Obrr'oo.
These people, both in the construction of their houses and in
their mode of living, resemble the Chinese much more than they
do the blood-thirsty race we had seen a few days previously.
A quieter and more inoffensive class of people could hardly be
found anywhere. They had never before seen a foreign steamer,
and in the afternoon came off in crowds and spent the remainder
of the day in going round and round the ship, chanting a most
peculiar air.
The Chinese call this village Lamhongo; and a village on the
opposite side inhabited by Chinese, which we also visited, they
call Pakhongo.
We ascended one of the neighboring hills, and from the summit
got a fine extended view. On the right side of the hills stretched
a fine cultivated plain, with a river diverging close to its embou-
chure and trending different directions; behind us was the sea in
its placid calmness, its angry surf beating and breaking into white
spray agaiust the dark rocks beneath; on the left was the harbor
of Soo-au. Large flocks of the Black-capped Tern were grouped
on the rocks outside; and a monkey sat squeaking and chattering
to himself a few hundred yards down the hill. At the entrance
to the bay there is a surf-beaten tunnel, which extends quite
through the rocks, opening out on both sides north and south;
the one on the latter is larger than the other, and high enough
to admit a man standing erect
While at this place we got bold of a toothless old woman, one
of the most senile of the whole group of Chinese around us, and
explained to her the object of our mission, inquiring if she had
ever heard of any ships being wrecked on that coast. She replied
that, some years ago, a Lewchooan vessel had been broken to
pieces there, and that all hands had been murdered by the savages.
On the 19th, at daylight, we steamed away from Soo-au, and
rounding the point soon found ourselves off the richly cultivated
plain we got so good a view of from the hill-top the preceding day.
The ship was anchored off the mouth of the river, and the gig and
cutter were ordered to be ready for starting in half an hour. We
picked up a fisherman, from a Chinese boat, who pointed out the


NARRATIVE OF A VISIT
channel; but he recommended us not to try it, the surf was raging
in so heavily over the bar. We hesitated j to enter was to run
a great risk in coming1 out again; to return to the ship was to
relinquish our purpose and lose a fine view of the country. The
cutter was ordered back, while we hung on our oars, watching a
small junk crossing the bar. Soon the order was heard, "Give
way, boys," and in we flew. Once fairly in, and the boat went
quietly along in smooth water, following the course of the river
for about eight miles. It took numerous turns and bends through
a well-cultivated plain, and seldom sounded less than one fathom
water.
The first village we landed at was situated on the left bank,
and about four miles from its mouth. It was occupied by the
Siekhwan, or domesticated savages, and named Polo Sinnawan.
These people were exceedingly civil and good-natured, far more
so than the Chinese, and showed us about their tree-ensconced
residences. Their houses are built off the ground on posts and
have boarded floors. They are governed by a head-man of their
own race in concert with a Chinese, who dwells in the village.
The women here appeared to be in far better circumstances than
those at Soo-au; their heads were neatly dressed with three or
four folds of red ribbon ran through the hair, the whole surmounted
by a woven garland of green creeping plants. Their ears were
bored with several holes and five or six thin white metal rings,
two inches or so in diameter, were thrust through each hole.
These rather loaded the ears, but the effect was very far from
unbecoming'.
About two miles further up we landed at another village, in-
habited by Chinese. This was the chief village on the river; its
name is Ke-ta-kan or Le-teek-kan, and was said to contain one
thousand inhabitants. It hnd one good broad street and a mode-
rate display of provisions, but at very high prices. We were
shown the skins of the Deer, Muntjak and Felis. The natives said
we must be Dutchmen, for they had heard of no other red-haired
foreigners. The surrounding country was cultivated with rice and
millet. Rice appears to be their chief article of export. Junks
carry it to Kelung and return with cargoes of salt. They were
desirous to know what goods we had brought, and showed every
anxiety to trade. After proceeding some little distance past the
village, we returned and with a strong tide soon reached the


TO THE ISLAND OF FORMOSA.
157
surf-beaten bar. We landed on a sand-shoal to get a few bear-
ings; it was peopled by a semi-nude pack of Chinese fishermen,
who were amazed to see a watch, and asked if it was not a foreign
compass. We had some little difficulty in facing the surf, and
more than half filled our boat in coming out.
On the 20th of June we passed Eelung Island and anchored in
the harbor of Eelung about ten o'clock, a. h. In the afternoon
we went to inspect the Coal-mines. It is a long pull round to the
bay where they are situated, in a westerly direction from the harbor.
These mines are worked by Chinese, who live at their entrance
in huts built of straw and wood. There are eleven or twelve
excavations, their mouths opening out, at different heights, on
the side of a hill facing the sea. I went to the end of one, guided
by a man bearing a lighted piece of twisted paper. The excava-
tion, which ran in a horizontal direction, varied from about four
and half to three feet in height and three to ten or more in
breadth. The strata of coal run along on both sides in parallel
lines from one to three feet in thickness. The roof above, and
the floor underfoot, were composed of sandstone. Water was
constantly dropping from the roof, and this mixing with the sand
formed a slimy mud. The hole ran in pretty nearly in a straight
line for two hundred and forty paces; at the end it took a sudden
turn to the right. Small wicks in saucers of oil lighted the way
along, and we found five or six men at work in a state of nudity
with pick-axes, blunt at one end and sharp at the other.
The coal which they obtained was very small and bituminous,
and burns fast but with a great heat and flame. It is very certain
that they get the best there is in that locality. They asked
twenty cents a pecul for it, and declared that five men, at work
in a mine for twenty-four hours, did not procure mere than thirty
peculs. They bring out the coal as fast as it is dug is oblpng
baskets, containing a pecul each, placed on boards of the same
shape, and so dragged out through the watery mud. We bought
ninety-six tons of this coal for the steamer and it was all put on
board in two days.
At eight o'clock on the morning of the 22d we started on our
expedition to the Sulphur mines, some forty miles from Eelung,
where Mr. Nye was declared to be actually in thraldom. Our party
consisted of five persons, besides two marines and several Chinese
coolies. After passing through the town of Eelung, we struck


158
NARRATIVE OP A VF8IT
out in a north-west direction, along a good road, till we got to the
first station-shanty, five miles from Kelung, in a village called
Tye-hoo-lun. Two and a half miles further on we halted a second
time at another station, where the party took an hour and a quar-
ter's rest, while the botanist and myself went about collecting
specimens of natural history. It was indeed a pretty country,
the level parts were well covered with nodding rice, and the hills
all fresh and green. But strange enough, few birds were to be
seen; I noted none but the Black Drongo, the Red Bittern,
and the small Hoo-hoo (Centropus). We met a man carrying,
amongst other things, the hide of a civet, a species I had never
seen before, which he called Peih-ba. He said he had procured
it from the hills.
At ten minutes to three o'clock we reached the village of Masoo,
close to the sea, from which we could see Kelung Island quite
distinctly. Imagine our chagrin when we found that we had
been walking all day to accomplish that which we could easily
have done, by boat, in a few hours. We halted for a few minutes
under a fine banyan tree opposite the village; then, crossing
over a shallow pebbly river of fresh water, we selected a little
woody spot, on the hill above the houses, where we rested until
the cool of the evening; and starting again at ten minutes after
six, and advancing along the beach for some distance, we struck
into the country in a south-west direction up a high hill. We
journeyed on, and as soon as the sun had sunk, and "fast
faded the glimmering landscape from the sight," we heard the
Bamboo Partridge chuckling from a neighboring hill Ke-puk-
kwai, while an owl gave utterance to his notes of lamentation.
Large bats begun now to fly about, and the moon was aur
only lamp.
It was not until nearly nine that we reached Kim-paou-le,
where we intended to pass the night. In front of the Choo-haw-
keong temple we halted and desired to speak with the head-man.
We were admitted into the temple and soon after received a visit
from the Tsong-le, or Corporal, in charge of the village, who
brought in some eggs and congee by way of present to us. He
said he had never heard of any wrecks on the coast, or of white
men being confined in the Sulphur mines. He had himself never
seen white men before, and would be happy to give publicity to
the proclamations we handed to him.


TO THE ISLAND OF FORMOSA.
leg
His visit over, we stretched our bedding on the floor, and
disposed ourselves for a quiet night's rest after the labors of the
day. We soon found ourselves "hushed with buzzing night
flies," but not "to slumber:" mosquitoes innumerable tormented
us all night, forcing on our feverish minds the soliloquy of Boling-
broke, "0 sleep, 0 gentle sleep! nature's soft nurse, how have I
frighted thee, that thou no more wilt weigh my eyelids down, and
steep my senses in forgetfulness?"
Hie next morning we rose at five o'clock, and as soon as the
coolies had taken some food started again. The day was overcast
and we were in good walking trim, so we trudged on through
some most lovely mountain scenery interspersed with wood, halt-
ing once for breakfast on the side of a hill. Then onwards we
moved along a broad well-made road, through valley and glen,
till a turn of the hill displayed the smoky steam of the sulphur
and the barren chasm from which it was emitted.
The country here was very beautiful; we were traversing a path,
along one side of a hill, which led to a large gushing mountain
stream of the most deliriously cool water; on looking up the
stream, you might behold a lovely glen with trees overhanging
the raging water speeding on its course, and a deep valley below;
while on the other side hills rose very high, and in one of them
was seen the verdureless chasm with its perpetual puffing of grey
vapor. Crossing a waterfall we put up at a shanty, and prepared
to walk to the Sulphur mines. After tumbling and scrambling
along a rough path, we managed to reach the mines. No indivi-
dual was near them; a small straw hut on the hill showed signs
of late habitation, but it was now tenantless.—We subsequently
learnt that the mandarins from Foochow had sent soldiers to put
a stop to the working of the mines, and that at present they were
only occasionally and furtively worked.
The sulphur was produced in a chasm, appearing as if the green
hills, covered with coarse grass, had been riven in sunder, thus
forming a deep valley of limestone tinted with yellow and red;
in some parts of this chasm the hot steam was gushing out in
jets, with tremendous noise and force, like the steam from the
escape-pipe of a high pressure engine; in other spots small pools
of pure sulphur were bubbling, and merely wanted the ladling
out and cooling to form the sulphur of commerce. At the bottom
of the barren ravine rippled a foul rivulet, carrying off the sul-


160
NARRATIVE OP A VISIT
phureous oozings from the ground. Standing on the top of a
hill, I looked down upon the scene: one sulphur pool was not
more than fifteen feet below me, and its stench was intolerable;
the earth under foot crumbled and groaned, as if it were going
to give way; pieces of limestone, covered with the crystals of
sulphur, lay strewn about; while beetles and butterflies, unhappy
victims to the noisome exhalations, were scattered windless and
legless over the ground.
Leaving this wild scenery we returned to the halting house, and
after a short rest started to return on another route by which the
guide said he would lead us. Our course first lay up a very high
hill, and then some little distance across a grassy table country;
near to its termination, the Tamsuy river diverging into two
branches, one to Mangka and the other trending towards Kelung,
came in sight off" in the distant valley below. We hastened down
the declivity, passing hills of moderate height, covered with low
herbage and cultivated in patches with sweet potatoes and a plant
of the Creanthasea species used for a dye.
Here the party halted for a few minutes, at a wooden plank
bridge that spanned a mountain stream, till the botanist and I,
who by our strayings from the line of march had dropped a good
way behind, came up. I had here the gratification of procuring
a specimen of the Dipper (Cinclus), a species I have never seen
before, but which will most probably prove to be a Himmalayan
species. Falling behind once more, we hastened after the party
over a fine road, across some pasture downs, and soon found them
resting again at a small half-way house, and then in company we
resumed our march. It was now a constant succession of descent*/
and the face of the country began to lose its wild appearance, and
to assume a more cultivated one; and, until we arrived at the last
descent, pastures with browsing cattle and plantations of fir-trees
were seen here and there. The hill, which we descended by a
range of rough steps winding down its face, with thick wood on
our right and left, was very steep, and brought us down to the
plain,—a wide extent of waving fields of paddy and millet, inter-
sected by numerous streams and paths with farms interspersed.
We followed our guide to a large village, called Patsienah,
where we arrived at half p*kst nine o'clock in the evening. Outside
the walls of the village we halted, and held a consultation as to the
probability of our procuring a boat to carry us to the neighborhood


TO THE ISLAND OP FOUMOSA.
1(51
of Kelung. We then moved to the boat-bouse HHl hiring one
boat for ourselves and another for our coolies, we removed our
traps and ourselves into them. The bouts were large and com-
modious; and. far more comfortable was it to pass a night in them
than in the musquito-haunted halls of a temple. We liad walked
over thirty miles in the course of the day, and tliererbre slept very
soundly, notwithstand the motion of the !»at.
About five o'clock, June 24th, we found ourselves at Chuy*
t'ng-k'a, or tide's foot village, above which the influence of the
tide is not felt Not feeling very fresh we hired two smaller boats
to carry us up the rapids as far as it was practicable. We were
obliged to divide our party, as the boats were so small. The
botanist and I managed to get together; and the coolies were
made to walk. At first the sailing along the rippleless stream,
aided by the sculls and the poling and pushing through the rapids,
was very pleasant; but like all the good things of life when
continued too long, it at last became burdensome; se we were
glad to have a halt at a small village called Chittawl
There we saw a few of the Plover (Charadrius pusilla) running
among the stones, and also an occasional Dove feeding near the
banks. Drongos were gambolling about, and a pair of Red Bitterns
with their fowl-like "cack-cack" flew about impatiently. These
all assisted to enliven the monotony of the journey, but "tired
nature's sweet restorer" soon lulled me in her arms; and on rousing
again I found the hills, growing more precipitous and rocky as we
neared the deep basin that terminated our trip. There our boats
made their final halt among twenty-two others already assembled,
for the river above that place is merely a mountain stream. The
small village where we halted is called Kang-ah-lai. As our
coolies were all ready and waiting, we were soon again on the
march. Crossing over the stream on a wooden bridge, we slowly
trudged up the hill, refreshened by a cooling shower, until we
arrived at Kelung, some two miles distant About half past three
in the afternoon, we got on board our steamer, having travelled
more than eighty miles, over an unexplored country, in fifty-five
and a half hours.
The next day we paid a visit to Flat Island with a party in
search for holystone, and passed by the Fort erected many years
ago by the Spanish. The greater part of the island is composed of
sand-stone, broken up into squares, with a touch apparently of
101(11
in


NAHflATrVE OF A TIfIT
oxide of iron; over this the water washes at high-tide. The central
pai t lias u course vegetation and the sea boundaries are formed of'
white coral. Several Tern* were sitting upon the small rocks,
that there abound, and a tew Plover were running about on the
flats. Several Chinese fishermen were catching the lovely blue
and red coral-fish with hook and line. As one looked down into
the clear water beneath the boat, he might see these brightly
colored denizens of the coral darting among its white branches.
Of the fish caught in these waters, one of the most beautiful in
color, though most uncouth and inelegant in form, is the Parrot
fish or Ying-ko-lie. A couple of them were brought alongside,
one of which I purchased. It was about two feet long, colored
with bright red and blue, and having a great blue nasal knob.
We found its flesh very delicious, and the knob, when cooked,
resembled the fine green blubber-fat of the turtle.
As the daylight gradually faded, a single light might be seen
suddenly to sparkle from a fishing boat in the harbor, then another
and another; and, "ere the eastern orb had sunk to rest," the
whole water seemed studded with bright lights, which as the night
grew darker and darker flashed about like meteors in all directions.
The fishermen start in the dusk of the evening, and by pulling
about quickly with a bundle of flaming bamboo rods in the stem of
their boats, they endeavor to frighten the fish into their nets.
On the 26th we left Kelung harbor, and anchored in the after-
noon off the village Haw-be, at the mouth of the Tamsuy river.
A visit wad paid to the village, but as the officer in charge was
away at Mangka, some proclamations were left with the people
and we were soon again under steam.
In the afternoon of the 27th, about a mile off from land, we
had a very distinct view of the fine green plain, varied with
undulating pastures and stripes of clayey soil and of the distant
mountains enveloped in clouds. We started in the gig and
attempted to land, but the surf as usual being too great we
anchored the boat and invited some of the natives, who were
crowding on the beach, to come out to us. They readily did so,
and taking one of them into our boat, the following was the result
of our investigations.
• The name of their village (situated lat. 24° 19' 45*) was Lampaw,*
• Lampaw is two hundred nnd fifty le from Tam»uy,—.the people hare, M In
China, recokiiinit about three le to one mile; at Keluiiy, huwe?er, I hey made
it equal to half a mile.


TO THE ISLAND OF FORMOSA.
168
and they Chinchew men; the town we could see fifteen le further
south was called Gaw-c'hay-kong; it was in another distinct; but
their village was in the Teek-cham district, under the control of a
Tsien-tsung. He said he had no knowledge of Kok-si-kon; he
had heard that a foreign vessel had been wrecked some distance
up the coast, about seventeen years ago, but he was a little boy
then; and at the present time, he added, no savages are to be met
with in all this neighborhood.
We gave this man some proclamations, which he tied in a cloth
round his head, and, jumping naked into the water, soon rejoined
his comrades.
On the 29th we paid a final visit to the Taiwan mandarins, to
inquire whether they had issued our proclamations and what might
be the result. The Taoutai told us that he had sent to all places
uuder his jurisdiction, and that no answers had yet been received;
that, soon after our departure, a despatch had been received from
the Amoy Taoutai, informing him of our intended visit in search for
foreign captives; and that a few days previously a two masted
vessel had struck on a sand-spit near Kok-si-kon and had sunk,
while all hands on board, consisting of eleven black persons and
one white man, had reached the shore, having some money with
them, and had hired a lorcha which was lying there to take them
to Amoy. He did not know, however, whether the lorcha had
yet sailed or not. He was not acquainted with the nationality of
the vessel, but was quite sure that she was not English, and he
supposed that we were only on the look out for our own country-
men. We told these officials that all nations ought to assist
shipwrecked men, and that we would be most happy to give them
a passage to Amoy. The Chiutai, who was one of the party
present, informed us that the vessel had a cargo of Opium, some
portion of which had been saved, but, said he, with a sly look, it
is not proper to speak about that.—Subsequently we learnt that
the two masted wreck was a small Hamburgh vessel bound to
Takow with a cargo of Opium.
After some further desultory conversation, we took our leave,
and on reaching our steamer were told that a lorcha, with some
black men on board, had passed that afternoon in the direction of
Takow. We hastened to that place and from that back again to
Kok-si-kon,—and next morning ascertained that the lorcha all
safely had taken her departure.
1 2


NARRATIVE OF A VlfIT
The Inflexible'* head was now turned towards Amoy, and
touching at the Pescadores—we anchored in a harbor about three-
quarters of mile from the town of Makung. We called on the
magistrate who has control there and is subject to the authorities
m Formosa. With all due ceremony he received us into his hall,
which though a dirty dark room kad the steps and painted folding-
ioora peculiar to a Yamun. It was a much more respectable
habitation than we expected to find in so small a place as Making.
He said he had been there for the last five years, bat was formerly
in Formosa. He told us that the only wreck he had heard of
eoeuiied at sea in 1852, when the vessel went down, twenty of
the crew escaping in two boats to the Pescadores, whence they
War* sent to Amoy in a Chinese junk. He could tell us nothing
farther about it, as he was not in office at the time. The produce
of the islands, consisting of ground-nuts, rice, millet, etc., he said,
was not sufficient for home consumption, and a good deal of food
had to be imported from Formosa; and in winter the wind blew
M hard, he said, that it ravaged all the fields that were under
cultivation. Their inhabitants he estimated at about 180,000.
The poor mail's story ended, we then took leave of him. He
seemed very nervous and much excited, so as at times while speak-
ing with us to be-quite at a loss for words. On our departure he
saluted us with guns, and a tune played on the Chinese bagpipes.
Embarking now once more, we steamed out of the harbor, and on
the 1st of July arrived safely bock at Amoy.
In conclusion, I may here state that, from the civilities we
received from the Chinese wherever we met them in Formosa,
the impression was left on our minds that if any shipwrecked
iareignerg had fallen into their hands they would have met with
Wwy kindness, and been forwarded to some Consular port by the
felt opportunity; but from what little we saw of the savage
aborigines, the opinion was towed upon us that no unfortunate
castaway among them would survive many hours. Such is their
natural thirst for blood, we were told, that before aspiring to the
hand of a lady, the gallant savage must produce the bead of some
enemy slain by him in combat.


[ 1«5 J
ARTICLE II.
NOTICES OP TUB CHARACTER AND WRITINGS OF MRU TBI;
Bt tbi Ret. Joseph Edkim, iJ.A.
Ravi before the Society, January 19th, ISM.
Among the early adversaries of Confucius perhaps the most
influential was Meli Tsioh or Meh tel. The notice of his opinions,
taken by Mencius, has given him great celebrity and has helped
to preserve his work from destruction. In the interval between
Confucius and Mencius he had many adherents; and the latter of
these two philosophers, fearing that the pure doctrines of the great
sage would be doomed to neglect through the influence of Meh tst,
entered the lists against him.
Mencius charged Meh tsi with holding that all men should be
equally loved, and that thus he took away the obligation to love
our parents more than others. Yet Meh tsi says himself that it
is the duty of a son to be (filial to his parents and a subject faithful
to his prince. In this statement his object was to lay down love
as a comprehensive principle, evidently including in it ti»e reciprocal
virtues that spring from the relations of father and san, and prince
and subject Mencius then was not quite juft in hia arftioMan.
In fact his jealousy for the honour of his venerated master hfeUan
excited by the nttack which Meh tst has made on the character
oad doctrines of Confucius. He was also ularmed oa observing
that the traditional orthodoxy, transmitted by the great sage from
the ancient emjierors, was departed from on light ground* by
many scholars of his time. Ia endeavouring to weaken the in-
fluence of Meh tst, it is not to be much wondered at, therefore,
that he should have somewhat overstated his case.
Meh tsT lived during the life time of Confucius or very soon
after. Parte of his writings on ethics, politics, and the military
art, are still extant, and they are of considerable importance on
all these accounts. Though his works are not so much valued for
beauty of style as those of Lau tsi and Chwang tel, he is frequently
referred to as a most influential leader in matters of opinion.


166
NOTICES OF THE CHARACTER
Like all the old Chinese philosophers, he had a political aim in
his writings. He sought for a system of principles, which should
be best suited to produce good order in the state. Those principles
must be the best, he argued, which make good fathers and good
sons, and which induce rulers and subjects to discharge, in a
proper manner, their duties towards each other. He found what
he was searching for in the doctrine of equal and universal love.
Benevolence in act was to accompany love in the feelings. Every
one in the community should love each person that he meets, and
be generous and self-sacrificing in conferring benefits upon him.
All the confusion that exists in the moral world, according to
his system, springs from the want of love among men. From
this origin come the disobedience of sons and the unkindness of
brothers. Robbery, oppression, rebellion, and all the evils depend-
ing on the perverse conduct of men that can afflict the common-
wealth, proceed also from this source. If men loved their sons,
brothers, and subjects, as they do themselves, there would be no
unkindness, no oppression. If a man esteemed his neighbour's
house and his neighbour's person to be as precious as his own, he
would not become a thief. Should men regard the inhabitants of
other countries with the affection they bear to their own, there
would be no war. Only let men throughout the world love each
other, and fighting and strife will cease; the father will love his
son and the son be filial towards his father; oppression and
rebellion will disappear, and perfect order be restored among the
human race. Why then does not every sage, whose business it is
to explain how the world ought to be governed, adopt this principle
and exhort men to mutual love ? *
The coincidence here with the doctrine of love in the New
Testament is surely not a little remarkable, especially as found in
the extant works of an author who lived in China four or five
centuries before the Christian era. Strange it is that such a
doctrine should have been proposed in China so long ago and
rejected.
There are, however, some important differences in the form
given to this doctrine by Meh tsi. He bases it upon political
utility, while our Saviour rests the obligation to love on religious
and moral grounds. The Christian is to love in obedience to the
will, and in imitation of the example, of God. Meh tsi, moreover,
* See work* of Meh tsi, Section 14, "On equal and universal low."


AND WRITINGS OF MEH TSl.
167
does not say, "love your enemies." His view is too utilitarian
for this; the highest point reached by him is, if you love me as I
love you, we shall both be the better for so doing. The apostle
John describes love as a spontaneous activity, flowing from a heart
touched with gratitude. "We love him, because he first loved us."
I am to love my brother man, because Christ died for him as for
me. Our Chinese philosopher knew nothing of such an origin
for his favorite principle, deep among the foundations of our moral
and emotional nature. His views, while resembling Christianity
in form, are much more akin in reality to the opinions of Ben-
tham and Paley, who, had he lived in their day, would doubtless
have claimed him as an ally.
Continuing his argument for equal and universal love, Meh tad
refers to the example of the ancient Chinese kings, who introduced
the improvements of civilization and the blessings of good govern-
ment among all their subjects with strict impartiality. The three
noted kings, Yli, Wen wang, and Wu wang, whose actions fill
so large a space in the Book of History, only carried out his
principle.
In advocating universal love, this philosopher lays great stress
on the circumstance, that it should be equal towards alL He
observes that when men begin to distinguish between one man
and another, hatred and injustice make their appearance. The
right principle is, he contends, to loVe others as we do ourselves,
and to love all equally. We are not to make a distinction in lore
between another kingdom and our own. He would have men
feel as much desire that their neighbor should not be robbed
of his property as that they themselves may not suffer in that
manner.
The doctrine is here made to assume a paradoxical form, and a
good opportunity is thus given, to any antagonist, to stigmatize
it as dangerous, on the ground that it is incompatible with such'
virtues as patriotism, the love of kindred, and especially with filial
piety, the crowning duty in Chinese morality. Mencius saw his
advantage- and made such good use of it, that the propounder of
this principle of love, in this pagan empire, has ever since been
regarded as a heretic, who aimed at the subversion of morality!.
Our author, foreseeing the opposition that his sentiments would
excite, defended them by observing that he was merely reducing
to a definite form the principle on which wise kings, generous
12*


168
NOTICES OF THB CHARACTER
friends, and persons performing any charitable action, constantly
proceed. They bestow material comforts, he argued, on those who
are in need of them. When people were suffering from pestilence
or drought, the good kings had said, ".Let the sins of our subjects
be visited on us." If a man's friend be in want of food and
clothing, it is his manifest duty to supply him. The want d
equality in our love to our fellow-man gives rise to many evils;
but if this principle be once recognized and acted upon, there will
never sgain be reason to complain. All men will discharge their
duties in a proper manner, and the whole world will be at peace.
The works of Meh tsT formerly contained two sections upon the
errors of the Confucian system. The second of these is still extant.
Some of the faults that he animadverts upon are the following.
Funeral and marriage observances were too minutely regulated.
What was the use of a close attention to external show in mourning,
if the heart did not feel grieved? Minute as the arrangements were
they were inconsistent with each other; for mourning lasted
three years both at the decease of parents and of one's wife or heir.
Now a man's parents being nearer to him than his wife or heir, in
point of kindred relationship, mourning shoold last longer for the
parents than for the others according to the principle of con-
sanguinity, which the literati of his time professed to follow.
He also condemns the doctrine of fate, which pervades both the
ancient Chinese books and the Confucian system, on the ground
that it leads men to neglect their duties. If men are continually
saying that riches and poverty, life und death, &c, all depend on
the will of Heaven, they will soon cease to be diligent and industri-
ous, believing that all personal exertion is useless.
He also objects to that excessive reverence for antiquity, which
distinguished the school of Confucius. The ancients, he remarks,
were all moderns in their turn, and they should not therefore be
looked to as patterns, merely because they preceded us in the
order of time. The good Confucian will not give his opinion to
his prince on mutters of state, unless he is asked: he is fond of
saying, "a bell does not ring unless it is struck." Our author
inquires, What, in this case, becomes of filial piety and the fidelity
of a subject to bis king f He then adds, that wherever a man can
confer a benefit on his superiors he ought to do so without waiting
till an appeal is made to him. That I am able to benefit another
is a sufficient reason for undertaking to do so.


AND WRITINGS OF MEH TS1.
Meh tsl follows up his attack on the literati by some grave
moral accusations against the ancient sage himself. For example,
he charges Confucius with recommending a traitorous subject to
the ruling head of a neighbouring kingdom. After afsliort time
that subject revolted and put his unsuspecting prince to death.
Critics friendly to Confucius have attempted to vindicate his
memory from this slur, by showing that he died some time before
the event referred to took place.
The fortune of Meh tsl has usually been to receive unlimited
condemnation for his audacity in assaulting the cherished principles
and unspotted name of the great sage, his contemporary. The
judgment of Mencius has been usually adopted with great unani-
mity, and his victim has been unrelentingly doomed to the limbo
of heretics.
Granted that he was probably unjust and malicious in his personal
attack on Confucius; yet why, it may be asked, should he be
subjected to so many hard blows on account of his doctrine of love,
so accordant with the feelings of a right minded man? Late
authors have remarked that the real cause of the ire of Mencius
was his onslaught on the opinions of the literati and the character
of their great chief, but that he preferred to take vengeance on
the favorite doctrine of the offender as a more dignified mode of
attack and more likely to effect his overthrow.
At a much later date, in the Tang dynasty, the celebrated
Han Wen-kung attempted to roll off the opprobrium with which
the name of Meh tsl had been covered. He insisted that his
principles are in fact the same with those of Confucius, and that
it was the work of scholars who lived after their time to set these
two great philosophers in opposition to each other. For daring
to think so favourable of Meh tsl, Han Wen-kumr has been, as
was to be expected, severely censured by the zeaious Confucianists
of the Sung dynasty. Their minds were formed in too narrow a
mould to allow of their tolerating a system which disagreed with
the orthodox traditions
■OBBAS
IV


[ 170 ]
ARTICLE III.
CHINESE BIBLIOGRAPHY:
Br D. J. Macgowan, M.D., Nmoro.
Letter to the Secretory, read before the Society, March 18th, 1868.
Dear Sir: I beg to express my thanks for the honor that the
Literary and Scientific Society of Shanghai has conferred upon
me in placing my name on its list of Corresponding Members. _ It
■hall be my aim to discharge the duties which that relation imposes;
and I avail myself of this occasion to beg your acceptance of the
accompanying works, viz: The 2fi |Jj jfiijfe) Yuh-than Sim
Chi, Miscellany of the Yuhshan District in Kiangsi; and the
56 t* f£) flj! U, yih Koh Pei muh, being a Catalogue of
the Library of the Fan family in the city of Ningpo.
I perceive that you contemplate the formation of a Library and
Museum. Perhaps I cannot now better serve the Society than by
calling attention to the vast importance of a good collection of
Chinese books. In no way can foreign residents, in China, do
more to .command the respect of those who mould the public
Opinion of this empire, a large body of educated men, than by
founding a Chinese Library.
Permit me to commend, as worthy of special regard, that class
of works styled jgf Chi, of which I send a specimen. These
works hnve hitherto attracted little attention, yet are they of
infinite value to almost every class of inquirers. They have been
designated Topographies by some, Statistical works by others;
the term Miscellany, perhaps, best expresses their comprehensive
character. They may be consulted for facts relating to Topogra-
phy, History, Archaeology, Biography, Statistics, Natural History,
Religion, Literature, Manners and Customs, and, in fine, on
questions bearing in any manner on the localities which they
describe. Ancient as well as modern editions should be sought
for. Let efforts be made to secure a complete collection of these
works—those of every province, department and district, as well


CHINESE BIBLIOGRAPHY.
171
as those of more limited places — of lakes, mountains, temples,
Ac. With the assistance of students in Chinese, you may soon
obtain a better collection of the Chi, or Miscellanies, than is to he
found in this empire; for an examination of the catalogues of the
libraries, known to exist in this country, shows a great paucity of
such works.
The Miscellany of this province, Cheh-kiang, would itself mr.ke
a library of seven hundred volumes. The Chi of the whole empire
cannot number much less than ten thousand volumes, of the
pamphlet form into which Chinese books are divided. Miscel-
lanies of departments are of more value than those of provinces, as
those of districts are more valuable than the departmental ones,
and for the same reason, namely, their greater fullness and cir-
cumstantiality.
Again, native libraries seldom contain works on Medicine,
Natural History, the Arts and the like; so that these several
important departments of bibliography must also demand your
attention.
A reference to the Miscellany of any place of note will show, to
some considerable extent, what contributions its scholars have made
to the literature of their country; and if at the same time inquiries
be made after their productions, it will be seen that wonderfully
large proportions are irrecoverably lost. In no land are books
suffered to die, as willingly as in China. Take, for example, the
Hangchau Miscellany. The list of books by authors of that city,
beginning with the latter half of the fifth century and extending to
the latter half of the eighteenth, shows two thousand four hundred
and twenty-nine works: of these, the principal bookseller of
Ningpo, who has agencies in various cities, says that only about
eight hundred are procurable, and of those extant the number is
not much greater. Lest that list, the Hangchau Miscellany, should
be taken as the measure of the literary activity of that provincial
capital, I must here remark that a Fu Chi, or Departmental
Miscellany, often omits works which are inserted in the Htm. CM,
or District Miscellany, while this last only gives those the names
of which survived when the Miscellany was compiled.
The coterminous department of Eiahing gives '570, and the
ancient department of Shauhing, on its south, gives 1991. The
mortality in those two departments exceeds that of the provincial
capital Hangchau.


172
CHINESE BlBLIOGRAPHf.
A further evidence of the mortality of books, in China, is afford-
ed by the unavailing efforts that have been made, at the instiga-
tion of Prof. Julien, to discover works that have been written on
the countries north and west of China, between the 9th and 18th
centuries.—Vid. Chinese Repository, vol. XVII. p. 575.
These losses have been the greater owing to the want of
libraries. A Public Library, as we understand the term, can hardly
be said to exist in China; and private libraries are guarded with, so
much jealousy that they are of little use, even to their possessors;
while the few collections that belong to government are so diffi-
cult of access as to be of no value. Of the collections which exist,
there are but a few that can be called ancient. The impoverish-
ment of families, civil wars and dynastic revolutions, have been
very fatal to libraries in this country.
- One of the most celebrated private libraries in the empire is
tbat of die Fan family, whose catalogue is herewith transmitted,
as specified above; it is often referred to in the JJIJ j|[ ^
J£ ml £|, Sze K% knan Ti Yau Ski muk, of the Emperor Kien-
hing. The dwelling of that family is in the southern part of this
city. The Gallery, or Library, is in the midst of their garden,
which is beautifully diversified by grove and grotto, miniature
mountain, glen and lake, such as Chinamen of wealth and taste
delight in. The library was commenced by the Yung family,
among whom were numbers of scholars and statesmen. On their
decay the rising Fans purchased it; one of whom, a provincial
treasurer, was given to bibliolatry. Thus it happened that when
Kienlnng, in 1774, undertook to enlarge the imperial library, the
Fans were able to render him signal assistance. The particulars
of this remarkable undertaking are recorded in a succession of
documents forming part of the Preface of the Catalogue.
That enlightened monarch issued a proclamation requesting
copies of all books not already existing in the Imperial Library,
catalogues of which were extensively distributed. The books
were to be sent to the provincial governors. Such works as
were tent on loan were to be returned to the owners. Rewards
were to be bestowed on persons who distinguished themselves by
sending large numbers of rare books. So little success attended
the attempt, that in the following year another proclamation was
issued, calling the attention of booksellers to the subject, and


CHINESE BIBLIOORAPHY.
173
directing them to search for and purchase suitable books for the
imperial library.
Four families of note distinguished themselves in this enterprise,
three of whom belonged to this province, the foremost being the
Fans of Ningpo, who sent up 696 works not possessed by the
literary monarch. To each of these the emperor presented a copy
of the ^ H W M $L X* kin ^*Sh& 2gih chinff> Com-
plete Collection of Ancient and Modern Books. Persons who
presented or sent up a hundred, and upwards, were rewarded by
gifts of the Pei-man Yuen-fti, or Great Thesaurus. Five officers
were thus rewarded, two of whom belonged to Suchau in Kiang-
su, the others to Chehkiang.
The Catalogue of the Fan library contains the names of 4,094
works, comprising 53,799 kiuen. The inutility of this librarj may
be inferred from the jealousy with which it is guarded. Each
member of the clan keeps a key to his own lock, so that the place
can be opened only by consent of all, and the rule is that it shall
be opened only in presence of all. This is a rule that obtains in
large private libraries generally. The rooms are opened but once
a year, at the close of the damp season, when those who have
any regard for books expose them to the sun. One of the duties
of the provincial chancellor, when he visits Nin -po to examine
the district candidates, is to inspect this library. I >ie family was
induced to open the building, by Sir J. Bowring, a few years ago.
On that occasion they displayed with much pride some engravings
about which there are various exaggerated rumors. Those prized
sheets are said to be masterpieces of Chinese art, equalling any
thing which foreigners exhibit. The praise was not wholly un-
merited; but a scarcely perceptible inscription, in one corner,
showed the sheets to be a gift from Louis XVI. to Eienlung, for
whom they were engraved to illustrate the campaign against the
Kalmucks in 1756.
There is another library, smaller and also private, in this city,
that of the Loo family. It is guarded with the same jealousy,
but at the same time is greatly neglected, and is said to possess a
copy of the Complete Collection of Ancient and Modern Books,
purchased at Peking.
On two visits which I paid to the provincial capital, Hang-
chau, I took a look at the Wan-lau Koh. or Library in the Palace


174
CHINESE BIBLIOGRAPHY.
of Kienlung. It contains all the works named in the accom-
panying catalogue and many more besides. That library was
designed for use and for the public. Indeed it is accessible to
those who apply for the privilege to the local authorities. Faci-
lities are afforded by which the student may procure lodging and
food at the establishment, but from some cause or other the library
is rarely or never consulted.
Having named the Ku kin Tu Shi. Tsik eking, Complete Col-
lection of Ancient and Modern Books, it may be proper to call
attention to it, as it may be new to some whom I address. It is
a library in itself. It was projected by one of the most enlightened
rulers of his age. Completed just at the close of Kanghi's reign, it
was not presented for imperial approbation until Yungching
ascended, the throne. The undertaking is without a paralel in
the history of literature. It was printed with a font of moveable
copper types prepared on purpose. The ten thousand kiven, of
which it is composed, are usually bound into 5,000 volumes,
exclusive of one hundred and eight volumes of indices. The
whole Complete Collection is about equal to eight hundred New
Testaments.
This Great Collection is divided into six general Departments
or Pien, comprising works on Astronomy, Geography, Society,
Science, Classical Literature and Government. The Scientific
department probably contains a larger proportion of otherwise
inaccessible information than any of the other grand divisions. It
is subdivided into works on the Arts, 824 kiven; Animated nature,
192 kiven; and Botany, 820 kiven; works on the Arts of Music,
186 kiven; and War, 300 kiven. The subdivisions of the Geogra-
phical department, including as it does works on foreign countries
known to the Chinese, must be of great value.
The Biblwtlwque Imprriale at Paris is so fortunate as to possess
some important portions of this magnificent work, respecting which
Julien has said, that for "elegance of form and beauty of impres-
sion, it rivals the finest works published in Europe." It is also a
rare work, as the entire font consisting of two hundred and thirty
thousand types was melted after only about thirty impressions
were struck off. A portion, consisting of eight-tenths of the whole,
was lately brought to this city from Hwuichau by an impoverished
family and sold for about four thousand dollars to an officer from
£.weichau.


CHINBSE BIBLIOORAPHY.
175
It is impossible perhaps to obtain a complete set, at any price.
That however need not be deplored, as with some exceptions the
Collection is contained in the Jk jjfc Chit Tsun Pan, Pearl
Type Collection, also printed at the imperial office, but with earth-
en or wooden types, while the wanting portion and more is con-
tained in the ^ ^£ Wanyuen Ying htva, jjfr Jfc ffk
Ttah foo Yuen kmei, and the -fo 2p ffi J£ Taiping Yu lan, the
whole of which can be purchased for a few hundred dollars.
With our mercantile fellow-countrymen for patrons you may
soon be able to lay broad the foundations of your Library by pro-
curing this valuable Collection' of ancient and modern authors and
a set of the above named Topographical Miscellanies, forming
in themselves a library of no small worth. As in our native buds
we are accustomed to see mnmficient donations and bequests made
to Institutions of learning, so we may expect, when the claims of
your' ISbr&ry'rfnd Museum are fairly exhibited, to see the liberal
affluent' availing- themselves on quitting China of this-channel to
leave1 marks' of'their denizebsbip, which shall contribute to the
enlightenment of this larid and to the honor of that to which they
belong, aiding at the same time in the diffusion of knowledge
among mankind generally.
By such a Library and a Museum, exhibiting the natural pro-
ductions' of this empire, you may expect to see men from the
mountains of Yunan and the deserts of Kansuh repairing to you
for information on the land of their birth, rendering Shanghai aa
much an object of interest to the native scholar as it already is
to the merchant.
Your corresponding members, enjoying as they do the honors
and some of the privileges of your Society without cost, will I hop.-
consider it a privilege to promote the undertaking to which I have
ventured to call attention.
Yours respectfully,
D. J. Macgowah.
To the Rev. J. Edkiks,
Secretary of the Shanghai
literary and Scientific Society.


{ 176 ]
ARTICLE IV.
ON TUH MUSICAL NOTATION OP THE CHINK8B.
By the Rbyd. B. W. 8tlb., A.M.
Read before the Society, February 16th, MM
In the following remarks we hare purposely restricted ourselves
to the one topic of the Musical Notation found in common use
among the Chinese, without going into the more general subject
of the characteristics of their Music. Indeed we do not profess
to give anything more, or other than that which is commonly met
with in the region immediately surrounding us; but leave to
other and abler bands the task of gathering up and generalizing
the facts which individual observers, like ourselves, may put on
record for general information. It is not our purpose even to
give an outline of the contributions on this subject which have
been made by recent writers, such as Mr. Lay, Sir John Davis,
and Dr. Williams; but simply to give an account of what we.
have met with ourselves individually.
We do not feel at liberty, however, to refrain from quoting a
passage which contains so much misinformation, that one finds
it. difficult to account for its occurrence in a work so remarkably
accurate and reliable, on almost all points, as is that admirable
compilation which goes under the name of "Du Halde." Yet,
in the 3rd vol. of that work, under the heading "Of the Skill of
the Chinese in the Sciences," we find it stated—
"They have no musical notet, nor any sign to denote the di-
"versity of tones, the raising or falHntr of the voice, and the rest
"of the variations that constitute harmony: the airs which they
"sing or play upon their instruments are got enly oy rote and are
"learnt only by ear;" Ac. &c. p. 68.
We must repeat that it is difficult to account for the occurrence
of such a statement in such a work, considering the remarkable
advantages possessed by the Jesuit Missionaries for becoming
'acquainted with all that concerned the Science add Literature of
China. But so it stands.


A. Xolr Pan.
\X t^^A'-^.w?,.*-?
_£.,A 3L 2* A yssj^A
jn? A.?*?, A U.
£\A *
-t.A>^A£\
X A,
ffZ7,5^ 5. A ^>


E. Jn my Cottage.
4 ^ &j _t,
& al X X,
tl K^X L,X


D. Slua ChSk
f v r> v> Iv ^>
*****



The European and Chinese
Musical Scales compared-
E
35
The notes in alto thus
_~ ^^1/ ft, &-JSL W>
or
dw't
Exhibited in aHobhex way
f£ In aHo thus
ex *A ^
4* A ^ 07 ^
g ^ -hi ft


T)N THE MUSICAL NOTATION OV THE CHINESE.
For ourselves, we can only say that we had not been in this
place many months before we became aware, through the second
Chinese teacher we employed, of the existence of a very respect-
able system of writing music — one which compares quite well
with that used by the Greeks.
Using a small melodeon, it was no difficult task to ascertain
what notes upon the instrument corresponded (or nearly so) to the
notes of the common Chinese flute; which being done, toe next
thing to be observed was how the different sounds which my
teacher played were represented on the paper that lay before him.
This also could be seen without much difficulty; and a little patient
"comparing of notes" brought out this result:—That they employ
nine different characters, or syllables; which is exactly the num-
ber that can be written on our common hve-liae stave, without the
use of leger lines either above or below. Those characters are
J0J, —».Jti R> I> H» S\) -So wLicb ftre pronounced
he s£ jfik zanp tsei Itoong van lie* oe; and in writing out a
tune they follow the usual order of their ether writing; so that their
method is as though we should add two more syllables to our do, re,
mi, fa, tol, la, oi, and then use these words to express the successive
intervals of a melody, instead of circles and dots written on the
<Ufferent lines or in the spaces of what we call a staff. When it
is required to write in alto, the same characters are used with the
addition of a little flirt of the pencil added; thufc, 7y. rk J^,
Ti7 or else the character for man f ; thus, "J^, -j^,
fr, fit
After these explanations the following tune, which is the com-
mon hack of all learners, will be understood without much diffi-
culty.
(See A: the "Lok Pan.")
When performed on a Chinese instrument it would be obser-
vable that some of the notes differ slightly from those which out
instruments produce; but as the explanation of the difference
would require a discussion of the Chinese musical scale, as compared,
with ours, we do not enter upon it at this time.
We must, however, take notice of the way to which the time is
marked, for that comes strictly under the head of notation. It
will be perceived that the only things which mark the time here,
arc the occasional spaces left to indicate rests, and the dots whieh
ncasuu v
1 3 •


178 OW THE MUSICAL ROTATION OP THE CHINESE.
show where the beats should come. And here we touch the
weak point of the system: for the notation of time is unquestion-
ably faulty, and requires that much should be learned, by tradi-
tional teaching, from the master; and even then it leaves not a
little to be decided by the individual taste of the performer. More
on this point however, subsequently.
This Lok Pan, which has just l>een explained, seems to occupy
here the unenviable, forlorn-hope, position which used to be gives
in our instruction books, some twenty years ago, to " Sul Margine
tun .Rio," or the "Leiber Augustine," or "In my Cottage near
a Wood."
At the risk of reviving painful memories to the mind of some
whose place of study or business may have been near the room of
some "young gentlemen learning to play the flute," I will en-
deavor to make this Chinese notation less unfamiliar, by translat-
ing into it this last named tune.
(See B: "In my Cottage," Sinicized.)
We must now proceed a step further and notice how, in writing
out songs, the words and music are combined together; and in
this we shall be obliged to add one more instance to the list of
contrarieties which are found to exist between our own and the
Chinese method of doing things. Our song music, whilst it is
generally composed in accommodation to the words to which it is
named, is nevertheless written out and printed as if it wore
altogether the "better-half," and the words are made to accomo-
date themselves to the music — being either spread out or crowded
together as the music may require.
Not so among the Chinese. With them, the words are written
down in a severe and stately column, and the music is left to find
room for itself in the best way it can. All the vocalization that is
to be done upon any particular word is-mode as it were to flow oft*
from it, sideways and downward;—the performer must, look sharp
after his notes and rests and beats among the odds and ends of
writing that appear to the uninstructed like the after-thoughts of
hasty composition. Of this we will give first a simple and then
a more elaborate specimen.
(See C: Swth Voong Yang.)
In this the most noteworthy feature is that little, unwritten
twitch, or ad libitum deflection, sometimes upwurd, sometimes
downward, which constitutes one of the peculiarities of what we


ON THE MUSICAL NOTATION OF TRI CHINESE.
179
ma)* call the Chinese style; but this is one of the tricks of per-
formance, for which there is no notation.
In what follows, however, there are other features which deserve
notice — e. g. the manner of indicating' a rest, which is by a little
angle—thus L 5 though the duration of the rest is left to be
learned traditionally, or inferred by the pupil himself. He is kept
within bounds, when making- such inferences, or conjectures, by
the proximity of the neighbouring1 beats; and as to the beats
themselves, when we find that every fourth one is marked by a
circle, instead of a mere dot, it is to be understood that the beating
of the time is performed thus: 1st, the whole hand strikes the
table — 2d, the fore-finger only — 3d, the middle finger — and 4th,
the ring finger: the circle marks the beat of the middle finger —
thus (with consistent contrariety) giving that prominence to the
third beat which we give to the first of each bar.
(See D: Siau Chok.)
I must add that Chinese musicians are generally found to be
excellent timists j and that they seem to delight in abrupt rests
and in the frequent occurrence of syncopation.
As to their instruments, they have been so accurately described
and commented on by Mr. Lay, in the 8th chapter of his admirable
little Book, "The Chinese as they are," that nothing more need be
added to what is there said, until a fuller acquaintance with dif-
ferent parts of the country shall have brought us acquainted with
more than meets the eye in the regions to which we now have access.
We append finally (See E:) a draught of the Chinese and European
scales combined, by the use of which it will be in the power of any
one, who has patience enough, to reduce a Chinese written tuue
to our notation, at least so far as the pitch of the notes is con-
cerned: the time it will be more difficult to puzzle out, and as to
the style, it must be heard to be appreciated or imitated.


[ 1W J
AKTICLE V.
LECTUUB ON JAPAN.
Wt 8. W. Williams, I..L.D., C. 8. A. Sbc. of Lboatiom, Sec, Sec.
Delivered Tueidqr evening, October 86th, 1858.
Ladies and Gentlemen: The subject of my remarks this evening-
is Japan; and if the numbers and respectability of my audience
form any index of your interest in that country, I infer that the
recent events which have taken place in it, and the treaties its rulers
have formed with the ministers who have come to their court,
have had their effect in arousing' and deepening your desire to
learn more of this hitherto secluded land. Mystery always invests
a subject with charms, and wonders increase around it in proportion
to the glimpses we get of it, thus stimulating the imagination to
supply the deficiencies of our knowledge. Sometimes, however,
these fancies come to be accepted for facts; and then, when the
truth is known, our "disappointment is proportioned to our ex-
pectations. Such in some degree has been the case in respect
to the Japanese, and their empire has been regarded as the
scene of many things, excellent or dreadful, which further research
will show never existed. Still there is much to repay a candid
examination, and it will disclose many new features in the history
of the human mind, especially in that great problem of self-govern-
ment, and the maintenance of order, such as secures the life and
property of every individual.
The time afforded by a single lecture will only allow of 6uch a
cursory survey of the Japanese and their country as will tend to
■how their national character, and enable us to define, somewhat,
their position in the human family. And I beg of.you not to
regard them merely as objects of curiosity, witn whioh yofhave
not much sympathy, but rather as a numerous people wtiom yea
yourselves may influence for good.
It will enable us to form a better idea of the Japanese empire,
if we compare it with some other countries of the world. Its
position, as you are all aware, is in that line of islands which


LECTtTtlE ON JAPAN.
outlies this* great continent on its eastern shore, stretching from
Kamstchatka along through the islands of Karafto, Yeso, Nippon,
Kiusiu, Formosa, Luzon, and thence down to New Holland. The
Japanese empire includes all hetween Formosa and Karafto; and
by a recent arrangement, either with the Chinese or Russians, its
border passes so as to include the southern third of this last-named
island. There are four large islands in the kingdom, viz. Nippon,
Kiusiu, Sikok and Yeso, and, as the Japanese reckon, over three
thousand small ones and islets. The three first-named ave in-
habited entirely by the Japanese, but the Ainos still occupy a
large part of Yeso.
When Columbus reached Hay ti he observed in his journal that
he had at last reached Zipangu, of which Marco Polo wrote, and
which country, we know, was the great object of his search; the
remark did not more clearly prove his ignorance of what sort of a
people the Japanese were than his misapprehension as to where
they lived.
The word Japan, as it comes to us, is of Chinese origin, and in
its meaning is identical with Nippon, the native name of the
largest island in the group; the word means "Sun's Origin," or
the Dayspring; the people themselves, however, do not recognize
the word "Japan." The other two islaads Kiusiu, i. e. the
Nine Departments, and Sikok, or the Four Kingdoms, lie south
of it.
The area of all that the Japanese claim is estimated by Siebold
'at 158,235 square miles, of which the three principal islands
measure 115,801 sq. m. If we compare the first sum with the
provinces of China, it is a little smaller than the province of
Sz'chuen, and about the same as the throe provinces of Kinngsfi,
Ngiinhwui and Kiiingsi, under the jurisdiction of the governor-
general of Liang Kiang. It is rather smaller too than Spain, and
about half the size of Texas. The smaller area is nearly the same
as that of the. United Kingdom, and the two groups of islands, on
account of their size and position on opposite sides of the same
great continent, have often been compared. Yet how different has
been their influence and power in the world's history!
The islands forming the Lewchewan archipelago, reaching from
Van Diemans Straits nearly to Formosa, are under the control of
the prince of Satsuma, who does not allow any interference in his
control by the emperor at Yedo.


1*2
LECTURE ON JAPAW.
The ports which have recently been, or are to be, opened to
foreign residence and commerce, are Yedo, Simoda, Ohosaka,
Nagasaki, and Hakodadi.
Yedo (it should not be written Jeddo) lies at the south-eastern
part of Nippon, nearly on the latitude of Naples, at the head of a
fine large bay. The name means River's door; and by those who
have means of knowing, the city is reckoned to contain two and a
half millions of inhabitants; Peking is estimated, on good autho-
rity tco, to be equally as large and as populous; this will place
Yedo, Peking and London, in point of population, far in advance
of all other cities in the world. Yedo is the centre of everything
which is desirable in the eyes of a Japanese, far more than Peking
is to a Chinese, or perhaps even than Paris is to a Frenchman, or
Berlin to a Prussian; luxury, arts, power, and amusements all are
found there in their highest degree.
Simoda (i. e. the Lower Field) is a town of about 7000 inhabi-
tants, lying near the entrance to the bay of Yedo.
Ohosaka (i. e. Great Board) is situated nearly half-way between
Simoda and Nagasaki; it is one of the largest cities in the empire,
and the entrepot of Miyako, but has not yet been visited by any
foreign ships.
Nagasaki lies nearly at the southwestern extremity of the coun-
try in Kiusiu, and has long been associated in our minds with
Japan, as Canton used to be with China,— a place where a few
merchants were willing to submit to almost any indignity and
privation for the sake of gain. It lies nearly on the same latitude
as Nanking, Malta, and Norfolk; is beautifully situated at the
extremity of a safe harbor; and contains over 60,000 inhabitants.
The name means Long Cape, given to it from the point of land
stretching south of it
Hakodadi is in the island of Yeso, and has been the resort of
many whalers since it was opened to them in 1855. Its name
means Box Shop, perhaps from its position as the entrepot of most
of the trade of that island.
The surface of Japan is rough, and no contrast in scenery can
be greater than is presented when one leaves the flat region of
Shanghai and crosses over to the bold headlands of Nagasaki.
It is probable that this town may by and by become a sanitarium
for the residents here in Shanghai.
The most striking object in the whole country is the ancient


LECTURE ON JAPAN.
183
volcano of Fusi, which rises in a regular cone to the height of
nearly 17,000 feet, or about the same as Ararat, and is visible from
the city and bay of Yedo. Its top is bare in summer, and no
eruption has occurred for ages. This magnificent mountain forms
a favorite subject for embellishing the wares of the Japanese, and
identifies articles with that country.
Another volcano, about 3,500 feet high, still in action, and well
known in the annals of the nation as the scene of the sufferings
of the Christians, is Unzen-daki, visible from Nagasaki. An
eruption of this volcano in 1792 desolated the country at its foot,
and destroyed over 53,000 inhabitants.
Nor should the beautiful cone of Kaimon-daki, at the entrance
of the bay of Kagosima, southeast of Nagasaki, be overlooked, for
when once seen it is always remembered.
Japan is without doubt densely peopled; but the total number
has been so variously estimated, from 15 to 40 millions, that we
shall perhaps get a better idea of its amount by comparing the
surface and extent with those of some other countries whose cen-
sus is known. The province of Sz'chuen in China, for example,
contains twenty millions, and like Japan is fertile and moun-
tainous; while the aggregate of the inhabitants of the Liang
Kiang, a rich alluvial region, is reckoned to be over ninety mil-
lions. The last census of the United Kingdom gives twenty-seven
millions, and you all know its soil and resources. The first
comparison of areas with Sz'chuen and Kinngnan includes Yeso,
whose inhabitants can hardly average twenty to a square mile;
bat the latter, with Great Britain and Ireland, is much more
analogous to the thickly settled islands of Nippon and Kiusiu.
In Japan, I think, I am safe in saying, there could not be found
an acre of land cultivated merely for feeding animals, and the
country is more rough than England; on the other hand, there is
in Japan little arable land occupied by parks; .and the number of
cultivable acres is probably less than in the United Kingdom.
Siebold reckons the population of Japan at 35 millions; but
judging from the comparisons just now made, I am not inclined
to put it higher than 18 or 20 millions. The enumeration of the
people is curerelly made in each principality, but no one has the
power to demand the several censuses and combine them into one
satisfactory table. The northern part of Nippon, in the princi-
palities of Dewa and Mutsu is rough and sterile, and cannot support


184
LECTURE ON JAPAN.
half the numher of people that the fertile valleys of Kiusiu easily
maintain. By the help of these facts and comparisons we con
form a reasonable conclusion respecting the total census.
The greatest part of the inhabitants of Japan are agriculturalists,
and a genial, healthy climate encourages them in their tillage by
developing the fertility of the soil. The extent to which terracing
is carried is almost unequaled in other parts of the world; and no
one who visits the neighborhood of Simoda or Nagasaki can restrain
his admiration at the natural beauty of scenery, ornamented and
improved by the careful culture of the farmer, or cease to wonder
at the labor which he has expended in terracing the hill-sides.
The rate of wages of the day laborer in the workshop or on the
farm is about the same as in China,— twelve cents or a sixpence
per day,— and his condition in the two countries does not materially
differ. As an index of their greater security, it may be remarked
that their farmsteads and hamlets are scattered over the country,
not always clustered in large villages.
The people themselves who occupy this group of islands present
the most interesting subject of inquiry. Their character is marked.
Xavier, whose opportunities of observation were extensive, early
called them the Spaniards of the east; and like them, they are
proud, and rather irascible; vindictive when offended, and spirited
in repelling insults. They are licentious and gross in their morals;
polite and even obsequious, in their mnnners; and have an inqui-
sitive turn of mind. If compared with the Chinese, they are not
so democratic in their institutions, so industrious or so mild, nor
have they on the whole as much physical strength; but they exhibit
some traits which encourage us to expect a more rapid advance in
the essential elements of national prosperity and strength. They
belong, like them, to the great Mongolian family of the human
race; but the probabilities are that at an early period in history
their ancestors found their way from the north to their present
location, branching off from the Tungusian and Kamtschatdale
races, and not directly from the Chinese. Their average height
is about five feet four inches; their heads are large, their eyelids
exhibit the peculiar obliquity that is noticed among the Mongolians,
and like them too, they have coarse black hair, and small hands
and feet.
The Lewchewans, now under their oversight if not their direct
rule, are less in stature, and slighter in form. Their origin is


tKCTtJRE ON JAPAK. 185
perhaps different, their ancestors having probably come northerly
from Luzon through Formosa, for the Malayan features are distinct-
ly traceable, though all intercourse with even Formosa has ceased
for many ages.—On these points further research is needed, and a
comparison of languages, &c., before a decisive opinion can well
be formed.
The government of such a people as the Japanese presents a
very interesting topic of inquiry to us, owing in a great measure
to their isolation, and the persuasion that every feature is of native
growth, modified slightly if at all by the institutions of other
countries. Like that of the early Chinese dynasties, it took the
form of a feudal monarchy, their being an emperor, supposed to be
of divine origin, and sixty-six princes, each acknowledging him as
their sovereign, but retaining the power over their own domains.
Of these sixty-six principalities, five were the peculiar possession
of the emperor, the remainder were grouped into seven do, or
circuits, but no general authority over the do seems ever to have
existed. In process of time, and in consequence of the decay of
imperial power and course of revolutions, the pure feudal form of
government became modified, and the authority centralized at
Yedo in the person of a lieutenant-general or lord high constable.
From him it has since gradually passed into the hands of a council.
The government might be called now a federal monarchy, or
federal oligarchy, according as we ascribe the real power to the
Siogoun or to the council, though it still retains so many of its
characteristics, that It is undoubtedly the most feudal government
on earth. The semi-independent princes retain much power in
their own fiefs, while the interest of each in the politics of the
whole empire is made safe by the sense of security from attacks by
his neighbors, or of absorption by the state.
The earliest monarch dates B.C. 667, and there have been 126
sovereigns up to the present one, who began to reign in 1853; some
of them have been females. His court is at Miyako, (a word
which means the capital, like king or tit in Chinese,) a large city
near the centre of Nippon, about forty miles from Ohosaka. He
is regarded as the descendant of the Sun-Goddess, though he does
not arrogate such idolatrous titles as his compeer at Peking. His
common titles are mikado, a term analogous to the "lord of tLe
world," and dairi, which corresponds to our word "court." He
is often called the spiritual emperor, in distinction from the siogoun,
acsiua
VI


18G
LECTURE OR JAPAN.
who has been styled the temporal emperor; but both these terms
convey erroneous ideas, when used in this connection.
In the eyes of the Japanese, though his power is reduced to a
cypher, he is still their emperor de jure, and his sanction is neces-
sary- to legalize certain acts in religion, etiquette and succession.
Jlis court is now the abode of a large number of titular officers,
whose pursuits are of a literary character, and give an air of
refinement to their society. The arts and manufactures are carried
to a high degree of excellence in this region, and many articles
are described as of Miyako work to show their superiority, even
though they may not be actually made there. The siogoun has
his agent at the city, and the mikado also sends a yearly envoy to
Yedo in return for the same compliment paid to him.
The office of siogoun (in Chinese Ux&ng kiun, or commander in
chief,) was known in ancient times, and in its duties corresponded
to the maire du palais of the early French kings; but it was in
A.D. 1286, that Yoritomo, then holding the office made himself
independent of the emperor, as Pepin l'Heristel had done in Paris
six centuries previously, and estaolished his court at Yedo. This
title is still retained, but the more common appellations are eubo-
tama, which means "Lord of the Palace," and tenha-tnma, or
"Lord of the Empire." In the treaties lately negotiated he is
called Tai-goun, or Tycoon, i. e. Great Ruler, an appellation
which may be of recent origin.
The power and titles of the siogoun became hereditary in the
family of Yoritomo, and the influence of the mikado gradually
diminished during the next three hundred years. In the latter
part of the 16th century, a man, known afterwards as Toiko-sama,
arose, who by his talents and prowess overthrew the family of
Yoritomo, completely subduing all opposition of the emperor and
the princes, and engrossed the sovereignty in his own person,
though he allowed them to retain their titles and fiefs. He con-
solidated his power in 1603, but was unable to bequeath it to his
son, for his coadjutor and intimate friend, Iyeyasu, whom he
made guardian of this youth, usurped the station, and founded the
present family of the siogoun, taking the title of Gongin. With
him the present system of government commenced, and in its
prominent features has been maintained to the present day; though
by reason of the inherent weakness of hereditary power, dependant
entirely on personal character, much of the real authority has


LECTURE ON JAPAN.
187
slipped away from the hands of the siogoun into the grasp of his
council, and be is now little more th:in a function in the state,
like the mikado, an effigy rather than a reality.
This council is composed of thirteen members, five of whom are
chief ministers, and eight of secondary rank. At the formation of
the council, in 1603, they consisted of the friends of Taiko-sama,
and the dignity has since remained in their families. In this we
see a resemblance to the council which Darius Hystaspes formed
of his friends; hut in the functions and power of the Japanese
council, there is perhaps more similarity to the Venetian senate.
It has a president, who carries on the government while he holds
that post; he is responsible to the council for his acts, and for
carrying out its orders. It perpetuates itself, — a feature in its
organization which accounts for the energy, and partly for the
equity of its course during the last two centuries. The members
have each a department, whose duties are performed according to
a prescribed code.
Laws are enacted or changed by the Council, and the result
submitted to the siogoun, who like the king or queen of England,
in most cases ratifies the decisions of the councillors. If, however,
he vetoes their enactmeuts, the question is not sent back to them
nor is it dropped, but is referred to his three nearest relations, one
of whom is the heir apparent. If they sustain him, the councillors
must resign in disgrace, or commit suicide, which is supposed to
save their characters from disgrace; if they disagree with him,
he abdicates his seat, and, report says, sometimes puts an end td
himself.
One of the consequences of a political system like this is to give
great force to enactments which have already had the sanction of
the rulers, and to place the laws far above the lawgivers. It is
always difficult to remodel the institution* of any country; but in
Japan it must render all change and improvement increasingly
difficult, when the advocates of a new state of things support it at
such a risk. The stability of the government and the apparent
oontentedness of the people under its sway, must be mainly owing
to the general consent which all ranks give to the requirements
of law, and the long experience that it has been the safest course.
The respect paid to law is, however, not that of affection but of
fear; and the orders of the government are carried out by a system
of espionage and mutual responsibility extending throughout the


188
LECTURE ON JAPAN
entire population. Every man and individual, every household
and the people of every neighborhood, hamlet, village, and city,
are bound to each other by this invisible chain. Each becomes
the keeper of his neighbor, for the conduct of that neighbor may
implicate himself in the greatest misfortunes. It is, therefore, the
interest of every person to maintain the laws, and see, too, that
others obey them.
A striking instance of their regard for law was exhibited at
Simoda in December 1854. The Russian frigate Diana was in
'the harbor when an earthquake occurred, which shook the town
and overthrew many of the buildings, accompanied by an immense
tidal wave, which as it rushed in nearly submerged the place,
carrying the debris out to sea on its reflux, with nearly a hundred
human beings among the broken timbers. The boats of the Diana
were immediately manned to endeavor to save the wretches from
drowning; but out of the whole only two accepted the proffered
help, alleging that it was against the law for them to go oh board
a foreign ship. During the five months Commodore Perry was,
in those waters, only three unofficial persons ventured on board
his ships in the night, though crowds of spectators could be seen
on tbe hills near Kanagawa, most of whom we were told came
down from Yedo to get a sight of the squadron.
The princes, commonly called tono-sama, differ in their rank
and power, and have little authority out of their own principalities.
Those of Kag-a and Satsuma are now among the most powerful,
but all of them were so reduced in 1600 by Taiko-sama, that they
have never since attempted to throw off the control of the siogoun,
nor is mention made of any internal broils resulting in actual
hostilities. They were then obliged to conform to an order to
spend half the year at Yedo, and the periods were so arranged
that adjacent principalities seldom enjoyed the presence of their
own rulers at the same time. The same system of surviellance is
in force in all these petty palatinates, (as they might also be called,)
and the siogoun has also his own spies, who in some of them are
exposed to risk in exercising their functions. In Satsuma it is said
to be not very safe to be an imperial spy.
The plan of weakening the princes by obliging them to go to
great expenses in various ways, and of placing imperial cities near
and in their jurisdictions, is resorted to; but as a whole, peace has
been the uniform result of the present system, and this is saying a


LECTURE ON JAPAN. 189
good deal in its praise, when we remember what a state of anarchy
existed in Europe during the feudal ages. One result of the semi-
annual residence of so many dignitaries at Yedo has been to make
every nobleman look upon the sojourn at his own capital as the
real exile. The officials at Hakodadi, in May 1854, often expressed
their desire to get back to the metropolis, which however was no
wonder there on other accounts of climate and comforts, as well as
family and enjoyments.
The imperial cities and fiefs are numerous, and governed by
officers sent directly from court. In 1854, when an article in
Perry's treaty of Kanagawa opened Simoda to American vessels,
it was set off from the rest of the principality of Idzu, and placed
as an imperial city under the prince of Mimasaki; the town was
separated, with a small suburban region, from the former authority
of the principality. I do not know whether such a division could
be made of the territory of every prince; and there are many
other questions of internal police, necessarily arising under such a
complex state of things, which cannot be answered here. These
territorial princes, or counts palatine, (for the word prince to my
mind seems to imply too much,) do not form usually a part of the
council.
There are eight hereditary classes recognized in Japanese society,
three of them can wear swords, viz. the dai-mio and sat-mio, who
are the princes; the ki-nin or the noblemen; and the tamorai or
military men. Those who are called princes, in the treaties, are
merely kami, or titular noblemen, raised to that honor by the
siogoun or entitled to it by birth, and having no territory. Judging
by the characters used for their titles, the term marquis, i. e. a
guardian of the marches, is much nearer to the rank than prince,
which last appellation corresponds better to the meaning of tut ma.
The priests, gentry, merchants, artisans, and serfs, constitute
the remaining classes, except tanners, who are regarded as out-
casts, and obliged to live on the outskirts of towns. The principle
of hereditary descent runs through Japanese society more com-
pletely perhaps than in any other country; though not to the
extent, probably, which has been stated, viz: that no man can
ever follow any other occupation than that of his ancestors.
The system of responsibility, together with the minute details
of etiquette, which officials must conform to, has resulted in *
curious form of deception, which the native word naibon can *l-:ne
1 4


190
LECTURE ON JAPAN.
properly designate. Naibon implies that though the incumbent
is dead or has resigned his post, all its duties are still performed
in his name, until such time as it is deemed proper to announce
officially that his successor has entered on them. The burden of
ceremony is so great, and the restraint of official life so irksome,
that it is very common for dignitaries of every grade to' transfer
them to their successors when circumstances admit of their doing
so. During the late visit of the frigate Minnesota to Nagasaki,
the governor officially announced the demise of the siogoun on the
16th of September; but it has been ascertained that he actually
died some weeks previous. The convenience of the naibon is,
among such a people, likely to perpetuate it so long as the system
of which it forms a part may exist; but the index it gives of the
disregard of the truth should not be lost sight of by us.'
In the Chinese hamlets a similar system of eldership obtains,
as that here described as part of the Japanese rule, but the. latter
carry it out more thoroughly. In Japan a commoner cannot go
abroad without his passport, — a piece of pine wood with his
residence, name, Ac, burnt into it, — which he suspends from
his girdle; it is his protection and his permission, and he willingly
conforms to the law for the sake of the security it affords him.
By means of it he can be traced every-where, and without it he had
better, as the phrase is, "be no-where." The headmen, or ottona,
of these tythings, examine small crimes, and punish the guilty
without further appeal, but more serious misdemeanors are taken
before the judges. There are not, it is said, many public executions
in the empire; and I was told that only three persons had been
beheaded in Nagasaki the last year, and those for smuggling.
Suicide is very common and even considered rather honorable.
One of the chief interpreters informed me that he had heard of as
many as five hundred cases in a year, which at least proves how
very common it is, even if he had no foundation for his statistics.
One instance of the effects of this system of the solidarity of
neighborhoods was exhibited when the shipwrecked sailors, carried
back by the Morrison in 1837, had gone ashore to report them*
•elves at a small village near the entrance to the Bay of Kagosima.
They gave the whole detail of their location to the headmen,
hoping then to be received and restored to their friends; but when
rtnfused a landing, they said that it would now be useless to put
then* ashore privately, for this information would be sent to their


Lectors on japan.
191
homes, and they would be arrested and imprisoned as soon as they
appeared for the crime of conducting a foreign ship to the coast
against the laws.
The dress of the Japanese of both sexes is very simple, consisting
chiefly of long robes like nightgowns, worn one over the other.
In summer the laboring men go as nearly naked as decency per-
mits, and the women generally uncovered down to the waist. The
material of apparel is usually cotton, the rich wear crape and other
silk, some of them of very fine texture. The men shave the top
of their heads almost daily, tying the hair on the crown into a
queue, an inch or two long. The socks of both sexes have a separate
place for the great toe, in order to allow it to close upon the clasp
which retains the straw sandal on the feet. Leggings are worn,
but no trowsers. Large girdles confine the gowns, ^— and a
capacious bosom is thus made, in which the wearer carries a variety
of articles. In other cases, the mouth of the wide sleeves are sewed
half way, so as to form a pocket, in which light things are placed,
and a reservoir for the nose-papers which are used instead of
handkerchiefs.
The common official dress, which is worn over the other, consists
of two parts. The upper garment is shaped somewhat like a large
old-fashioned ladies cape, wide and stiff on the shoulders, where
it projects two or three inches, and is fastened at the waist; the
lower garment resembles loose trowsers or over-alls, open at the
sides. The cape has the wearer's coat of arms stamped on the
right and left breasts and on the back, and his two swords are
thrust through the girdle underneath it. These swords are worn
in the most inconvenient manner, and are very seldom laid aside
in public.
The dress of females is confined by a broad girdle on the outside,
which is tied behind in an immense knot Their hair is bound up
in a tuft on the back of the bead, somewhat like that of Chinese
women; in front its jet black color is relieved by gay 'hair-pins of
silver or glass, by a flower, or by a bow of crimson or blue orape.
A dozen or more of these hair-pins are sometimes stuck in side
ways, giving the head a strange bristling aspect On the birth of
a child, a married woman shaves her eyebrows and blackens her
teeth, — a custom, though not so painful and discommoding as the
Chinese fashion of crippling the feet is more repulsive to a stranger,
and disfigures their faces in a way that must be seen to be appreciated,


192
LECTURE ON JAPAN.
Their marriage ceremonies resemble those of China in many
particulars, such as the employment of a go-between to arrange
the match, the worship of the ancestral tablets, &c. The sexes
are not separated to the degree known in China; but I do not
think that the relative position or influence of females is higher than
it is among the Chinese. Polygamy is legal in both countries,
and its consequences are the same. Instruction in embroidery,
and other kinds of needlework, skill in playing on the samisken
or guitar, and singing, with book learning enough to enable them
to write a letter or cast up an account, seem to be their principal
accomplishments. The most educated women of the common
people are said to be courtesans, who are however often honorably
married.
At the marriage ceremony, a singular contrast to our own ideas
as to the meaning of the same dress is noticeable; the bride is
nearly concealed in a white robe, which is among these islanders
emblematical of her shroud, meaning that she henceforth is dead
to her own ancestors, and has become incorporated with the family
of her husband.
The Japanese are a social people, and contrive to have many
public festivals and holydays, as well as private feasts and merry-
makings. Every town has its annnal matsuri or patron saint's
day, at which the whole population assist. The day for the worship
of the graves is a grand occasion; nnd if the night be pleasant a
beautiful sight is exhibited at such a place as Nagasaki, in the
various fire-works and illuminated boats which are sent out to float
away on the water.
It is one part of polite education to learn how to send presents
properly to different grades of people. Every present should be
accompanied by a strip of dried fish or sea-weed enclosed in a piece
of paper and tied loosely with a red and white string. The meaning
of this has been explained, by some, that the giver hopes that his
friend is in good health and able to eat as usual; while others,
with perhaps more reason, say it refers to the humble origin of
the Japanese, whose ancestors were simple fishermen. To omit
this accompaniment on any occasion would be highly indecorous,
as an incident will illustrate. The day before leaving Hakodadi,
I was conversing with Yendo, the deputy bungio, while waiting
for a shopman to briug in some pictures on silk I had engaged of
him. Yendo looked at them as I turned the parcel over to see


LECTURE ON JAPAN.
108
if all was right, and seeing me about to pay for them insisted on
giving them to me as his parting remembrance, their cost being a
mere trifle. I agreed to the proposition, — but before he could or
would hand them to me, he sent a servant to buy the usual sea-
weed to accompany them.
Rice and fish form the staple articles of food with all classes.
The former grows throughout the southern parts of the country,
some of it upland rice, which does not need much water. Wheat,
barley, buckwheat and millet are also largely cultivated. Brae*
coli, sweet*-potatoes, eggplant, rape-cabbage, and other culinary
vegetables increase the list of plants used as food. Every thing
from the sea or river, fish, shellfish, sea-weed, muscles, &c,
all are eaten; indeed vfish is to a Japanese, what roast-beef
is to an Englishman, or sauerkraut to a German; he regards it
as necessary to a meal, and the seas around him bring it forth
abundantly.
Tea and saki are tbeir only beverages. The finer sorts of Umj
former are described as equaling the best descriptions of Chinese
leaf, and the plant grows in most parts of the southern islands j
near Simoda and Kanagawa it is a common hedge shrub. Saki
is the native name for the spirits distilled from rice, and is like
arrack or mm$koo, its taste not being very agreeable to those who
are uninitiated. The best comes from Lewchew.
The dwellings of the Japanese are chiefly constructed of wood,
unpainted and without chimneys or windows'. They are built so
that, in case of an earthquake, the outer frame-work and the inner
partitions and moveable panels will fall as one mass, and not
crumble in beneath the roof; for in such a case the inmates could
better escape from under the ruins than from a mass of brick. The
roofs of dwellings generally project beyond the walls, increasing
the darkness of the rooms; they are of brick tiling, neatly hud in
mortar and guttered.; the eaves are furnished with troughs to
collect the rain. Sliding panels, covered with thin paper, form
the substitute for windows. Poor houses are covered with a turf
or straw thatch, about a foot in thickness, which renders them
dangerous in case of fires; and this is a calamity which very often
occurs in Japan. While one of the Dutch embassies was in Vedo,
a fire occurred which destroyed more than half of the city, and
owed its ravages, in a great measure, to the number of tfcflM Uuok
inflammable thatches.
XCBHA»
TII


lf)4
LECTURE ON JAPAN.
The floors are mised about two feet above the ground, in common
houses and shops, and are covered with mats on which the family
sleeps, and by day carry on the business of the shop. No chairs,
tables, bedsteads, couches, or any of the numerous articles of fur-
niture, which fill up apartments in western lands, are seen in them.
They are warmed by braziers, placed in the middle of the room,
filled with burning1 coal or charcoal.
When Commodore Perry gave to the Japanese Commissioners,
at Yokohama, the various presents which had been intrusted to
him by the American Government, he told them that among the
return presents he would be happy to receive the entire furniture
of a room, in order that he might fit up an apartment in the
White House in good Japanese style. They assented, and when
their articles in exchange were brought in. showed him a pile of
. a hundred fine mats as the fulfillment of his wish.
These mats are kept scrupulously clean, and being cheap are
easily renewed when worn-out. The remarkable cleanliness of the
Japanese is somewhat to be ascribed to their usage of sitting on
the floor, for it must be kept tidy, if it is to serve successively for
table, bed, and parlor, during every twenty-four hours, or else the
house would soon become intolerable. The habit of leaving the
sandals at the door and shaking the feet clean before stepping on
the mats, promotes general cleanliness. The contrast between the
appearance of Nagasaki and Shanghai, in this respect, must be seen
to be fully understood.
In the rear of the house there is usually a courtyard, where a
few plants in pots, a pond for gold fish, a tree or two, and some-
times a shrine for an idol, are all neatly arranged, pleasantly
exhibiting the tastes of the householders. Near the house, iu which
the headman of Yokohama lived, there was a pretty ornament of
a grafted fir and pine tree, which had been dwarfed and trained
to spread over the ground, for a rod or more, a few feet above it
and covering a little fish pond. Many years careful culture had
been expended to bring it to that condition. A mile or two from
it, was another larger tree, a pine, which had been trained to
form an umbrella-like arbor on the bank of a rivulet; it was near
a hamlet, whose inhabitants could thus refresh themselves in the
heat of the day, and evidently did so from the seats placed under-
neath its shade. The top of this tree was as nearly level as possible
and measured over 200 square feet!


LECTURE ON JAPAN.
195
The streets in Japanese towns are wider than in Chinese. In
Nagasaki, the gutters run underneath a granite pavement in the
centre, each side being made of a composition exceedingly hard
and smooth. Other streets are made like macadamized roads,
but not so hard. In Hakodadi the streets are nearly all made in
this way. Many of them in both places are swept and watered
almost daily. In all towns substantial wooden gates divide the
streets into neighborhoods and from each other, and near them
are the police stations. These gates, among other uses, prevent
the rush or the assemblage of crowds and mobs, and thus assist
the authorities in maintaining order. Near them are to be seen
charms and prayers of various sorts, exhibiting the superstition
of the people. It was remarked that, in Simoda, the tilings which
we did not see made a curious catalogue, as showing its contrast
■with American towns. There were no bricks, no window-glass,
no fire-places, no pigs, no sheep, and no beggars, — the last item
being the most surprising of all after seeing their numbers wherever
one goes in China.
The language of the Japanese is mellifluous from the prepon-
derance of vowels. Until about B. C. 200, when the Chinese was
introduced, they seem to have had no written language; and it
was not until the first part of the eighth century A. D. 733, and
after, that the present mode of writing was introduced, by select-
ing parts of Chinese characters to represent their syllables. Unlike
most other languages, the Japanese is written with syllables, not
with letters like our own, nor with characters like the Chinese,
but with indivisible syllables, like the mode adopted by John
Guert for the Cherokees. There are 48 symbols, but by means
of diacritical marks, the number of syllables is increased to 72.
In this syllabary, or iroho as it is called from the first three
sounds, there is no l; and it is difficult to express many sounds
common to other languages, though the elision of vowels is fre-
quent A written word cannot end in any consonant, except n;
but the syllables Ju, tsu, ku, and some others, are elided in speak-
ing, as J'tatg for futatgu, tikok for sikohu, Nippon for Nitsupon,
■shrano for shirano, &c.
The first syllabary, formed to express the Japanese sounds and
called the kata-kana, was very simple, but not long after three
others were invented to repeat the same thing. Parts of other
Chinese characters were selected, to denote the syllables, sometimes


196
LECTURE OK JAPAN.
two or three for the same one, and then the entire characters were
introduced. The one now most in use, called hira-kana, is a kind
of running-hand, and contains over a hundred forms, and if it was
the only one used would not increase the labor of learning to
rend, but it is joined with the two others, called yamato-kana and
manyo-kana, in a most perplexing way. These latter syllabaries
are however rather Chinese characters, taken to denote a sound
with some reference to their meaning, than mere phonetic symbols,
and in a manner which resembles that said to have existed among
the ancient Egyptians.
The Japanese scholars, unfortunately for themselves, perhaps,
having the Chinese language to draw from, have gone on intro-
ducing its characters into their language, apparently for no other
reason than to show off the learning of the student. Pedantry has
multiplied the media of thought by allowing a great variety of
symbols for mere sounds, and then adding these characters as
substitutes for native words, until the medley is very troublesome.
In short, I should place the Japanese written language at the head
of all living tongues for difficulty of acquisition; not only has
the student to learn about three hundred arbitrary symbols for the
mere sounds of the iroha; but he must become acquainted with
Chinese too, both the regular and running-hand, as both are used
indiscriminately. Owing perhaps to their isolation, the meaning
of many characters has been altered by the Japanese, so that I
have seen a good Chinese scholar unable to understand some
specimens of their composition.
Hie spoken language is exceedingly rich in expressions, for it has
had the resources of Chinese to draw upon, and facilities of com-
bination of its own to an almost unlimited extent. It has also
inflections of tense, case, and mood, which with gender and number
are all lacking in Chinese. There is one peculiarity in it, found
indeed in most Asiatic languages, but here carried to a very high
degree, viz: designating the position of the hearer by the mode of
addressing him. It is not exactly like constantly interlarding tho
words, your honor, your worship, my lard, $c, in English, though
it has this effect. The difference in the same phrase spoken to an
inferior and to a superior will partially illustrate this. In the
question, Where are you going to-day? the first will be
Kon-nicki omaiyewa nam no tokoroni yukuka 1
but when addressed to one higher in station, it is


LECTURE ON JAPAN
197
Kon-nichi no kimi ma nani no tohoroni on ide asobasaruka?
While the spoken language is euphonious and coniparatiTely
easy of acquisition, a full knowledge of the written is the labor of
years. Certain names, as those of people, places, time, deities,
Ac., are usually written in pure Chinese, and the knowledge
of these characters is general and indispensible. A Japanese
does not try to talk Chinese; he changes it, when reading, into
his own sounds, or else translates the meaning, somewhat as
he pleases.
Education is general, but probably goes only as far as an ability
to read or write a letter, to cast up aocounts, or peruse an easy
story. One native informed me that the seven years he had spent
at school were occupied almost wholly in these branches. It is
praiseworthy that with such difficulties the people should be so
generally educated in their own literature; I was told there were
fifty schools in Nagasaki, but only one book-store, and the number
of books seen in the streets is less than in China.
In English we have adopted three words from the Japanese, viz:
soy, bonze, and moxa, to which I think saki and naibon are likely
erelong to be added.
The religion of the Japanese much resembles that of the* Chinese
in its great lineaments; it has more power over them, and they
seem to be more under the influence of their priests, who conse-
quently hold a higher relative position in society. The worship of
ancestors is at the foundation of the national faith, and the inter-
vention and intercession of the Dudhists are used in all ceremonies
relating to the dead.
The system of ancient mythology of the Japanese still remains
distinct from Budhism, as is the case also in China. It is called
Sintn, and is celebrated in its own temples, or ttra, which are
placed under the guardianship of sextons, who usually reside near
them with their families. The shrines of this sect are seen every-
where, by the road-side, on the tops of hills, and in groves, some-
times with an image, and at others only a picture. At one of
them near Sfmoda, sailors, who had escaped shipwreck or made a
good voyage, had presented many votive offerings of small junks,
pictures, oars, and other articles, among which were scores of
queues cut off from their own heads. Pilgrimages are common to
the spots deemed sacred, and these places of resort are famous for
their attractions.


198
LECTUTlfi ON JAPAN.
The Budhists came to these islands about A.D. 650, and though
received with suspicion, erelong made way for their tenets by
adapting themselves to the habits of the people. Budhism is a
pliant faith, willing to take almost any form, and during its long
isolation in Japan has adopted many rites quite unknown in Ceylon
or Tibet. The temples, called miya, are larger, more costly, and
much more numerous than the tera; graveyards are usually placed
near them. Their priests assist at funerals and masses, and exhibit
so many ceremonies in their worship like those of the Roman
Catholics, that one is puzzled to decide which copied from the other.
Their temples, unlike those in China, contain great numbers of
ancestral tablets, some arranged in a separate apartment, and
others, as if belonging to particular families, placed in small chapels
or side oratories. These temples are models of cleanliness and
usually well lighted — presenting a great contrast to the dingy,
dirty abodes of the same sect in China.
A singular result of the long seclusion of the Japanese is seen
in the use of Tibetan words and sentences for charms, as if they
were really, as they are to them, parts of a dead language. These
Tibetan charms are seen written, with short prayers In Chinese, on
posts at'the street gates, and over the doors of private houses.
In the graveyards these posts are tall and very numerous, and
some of them are provided with a small iron wheel, inserted in
the wood; a turn of it when set a whirling, is reckoned as equi-
valent to saying a prayer. In every place the idolatry and
superstition of the Japanese are seen; like the Athenians they are
in all things very superstitious; but all their services have no effect
in improving their morals, which are more openly licentious than
most heathen nations. Budhistic and other images are scattered
over the country in vast numbers, but their worshipers derive
neither happiness nor instruction from them.
In their tombs and epitaphs they present many differences from
the Chinese, and a collection of the prayers, written on the posts,
would vividly illustrate their theology. The body is placed or
forced into a small square grave, and over it there rises an
obelisk, a pillar, or a mere upright tomb-stone. In the epitaphs,
which are altogether in Chinese, the deceased "are called "believing
scholars" and "believing women." It is the custom to place fresh
flowers frequently before the tombs, so that the cemeteries are
constantly visited.


LBCTUKE OK fkVA*. 199
With respect to the manufactures of the Japanese, and their
attainments in the arts of designing, weaving, printing, and other
branches of labor, it is impossible here to enter into many particulars,
or attempt even to describe those which are peculiar; and the
desirableness of doing this is very much lessened on account of the
great variety of specimens of their best productions in porcelain,
lacquered-ware, silk, crape, metals, &c, which have latterly been
brought to Shanghai by recent visitors to Yedo and Nagasaki.
You have doubtless examined these and formed an idea of their
relative excellence, when compared with the same articles in China
or Europe. The ingenuity and skill of the people, by reason of
their very seclusion, perhaps have been more severely taxed and
more fully developed than would have been the case had their
country been opened: this much is certain, that the Japanese, at
present, entirely supply their own wants; and the trade which
attracted and employed so much capital, at the beginning of the
17th century, has now to be almost recreated.
Since the closing of the ports of Japan to Europeans, about the
year 1635, when the Dutch were allowed to retain their factory on
the islet of Desima at Nagasaki, the people have learned more and
more to-depend on their own productions. The trade, up to that
time, had been mostly in the hands of Spaniards and Portuguese,
and had been profitable to these three nations, though the details
of its articles or their, amounts are not clearly recorded. It was a
trade famous in those days for the quantity of gold and copper it
introduced into Europe, and their enormous drain is alledged by
the Japanese rulers as one of the reasons for restraining it.
The Dutch accepted the proffered opportunity of remaining in
the place of the Portuguese at Desima, to supply the Japanese
with certain European commodities. There could be no worse
instance cited, of the lengths to which commercial, religious, and
political rivalry were carried in those days, especially between the
Dutch and Spaniards, than the assistance given, at the request of
the Japanese authorities, by the Dutch chief Kockebekker with his
ships, in destroying the last remains of the native Roman Catholics
at Simoda. It was a ■disgraceful act; hut it was done at a period
of the bitterest hatred, and must be judged of by the spirit of
those times.
The trade with the Dutch was earned on under many vexatious
restrictions, and gradually diminished in amount while the expenses


200
LECTURE ON JAPAN.
remained the same, until the whole total of imports and exports
were, in 18-iG, under two millions of francs. The exports consisted
of copper, vegetable wax, soy, lacquered-ware, straw boxes, paper,
porcelain, saki, and sundries of silk, camphor, curiosities, <ftc., for
which they exchanged sugar, fancy European articles, medicines,
Ac. The trade had been rather a losing one for some years past.
The Chinese were confined to Nagasaki at the same time with
the Dutch, but their trade does not seem to have been so much
restricted, and has probably been on the whole quite equal to the
demand and supply,"and is now much-more necessary to the
Japanese than the other. They carry to Nagasaki rawsilk, sugar,
woollen cloth, gold thread, and a great variety of medicines, such
as are known in this country, and to an extent in some years
enough to load a dozen junks. They take away many articles of
food, some furs, pearls, straw boxes, and lacquered-ware, in the
proportion of three-fifths, copper forming the other two-fifths.
The Chinese dwell on the mainland within a walled inclosure,
containing several acres, where they constantly remain. An un-
successful attempt was made through the governor to visit their
residence, while I was lately in Nagasaki; and in the reply, sent
through him, one reason for the refusal was stated, that neither I
nor my friend Mr. Syle had any acquaintance with those people,
as they had been asked if they knew us. There are many native
Women allowed in the compound, but the Chinese are not permitted
to go at pleasure about the town, for the Japanese seem to be
afraid of them', and of granting to them much liberty. Their
number is less than formerly, and is now under a hundred persons,
all of whom come from Chapu in Chehkiang.
The purrency of Japan is cast like the Chinese; it is composed
of copper, gold and silver. The koban, a thin gold coin, like a
wafer, is reckoned to be worth one tael of stiver or $1:88. One
quarter of a tael is an iehibu, or 83 cents, U oblong stiver coin,
three of which equal a dollar; there is also a gold iehibu of the.
same value; and a piece made of gold and silver worth half an iekilm,
or 10) cunts, called ni-thiu. The isahiu is the smallest silver eote,
about 8 cents, 16 of them being worth a koban. The copper coins
are the xheni and ioiikiaku: the first is a cash, of base metal;
1000 of them are equal to a tael: the other is worth 100 cash, or
a mace, each; it is about the size and shape of an egg, out length-
wise, and the best made of all the Japanese coins. A* an instance


LECTURE ON JAPAN.
201
of the comparatively limited intercourse between distant parts of
Japan, it may be mentioned that this last coin is sold in the streets
of Nagasaki as a curiosity, while it is the common currency of
Simoda and Hakodadi. Paper money is used at Nagasaki in
foreign traffic. The bills are oblong strips of thick paper, about
one-fourth the site of a Bank of England note, having various
stamps and checks upon both sides; their denominations vary
from half a mace or 50 cash up to 500 mace, and they are renewable
annually. Their rate of exchange at Nagasaki, for foreign silver
coins, varies from time to time; it is now about 43 and 4-fifths of a
mace for a dollar, which is a discount of about nine per cent. The
relative values of silver and copper are nearly the same as in the
United States, but those of silver and gold are nearly as 0 to 1,
which makes the latter metal only about one-third of the value
it bears in other countries. This remarkable difference will erelong
cause the gold rapidly to disappear from the country, as soon as
commerce extends; the reason of this extreme cheapness has not
been satisfactorily explained.
The treaties which have been formed during the past few months,
between the Japanese and the ministers of the five western nations
most interested in their prosperity, are the result of many attempts,
by each of them, to reopen amicable relations. Though they all
failed to effect any apparent change in the laws until Commodore
Perry's treaty was signed in 1854, they doubtless all had soma
effect upon the Japanese authorities in bringing about a modifica-
tion. The hour for this lecture affords me time only briefly to
notice the more recent; for it is unnecessary to go so far back
as the attempt of the Portuguese in 1039, when the citizens
of Macao sent their envoys to ask a resumption of their trade, and
nearly the whole embassy and ship's crew were executed at Naga-
saki by the vindictive Japanese.
The Russians, in 1792, sent an envoy from Siberia named Lax-
man n who was favorably received, and urged to return. Circum-
stances prevented his doing so, but in 1804 the Emperor sent
Count Kesanoff as his special ambassador to resume negotiations.
He was not received courteously, and after a delay of six months
at Nagnsnki, under very irksome restrictions, he was dismissed
with a refusal. Irritated at this treatment, he instigated two
Russian officers with their men to make reprisals on some un-
protected fishing villages on Yeso; this of course only exasperated
NCHKAS Till


202
tBCTORE ON JAPAN.
the Japanese authorities, who watched their opportunity till in
1811 they had the chance to capture Golownin, Rikord, and some
other Russian officers, and detained them prisoners many months.
The Dutch have never sent a special mission, bat many of the
chiefs of their factory have from time to time endeavored to show
the Japanese the benefits of a more liberal policy, yet apparently
with no success. In 1844, the king of Holland made particular
efforts to this end, Betting forth the advantages of commerce with
Europe, and offering his assistance in any way to promote it.
The constant suggestions of the gentlemen of the Dutch, factory
have no doubt, contributed much to explain points which were not
clear to the Japanese, and lead them to see the matter in «
practicable light, but more decided action was Decenary to get
them to move.
The English had very little trade with the country when it was
closed in 1640; and have not since that time, made many attempts
to resume it. In 1803, the merchants of Calcutta sent a vessel to
Nagasaki; and in 1822, captain Gordon visited Simoda, to see
whether any tiade could be effected; both these attempts proved
unsuccessful. The vessels sent by Sir S. Raffles from Batavia,
during his sway there, in 18)1 and were admitted only as-
Dutch ships, and no progress was made towards securing trade
under the English flag. The unhappy results of the violation of
the neutral port of Nagasaki by the English frigate Phaeton, in
1814, and the details of the later visits of the Sa»iarang, in 1844,
and of the Mariner, in 1848, to Nagasaki and Simoda, are all
known. None of these experiments were specially ordered by the
English government, and nothing was learned by their officers
as to the sentiments of the Japanese.
The French, under Admiral Cecille, commanding two or three
ships of war, visited and surveyed the Lewchewan archipelago in
1845 and 1846; afterwards he entered the harbor of Nagasaki,
where he was received courteously; but no intercourse with the
people was allowed.
The Americans began their efforts, to open trade with this
country, at an early period in their history. In 1797, an American
ship, commanded by captain Stewart, appeared in the harbor of
Nagasaki and obtained a cargo nnder the Dutch flag. He came
again two years after; and seems to have also been employed by
the Dutch government at Batavia, with one or two other ships of


LECTURE ON JAPAN.
203
the same nation, to carry on their trade during the hazardous times
of Napoleon's European wars. This same captain Stewart, deter-
mined at last to show his own colors, anchored in Nagasaki as an
American ship, demanding free trade; hut the demand_was re-
jected, and he left the port without a cargo.
Many years elapsed without any further attempt, on" the" part
of Americans, when a good opportunity seemed to present itself to
make one more. Three shipwrecked natives, the only survivors
of a crew of twenty-seven, who had drifted in fourteen months
across the Pacific to the Columbia River, and were thence sent to
England by Sir 6. Simpson, had recently reached Macao. They
were joined by four others, likewise driven off by storm to Luzon,
and thence sent to China. Mr. Charles W. King, of the house of
Olyphant & Co., Canton, determined to take the whole seven
directly to Yedo, all intercourse at Nagasaki having been so often
refused. He sailed in the Morrison (a ship named after the Rev.
Robert Morrison) in July, 1837; and as that was my first visit,to
Japan, I may be allowed to detail its principal incidents.
To show her peaceful character, her four guns were' taken out,
and Mrs. King accompanied her husband on the voyage. The
Morrison stopped three days at. Napa in Lewchew, where the
proposal was made to the Japanese themselves, as they best
understood the risks, to be left and thence find their way home;
they preferred to stay by the ship. She made the entrance to the
Bay of Yedo, in thick weather; and, guided by their experience
of our Japanese navigators, proceedednonward into waters 'which
were perhaps never before visited by a foreign keel. The morning
light showed the headlands near where the town of Uraga'lay,
and the sound of distant guns showed that the Japanese were on
the alert. She anchored about four miles below the town, for the
shot were seen railing in the'water, and the navigation became more
uncertain. During the day, one or two officials came on board,
who would enter into no conversation, and also one or two hundred
of the common people who were allowed to look at everything: on
deck.
Next morning at dawn, four cannon which had " been brought
down to the beach opposite the ship, began to fire upon us, and
continued to do so for six hours as rapidly as' they could, until we
could get up the anchor and make sail; four or five large boats,
armed with guns, then pursued the ship until she was tar down


LECTURE ON JAPAN.
and took away several American sailors who weie detained in
prison there, and had heen harshly treated.
These repeated visits had attracted the attention of the world,
and especially of the government at Washing-ton, whose interests
in the Pacific were constantly becoming- more important, from the
rapid settlement of California. The President of the United
States, therefore, resolved to set on foot a more serious attempt,
than had before been made by any government, to come to a
better understanding with the Japanese authorities on two or three
points. With this object in view, Commodore Perry was instruct-
ed to concentrate the Eu«t India squadron in the bay of Yedo,
and lay three propositions before the siogoun for his consideration
and acceptance, viz. the humane treatment of shipwrecked sailors
cast on the shores of Japan; the opening of ports where vessels
in want of provisions could he supplied; and the establishment of
a depot for coal, somewhere on -the southern coast. The squa-
dron anchored off Uraga in July 1853, and the President's letter
was received by the prince of Idzu on behalf of the siogoun at the
village of Gorihama. I made one of the landing party, on that
occasion, and it was ample' gratification to me to see a force of
nearly 700 Americans go ashore in the presence of about 3,000
Japanese, within half a mile of the spot where, sixteen years be-
fore, they had opened their cannon at the Morruon.
The Commodore returned the next year and resumed negotia-
tions at Yokohama, where he concluded the treaty of Kanagawa,
March 31st, 1854, by which compact the Japanese government
resumed amicable relations with other natious, granting all and
more than all the President had asked. The merits of the Com-
modore's negotiations are to be judged therefore by the terms of
that letter. It was recently remarked in the North-China Herald,
in a notice of Lord Elgin's visit to Yedo, that " It would have
been well had Commodore Perry of the U. S. Navy adhered in
his treaty closer to the text of Capt. Saris's concise and liberal
document, and we can only hope that Mr. Consul-General Harris
of the American Legation at Simoda in his haste to sign a Treaty
with Japan, whilst the echo of the Allied guns from northern
China was still booming in the ears of the nervous Japanese, has
secured as good terms for Europeans in their future intercourse
with those people."
There is not time now to go into particulars respecting this point;
1 5


208
LECTVRK ON JAP**.
it should be stated, however, that Commodore Perry proposed all
that was in Cant. Saria'i treaty of 1613 (long ago annulled by
Japan) and much more, but the consent of the Japanese as well
as the Americans was first to be obtained. No resort to force by
them was contemplated in any case, but a full explanation was
made of the desirableness and benefits of a better understanding
and free intercourse with other nations. The chief interpreter,
Moriyama, said on one occasion, "You must give us more time;
it is all very plain to you, but we are now like people coming out
of a dark room into the glance of sunshine, and we do not yet see
the bearings of things clearly." To make a favorable impression on
the minds of the Japanese rulers and people of the power and
peaceful designs of the United States, was better than to force
them by the capture of a fort, or the threat of a bombardment, to
grant what they were determined to resist in detail.
The regulation of the rate of exchange, by which foreign coins
were taken at only a third of their value, and for allowing which
Perry has been so often blamed, was made by them to hamper
trade, which they were careless about. The Commodore vainly
endeavored to show them its injustice, but he never sanctioned it.
The treaty of Kanagawa was friendly and not commercial, it
did not provide for trade; and when soon after its ratification
two persons with their families presented themselves at Simoda to
reside, the Japanese properly refused them permission to do so.
The residence of a Consul was guaranteed in it, and obtained, too,
with much difficulty; but its benefits have been conspicuous, and
Mr. Harris too has now obtained further privileges for his own
and other nations. His treaty was drawn up and ready for sig-
nature^ before he, or the "nervous Japanese," ever heard of the
attack on the forts at Taku, and only signed just as it was agreed
to after learning that news.
To claim precedence, however, in such small details, where the
privileges obtained from great pagan nations of the earth like
Japan and China are as much for their benefit as for our own,
is but a petty rivalry. It is a triumph, in this time of the world's
history, to know that intercourse with Jupan has been reopened,
by Christian nations, without injury to a single individual in the
empire, without browbeating or threatening its government, and
I believe with the general consent of the people. 1'reaties signed
at its capita] successively with the ministers of the United States,


LECTURE ON JAPAN.
207
Holland, Russia, Great Britain, and France, attest the success of
the policy commenced by Commodore Perry. Though their com-
pacts supersede his, and that of Admiral Stirling's of 1855, I
wish to place his negotiations as their basis, and it is a gratifica-
tion to learn that the Japanese officials remember him with respect.
By these several treaties, then, we may regard Japan as giving1
up her seclusion of two centuries, and she seems to have done
so with a full willingness to risk the consequences. We are
ignorant of the discussions and steps which have led to this result,
but there have been many and serious deliberations respecting1 it,
formations of parties among her highest statesmen, resulting, we
are told, in the dismissal and degradation of the minority. It
would be interesting to know the history of these debates, for then
we could form a better estimate of the value of the concessions,
and understand to what degree they are likely to be carried out.
It may be very easy for us, poss-essing the consciousness of supe-
rior physical power, and ready on occasion to resort to it, not to
care much for those laws or institutions of the weak nations of
the earth which make against our own notions; but at present
this principle of procedure has no place in the law of nations.
The difficulty, however, when two nations coire into contact
politically, without previous knowledge i.f eucli other's views and
power, is to prevent the weaker in its folly from irritating the
stronger through acts prompted by pride and gvidrd by igno-
rance, acts which must urge the latter to use force to right itself.
In such a position, the latter may, in asserting its rights, be in
antagonism to its own best interests, by doing things which shall
only provoke and destroy, and not teach the offender.
The treaties which have opened Japan as far as they havf, (and
the same remark is applicable to China also,) give the right of
being governed by his own laws to the stronger party to those
compacts. There are other rights granted in them too, besides
exterritoriality, and we ourselves, as belonging to that stronger
party, will be careful to claim all we have a right to. But while
we have rights under these treaties, we have duties also; and we
cannot leave our duties to be done by others, while we claim the
rights, and force their acknowledgment. Our obligations to do
to a weak, and ignorant, a prejudiced, and a lying pagan, as we
would have him do to us, are not to be measured by his attainments,
nor our culpability in wrong doing by his ignorance of our laws.


LHCTl'nE ON JAPAN.
The Japanese have entered into treaties whose fall consequences
they may not understand. Five great nations of the West have
required them to do so, and those nations will doubtless hold
them responsible for their fulfillment. But those nations, in tak-
ing upon themselves this tutelage, have taken a great responsi-
bility. The United States, for instance, in making their treaty
with Japan, pledge their citizens to the observance of the obliga-
tions of pesos and amity it contains. This treaty and that too
with China have the form of law and bind the public faith. They
affect the individual conscience as firmly as an act of Congress,
passed in conformity, with the Constitution and pledging the pub-
lic faith. The treaties are made in the name of all and in behalf
of all, by the constitutional authority, and no citizens can deny or
evade their stipulations, or break the pledges they contain. The
central government is alone invested with the power to repeal a
treaty, or dissolve the obligations of its citizens. It cannot en-
courage any of its citizens to disregard the condition of a treaty,
or connive or wink at violations of the spirit of these treaties
while it pretends to maintain them. The same principles also
apply to the others of these five nations, to Great Britain, Russia,
Holland and France, for they form the chief safeguard as to
the validity of such instruments.
. It is no reason, surely, for us to excuse ourselves from fulfilling
the duties we owe to the Japanese, or Chinese, because they have
not the force to compel us to do so. These two secluded nations,
with their vast population, have been opened in a remarkable manner
during the present year to intercourse and influences from abroad,
for some higher and better purposes than merely the extension of
trade by the development of new markets, or even the gratification
of the most intelligent curiosity, though these two objects will be
best promoted by attending to the higher purposes I allude to.
These nations are sunk in ignorance, and the ignorant have no
desire for what they do not. understand or feel the want of They
are weak, too, because they are wicked; and they are wicked and
vile and mendacious because they have no knowledge of the Truth.
We must not look for honesty, purity, and power, therefore, among
such; but still our duties to them are not to be avoided, and they
cannot be disregarded, without ultimately suffering ourselves.
Situated as we are on the confines of these two empires of the
far East, we are, and have been, and will be, exercising an influence


LECTURE ON JAPAN.
909
for good or evil upon their inhabitants that we ourselves cannot
estimate. It is like the power of a ship under weigh, whose
momentum is often most disastrously seen as she crashes into
another ship, to their mutual destruction. This influence we cannot
help if we wish it We may look to governments to make treaties,
but the real results of these instruments, their good and their evil
consequences, lie mainly in our own hands. If we conduct in a
manner to prove to the Japanese and Chinese that their worst
fears are likely to be realized, and thus set the people justly against
us through our own individual misbehavior, no treaties, no promises,
can alter their views and feelings. In their present mind they
know that only force, or the fear of force, can restrain them from
carrying out their evil intentions j but when they see us individu-
ally acting from higher motives, and not using force, but reason
and patience, they will receive the influence and instruction they
so much want.
This community in Shanghai, especially, occupies a position
in relation to China, and will soon to Japan, which makes its in-
fluence very great Whether that influence shall extend and be
advantageous to them, depends far more on your individual bearing
towards the people, than on the stipulations of treaties or the
presence of force. Trade will enlarge when it brings mutual
benefits, and peace is a necessary function to its great development;
but there is a merchandise of forbearance, of equity, and of kindli-
ness towards the weak and even the wicked, which has greater
beneficial results to both parties. China and Japan were both open
to occidentals two centuries ago, but I am inclined to think that
they were allowed to be again closed to preserve them intact from
foreign conquest: nor can I divest myself of the impression that,
as they are no longer in much danger of that in this period of the
world's history—(when it is felt that to conquer a weak nation as
Pizarro or Cortes did is not the best use which can be made of it),
they have been reopened to receive the great benefits of a higher
faith and civilization.
In one respect the Japanese stand in advance of their ancient
neighbor, in that their attention is directed to obtain a knowledge
of other nations. Their own efforts in this way will form their
greatest security. Their soldiers once formed the body-guard of
the king of Siam; their consuls once examined Spanish ships in
Acapulco; their sailors once took a Dutch governor out of his
MMAa ix
15*


S10
UOTVBI ON JATAX.
house in Formosa, and carried him prisoner to their rulers; their
princes once sent an embassy to the pope; their emperor once
defied the vengeance of Portugal by executing1 her ambassadors.
The knowledge of these historical events remains among them.
Wo may reasonably hope for a great preponderance of good results
from an extension of an intercourse, which has recommenced so
peacefully. Let us indulge the expectation that the land of the
Rising Sun may not only soon be fitted for taking her place among
nations, but also among Christian nations, and with all the institu-
tions and liberty aud purity of the best of those nations.


[211 j
ARTICLE VI.
OIT THE STUDY OF THE NATURAL SCIENCES IN JAPAN.
Br The. J. L. C Pomps tan Meerdebvoort, M.D.
Read before the Society, December 33d, 1858.
In compliance with the request of the Japanese government to
attach a naval surgeon to the second detachment of the Royal
Dutch Navy, appointed to teach the Nautical and Military Sciences
in Japan, I was placed on board the screw-steamer Japan, which
was to be sent out as a war-steamer. Leaving Rotterdam on the
25th of March 1857, and having visited, on the passage, Lisbon,
the Cape of Good Hope, Batavia and Manila, I reached Nagasaki
the 22d of September. Soon after my arrival, I was informed, by
the Netherlands Commissioner, that the Japanese government had
expressed a wish to have some of their own medical students
instructed in the medical and surgical sciences, and that the ar-
rangements for this should be made as I pleased.
Before any regular scheme could be drawn out, for giving such
instruction, it was necessary for me to ascertain the actual state of
the knowledge possessed by the scholars in regard to the above-
named sciences; and to do this it seemed to me that an examina-
tion was the best way I could devise.
In the following pages I will give a view of my course of pro-
ceeding with these scholars, and describe the state in which I
found the natural sciences in general and the medico-surgical in
particular.
The first public instruction, in medical and surgical sciences
given by any European in Japan, was my inaugural address,
delivered on the'15th of November 1857. The nature and state
of the natural sciences, and their influence on civilization, were
described in general, and then their particular application to
medicine and surgery. In doing this, I explained to my new
scholars the object of my mission, the importance of what was to
be done, the great extent of the natural sciences, and the relations
to each other in which all these branches stand, so that each branch
/


912
ON THE STUDY OF THE
forms a link of the whole chain of nature; and with a desire to
excite them onward in their new course, I pointed out the way in
which, by indefatigable application and persevering study, all the
great difficulties they might hare to meet could be overcome; also
I gave them the assurance that I would do all in my power to aid
them in their labors and to facilitate their progress in learning.
At the close of this address, the senior student, or rather the
one highest in rank among them, in behalf of himself and the
others thanked me, in a few hearty words, for the kindness shown
in entering on this mission, and in now commencing my new task
as their instructor, assuring me that they had long felt the want
of greater facilities and aids in scientific pursuits, which hitherto
had been much retarded by their old institutions and system of
government.
The number of scholars in attendance, at this introductory
meeting, was fourteen,—some from the imperial court and some
from the principalities. In July, this year, the number of scholars
in attendance on the medical and surgical course was twenty-three;
while twenty others, part from the principalities and part from the
imperial court, were in attendance on my lectures in Physics,
Chemistry, Geology and Mineralogy.
The next day after our first public meeting, the scholars were
assembled for an examination, with a desire, as above remarked,
to ascertain the actual state of their knowledge; but I soon per-
ceived that this method could not then succeed; not only because
of their ignorance of the subject-matter brought before them, but
also in part on account of their dislike to, what was totally unknown
in Japanese usage, an examination in public, and that too by a
foreigner. Though the examination, as such, was a failure, the
fact was evident enough that these scholars knew very little about
rational science, and further that it would be necessary for me to
begin with elementary principles.
It should be borne in mind, moreover, that it is not possible
here, in Japan, to give a course of lectures just as we do in Europe.
At first not understanding the Japanese language—which it is
very difficult to learn,—recourse to an interpreter was indispensible,
in order to translate what I had to say or to communicate. This
was a great inconvenience; for notwithstanding there are here
some very good Dutch interpreters, who translate very correctly, I
must add that most of them do not understand our language


NATURAL SCIENCES IN JAPAN.
213
sufficiently well, or, being but poorly paid, are too indifferent, to
give good and just explanations of my words. For a time at the
beginning of my course, I found it impossible to control these
interpreters; but now, my knowledge of the Japanese language,
little as it may be, has several times proved sufficient to detect
•ome bad and erroneous translations. My scholars, too,—who,
when I began with them, knew very little of the Dutch language—
have already, by their continued intercourse with me and the other
naval officers, become much better qualified to understand what I
have to communicate to them in my own tongue. Some of these
can read, others can write the Dutch language, and are taught
arithmetic, algebra, and mathematics by the 'Dutch officers. By
these means they have become so well acquainted with my own
language, that they can, much better than at first, comprehend the
meaning of my words; a few of them, I may safely say, can now
follow me and understand all that is said to them.
I decided, after due consideration, to commence my public
course of instruction with Physics, Chemistry, Anatomy, Physiology
and Desmology. This last named branch I taught thus early,
chiefly for the amusement of the scholars, and also to furnish a
little variety by giving these practical lessons in connection with
what was more theoretical; for I was very soon convinced that
they found special delight in the practical part of surgery; and I
could easily believe, also, that it was well and good to stimulate
their ambition.
1. Physics.
The class in physics has numbered forty scholars; of these about
one quarter are imperial students, or those who are from the
emperor's court, while the others are from the principalities and
are the subjects of the princes. The princes, who have sent scholars
to attend my lessons here in Nagasaki, are those of Satsuma, Tse-
kusan, Fesen, Isin or Todo. These all have their principalities on
the island of Kiusiu.
Three times a week, for an hour and a half, from nine o'clock
a.m., I have instructed the class in physics, giving explanations,
and pointing out, in all its extent, the applications of this science
to the arts, manufactures and the like. In this department the
ambition of the scholars is unbounded. Seldom do I see any one
of them who is not all attention. What they do not at once un-
derstand, in my lectures, is written down on paper and submitted


NATURAL SCIENCES IN JAPAN.
315
hare donj> so far as my means would allow, before the scholan in
their class. Thus their interest is greatly excited, and, by attempt-
ing to repeat the process of analysis, they come naturally to see
themselves how accurately every thing must be performed, in
chemistry, in order to bring out satisfactory results.
The Japanese are extremely fond of these lessons in chemistry,
and some of my scholars have already begun to collect apparatus
and have at home a box filled with reagents, reaction-tubes, little
balances with weights, and a variety of small articles required for
chemical experiments, and are exercising themselves in this way.
By means of physics and chemistry the people also are anxious
to improve their manufactories and institutions of arts; and my
pupils, so far as they are able, communicate to others what they
themselves have acquired. By this method several manufacturers
and merchants have already introduced improvements in their
cotton fabrics. These improvements are observable in their ap-
plication of both chemical ingredients and mechanical forces. The
numerous questions which they have daily to propose, in regard
to their instruction, give me pleasing evidence of their success,
showing that they are not only indefatigable in their study of
books, but also most untiring in their experiments to work out
satisfactory results. In this way they find a large recompense for
all their trouble.
This is the proper place to notice, in few words, the study of the
natural sciences in the principality of Satsuma.
The late Prince Regent of this rich territory died about two
months ago, at the age of forty-five, greatly lamented by all his
subjects. He inherited, from his father, a love for the natural
sciences, especially for the practical part. He was accustomed to
carry into effect whatever he was taught in theory or in practice.
All who were about him, and all his high functionaries, were
required to be men of large attainments in knowledge; and none
but such had much influence with him. Having secured a suffi-
cient number of persons of this description, a manufactory of
various fabrics, on a large scale, was commenced under their
direction. In this great establishment that venerated prince put
in requisition whatever came to his knowledge, and with the best
practical results. It is situated near his capital, Kagomma, a large
and beautiful city of about 500,000 inhabitants.
Last April, at the request of the prince himself, I visited his


216
ON THE STUDY OF THE
capital, in the imperial screw-steamer Japan. His Highness re-
quested this visit in order that he might meet all the officers of the
Royal Dutch navy who were then in his country. He showed us
all the regulations and arrangements about his court and capital,
and requested our opinion on all we saw. He wished to know
what changes and improvements ought to be made, and was
prompt to execute all such plans as were recommended, however
great might be the labor and the expenditure of money. Some of
these improvements were truly gigantic works; but never did he
hesitate to expend his money, or shrink from any undertaking, for
the advancement of civilization, if it could be carried out in a
scientific manner.
I saw here some new fortifications of considerable extent, with
formidable batteries, furnished with large guns from his own
foundries: all these were constructed from the drawings found in
some Dutch books. Some docks and basins, for large ships and
small vessels, were just finished, and also a great many other in-
teresting works. I saw a large bronze gun made in his own
foundry with calibre for balls of 150 pounds weight.
More than one hundred men were employed in the single de-
partment of glass manufactures. In it were houses for melting,
blowing and grinding. And all sorts of glass, as well for daily
use as articles of luxury, white and coloured, coarse and fine, were
there to be seen; in short it was a tolerably well-working glass-
house. Here the prince had applied the latest inventions to colour
the glass, and I got some beautiful specimens to take with me to
Desima.
He had here also a smeltry for iron ore, with all that belongs
to it, and in another department a forge, where we saw the forging
of some capital iron works. Besides all these we saw here a de-
partment for the fabrication of coarse porcelain, where some new
inventions w ere reduced to practice.
Among the objects which were in hand, I must mention a steam-
engine. They first made a model in wood, and our Lieutenant
Engineer, Mr. H. Hardes, shewed them the necessary improve-
ments. They had also, in progress, printing and dial-plate register
telegraphs, on European models; electro-magnetic rotation instru-
ments, Ac.
Attached to this establishment was a foundry of guns. This
department was very active; in it are made a great quantity of


natural sctencKS In japan.
217
large guns of different calibre. Lieutenant Vansragen, of the
Boyal Dutch navy, told me that this part of the manufactory was
arranged according to the system of the old giin-foundry of Liege.
I cannoc give a more particular description of all that I saw
there; I have detailed enough to show what itaconceirable exertions
are used, by the raler of tbis princedom, to taeet all his wants and
necessities himself, and to becdme independent of al 1 foreign industry.
About two thousand men, if my estimate was correct, were
Working in this great establishment, notwithstanding several water
paddles were used, wherever they could be introduced to supersede
manual labor. It has been told me, by a man who is very well
informed about the matter, that the Prince Regent, (during the
minority of the young prince, who is only two years of age,) will
continue the course of improvements commenced so successfully by
the late prince.
Before finishing this notice, I must mention that We1 sdw 8 vety
little paddle-wheel steamer; the late prince, we were told, ordered
some of the cleverest of his subjects to cons tract such a steamer;
and this one was made accordingly, and from drawings in the
mechanical works of the Dutch Professor Verdath, without any
verbal or practical assistance. The engine and the boilers were
calculated for about twelve horse power, but the imperfect arrange-
ments of the engine and boilers allowed the greater part of the
steam to escape; and Mr. Hardes calculated the acting power to
be no more than two or three horse power. This little steamer is
now under repair at Nagasaki, at the steam-factory, which is under
the direction of the above-named Engineer, Mr. H. Hordes.
From nil that has now been narrated, it is easy to perceive to what
extent new inventions, in manufactures and industry, will be
adopted, when the politics of Japan shall be clinnged enough to
revoke totally the old system of seclusion, and when an increasing
commerce and civilization shall make known all that belongs to
modern science.
Two other princes of the island of Kin-siu ought to be mentioned;
those of Tsi-ku-sen and Fi-sen. The first, like the prince of
Satsuma, is very powerful; he applies himself constantly to the
study of natural science, especially in a theoretical way, and his
knowledge must be very considerable. It was told to' me that this
prince does not care so much about the practical in science, as he does
about the theoretical part; I cannot accept this as a fact, however,
■CBBAS X


218
ON THE STUDY OF THE
until I have had the advantage of meeting him in his own pos-
sessions, which I hope will be the case in a few weeks; for it may
be that he has factories and industrial institutions in his own
princedom, which are unknown to us. The system of secrecy is
still so maintained, that nobody would know anything about works
of this kind, until there was a necessity to unveil the fact. As a
proof of this, I may mention that on onr passage to the factory
outside of Kagosima there was not a single man who told us any-
thing about it; all they did tell us was that the prinee had an
iron furnace outside the town; and this on the very same day that
we were to see it; of all the rest, nothing was mentioned till we
got a personal view of the factory. Now it may be that the prince
of Tsi-ku-sen also has some factories about which we know nothing
at this moment.
The prince of Fi-sen is less powerful than the other one. I do
not know his Highness well enough to judge of him correctly j
but certainly he is a very proud man, and it is sure that in his
territory, a great many new inventions have been introduced. He
has a little factory in the neighborhood of Nagasaki, and has in
his possession an European built schooner, and in a few weeks will
also have a war-screw-steamer, which is expected from Rotterdam.
These three princes have several times sent to me by their
subjects, my scholars, questions concerning the most difficult
matters; and on everything they do not well understand they
receive my assistance, so far as it belongs to my business and pro-
fession. They likewise consult the other Dutch officers, every one
in his own department of study.
3. Anatomy.
The Japanese have little knowledge of anatomy; and as no one
of my pupils had the least idea of the science, I begnn by teaching
them general and descriptive anatomy, so far as it was necessary
for the good understanding of the different parts of the science.
Three times a week I gave a half hour's lecture; but in practical
demonstrations I have found very great difficulty, because the use
of dead subjects is not customary among this peoplej at least not
in presence or under the direction of a foreigner; and the officers
of government fear to give their consent to it, as it conflicts with
the moral and religious institutions of the Japanese people. I have
spoken much about this matter and sent a memorial to the govern-
ment at Yedo; which document was given to the Imperial council


NATURAL SCIENCES IN JAPAN. 219
tHJ Mr. Donker Curtius during his visit to the court of Yedo a
few months ago. In that memorial I dwelt extensively on this
point, and acquainted them with the necessity of practical
demonstration on dead bodies $ but the only result I have reached
is a promise that I should dissect the first condemned and executed
criminal; but I think that since the time I received this promise
several executions have taken place and still I live on promises.
My instruction has been given by demonstrations on engravings;
but every anatomist will coincide with me in saying that this is e
very unsatisfactory manner to teach anatomy.
To remedy in part this inconvenience I ordered for the Japanese
government an artificial subject of papier-mache1 from Paris made
by the celebrated Dr. Chazour; this I expect in a few months,
end by means of it, I can improve a great deal the anatomical
instruction: meanwhile, by speaking continually about this matter
in my class, and by pointing out to my scholars its desirableness,
I hope I shall at last succeed in getting proper subjects. I
have already finished with the enatomia generalis, the osteology a,
the syndesmologio, the mialogia, the artereologia, and at present
I demonstrate the veneseologia, so that the neurologia, angeologia,
splanchnology and the demonstrations of the senses must he treated
hereafter.
Considering the inadequate manner of teaching anatomy exclu-
sively from engravings, I must think that the progress made is
satisfactory, and exceeds my expectation j so that I hope to get
great results with better resources.
4. Physiology.
This branch of medical science was totally new to the Japanese,
end most of them did not know it even by name. I followed in
nay lessons the beautiful physiological work of Professor Donders
end Dr. Bauduin; but was obliged to pass over several complicated
parts, especially about physiological chemistry. Of this part I
could only mention the most simple facts, and several times I tried
to explain the chemistry of the human body; but it was too difficult
a study for them, and they could not understand one-fourth of it,
so that their progress in it has not been so satisfactory as in the
other branches. I have now for about one year been occupied,
five hours a week with this subject; and the general part of
physiology of the human body is a little more than half finished;
I have proceeded thus slowly, because in all my lessons, it is e


220
OR THE STUDY OP TBS
rule not to go on to what is new until oonvinoed that my pupils
understood the preceding part. About this I can now satisfy
myself better than at first, because the pupils no longer dislike to
respond to my questions in public; on the contrary, those who are
able to answer are very glad to show their knowledge and progress,
oftentimes answering before their turn comes to speak.
6. Desmoloqy.
As already stated, this is the branch wherein the scholars most
excel; and with it I began my course, because there was an im-
mediate demand for it, in daily practice, and this want was very
great; and because the scholars told me they were very anxious
to learn this, they considering it as a recreation. I first gave a
short lecture in which was presented a general view of desmologyj
after this followed a special description of the most useful apparatus
and the bandages which are of real use in practice. I omitted a
great deal that is found in most treatises and manuals, but which
at present is out of use, and only belonging to history. I did this
because it is my-conviction that the Japanese must be taught in
the first years only those parts of the sciences which they absolutely
want. All matters about science are still entirely unknown to
them, and the part absolutely wanted is quite extended enough,
and in my opinion it will be better to wait with the historical and
critical parts till they are more acquainted with the bases of
scientific knowledge.
All bandages and a great many appendages the scholars applied
several times under my direction and this they do simply, usefully,
and elegantly; so that in this branch there is nothing more to
wish; as soon as possible they brought and still bring their learn-
ing into practice. The beautiful and useful gypse bandage for
fractures invented by Matthysen was applied by one of my pupils
in a case of fracture of the tibia and fibula and this was done four
days after I had shown it in the class. Since that it has been
applied several times, always with the greatest success, and this
has given great eclat to our surgery among the Japanese. The
desmology is now finished.
General Remarks.
There exists a great difference in rank between the medical men
in Japan; a few of them belong to the highest class of society;
they are Imperial life surgeons. One of them is at present at
Nagasaki, sent from Vedo, and one of my scholars. He is designed


NATURAL S0IBNCB9 IK JAPAN.
to be the chief of the medical service in Japan, after finishing hit*
studies here. Certainly the choice could not be better. To a
clever judgment he joins an unlimited ambition for all science, he
has a strong and decisive character, and he is always ready to
sacrifice his comfort and his life to alleviate the sufferings of human •
kind. It is by his influence that several things have already been
changed and improved, and seldom do I recommend to him any-
thing that is not very soon executed at least so much as can be
done consistently with the Japanese regulations and laws.
Besides this first class, there is also a second class of Imperial
doctors, but not so high in rank; they are not privileged to treat
the Emperor and his family, and the court at Yedo. The third
class is formed of territorial-government medical men, and the
fourth class' contains all those who are to practice privately, without
any government commission. Their influence is proportional to
their rank. The highest government functionaries have generally
their own life physicians attached to their households, and these
gentlemen also have a great influence.
The age of the scholars in general is from 25 to 35 years, a few
are more than this. Most of them are practising already in Naga-
saki; all are Imperial or Principality subjects: the last are gene-
rally the most clever. A great inconvenience to all scientific
development in Japan is that the trade in books is carried on up
to the present time, absolutely by the Japanese treasury (a govern-
ment institution at Nagasaki,) and this corporation sell the books
at inconceivably high prices; so that only the richest Japanese
can buy them.
Scientific works are sold here for about ten fold their real worth.
The less fortunate scholars take the trouble (in order to save
money) to copy some of my books, and this is almost a useless
expenditure of time. When free trade shall have changed this, it
will be a great advantage to science and art.
What is the real position of natural philosophy and scientific
study in the north part of Japan I c:innot say with certainty and
accuracy. I must suppose by the questions that are addressed to
me that physics, chemistry, ■ mineralogy and botany find very
ambitious students there, and that geology interests them a great
deal. I cannot nt present mention any thing else about the
northern part of Japan.
1 s> Desima, 29th October, 1858.


[ 222 J
ARTICLE VII.
MEMORANDUM ON THE PRESENT STATE OF 80MB
OF THE MAGNETIC ELEMENTS IN CHINA
AND PLACES ADJACENT.
Br Cam. C. F. A. SbaDwbll, C.B., H. M. S. "Hiuhplybb."
Read before the Society, January 18th, 1869.
It may be useful to place on record the present condition of some
of the Magnetic elements in China and places adjacent.
The observations, now to be recorded, consist of a few determina-
tions of the Variation and several of the Dip or Inclination of the
Magnetic Needle taken between April 18o7, and December 1858,
at various stations between Anjier in the Straits of Sunda and
Shanghai.
The observations of the variation were made with an Azimuth
compass of superior construction, such as are now furnished to each
of H. M. Ships. The true azimuth of the terrestrial points or
objects observed, for comparison with the Magnetic bearing by the
compass, being in all cases determined astronomically.
The dip observations were made with a six inch dip circle, by
Robinson, of superior construction, every precaution being taken to
eliminate the errors of observation and the effect of instrumental
imperfection, by reversing the poles and taking the readings in all
possible positions, with reference to the face of the needle and face
of the instrument.
The resulting dip by each needle being the mean of 48 readings,
and the concluded dip the mean of the results by two needles.
It will be most convenient to arrange the observations in a
tabular form.
By a comparison of these observations with those made by the
late Sir Everard Home, then commanding H. M. S. Aorth Star,
in 1842-43, communicated to me by that gentleman, it would
appear that at Singapore the south dip of the needle has increased
38 minutes in lo years.


MAGNETIC ELEMENTS IN CHINA
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224
AND PLACES AD/ACBNT.
At Hongkong the north dip has similarly increased about 40
minutes in the same period, while at Shanghai and Woosung the
increase amounts to about half a degree.
All these changes can be accounted for on the supposition of a
gradual increase in the amount of the vertical component of the
Magnetic intensity at these places.
At Woosung, lying 10 miles nearly due north of Shanghai, the
dip is 45° 2*, being 17 minutes less than at Shanghai, an anomaly
probably caused by some local disturbance or irregularity.
A discordance of the same kind is perceptible by a comparison
of the observations at Kin tang and Ningpo.
It should ha lien slhtwf that, on the reading of hi* Paper before the Snefetjf
Captain Shariwrll took occasion, to give, viva voce, some brief observations on
Terrestrial Magnetism generally, specifying tlie leading objects- of Magnetic*
•esearch a> he traced the history and progress of the science; he aleft gave a
popular description of the Instruments employed and the course of observations'
tecently followed, at the vsrioiM Magnetic Observatories established for the
purpose of Investigating the phenomena of Magnetism; and then cloaed hi*
very interesting address with tlie Memorandum, given above. It is to be hoped
Jhai Capiat* ShatUell will continue hie researches In fV
"I of science.—Editorial Committee.


f 2C5 j
ARTICLE Vlir.
NOTES ON SOME NEW SPECIES OF UlttDS FOUND
ON THE ISLAND OF FORMOSA
Bt R. Swinhok, E»<j.
(Supplementary to Artida I. page 145.)
Order II.—Passerf.s. Tribe IIT.—Dentirostrbb. Family
I.—Luscinida. Subfamily I.—Malurin*.
Two species of birds in this subfamily, not coming under any
genus described by G. R. Gray, in his Genera of Birds, for which
I propose a new g-enus under the term CalamantheUa, may
be thus defined:—Bill shorter than the head, broad at the hose,
but compressed towards the tip; culmen gradually arched towards
the tip; gonys long and ascending; nostrils placed longitudinally
in a basal membranous groove; gape furnished with short weak
bristles. Wings moderate; the first quill abruptly short, the
•icond shorter than the third, which with the fourth and fifth are
longest in the wing. Tail moderate, or short, and graduated.
Tarsi much longer than the middle toe, and covered w	h in-
distinct scales; toes long with the outer toe shorter than the inner,
aad united at the base to the middle one; the hind toe long and
armed with a long curved claw.
These birds differ from the genera Prinia (Horst.j and Uala-
manthv* (Gould), to which they are nearly allied; by their active
habits, being constantly on the wing, flving high in the air
uttering their singular notes. The fwo distinct species which I
procured in Formosa, I liave named Ttnnabulan* and Volitant
respectively. The former of these is very common in the plains
and on the hills of the N.W. side of Formosa, and I have since
found it very numerous among the rush-covered tumuli in Shanghai*
The latter was abundant in the E. and N.E. of Formosa. I wfl$
now venture to give a few words on the general description of the
two species, as also on their habits as observed by myself.
Gtlamanthttlla tinnabulant. Bill along culmen § inch; bill to
gape 7 twelfths; tarsus §; onyx £; middle toe 7 twelfths; wins:
1 & 11 twelfths; tail 1 A 7 twelfths. Total length 4J inches.
KCIl HAS
XI


226
HEW SPECIES OF BIRDS FOUND
Bill yellowish, wood-brown towards the tip and along the
culmen. Legs ochreous yellow. Irides orange yellow. Upper
parts yellowish brown varied with sienna red; the feathers on the
head, back, wing-coverts, secondaries, and tail-coverts, dark-brown
with yellowish brown margins. The wing-feathers hair-brown
broadly margined with pale yellowish brown. Tail consisting of
12 feathers almost equally graduated; the uropygials brown-mar-
gined paler; the other 10 feathers marked with dark brown and
reddish sienna, each feather being deeply tipped with white.
Eye-streak, throat and under parts white tinged with sienna or
straw yellow, deeper on the sides, and approaching red on the
flanks.
Habits. These little sprightly birds abound in Hongsan and
the N.W. coast of Formosa, among the long grass and rushes,
hopping with upright tails from one blade to another, so light, so
airy in their build, that one often mistakes them for locusts, with
which insects their haunts abound. Suddenly springing into the
air, they rise to a little height uttering the notes te-te-te, then drop
with a ting-ting-ting; and when many are singing over a plain,
the effect may well be compared to the "drowsy tinkling" that
"lulls the distant fold."
In Shanghai I noted,—" The Formosan Tinkler is also here, and
continues to sing as he flies along in the air his lingular notes;
now flying downwards with a curve as if he would settle, then
sweeping up again and hovering, all the while uttering his notes.
At last he makes up his mind to descend, and down he comes and
perches on some stalk of maize or other plant, and carefully preens,
and rests himself; a few minutes more and he is again on the wing."
The Chinese settlers in Formosa call this bird the Mangtang;
the same name that in Amoy is applied to the Tailor-bird (0>
thotomus sp.) and most small birds of that family.
Calamanthella volitant. Bill along culmen, over J inch; bill
to gape |; tarsus §; onyx 5 twelfths; middle toe |; wing 1|;
tail 11 twelfths. Total length inches.
Bill pale wood-brown. Legs straw color. Irides orange yellow.
Head, nape, and all the under parts pale sienna yellow, more or
less ochreous. Back and wings hair brown, the feathers margined
with light yellowish brown. Bump light sienna brown. Tail
dark hair-brown; the feathers graduated, but broad at their tips
giving the tail the appearance of an isosceles triangle.


ON THE ISLAND OF FORMOSA.
027
Ilubitt. This species, which is even smaller than the foregoing,
is found in numbers among the grassy hills on the N.E. side of
Formosa. It soars much higher than its congener, and flies long
distances uttering notes similar to "cbee-cliee-cheup-cheup;" and
often when the bird itself is not visible, lost in the expanse above,
you are made aware that it is somewhere overhead, by the fall of
its notes on your ear.
Genus,—Prinia. (Horsf.)
Prinia striata, (n. sp.) Bill along culmen 4 tenths inch: bill
to gape 6 tenths; tarsus 9 tenths; wing 2J; tail 4 & 7 tenths.
Total length 8 inches.
Bill black. Legs ochreous yellow. Irides orange brown. Upper
parts a rich brown, each feather having darker centres, and whitish
side-margins, giving a striped appearance. Wings yellowish hair-
brown; the feathers broadly margined with yellowish brown.
Tail light bi-own; die shafts dark, and the tips yellowish. Under-
parts of a dingy yellowish tinge spotted on the cheeks and head,
and striped on the sides of the neck. Thighs reddish brown.
This bird was procured on the N.W. side at Hongsan, some little
distance inland. It is much larger than any Prinia I have yet
met with in China. In its accustomed haunts, it may be seen
mounted on the top of some tall rush-stalk, singing a monotonous
ditty of a few notes, somewhat resembling those of the Bunting
Lark, often repeated.
Family,—Turdics. Subfamily,—Formicarin*. Qe-
hus.—Hydrobata (Vieill) or Dipper.
There appear to be several Dippers, more or less similar, from
totally different parts of the world. Such are the H. unicolor
(Pr. Buon.) from America, the H. Pallisir (Temm.) from Europe,
and the H. Asiatica (Swains). To the last species I should be
inclined to assign the present bird, but there being some little
doubt about it, I propose describing it under the term Hydrobata
marila:—Length in toto 8J inches; wing from flexure 3j.
Bill and legs indigo blue; the latter thick and rough-soled,
with strong claws. Irides deep brown. The whole of the body
umber-brown, blacker on the under parts, and tinged with raw
sienna on the upper. A line of white nearly encircles the eye,
and a few indistinct whitish spots occur on the wing-coverts.


228
NEW SPECIES OF BIRDS POUND
The specimen from which the above description is taken was a
female, shot over one of the waterfalls on oar inland expedition to
the sulphur mines. She was seen to take one plunge, and was
sittinsr with tail erect on a rock in the gliding stream.
Subfamily III.—TimalinjB, or Babblbrs. Genus,—Gar-
bulax (Lesl).
Gamtlace Taemamu. (n. sp.J The Song-thrush or Hwa-tnei
(G. Sinensis), remarkable for a white eye-streak, so common on
the hills in the vicinity of Foochow, is replaced on the Formosan
hills by a dingier species, which y destitute of the eyebrowed
distinction, and may be thus described:—Male: length 9} inches;
wing 8|; tail 4}. Female: length 9 inches; wing Sol 7 twelfths;
tail 3{. Bill of both along culmen 8 tenths; bill to gape 9 tenths;
tanas 1 & 3 tenths.
Bill horn-yellow. Legs ocfareoas. Irides grey. Top of the
head and under parts buff ochre; the feathers of the head, and
some few on the sides of the neck and breast, being streaked with
blacky Belly smoke grey. Upper parts dingy olive brown, brighter
on the wings, and transversely barred on the tail with indistinct bars.
The song of this species is very fine, but, like all this genus of
babbling birds, it is very rarely that it will sing a set song of many
minutes duration. While rambling over the hills, I have been
startled by a burst of delicious melody from some neighboring
bush, and on approaching nearer, have spied thiB bird flit noiselessly
into an adjoining cover, where with several of his comrades he
would keep up a constant chatter until I removed some distance off.
The male and female are very much similar in dress.
Genus,—Pomatorrhini?8 (Horsf).
This has been noted as a genus of unmusical Thrushes, whereas
the species abounding in Formosa is remarkable for its sweet song,
and very different from the small Wren-like species procured on
the Pihling hills near Foochow.
Pomatorrhiniu unions, (a. sp.) Hale: length 7 & 4 tenths
inches. Female: length 7 A 8 tenths inches. Wing 8} inches;
tall 8 j; bill along culmen 8 tenths; bill to gape 1; tarsus 1J; onyx
9 tenths'; middle toe 1 A 1 tenth.
< Bill, black on the upper mandible, yellowish on the lower. Legs
deep indigo bine. Top of the head and cheeks blackish green.


ON THE ISLAND OF FORMOSA.
829
Space between the bill and eyes deep black. A streak over the
eyes, throat and breast white, the latter blotched with black.
Nape, back of the neck, and upper part of the belly, fine chesnut
red. The rest of the plumage olive green; in the males deeply
tinged with chesnut, especially on the wings.
These Thrushes enliven the copse-covered hills with their song.
They may be seen about the branches of some tree that lifts itself
higher than the surrounding brushwood, hopping from twig to
twig with rounded backs. On alarm they drop with amazing
velocity into the scrub beneath, and there chatter and gabble in
an under-tone, as if telling one another what they had seen and
what a narrow escape they had just had. From these retreats the
male loves to pour its melody into the delighted ear of the passer-
by, and the nearer the approach the louder sound the notes, until
the bird thinking the propinquity of the stranger too great an
intrusion, quietly slips out at the back of the bush, and betakes
himself to some other spot, and while you are waiting anxiously
to get a look at him, you hear him exerting his musical powers
some distance off.
Order III.—Scansorks. Family IV.—CucuLiD.fi. Sub-
family III.—Coccyzin-e. (Ground Cuckoos.) Genus,—Cen-
thopus (Illig.).
Centropvs dimidiatvs. (Blyth?) Length 12j inches; wing
5 ife9 tenths; tail 7; bill along cuknen 1; bill to gape 1 & 1 tenth;
tarsus 1 & i tenths.
The feathers of the head, neck, and wing-coverts have stiff
acuminated shafts. Bill and legs black. Irides blood red. Head,
neck, under parts, and tail, greenish black. Back and wings light
chesnut-brown; the shafts of most of the feathers, especially on
the wing-coverts, being yellowish white. The quills browner
towards their tips. Feathers of the rump very soft, and transversely
barred with brown and dingy yellow.
On first meeting with this bird on the N.E. coast of Formosa
among the hills of Saw-o and Kelung, I took it to be the same
species that is so abundant in the valley of Foochow, {Centropvs
Philippentis Cuv. or Crow Pheasant of the foreign residpnto),
remarkable for its notes "hoo-hoo-hoo," which have been compared
to the noise produced by the stops of an organ suddenly drawn not.
But on procuring a male bird, from which the above description is


230
NEW 8PECIES OF BIRDS FOUND
taken, I found it to be scarcely more than one half the size of the
other species and differing from it also in color. Besides the notes
■re different, the "hoo-hoo-hoo" being followed by the dissyllable
"ka-tock" thrice repeated, the sounds produced somewhat re-
sembling the distant blows of a woodman's axe, as it falls on the
trunk of some devoted patriarch of the forest. On looking up the
face of a hill you might often see this small Larhheel sitting
conspicuous on the top of some bush and bending forward its head
and neck as it gave utterance to its strange notes.
To the above I may also add another bird, which, though not a
new species, I have not as yet found on the coast of China. Such
is the Philippine Noddy.
Order VIII. — Anseres. Family V. — Larioui. Sub-
family III.—STERNiDiB (Terns). Genus,—Anous (Leach).
Anous pileatus. (Scop.) Philippine Noddy. Male: length
14J inches; wing 10 & 3 tenths; tail 6J. Female: length 14}
inches; wing 10 & 8 tenths; tail 6 & 3 tenths; bill along the oilmen
1); bill to gape 2$; tibia bare about $ inch above the knee; tarsus
9 tenths; middle toe 1 A 8 tenths; onyx 4 tenths.
Bill and legs black. Iris dark brown. Forehead and top of
the head white, gradually changing as it passes to the occiput
into smoke grey, which again darkens into brown. Space between
the bill and eyes, and chin, dark black. A circle of white round
the eyes. The rest of the plumage brownish-black, of a deeper
color on the quills.
A male of this species flew so close past the ship's gig in
San>-o harbor that a seaman knocked it down with his hand, and
at Kelung a female was brought alive to us by some fishermen for
sale. Far away from land I have often watched these Black
Tern* following at some distance in the wake of the ship, darting
backwards and forwards in numbers across the broad trail left in
the water by the steamer speeding onward on her course, and I
suppose preying upon the numerous small fish that, startled at the
agitated waters, commit themselves for awhile to the treacherous
air, distrusting the state of their natural element.


[ 231 j
ARTICLE IX.
SAILING DIRECTIONS FOR THB TANG-TSZB KIANG,
FROM WOOSDNG TO HANKOW.
Bt Captaih Johk Ward, R.N., H. M. 8. "AOTAWV."
Until resurveyed, buoyed, and local pilots established, this River,
above the Red Buoy off Woosung, must be navigated with extreme
caution,—the charts, at present in use, affording a very imperfect
idea of the hydrography of the south branch of the river. The
constant accumulation of a very fine kind of sand having created
banks, where, at the period of the last survey by Captain Collinson
and others, in 1842, deep water existed, and shoals, which then
were at all times covered, are now, from the constant supply of
alluvial deposits, at low water, in many places exposed to view.
The Blonde Shoal, which at that period had 2J nmtT gha,,
fathoms on it, and a knoll marked to the S.S.W.
of it, appear to have formed a junction, and the bank made by
them shows at low water in many places.
In November 1868, the ships forming the escort of His Excel-
lency the Earl of Elgin, Retribution, Furious, Cruiser, Dove and
Lee, passed to the southward of this bank; but at low water not
more than 15 or 16 feet will be found in the channel: the
Retribution, drawing nearly 20 feet, had to wait till half flood,
and then had but six inches to spare.
This channel was chosen, in preference to the sonth Blond*
one on the northern side, merely from its having ctaBn*L
been examined and partially buoyed,—want of time preventing the
examination of the other, which will be found to be the deepest,
straightest, and most desirable channel of the two. The course,
from Red Buoy to entrance of southern Blonde Channel, is N.W.
| W. about seven miles; when that distance has been run, it will
be prudent, if drawing not more than 15 feet, to approach the land,
(a large and rathef conspicuous clump of trees bearing south,)
touching with the lend in from 8| to 4 fathoms on the edge of
the bank off the shore of the main land,—it being less abrupt and


232 SAILING DIRECTIONS FOR THK *ANU->TSZE KIANO
affording more warning tban the edges of the Blonde Shoal, or
rather Bank.
As the monotonous embankments of this part of the River,
afford no landmarks that could possibly be recognized, from de-
scription, by a stranger, their height hiding the houses, &c, in the
rear, the lead must be mainly depended on. The course through
the channel is about N.W.
A quick eye may possibly detect two small joss poles, which
occasionally may be seen through the tops of the trees over the
embankments; if seen, when brought to bear west, a push should
be made to the northward, clearing the north end of the Shoal;
should the joss poles not be seen, a boat should be used to sound,
and mark the N.N.W. end of the Blonde Bank; clear of which,
the channel should be crossed steering1 N.N.E., on which course,
from 8 to 10 fathoms will be obtained, until the bank, extending
from Tsung-ming, is approached; and when in from 5 to 6
fathoms, alter course so as to keep on the edge of the bank in that
depth, the course being about .N.N.W. J W.; by this means the
_ . 1 Dove's Nest," a very dnng-erous collection of
Dotc'i Neat. '• 0
banks, will be avoided. The Cntisrr and J)oce
both grounded on the 7th November 1808, and the Fvrivu*
on the 9th, on these Shoals; from which the following bearings
were obtained—
Village, on Harvey Pi>int N. 9° E.
Single tree N. 70 W.
Great bunh, N. 68$ W.
Left extreme Mason Ialaud, Jf. 8) W.
The Captain of a steamer called the Confucius, in the pay of
the Imperial Government, reports that there is a good channel
close along the main shore, but he acknowledged that his steamer,
drawing about 8 feet water, often grounded in it; and therefore
it was not considered desirable to try that channel until time per-
mitted an examination of it to be made.
Harvey Point. Harvey Point may be passed within j of a mile,
and when a conspicuous clump on it is brought to
bear S.E. by E. J E., steer N.W. by W. } W.; from 6 to 7|
fathoms may be expected on this course, until the single tree,
marked on the chart, and conspicuous, bears S. 30° W.; then steer
W. by N. ) N., making due allowance for the tides which here
run N.W. and S.E.


FBOM WOOSUNO TO HANKOW.
233
Plover Point may be known by its having a village
on it, and a small fort or breastwork. A number
of junks are generally to be found at anchor in a river, or creek,
opening at Plover Point. When the fort bears S.W. the dan-
gerous banks and shoals, known as the "Longshan Crossing," may
be said to commence.
The squadron, in November 1858, navigating by the chart at
present in use, passed along shore and was stopped abreast off
Pooshan by a lone: sandspit, effectually barrine the .
, f j iV . P , Longihin Crowing.
passage; and for three days the two gun-boats,
Dove and Lee, and the boats of the squadron, were sedulously
engaged in searching for a passage through, until at length the
tail of it was rounded by the Done, but as low down as Plover
Point, and the squadron had to return thirteen miles.
The fort on Plover Point, which is low and will require a good
glass to make it out, must not be brought to the southward of
S.W., until Fooshan Hill, if seen, bears W.; then steer for the hill.
If the weather is clear, Fooshan will be made in the shape of a
hummock, crowned with trees and a few white houses. A small
fort, like a Martello-tower, situated on the slope, may also possibly
be seen.
If unable to get a bearing of Fooshan, when Longshan Pagoda,
a very conspicuous object, situated on the summit t>f the highest
of three hilk, bears N. 31° W. (N.W. by N. nearly,) and a white
bouse on the left bank of the river, if distinguishable, N. 27° E.,
steer W., until Longshan Pagoda bears N. having from 7 to 9
fathoms; then haul more to the northward, W. by N. J N., until
Longshan Pagoda bears N. 13° E. (N. by E. \ E.), when the
course becomes N.W. | N., until Longshan Pagoda bears N. 79° E.
(E. by N.), when again the course may be altered so as to approach
close to the left bank of the river, which may now be for some
distance kept on board.
Keashan Point, which when Been from the S.E.
is wedge-shaped, the thick end, 90 feet high, being
outwards and very conspicuous, should not be approached, in
passing, nearer than from 2J to 3 miles.
In the vicinity of Keashan Point very great alterations have
taken place since the survey of 1842. An entirely new island,
cultivated and inhabited, has been formed; the small islands,
marked in the chart, appear to have formed a junction; and ezten-
*CBKAJ XII


234 BAILING DIRECTIONS FOR THE YANG-TSZE KIANQ
sire banks, occasionally showing, hare been called unto existence,
and are constantly being added to, by the earthy matter brought
down by the River—doubtless eventually, perhaps shortly, to be-
come islands themselves, and add their quota of rice, Ac, to the
support of the teeming population of China, while at the same time
the River appears to be gouging out the land on the opposite (or
left) bank.*
After passing Eeashan Point, the most anxious and most dan-
gerous part of the navigation of the Yang-tsze Kiang may fairly
be said to have been accomplished; in no other portion of the River
do we find the same rapid alterations in the bed, especially in the
vicinity of Fooshan and Longshan, where the strong tides appear
to be actively and constantly engaged in removing some banks,
while others are being formed. Until a good local pilotage has
been established, vessels, especially sailing vessels, proceeding up,
would act wisely by always having a boat ahead, shewing the
soundings; the time lost in this slow mode of progression is not to
be compared with the loss of time consumed, exclusive of damage,
in heaving a ship off a sand bank.
After passing the islets formed and in course of formation,
abreast of Keashan, the River becomes pretty clear; a mid channel
course may be safely pursued, steering for the high land about
Hwangshan, which, from Keashan, looks like an
island in the centre of the River, the lead giving no
bottom at 8 fathoms. Anchorage, if required, can be had in
Hwangshan Bay, but the water is deep; the squadron, in Novem-
ber 1858, anchored there in 12 fathoms, close in shore; the hills
in the vicinity range from 252 to 800 feet high. A rise and fall of
tide, of from 4 to 6 feet, takes place here. The River narrows to
a mile between Hwangshan Bay and Kiang-yin, but immediately
afterwards becomes wider. A mid-channel course is still to be
steered, following the trend of the River until approaching Starling
Island, when the left bank must be neared and may be kept pretty
close, (about J mile), passing to the eastward of the Island.
* Tbe terms, north, east, south, and west, bank*, In river navigation,
should never be used, as they may occasionally lead to eonfuaion,—the North
sometimes becoming Sooth, Bast, or West; "Right" and "Lrfl" banks can
never be mistaken, tbe reader supposing himself to be standing with his back
to the source of the river, and his face to its mouth, in fact looking the way of
theatream.


FROM W0O6UNO TO HANKOW.
236
A New Bank, bearing from Keashan Pagoda S.
73° E., is forming in the River, and will doubtless
before long become an island; it lies close to the left bank, with,
at present, a boat channel inside of it; it shows at low water. The
old joss house, marked in the chart, is not to be seen; the left
bank should still be kept on board, passing to the eastward of a long
low island, which appears to have grown considerably since 1842.
No other banks appear to be forming until abreast
jm m ChMj-Mnj Chow.
of the Island of Chang-sang Chow, where, from the
right bank, a dangerous shoal stretches nearly half-way across the
River; to avoid which the Island of Seaousha should be kept on
board.
The banks of the River are excessively monotonous between
Kiang-yin and Keunshan, the left perfectly flat; the only rising
ground, through the whole extent, being a hill called Kooshan, on
which are some houses.
The remarks of Mr. H. M. Inglis, Master of H. M.
Sloop Styx, with regard to the termination of the
Flood Stream 10 or 15 miles below Keashan Point, must be sup-
posed to refer merely to that period of the year, June and July,
at which he visited it. From the fact of the River then having a
large body of water in it, the downward current would naturally
have greater weight and check the Flood Stream; but in November
1858, the level of the River was lower, and the influence of the Flood
was felt much higher; and on the 29th of December, the level of
the water being still lower, the Flood Stream was sensibly felt as
high as Nanking. The Retribution, Dove, and Lee, were actually
compelled, on that day, to move their engines to enable them to
preserve a position off the forts, during the time some negotiations
were being proceeded with on shore.
In passing Silver Island the southern channel should be taken,
being careful to keep a mid-channel course, to avoid a danger,
"Furious Rock," (vide plan,) about J of the passage over from
Silver Island, having 14 feet on it, and a rock terminating some
broken ground which extends from the right bank. A quick helm
will be required, in passing through, to avoid being at the mercy
of the whirling eddies, caused by the check these rocks oppose to
the stream.
Silver Island is evidently destined to form a junc-
tion with the small Island called Tasha: a spit now


23G SAILING DIRECTIONS FOR THE YANQ-TSZE KIANO
runs out from the low flat tongue of ground, which has accumu-
lated to the N.E. of the high ground of Silver Island towards
Tasha; while another appears to be working its way from Tasha
towards Silver Island; and the channel between the two is clearly
filling up, as the chart shews 12 fathoms j but no such depth is
to be found now, and the channel has become so narrowed, that
it was not deemed prudent to take H. M. S. Retribution through
in November 1858.
After clearing Silver Island the left bank of the River should be
gradually approached; and, passing Chin-keang Foo, kept close
on board, so as to avoid a rock, said to have 10 feet on it, which
lies nearly in the centre of the River to the N.W.
Golden Island, - - _ " r _ ... - . . - . .
of Golden Island, in the vicinity of which Island
several rocks appear to exist. Golden Island is now connected
with the mainland by a low isthmus well covered with grass.
Both channels, north and south of Pih-sin Chow-
Pih-tta Chow. ', , ,'
appear to be safe and clear; the south one was
taken by the squadron in November y but at the same time a
Chinese Imperial Steamer was observed passing through the north
channel; it is very probable, therefore, that it is navigable; the
Chinese Steamer drew 9 or 10 feet. In proceeding through the
south channel, the Island Pih-sin Chow should be kept on board; and
after passing it, a mid-channel course steered until abreast of
Yane--tsze-ke, when the left bank should be closed,
in order to avoid an outlying rock, said to exist
near the right bank, after passing which a mid-channel course
may be again steered, giving a mud-flat, at N.W. side of Tsaousha'
Island, a berth: this flat has formed on the spot where the shallow
water is shewn in the chart.
After passing this flat, the River appears to be perfectly clear.
Theodolite Point and the Nankins' Forts may be
Nanking »
approached within pistol shot. The Forts, (two,)
on the right bank of the River, are erected on a detached tongue
of land in front of the city walls: twelve 24-pounders, mounted
on solid wooden carriages, were on the mud bank in front of the
wall of the lower Fort, not on it, consequently no shelter is afforded
the gunners. After detecting the exposed position of their guns
it was an easy matter, on the morning of the 21st November, to
prevent them with rifles from loading or working their artillery.
The upper Fort, on the right bank, mounts three 24-pounders,


rnoM«oosu!«o to hankow.
237
and six 6-poundere, in the same exposed position. Some gingalls
and light guns are on Theodolite Point, where armed junks were
also stationed.
A Fort on the left bank mounts a few light guns and gingalls.
Vessels, forcing a passage, should keep close in to the right bank,
and steady rifle practice will effectually keep down any fire,
especially as the elevation of their guns is great and they nerer
alter it.
After passing Nanking, a mid-channel course may be steered, the
hill, marked in the chart, on left bank of the River, opposite San-
shan, does not exist. At this point the survey of 1842 terminates.
Elgin Reach appeal's to be clear: a mid-channel
6 . , ., , . . . Elgin Reach.
course may be taken, until the centre of some rising
ground, about 150 feet high and 3 miles S.W. of a remarkable
rebel stronghold on left bank of River, bears west, when the right
bank should be closed, to avoid a spit running to the N.E. of what
appears to be a small island.
The squadron, in November 1858, took the chan-
nel east of Wade Island, and generally found no
bottom at 8 fathoms. Some rebels in three small stone Forts, at
a village called Tsai-shih-ke, had the temerity to fire a few match-
locks and gingalls at the squadron on the 21st November; a
couple of well-directed shot from the Retribution knocked the
forts down, and they were still in ruins when the squadron returned
at the end of December.
The channel west of Wade Island is said to have been used by
the U. S. A. S. SusqiieJianna, and to have had 8 fathoms in it;
both channels may therefore be said to be navigable. The western
one, Sutquekanna's, if clear, is most decidedly preferable, as by
using it, some shallow ground, 3J miles W.S.W. of Taiping Pagoda
and abreast of the small village of Tang too, is avoided.
Should the eastern channel be used, care must be taken not to
approach the right bank of the River near Tangtoo, passing close
to the S.W. end of the small island south of Wade Island, as a
dangerous shoal stretches out from the village before mentioned,
by keeping Taiping Pagoda, nearly touching' the south side of the
small island, not less than 17 feet was obtained.
When the River, as in January, may bo considered to be at its
lowest level, close the left bank to within half a mile, keeping
Taiping Pagoda as before, and steer a mid-channel course, passing
1 7


238 SAILINQ DIRECTIONS FOll THE YANO-TSZE KIANQ
between the East and West Pillars, two rupeed
Tl» Pillars. ., .; .
eminences strongly fortified; one, the eastern, is
supposed to contain the treasures of the Taiping. From the Pillars
the course up the River is southerly.
Point Morton may be kept close aboard, passing to the eastward
of a small flat island.
A rock, just shewing in November, but dry 6 feet in December,
rises on the right bank of the River, 3 miles south of Point Morton,
and about a cable's length from the shore, and would be covered
earlier in the autumn.
Off the rebel city of Woohoo, a shoal lies about a
cable's length from the right bank, and dries in
December. A mid-channel course clears it, and may be steered
with safety through the Woohoo Reach, gradually closing the
right bank on approaching a range of hills (700 feet high), op-
posite which are a small island and some mud patches, at about |
cable's length from the shore of the left bank. These mud banks
were covered in November, but dry for nearly two miles in December.
After passing them a mid-channel course may be
Barter Itlwd. . , ,, , . , , ■ , ,
again followed, passing to the southward of Barker
Island, from the N.E. point of which Kieu-hien Pagoda may be
seen. As the difficulties in the navigation appeared to be increasing,
it was determined to leave the Retribution at Rieu-hien, where it
was understood liberal supplies were to be procured. Good an-
chorage may be obtained at Eieu-hien in from 6 to 8 fathoms. Off
the town, which lies on the right bank of the River about 80 miles
above Nanking, some conspicuous hills, ranging from 1,500 to
2,000 feet high, lie to the southward of it, some three or four miles
distant. The left bank of the River is a perfect flat, some mud
banks are accumulating about the S.W. end of Barker Island; a
mid-channel course should be steered, the least water found being
3j fathoms. This part of the River should be approached with
caution. The channel, north of Barker Island is supposed to be
clear, and if so would avoid the shoal water before mentioned.
Osborn Reach is clear; after passing Teih keang,
keep close to the right bank, until clear of Osborn
Reach, and approaching a large village, name unknown, lying on
the left bank of the River, which may now be crossed, keeping
that bank on board until after passing the large village before


frHOM WOOSUNO TO HANKOW.
239
The course now becomes south: through the Wild
» _ ., , , ' °, , Wild boar lUich.
boar Reach, a mid-channel course may be steered.
Some high land may here be seen on the left bank of the River,
which is the first rising ground to be met with on that bank,
after passing through the Pillar hills, a distance of more than 50
miles. Keep the left bank in view to prevent being enticed into a
wide channel opening on the right bunk of the River, and which
at first has all the appearance of being the main stream; it lies
north of a walled village on the left'bank of the River, at a
distance of about 2 miles. On nearing the walled village, close
the left bank slightly, to avoid some shallow ground lying abreast
of it off the right bank. After passing which, Wild boar Reach
is perfectly clear, the course still southerly. After passing a
ruined temple, which stands on a very conspicuous bluff about
100 feet high, edge over to the left bank of the River, to avoid
some shallow ground on the right bank, where the channel takes
a more westerly course, (W.S.W.) for about 23 miles. Some
shallows he off the left bank of the River east of nm t
Fitzroy Island, to avoid which keep the right bank
aboard, until Chichau Pagoda bears south, and then edge over
towards the east part of Fitzroy Island, passing through the chan-
nel north of that Island, keeping pretty close to the left bank,
as some mud flats he on the north side of the island.
After passing Fitzroy Island, the channel is again clear, and a
mid-channel course may be steered, about S.W. by W.
The country about this part of the River is hilly. About 8
miles S.W. of Fitzroy Island, lies, about 300 yards from the left
bank, a very dangerous shoal, dry in December, but covered a
month earlier; to avoid it, pass within a cable's length of a con-
spicuous rocky islet, about 30 feet high, which is situated nearly
in the centre of the River and cannot be mistaken. From this
spot, until past Liang-kiang-ke or Hen Point,
numerous rocks he in the bed of the River. From
Liang-kiang-ke a very dangerous cluster of rocks extends for more
than half-way across the River; in November the outer rock was
marked by a small bush sunk on it; it was however dry in De-
cember. To clear these rocks the left bank of the River must be
kept on board, the course becoming again southerly for five
miles, when a westerly course is to be steered through Nganking
Reach.


240 SAILING DIRECTIONS FOR THE YANO-TSZK KIANO
Approaching Nganking, the left bunk of the River
Nganking. _ _ a
must be kept, passing close under the walls of the
City, to avoid extensive shoals, and mud flats which exist on the
other bank.
Nganking was, in November, in the hands of the rebels, but
closely besieged by the Imperialists, who however appeared in
December to have raised the siege.
After passing Nganking the River is again clear, steering
S.W.ly, until passing a sand point where the course becomes W.
keeping to the left bank.
After rounding a small islet, called Rover Island,
Rover Iiland. , . , , , „ *
the course again becomes south, gradually approach-
ing Christmas Island, the. south point of which should be passed
at 1 j cable in order to avoid some mud flats lying on the left
bank, only dry in December. Having passed these flats a mid-
channel course may again be steered, until approach-
Toonglew. . m . °, , . , , -
ing Toonglew, a third-class city, with rather for-
midable looking walls, situated on the right bank of the River;
abreast of which, on the left bank, an extensive flat is in course of
formation.
It is advisable to give a point, on which stands Toonglew
Pagoda, a good berth, as although shallow water was not obtained
there, a great commotion was observed in the stream, apparently
caused by some rock or other check to its even course.
After passing Pagoda Point keep to the right side of the River,
thereby avoiding some banks in the centre, dry in December.
The squadron, ascending the River in November, crossed over to
the left bank, and became entangled among these shoals, Furious
grounding on one; they are right abreast of three
Brick Kilns, looking like mounds of earth and stones.
In January the Furious and Cruiser cleared them, by keeping
close to the right bank, and had deep water.
When abreast of Hwang-neu chin, where there is a Custom-house
having joss poles, these dangerous banks have been passed. On
the right bank of the River here, are some high ranges, but the
left is a perfect flat; and, although the bank was, in November
and December, from 25 to 30 feet high, the country shewed
evident signs of being frequently inundated. Sanpans were found
at most of the farin-liouses as far inland as from three to four miles,
affording a very significant hint as to the state of the country


FROM W0OSU1TO TO HANKOW.
241
wlicn tho River is at its highest level. It must be borne in mind
that the left bunk, probably both, would then be covered; the
River becoming1 a large lake,; under those circumstances it would
be advisable to keep in the most rapid part of the current, as it
aheays runs strongest in the deep water.
At Dove Point the River takes a sudden bend,
at right angles to its former course for a short
distance, the course becoming W.N.W. Keep the left bank
aboard until entering Bullock Reach, when a S.S.W.
course is gradually obtained. Near the termina-
tion of this Reach is situated the Senoukoo-shan,
or Little Orphan, a most remarkable small rocky
islet, i-ising almost perpendicularly out of the River and nearly
300 feet high; it has some joss houses and temples on its summit.
Half way up its southern face some houses are perched, probably
the residence of the officiating priests; if it were not for these
convincing proofs to the contrary, it might well have been deemed
inaccessible. In November it was sejuirated by a very narrow
belt of water from the left bank, but in December its base was
connected by mud.
Right abreast the Little Orphan, a bold rocky head rises
abruptly to a height of 400 feet; it is crowned by forts and look-
out houses. At its base (south), is situated a fortified town (name
unknown). The right bank is still rich in hills, which about here
are very rocky and uneven. A mid-channel course may be adopted
in passing the Little Orphan, getting no bottom at 9 fathoms
until nearly abreast of Sea-kea-kow, when the left bank is to be
approached, avoiding some shallow sand-banks near the opposite
shore, the course becoming about west for five miles, when, still
keeping to the left bank, it takes a more southerly direction into
Blackney Reach; about half way down which is a
,i. i .. . i i r>- Blackner Reach.
shallow, apparently extending right across the ltiver,
and over which, in December, the greatest depth of water appeared
to be about 14 feet. After passing a village on the north edge of
a small creek or stream about a mile, steer S. by W. for a low
point, near which are some houses, Chang-kea-kow, until the water
deepens to 5 fathoms when the right bank may be followed,
gradually deepening the water to 8 and 10 fathoms.
, , i -it < -j Polnt Becher.
Off Point Becher a sharp helm will be required,
the eddies here being very rapid. West of Point Becher lies
hum xiii
1 7 *


242 SAILIHG DIRECTIONS FOR THK TAHO-TSZE KIANO
Oliphant Island, about 5 J miles loner, dividing the
Oliphut Iilud. r . , , * , , , ,
River into two branches; they are both shallow.
The southern one was used in November when 3J fathoms was
the least water obtained. The branch north of Oliphant Island
was examined, but not approved of, as although more water was
found in it, several dangerous banks were sounded on. On 22d
December 18582 the water had fallen seven feet since the examina-
tion of these channels in the preceding month; consequently it
was found necessary for H. M. S. Furious and Cruiser to await a
rise in the River before attempting either of these channels; they
were anchored at the imperial city of Kew-keang, and were detained
there some days, when the shoals having been carefully buoyed
and a rise of water having fortunately taken place, the north
channel was.passed;—the Furious grounded. Opposite Point
Becher are several sand-hills, on the right bank of the branch
which conducts the tributary waters of the Poyang lake into the
main stream. A fortified (?) temple, situated on a steep cliff, is
also to be seen on the same bank.
After passing the west end of Oliphant Island the course becomes
8.W. by W. past the imperial city of Kew-keang, which lies
on the right bank of the River, having most imposing looking
walls enclosing desolation and ruin, until entering
Seymour Reach, where it becomes more northerly,
and a mid-channel course may be safely steered. In November
the channel south of Hunter Island was passed
through, but much difficulty was met with in get-
ting the Furious over a flat extending right across the River, and
on which are several sand-banks. This shallow ground lies abreast
some very conspicuous red cliffs, from 40 to 60 feet high, situated
on the right bank of the River. When opposite the west end
of these red cliffs, cross the River, carefully feeling the way by
the lead.
In December the channel north of Hunter Island was taken;
Furious grounded, but after some hours worked a passage for
herself through the mud, and got into a vein of deep water very
close to the left bank..
coon R««h ^e couree th1"00!.0 Court Reach is mid-channel,
about W. by S. passing the town of Wootsih-tsan on
the left bank. A lively trade in timber appears to be existing
here. Three miles west of this town, some hills about 600 feet


FHOM W008UNQ TO HANKOW.
248
high occur, the first break to the dull monotony of tbe left bank
since leaving tbe vicinity of Nganking.
Abreast these hills the course becomes a little
more northerly. Opposite the town of Footsz-kow
some shallows are forming in the River; the right bank appears
to have most water.
The course up the River now begins to be about N.N.W. no
shallows appear to exist after passing Footsz-kow, until approach-
in? Ee-chow, when a very remarkable Ruined Fort,
,. . , , , i_ , j . Ruiiwd fort-
standing on an isolated rock, must be closed, in
order to avoid mud flats lying off the right bank. On passing
two small hills, about 2 miles below Ke-chow on the right bank'
of the River, steer for the Ruined Fort, passing, at a hundred
yards, outside, and the shore at Ke-chow, at the same distance;
by this means the mud flats, which extend some 4 miles parallel
to the bank, will be avoided.
Ward Reach, which lies about N.N.W. and S.8.E.
is now entered, and appears to be perfectly safe
and clear; the left bank was kept aboard, by the squadron, and
no check whatever was experienced.
Ketow, or Cock's Head, may be passed close to; c v
it is a very remarkable bluff, rising perpendicularly
to a height of 300 feet; it lies on the right bank of the River and
cannot be mistaken.
A very dangerous rock, or rather collection of ^
rocks, "Lee Rock," lies abreast some limestone
quarries, at a place called Shih-hwuy-yaou, on the right bank; in
December six feet was obtained on them; the Lee struck when
descending the River.
From Ketow steer west, being careful not to approach the ngnt
bank until Cock's Head (Ketow) is touching the low point of the
opposite shore (left bank), when the Lee Rock will have been
passed to the northward. The right bank may now be kept aboard,
passing close to the densely populated little town of Hwang-shih-
kang, when the left bank should be gradually closed, taking the
channel east of Collinson Island. A small rocky
hill, 70 feet high and about 2) miles north of
Hwang-shih-kang, lies on the left bank, and marks the com-
mencement of this channel, in navigating which the left bank is
to be kept aboard.


FROM WOOSUNG TO HANKOW.
245
to be followed, as there appears to be shallow water off the left
bank, after passing1 the Pih-hoo-shan, or West Tiger ^
Hill, a prominent elevation of about 400 feet high.
The River again takes a northerly course about N.N.W., and
appears to be clear and free from any impediments.
Yanglo, a small town on the left bank, may be
approached close to. A ruined temple standing on
the spur of a bill, one mile south of Yanglo, is a conspicuous
object. A mile north of Yanglo, Pakington Reach
is entered, the course taking rather a sharp turn to
the westward, gradually turning to the southward
into Hankow Reach which lies nearly S.W. and
N.E. and becoming still more southerly at Hankow.
The two last-named reaches are, by keeping to the left bank,
free of any impediments. North of a remarkable
Elnsbsn Bluff
Bluff (200 feet high) called Kinshan, which is on
the right bank of Pakington Reach one mile inland, lies a sand-
bank which dries in December; it is easily avoided by nearing the
left bank.
Opposite Hanyang, just above the entrance to the River Han,
lies on the extensive mud bank, dry four feet in December; a spit
gradually deepening stretches to the northward from this, and
affords good anchorage in from 3 to 7 fathoms.
At Hankow 384 nautical miles above Nanking, the River still
maintains the same characteristics, shewing no signs whatever of
a decrease, either in breath or depth; the water under the walls
of Woochang-foo is just as deep as at Nanking, no bottom at 9
fathoms can be obtained.
The season of the year at which the squadron ascended, afforded
good opportunities of observing banks and shoals which would be
covered at an earlier period, but no just estimate could be formed
of the force of the constant downward stream; a rate varying
from 1} to 4 knots was observed, the latter only obtained in
certain localities. In the summer the stream is said to obtain a
constant rate, varying' from 5 to 7 knots, a circumstance which
will effectually deter European sailing ships from attempting the
voyage up.
An immense fleet of junks are always at anchor at the mouth
of the Han, discharging and taking in cargoes; and large fleets
appear to be constantly moving up and down the Yang-owe and


246 SAILING DIRKCTIONS FOR THE YANO-T9ZE KIANO.
Han, telling tales of populous cities in regions still farther inland,
westward and northward.
The latitude of Hankow is 30° 3? 51' N., longitude 114° Id155' E.
Variation, 0" 131 C (approximately).
No observations for dip were obtained.
(Signed,) JOHN WARD,
Commander and Surveyor
H. M. S. AcUcon.
NOTE BY THE EDITORIAL COMMITTEE.
Ward has kindly favored us with the following
Gutxlaff Island to Wousung, AO miles
Wootuag to Chlnkiang, 138 mile*;
Chlnkiang to Nanking, 48 miles;
Nanking to Hankow, 364 miles;
Total distance 688 nautical, or 729 geographical miles.


r 247 J
ARTICLE X.
THERMOMETHICAL OBSERVATIONS,
TAKBN DURING A PASSAGE FROM NAGASAKI TO SHANGHAI t
Br Capt. j. Fbdobotitch of m Russian Stbam-ship "Stbblo*."
Conununicatad by H. I. M. Consul-general II. C. de Hontigoy.
1860
N. Lat.
E. Love.
Rbmabks.
Rbau-
mbb.
Fakbbb-
Feb. 17
8 A.M.
KBIT.
10
Between Goto and
11°
87°
19
89° 80*
199»96'
Nagasaki
19
69
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18
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Saddle Islands
*6|


[ 248 j
ARTICLE XI.
RECORD OF OCCURRENCES IN CHINA.
PRBPAKED BT THB EDITORIAL COMHITTBB, April 20th, 1869.
The treaties of Tien-tsin and Yedo form a memorable epoch in
the diplomatic records of Eastern Asia, from which the future
historians of China and Japan will date the commencement of free
intercourse with the nations of Christendom. The treaties,—nine
in all, four Chinese and five Japanese,—are very remarkable, alike
on account of the facility and dispatch with which they were
negotiated, and for the value and magnitude of their respective
stipulations—political, religious, and commercial.
At the date of our former record, 1st of June 1858, the Chinese
defenses at Taku had fallen, and the allied forces had advanced,
without opposition, up the Pei-ho, to Tien-tsin, where the plenipo-
tentiaries of England, France, Russia, and the United States were
in friendly communication with duly accredited ministers from
His Imperial Majesty the Emperor Hien-fung. Lord Elgin's first
public interview with Kweiliang and Hwashana was on the 4th
of June, and Baron Gros' on the 6th. The principal cause of
difficulty and delay, with the allied ambassadors, in meeting the
Chinese high commissioners, appears to have been the lack of
proper credentials from the Emperor. When the letters of credence
were objected to, as not corresponding to what were held by Kiying
and others at Nanking, it was even averred that Kiying's were a
forgery! The terms adopted in Chinese, Driven Kiven, for " Full
Powers," may deserve further consideration of diplomatists; their
use, as a technical phrase, would seem not to have been well
understood by, or satisfactory to, the Emperor and his Cabinet
The foreign forces, that had assembled in the Gulf of Chihli,
previously to the advance, consisted of thirty-five vessels,—one
Russian, two American, twelve French, and twenty English.
Subsequently these were somewhat augmented. Nearly one half
of the whole were gun-boats.


RECORD OF OOCURRRKCR8 IN CHINA.
249
Previously to the destruction of the forts, negotiations had been
opened by the Russian and American ministers and were proceed-
ing favorably. But it was otherwise with the allied representatives,
whose position, on account of the occupation of Canton by the
English and French troops, made it necessary for them to act
with the greatest caution. So dissatisfied were both Lord Elgin
and Baron Gros with the credentials of the Emperor's ministers
and the hostile bearing of the Chinese, especially in their vigorously
extending and strengthening the defenses at the mouth of the
Pei-ho, that they finally deemed it expedient to advance towards
the Capital.
Preparations were made accordingly by the two commanders-
in-chief, rear-admiral Sir Michael Seymour and rear-admiral C.
Rigault de Genouilly. On Thursday, the 20th of May, at 8 a.m.,
a summons demanding the surrender of the forts within two hours
was sent on shore, and with it a guarantee that, being surrendered,
the forts should be held intact, and duly restored on the termina-
tion of the negotiations. The two hours having elapsed, the
advance began, and the forts opened fire. The contest lasted two
hours and a half, when the native troops were all dispersed, and
die defenses were in course of being destroyed.
The number of Chinese engaged, of all arms, was variously
estimated, from five to ten thousand. Their number killed, during
the engagement, was believed to be not more than four hundred;
the total casualties on the part of the allies were, twelve killed,
and seventy-six wounded. None but gun-boats and other light
vessels were brought into the river, on account of> the bar at ita
mouth.
No further hostile collision occurred; and the armed flotilla at
once proceeded up to -Tien-Urn, "Heavenly Ferry;" at which place
the Pei-ho, "White River," forms a junction with the "Grand
Canal," Yunko, lit "Transport River." Tien-tsin is a-wailed
city, situated about sixty miles from the .mouth of the river, and
nearly the same distance from Peking.
On the 29th, the allied admirals having reported the river to be
clear of obstructions and its banks without any native force to
oppose their progress, all the foreign ministers moved from the
outer anchorage, off Ta-kuj and the next day, May the 30th,
they reached Tien-tsin. Negotiation now became the order of
the day.
■nui xiv


880 RECORD OF OCCURRENCES IN CHINA.
Such an atitude, as that then exhibited, had never before been
assumed by the powers of the west in regard to any of the nations
of Eastern Asia; and the spectacle was as novel as it was imposing
in the sight of the Chinese. The English and French troops were
occupying temples and other buildings on the west side of the
canal, while their ships were anchored in the Pei-ho close to the
canal and on both sides of its mouth,—their position enabling
them, if it shonld be necessary, to shut off every person from crossing
the canal or river, and at the tame time to command the city on
the north and west. The four ambassadors were all comfortably
quartered on shore in native buildings.
Our present record, of the negotiations which ensued, must be
very brief, comprising only a few leading particulars with some of
the most prominent and immediate results. To be fully under-
stood, however, these must be viewed in connection and contrast
with former usages in the celestial empire, especially such 'old
customs' as have had relation to foreigners.
The intercourse between the nations of Christendom and those
of the far east, till recently, has been very unlike that which has
characterized the independent governments in the opposite hemis-
phere in their international relations. In China, Japan, and
the neighboring kingdoms, the people of the west, and especially
the agents of western powers, have been usually looked upon as
most unwelcome visitors; and they have been treated accordingly,
watched and restricted to a degree well-nigh intolerable. This
state of things, disagreeable and unnatural as it was> could not
even half a century back be altered. The Chinese, especially,
considered themselves as a great and powerful people, and, in
comparison with most of their immediate neighbors, as enlightened
and refined; and the little that they saw and knew of the people
of Christendom did not much alter this opinion of their relative
standing, when compared with their more distant neighbors, the
inhabitants of Western Asia and of Europe.
The Russians, early coming upon their northern frontier, were
by force of circumstances long ago compelled to negotiate with
the Chinese. Two treaties were formed, one in 1689, and another
in 1727. Among the best results of these treaties was the esta-
blishment of a college in Peking, consisting of ten Russians, four
ecclesiastics, two students in Chinese, two in Manchu, and two in
Mongolian.


252
RECORD OF OCCUHRKNCKB IN CHINA.
redressed, which forced the allied powers to interpose, as well for
others as for themselves. The unsocial and overbearing policy of
the Chinese government must be looked upon as the chief cause of
all the past hostile contentions,—henceforth to be succeeded, we
hope, only by peaceful and honorable relations.
While the intercourse between the Chinese and the people of the
west was exceedingly limited, the claims of the imperial court to
universal homage, holding that its head was the true sovereign of
"all people under heaven," might be tolerated; but as the distance
between the ends of the earth became shortened and the inhabitants
of the two hemispheres were brought into closer proximity, by the
aids of modern science, changes in modes of intercourse and in
political relations became inevitably necessary. The Japanese, in
regard to their own place it) the scale of nations, saw and appre-
ciated this necessity, and wisely yielded without an open rupture.
The Chinese have been less discerning, less prudent, and must now
abide the consequences, however disastrous to their ancient and
venerated system of government. Had not England and France
entered the lists against the Chinese, as belligerents, Russia must
have done so very soon. The chief aggressions, in fact, on the
domain of the Manchus, have been along the northern frontiers,
throughout the whole extended line of demarkation, between the
Russian and Chinese empires, from Central Asia to the Pacific
Ocean.
The scene at Tien-tsin, now under review, was one of very
extraordinary interest to the Chinese and to all the world, and in
it we may recognize the hand of Him "whose kingdom ruleth over
all." Holding diverse instructions from their respective frovern-
ments, the foreign ministers were all alike importunately demanding
immediate concessions, and would accept no denial. The old
order of things could be tolerated no longer, and must give way.
That government, which for more than three thousand years had
claimed preeminence over all others, must now become subordinate,
make indemnity -for the past and give securities for tho future.
England, France, Russia, and the United States, with large and
important interests in common, had each their own claims, for
which at once legal provision must be made by solemn compacts.
Accordingly four new treaties were formed,—severally bearing
date as follows: that with Russia, June 13th; that with the
United States, June 18th; that with England, June 26th; and


RECORD OF OCCURRENCES IN CHINA. 2')3
that with France, June 27th, 1858. These were all signed in one
and the same place, the Hai-kmang sze, one of the large temples
of Tien-tsin.
To the great surprise of all Europe and America; the news of
the signing of these treaties was announced, in St. Petersburg,
Paris and London, by way of Siberia, and then flashed across
the Atlantic—being one of the first messages transmitted by the
submarine cable. Mounted on horse-back, the Russian courier,
who had come from St. Petersburg in April, set off on his return,
June 27th.
Immediately after the signing of these treaties, the combined
squadron withdrew from the Gulf of Chihli, and the Bay of Yedo
became the scene of leading interest. First and last, great efforts
had been made to negotiate with the Japanese,—-the most recent,
and the most successful, having been made by commodore Perry
in 18t>4, and by J. H. Donker Curtius, Esq., in 1857. It was
not, however, till the summer of 1858, that the opening of Japan
to the principal nations of the west was effectually secured.
Mr. Townsend Harris, with only his private secretary, proceeded
up to the city of Yedo, and there with two imperial commissioners
concluded a new treaty, drafting each successive article with his
own hand. The 29th of July, on board the Powhatan off Kana-
gawa, this treaty was signed. On the 18th of August, and in the
city of Yedo, the Dutch commissioner, Mr. Donker Curtius, signed
a new treaty. At the same place, and about the same time, Count
Poutiatine followed his example. On the 26th of August, just
two months from the conclusion of his treaty at Tien-tsin, Lord
Elgin signed a new treaty with the imperial government in the
city of Yedo. In the same place, a few weeks later, Baron Gros
signed in like manner.
By these several treaties, with China and Japan, concluded in
such quick succession, great and manifold advantages have been
secured, and numerous and weighty responsibilities incurred. In
them are involved, more or less directly, the varied interests of
more than half the population of the earth; and the importance of
their being duly observed, therefore, can hardly be overestimated.
By these solemn compacts, the Middle Kingdom and the Land of
the Rising Sun are brought into the family of nations, and must
stand amenable to their laws. All people will watch and wait for
whatever may be the issues of these new relations, as the several
1 8


£54
RECORD OP OCCURRENCES IR CHINA.
treaties come into operation. The specified periods are near at
band for the exchange of the ratified copies; but till that exchange
shall have been made, and the treaties have been published bj
authority, we cannot detail their provisions—for resident ministers
at Peking, the opening of new ports, Ac, Ac.
A few collateral topics, in addition to those already noticed,
must not be omitted in our present record.
During Lord Elgin's visit to the city of Yedo, H. M. steamer,
Emperor, a yacht of 318 tons, was presented to the Japanese
government, with appropriate honors; and, named Dragon, now
carries the Japanese flag. On the 16th of August the Cubo-tama,
or Tai-goun, deceased; his death was concealed from the public
and from foreigners until the 12th of September, to avoid inter-
rupting the then pending negotiations. The new emperor is a
youth of some fifteen years; his coronation took place, in the
capital, on the 4th of last January.
The melancholy fate of Kiying is strong testimony against the
equity and justice of the Imperial government at Peking. During
the negotiations at Tien-tsin, he was suddenly brought forward
as commissioner, and as suddenly disappeared. The particulars of
his case seem to be involved in mystery; and, for the honor of the
court and cabinet, may well be consigned to oblivion. It is gene-
rally believed, however, that he died by his own hands, in
obedience to the Emperor's commands. This must have been
early in July; his first appearance at Tien-tsin was on the 9th of
June; and on the 13th, "bound in fetters," he was on his way
back to Peking. While at Tien-tsin he was accompanied by his
old friends, Hwang Antung, Chau Chang-ling and others.
While the foreign ministers were at Tien-tsin, it was stated by
one of the Chinese officers that their last census gave to the
empire a population of 400,000,000 and odd—thus corroborating
that found in the governor's palace in Canton, and that of the
Imperial Russian embassy at Peking, both of which give above
ftrar hundred millions.
The Russian mission in Peking is no longer to be considered
temporary. Its members can now go and come at pleasure. A
postal service, by carriage, passes once a month between Kiakhta
and Peking, delivering mails in each place in not more than
fifteen days; and every three months a convoy is despatched, to
perform the same journey in the period of one month. The


RECORD OF OCCURRENCES IN CHINA.
265
frontiers, between the two empires are to be surveyed by a special
commission and definitely fixed by a separate treaty.
Here, in Shanghai, on the 8th of November, the new Tariff
and Trade Regulations, previously agreed upon, were duly signed,
by the Imperial commissioners Kweiliang and Hwashana on the
part of the Chinese government, and by Lord Elgin and the Hon.
Mr. Reed, in behalf of their respective governments.
The same day Lord Elgin and suit embarked here for an excur-
sion on the Yang-tsze. Having proceeded up the river to Hankow,
his Lordship returned to Shanghai on new year's day, January 1st
1859. This expedition, one of the legitimate results of the new
system of relations, must be regarded as the first grand move
towards the effectual opening of this empire to free and friendly
intercourse between the Chinese and foreigners. Its particulars
can not be here detailed beyond a few fragmentary items, touching
the Kwangsi insurgents.
While at Nanking, Woohoo, and other places, gentlemen con-
nected with the expedition had repeated opportunities for observing
the condition and character of these insurgents. A great deal of
uncertainty still hangs around them; and the impressions left on
the minds of the visitors, taking them all in all, were not favorable.
Whether Hung Siu-tsiuen is dead or alive is still a matter of
doubt Certain it is, however, that the printing of the Bible has
been continued at Nanking. We have seen the first and last
books of the New Testament, which they have published; and
also some of the books of the Old Testament. The insurgents
have also, from year to year, issued their own Almanac, that
for this year being the ninth of their Tai Ping Tien Krvok. It
may be remarked that, they still continue their original chronolo-
gical arrangement, which is causing an accumulation of error year
by year, in regard to the half monthly solar terms. The months
are alternately 31 and 30 days, without intercalary periods. The
sexagenary cycle, the stellar cycle of 28, and the Sabbath days,
are all correctly placed in their Calendar.
In the summer of last year, the Austrian frigate Novara, on a
voyage round the world, arrived in the harbor of Shanghai. She
had been fitted out under the patronage of His Imperial Highness,
the Arch-duke Ferdinand Maximilian, and was under the com-
mand of commodore B. de Wuellerstorff and Urbair, baron Pock
captain, witJi a staff of ten officers, three physicians, a chaplain


D50
RECORD OP OCCURRENCES IN CHINA.
and a secretary. The expedition left Trieste in April 1857, and
was designed to be the first of a series of scientific voyages. Her
visit here was rendered specially note-worthy by the presence of a
scientific commission, consisting of Messrs. Frauenfeld and Zelebor,
zoologists; Mr. Tellmek, horticulturist; Mr. T. Selleny, artist; Dr.
Schware, botanist; Dr. Hochstetter, geologist; Dr. Scherzer,
ethnographer, &c, &c.
These distinguished visitors, the officers of the Novara, and the
gentlemen of the Scientific Commission, were welcomed by the
members of the Shanghai Literary and Scientific Society at a
special meeting on the 10th of August. At that meeting, an
interesting paper, explanatory of the objects of the expedition,
was read by Dr. Scherzer; "it was," he said, "designed to be
advantageous not only to ^he Austrian navy but to science in
general; almost all the principal scientific institutions in the
empire, the Geographical Society, the Central Institute for Me-
teorology and Terrestrial Magnetism, the Geological Institution
of the Austrian Empire, the Imperial Society of Physicians, also
a number of Austrian and foreign savants, with the noble and
venerable Von Humboldt at their head, had all, in various ways,
contributed to the fitting out of the expedition."
Last, but not leut, la our record of Chinese affairs, we notice the return of
foreigner* to the City of Rams, and the peaceful advances of the allies, first to
the headmen of the ninety-six villages, and then up to the frontiers of the '* Wide-
west." In point of Biographical interest, the excursion to Wuchavfu, in
Kwangsi, 200 miles, more or leas from the city of Canton, is second only to
that to Hankow. We are glad to know that a "surveying staff," accompauied
the expedition, the whole under the direction of their excellencies general Van
Straubenzie and commandant D'Aboville. The excursion occupied about three
weeks, dating from the 16th of February.
In Annam (or Cochin-China, according to our old geographers) the opera-
tions of the French and Spanish authorities are as yet too imperfectly reported
here, to enable us In stats the actual results. We doubt not, however, that by
their means, under an All-wise Providence, modern science, commercial enter-
prise, and trite religion, will be greatly extended. To the natural historian of
our day, Houth-eastern Asia, like Central Asia, is to a very great extent
almost literally terra incognita.
Over I his whole wide continent of Asia, from north to south, and from east
to west, the signs of the times are auspicious; especially so are there in India,
in China, and in Japan.


JOURNAL
or
THE NORTH-CHINA BRANCH
OP TIB
EOYAL ASIATIC SOCIETY.
No. III. December, 1859.__
SHANGHAI:
PRIMHD AT IH1 OPIICE OP THE XOBTU CM1 H**AID.
18* MDCCCLIX.


PREFACE.
The number now presented to lb* public completes tfat flrrt rolume of Um
8ociety> Journal. The papers It eonlaioa are calculated to threw light upon
many subjects of interest and Importance, and quite \ ustlfy the antlclpatlona
Bwuisd at the establishment of the Society of lta Inherent power to support a
publication of thia nature.
The importance of adding to the limited stock of Information we paaaaaa,
respecting the Cbineae, la acknowledged on all hands. We are entering a new
sera la our political relatione with them; tha axelnstTe policy, which for centuries
has closed this great empire to tha world, must shortly ha relaxed, and a moral
antagonism must commence to which the conflict of opposing armies la merely
a prelude.
A policy, marked by arrogance, Jealousy and desalt, will be oppoaad by one
baaed upon reason and justice. A barren philosophy, calculated rather to
dwarf than to derelope the mind, will bo oppoaad by one which bet pmgieaa
far lis watchword and power for lta fruits. An art, which baa taken lta rite
from the wild fantasies of tha Imagination, will be oppoaad by one which draw*
lta inspiration direct from tha pure springs of nature itself. A faith, which
embodies no trust, no leaning on or aspiration towards a Higher Power, which
la a mere moral and intellectual product, spun Ilka the spider's web oat of the
mind, will be opposed by oee which best proree its dtrine origin by raising
man's spirit to a height which unassisted he could nerer attain, which soiree
the grant enigmas presented by oar fallen humanity, and which la all-powerful
to combat the vast moral evils which all other religions hare combated In rain.
In dealing with the Chinese, whose moral ebaractaristiea are so opposed to
those of their antagonists In this struggle, problems are presented In the solution
of which, the statesmen, the philosopher, and tha missionary are all deeply In-
terested. The greater therefore our collection of facts, — the more intimate
our acquaintance with their minds, their direction of thought, and the iiand-point
from which they surrey the great questions which our policy and civilisation
preseut, — the more likely are we to generalise broadly and correctly concerning





CONTENTS.
Pag*.
Axncu I.—Sketches of the Mtfu-tsze, 857
Aktzclx II.—The Small Chineae Lark, 287
Akticlb III.—On the Banishment of Criminals in China, 203
Uticu IV.—Cotton in China, 502
AlTICLB V.—A 8keteh of the TauUt Mythology in its modem form 309
ABTXCUi VI.—Narratire of the American Embassy to Peking, 315
Abticlb VII.—Meteorological Tablet, 350
imcu VIII.—Beeord of Occurrencei, ♦.. 353





JOURNAL
Of
THE NOBTH-CHINA BBANCH
0*
THE EOYAL ASIATIC SOCIETY.
ARTICLE L
8KETCHB8 OF THE MIATJ-TSZE.
TrtnaUtad kt Um Soctty, by Ber. E. C. BaiseKA*, d.d.
Vo*m by the TrtuuUtor.
At the present day, wild or half-civilized men appear scattered in
small families, or tribes, throughout almost all Asia. In India
their number has been estimated at sixteen millions. In South-
eastern Asia they are probably still more numerous, and are
known as Karens, Laos, Shans, Ac. They are round also in
some parts of China, especially in the provinces of Xwei-chau,
Hunan, Hupeh, Szechuen, Tun-nan, Kwangsi, and on the islands
of Hainan and Formosa. Among all these tribes, the Mi&it-Uis
are perhaps the most worthy of our attention. These "children
of the soil" seem to have existed here prior to the present dominant
noes, and are noticed in the earliest records of the Chinese, in
language quite descriptive of them as they now appear. Some of
'the tribes have been subdued, and are under the control of the
Imperial government; others are wholly independent. Our in-
formation regarding them comes to us mainly through the Chinese,
and is fragmentary, being found in small treatises, or scattered
through the pages of their voluminous miscellanies.
The sketches, of which' I here give a translation with a few short
Notes, an stghty(two in all, and were written many years ago by
a native scholar who had travelled in the province of KweJ ohan,
■anas i


258
SKETCHES OF THE MIAU-T8ZE.
They are in two octavo volumes of equal size. Each sketch, by
enlarging or contracting the hand-writing, is made to fill a single
page, opposite to which, as the book is opened, there is an
illustrative colored picture. The sketches and pictures were both
made from personal observation. The work is a curious and rare
one, and the only complete copy, which I have ever seen of it, is
now in England and owned by Dr. William Lockhart. Some of
these sketches, in an altered and abridged form, were translated
some years back and published in the Chinese Repository.
Translation.
1. Luh tung i-jin, "Barbarians of tbe Six Grottoes." These
are found in Li-ping, the south-eastern department of Kwei-chau.
The women are fond of wearing variegated upper garments and
petticoats, sharp pointed shoes finely ornamented, with trowsers
bound close round their legs. The unmarried men and women
signify their betrothment by cutting off pieces from their upper
garments, and having interchanged these and likewise their
sashes, they then select an auspicious day and wed. A large
number of neighboring damsels, being assembled by invitation,
and each bearing an umbrella of blue cloth, proceed to escort
them. This is called "tbe friendly escort." Taking hold of each
other's sleeves, they sing and dance; on arriving at the bride-
groom's house, they drink and make merry; for three successive
days and nights they continue these musical concerts, when, having
conducted the bride back to her mother's home, these damsels
disperse. The bridegroom now repairs to her dwelling every
night, and keeps her company. As soon as a child is born, the
dowry is bestowed, and the wife returns to her husband's house.
The marriage presents, sent by the bride's family, consist of a few
pieces or a few tens of pieces of clotb. The women belonging to
this tribe are especially diligent in spinning and weaving; and
the men are able to read and write. Their mourning and burial
ceremonies are entirely the same as those of the Chinese.
Note.—The picture, accompanying this (ketch, exhibits • part of the escort.
The bride is aeen attended by two paranympha, and Is preceded by a
man-servant, carrying on hit shoulder* a heavy trunk, perhaps a part cf her
trousseau. They all have large feet, and wear blue suhea,• ornamented with
white flowers. Some ornament* appear in their head-dresses and also on
their ears. Brown lappets cover their ankles, bound round with red buds.
Their various articles of attire are either brown, blue, preen, or red; the last
color rather predominates. Their features ore large and their countenances
ruddy, but not fair.


SKETCHES OF THE MIAU-T9ZE.
359
2. Peh lung Kid, « Families of the White Dragon." These
live in the district of Ping-yuen belonging to the prefecture of
Ta-ting, situated in the western part of Kwei-chau.
White clothing is preferred by these people. They go out in
large numbers upon the hills and mountains, where they collect
resinous juices or lacker, which they exchange for other articles
in the markets of the neighboring cities. All their effects are
carried on their backs. In their nuptials and mourning they
cdnform somewhat to the rites of the Chinese.
Note.—The picture represents four of these people on the bills, all dressed in
white frocks, while leggings, white turbans, end black troweere. Two of them
have tubs on their backs fur carrying lacker, and two are sitting on the ground
with tubs standing close by them. One of these two latter has a pipe in his
mouth. They have coarse dark features, and seem to be a very rude people.
3. Tsing chung Kid, "Families of the Blue Secondary." These
reside in the districts of Ku-chau, Tsing-kiang, and T&n-kiong, in
the south-eastern part of Kwei-chau.
They prefer blue clothes, and wear a turban of that color on
their heads. The women are of a light complexion and intelligent;
they stitch and embroider, and are skilled in chess-playing, and
delight themselves in throwing the ball. Those with whom they
have termed an intimacy they call their ma-ldng, "knights," and
drink wine with them, not being prohibited from doing so even
when it is known by their parents. They take care, howerer,. on
these occasions, to avoid meeting their brothers or superiors. If
they continue to be mutually pleased after such familiarity, cattle
and wine are given in dowry, and the marriage is consummated.
The peeple of this tribe have no knowledge of any written language,
or of a regular calendar. For records of events they uso pieces of
carved or notched wood.
JVote.—14 the picture two of these women are seen In a cottage, thoughtfully
engaged at a game of chess.—The use of notched pieces of wood for records of
•vents is an interesting vestige of primitive customs, which antiquarian reaearoh
•hows to have prevailed in almost every habitable portion of the glob*. At a
period not very remote, this wss the only kind of rWsMs need by the ancestors
of the present imperial family of China. We may aho find the remains of It
ameeg soma nations of the western hemisphere.
4. Peh chung KiA, "Families o_f the White Chung." (The
meaning of the term chung is not 'obvious.) These are found in
the districts pf Li-po, in the prefecture of Tu-yun.'
The men wear a band of fox-tails bound around their head*,
and are devoted to agriculture. The women are sleekier sad
very intelligent, tjf light complexion and most beautiful; tbejfl


260
SKETCHES OF THE MIAO-TSZE.
prefer pale blue clothes, wear finely plaited flowered petticoats,
red embroidered shoes, and colored trowsers bound close around
their legs.
Annually, on the first day of spring, selecting a level site and
placing in the ground a large hollow stick of timber called pd-tsau,
"drum vat," men and women beat it with bamboo slats. Its
sound is like that of the ordinary drum, and the amusement is called
"beating music;" also "joint sport." On these occasions the men
and women embrace each other and unite in sport without re-
straint; and their parents, when present, do not forbid their so
doing. Even the Chinese, who understand their language, may
engage with them in these same sports. Hence it happens that
their unmarried women often associate with the Chinese, and call
them "foreign gentlemen." After being married to a Chinese,
his family sends back to her former home some pieces of native
cloth, which ceremony is called sundering "the gentleman."
After this he returns no more to her father's house.
Note.—In the picture, three persons, one men and two women, are seen
beating the "dram vat," and close by theee are two other*, one of each sex,
waltzing.
5. Che chdi Midv, "Aborigines of the Chariot Stockade."
These are found in the district of Ku-chau in the department of
Li-ping.
The men engage in various arts and occupations, and the women
are employed in needle-work. The unmarried assemble in the
level open country, which they call the "moon arena," and there
the men play on instruments of music, and the women sing.
Their tones are clear and sweet, unlike those of the other aborigines.
Those who are pleased with each other wed themselves; this is
called "dancing to the moon." Their parents, though present
and witnessing these proceedings, do not at all interfere.
Six hundred troops of the ancient rebel Ma Stin-pau, took refuge
among these people, with whom they formed matrimonial alliances.
Thus they became a part of the tribe, and are now designated,
"The Six hundred Wild Miau families."
Note.—In the picture are seen three men, each one with a different kind of
musical instrument in his hand, and in company with them are two women;
they are in the open country seated on rocks beneath a precipice, playing and
singing in concert. They are all barefooted, bat otherwise neatly attired.
The men have a large feather or plume in their head-drees. Ma San-pan was
a noted general under the feudal chief Wu Son-kwei, when he revolted against
the present reigning family of China; and fell in the cause of his adopted


263
BKETCHE* OF THE MIAU-TSZE.
of'extorting money, which they call "personal ransom." If
indigent'{he captives never are released, while their sufferings are
very.great. Since these people have been chastised and subdued by
the Imperial government, they have been less troublesome than of old.
Note.—In the picture a poor captive ii teen, wearing a bear; wooden cangne,
marching between two men armed with long spears.
9. Tuna kid Midu, "Aborigines of the Tung families." These
are found in the district of Li-po.
They prefer, .blue garments, scarcely long enough to cover their
knees. Annually, on the opening of the year, they collect fish,
fresh, wine, and boiled rice, which they offer in sacrifice to P'wan-hu.
They have their residences near the water, and, are successful in
cultivating cotton. The women engage in spinning and weaving;
the men know not how to read, though able to speak our language.
For records they use carved billets of wood.
Note.—The author of these sketches does not inform his readers regarding
the character of " P'wan-hrt." The same name occurs, with a slight variation
in the orthography, in the fabulous records of the Chinese, where this name, is
given to a favorite dog of the emperor Kuh Kau-sin, the immediate predecessor
of the ancient Yau.—For references to this personage, see Kanghi's Dictionary
under tho word P'wan; also the Cyclopaedia called the Yuen Kien Lui Han,
chapter 232, under the section entitled P'wdn-hu chung, "the descendants or
tribes of P'wan-hu."
"10. Keh chung Kid, "Families of the Black Chung." These
families reside within the district of Tsing-kiang.
By profession they are woodmen, or those who cultivate and
deal in timber. In their cantonments there are many very rich
men. . Some of these are Chinese, who, by their frequent and
familiajaintercourse with the aborigines, are able to borrow capital
from, and form copartnerships with them in business. Not only
do they never refuse to lend their capital, but if the Chinese are
unable to make payments at the appointed time, they need not
fear to state the reasons for their inability; and if they have
failed, or are short of means, they may borrow a second time.
But if swindled by the Chinese, and unable to prosecute them,
they will then seek for tne graves of some of their rich families, and
disinter and carry away their bones. This is called, "Releasing
the black and securing the white." In this way they induce the
descendents of those whose graves have been opened, to search
out and apprehend the swindlers, and then insist on a restoration
of the borrowed property, and thus procure the ransom of the
plundered bones. By these depredations, it often happens that


SKETCHES OF THE HIAU-TSZE.
263
adjacent graves are injured, so that now when the Chinese wish
to become borrowers, they get their neighbors to unite with them
in giving securities for repayment.
IMt.—The exact import of the picture accompanying this sketch is not
very obvious. In the fore-ground two men are seen with flaming flambeaux,
one with a mattock on his shoulder, and the other with a small flag in his
hand. These are followed by two other men, one with an axe or hatchet nn
his shoulder, and the other a hoe and basket. The whole perhaps may be
designed to represent a party going by nizht to seek and cpen the grave of
some defaulter's rich ancestors. Desperation and revenge are strongly depicted
on their dark visages.
11. Hung-chau Midu, "Aborigines of Hung-chau." These
are found within the borders of Li-ping.
The men are agriculturists and do not differ from the Chinese;
and the women are skillful in spinning and weaving cotton and
grass-cloth. The latter is rather fine and beautiful, and is known
in the markets as Hung-chau grass-cloth.
Sole.—In the picture a rural scene is represented, where one of these women
Is seen seated at her loom weaving, while a female companion is coming from tha
door of their cottage, with a skein of thread and a spool for the other's shuttle.
12. Heh th&n Midu, "Aborigines of the Black Hills." These
are found in the districts of Tai-kung, Tsing-kiftng, and Ku-chau.
They bind up their hair with blue cloth, and dwell in the deep
recesses of the mountains. Too lazy and idle to plant or sow,
they often get rich by plunder and rapine. They are skillful in
divination, using blades of grass for that purpose, by which they
are able to ascertain good and bad fortunes. Of late years they
have become more quiet than they were in former times.
Note.—In the picture four of, these wild men are seen engaged In the act of
divination, as described in the sketch.
13. Peh-'rh-Uz, "The Whites." These are found in the
district of Wei-ning, on the extreme western borders of the
province, and in the neighboring province of Ynn-nan.
They all have their genealogies, so as to be able to trace their
descent from their ancestors; the manners and customs of the
men are for the most part like those of the Chinese; the women,
however, are inclined to follow the customs of the aborigines; but
as they are the descendants of those who were originally Chinese,
and have married into the families of the aborigines, yet still their
customs in some degree resemble the Chinese. Hence they are
called, "The Whites."
Note.—This sketch is illustrated by a picture of two of these men offering
sacrifices to the dead, after the manner of the Chinese, proof positive of their
being genuiue converts to the customs of the sons of Han.
1 9


264
SKETCHES OF TIIE MIAU-TSZE.
14. Kaupoh Miau, "Aboriginal mountaineers;" called also,
Crowni-board Aborigines. These are found both in Ping-yuen
and in Kien-sl, two districts of the first order in the prefecture of
Ta-ting not far from the frontiers of the provinces of Yun-nan and
Si-chuen.
They prefer dark colored clothes, and delight in cultivating
table land on the high precipitous rocks. The women plait their
hair upon a board, a foot or more in length, and thus wear it on
the crown of their heads. In regard to marriage, the parties
becoming familiar with each other,, select for themselves, and
make their own matches. Their skill in weaving and dyeing is
exquisite.
Note.—In the picture a man and two women are represented as genuine high-
landers, answering well to the description. They are all barefooted, and two
of them are carrying hoes or light mattocks on their shoulders, as if on their
way to or from their agricultural labors.
15. Shtvui kid Miau, "Aborigines of the Shwui families."
These are found in the districts of Li-po.
In the year 1733, the 10th of Yung-ching's reign, all these
families were removed from the province of Kwang-tung and were
placed in the prefecture of Tti-yun, and made subject to its
authorities. The men delight in fishing and hunting, and the
women are skillful in spinning and weaving. Their fabrics are
called "Cloth of the Shwui family." The women wear barrel-
shaped petticoats, and short upper garments, fringed around the
border with figured cloth. Annually, on the first day of the year,
they assemble in bands, both men and women, and taking each
other by the sleeves, sing and dance. When they fancy each
other, the woman is carried off on the man's back, and thus they
are wedded.
Not$.—In the picture we have a rural scene, graced by three of these "children
of nature," one man and two women. The former is in plain attire, but the
latter are dressed most fantastically, in a style that could hardly fail, among
any people, to be attractive.
16. Hu-li, Miau, "The Calabash Aborigines." These are
found in the town of Lo-kuh, in the district of Ting-fan, near the
centre of the province of Kwei-chau.
They are cruel and savage, pay no attention to agriculture, but,
collecting in bands, do little else than rob and plunder. Lately
they have been made subject to our laws. .
Nalt.—In the picture three of these men are exhibited in their true character,
filching the produce of some cultivated lands in a valley among the mountains.


SKETCHES OF THE MIAU-TSZE.
265
17. Sany Midu, "Wild Aborigines." These are found in the
eastern parts of the province, in the districts of Shi-ping and
Hwang-ping.
They are very wild, and subsist on the natural productions of
the soil, and on fish, and the flesh of wild animals. The instances
of theif having been in any manner subdued or Civilized are
exceedingly rare.
Note.—In tha picture tbey are seen armed with cross-bows and ■peats, are
dressed in brown frocks and trowsers, and have their hair tied with a red band
in a high toft on the top of their heads, and the toft surmounted by a feather
or plume.
18. JVttt Kwdn, "Women Ruled," called also "Ko-lo."
(Where these are to be found we are not told).
The principal wife among them is styled Ndi-teh. They have
their hair plaited, and covered in part by a piece of blue cloth.
They adorn their foreheads with silken and silver ornaments, and
their ears with large rings. Their long petticoats have many and
thick folds. The Ndi-teh are their rulers, and direct and control
all local affairs; and none except those who are the offspring of
the N&i-teh can succeed to her place or exercise any authority.
Note.—In the picture one of these female rulers gorgeously dressed, appears
in state, mounted on a white horse elegantly caparisoned. She holds the reins
In her own hands; one female on foot precedes and another follows her, bearing
insignia of office, while an aged man, walking by her side, carries a state
umbrella, made of red and yellow silk, higli over her head.
19. Seh-tang Midu, "Black wild Aborigines." These are
found in the district of Tsing-kiang.
They are a wicked and cruel people; finding out the residences
of the rich, they collect in small bands, armed with spears and
swords, and go with torches by night and rob and plunder. In
1736, the 13th year of Yung-dung's reign, they were conquered,
and now submit to Chinese rule.
ATsftv-In the picture some of these wild people are seen returning from a
marauding expedition, loaded with trunks and other spoil.
20. Ttxenrtvng Midu, "Sharp-crowned Aborigines." These
are found in the prefecture of Kwei-yang, near the centre of the
province.
Both men and women comb up their hair into a sharp point,
and make it fast in that shape on the crown of their heads. On
the first day of the second autumnal month, they observe a festival;
and men and women go out together and 'work in the fields.
Kole.—Three or four of these, with baskets and hoes, are seen in the picture,
going out in company to their daily labors.
KL'BRAS II


266
SKETCHES OF THE MIAU-TSZE.
21. Luh Ngek Uz: (The meaning of this name is not ap-
parent.) The people so designated are divided into two tribes,
and reside in Wei-ning, the extreme west of the province.
The men shape their hair into a conical form on the top of their
heads. The women wear long upper garments, but no petticoats.
They bury their dead in coffins. After the lapae of a year from
the time of burial, they select a lucky day, and invite their kindred
and friends to the grave, where they offer wine and victims in
sacrifice. The coffin is now exhumed and opened; the mouldering
bones washed and made white; and then rolled up in cloth and
replaced in the grave. This ceremony is performed seven times,
at intervals of one or two years. When any one of their family
is taken sick, they will say the ancestors bones are unclean, and
immediately exhume and wash them. Hence they are called, by
our people, "The Wash-bone Aborigines." Of late this wicked
practice has gone into disuse, it having been rigidly prohibited.
ffoti.—The wishing of the bona* Is dona by band in a large tab, and farms
Ibe subject of the author's picture, accompanyiug tbe foregoing sketch.
22. Tedh yiu ehung KiA, "Secondary families of the extra
guard-stations." (It is hard to say what may have been the exact
meaning of this term, as here used for the name of this tribe).
The people, so designated, are found in the departments of Kwei-
ydng, Ngan-shun, Ping-yueh, Tu-yun, and also in Non-lung.
They prefer blue clothes. The women wear flowered veils and
short upper dresses; which latter are never varied in thickness,
however hot or cold the weather. Their petticoats are very long,
beautifully striped, -finely plaited, and adorned with figures and
flowers. The sixth day of the sixth moon is their great festival.
Annually, early in spring, they have what are termed, "Lunar
sports." On these occasions both men and women, who are
unmarried, assemble to sing and dance in the open country.
Tying up their particolored handkerchiefs into a large round
knot, which they call theflowered ball, those who consort together,
throw and toss it back and forth, and thus show their partiality for
each other. On occasions of a funeral or wedding, when they are
assembled together, any two of them who are delighted with each
other, exchange sashes and strips of cloth cut from their garments,
and are affianced in this private manner,—without any go-between.
However, the bride cannot go to her. husband's house till after she
has offspring. Of late this custom has been relaxed, and at J£ai«


SKETCHES OF THE MIAU-TSZE.
267
dun match-makers are employed, and the marriage dowry consists
of a certain number of the finest oxen or cows. A custom anciently
obtained among them, of distributing and eating the flesh of
deceased relations. The flesh of -cattle is now used as a substitute.
Among the poor a single animal will suffice, but among the rich,
several are required. On such occasions, fowls are offered in
sacrifice by friends and kindred. Covering their heads with a
veil, they lead the animal round and round in the place where it
is to be killed, and then pour out a libation. These acts performed,
the animal is slaughtered, and the flesh distributed;—all who are
assembled then eat and drink; and when well satisfied with food
and wine, they disperse.
Not:—In Ma picture, oar artist has given ns 1 aeene In the open country,
where two young couples are engaged lo sporting with the particolored ball*.
Their costumes and their balls are very finely drawn; and their attitudes are
by no means badly conceived, or poorly executed. In one place the parti-
colored ball is seen high np in the air, and both the lovers are eager, with out-
stretched arms, to seize it; in the other cue, the young damsel has caught it,
and her companion is trying to wrest it from her hands. Their countenances,
and the surrounding scenery of opening spring, the green grass and foliage,
and blooming flowers, are all in fine keeping with their " Lnnar sports."
23. Md tung-lung Kid, "Families of the horse stirrup." They
are found in Chin-ting, between the city of Ruh-si and the
encampment Ting-yung.
Many of these families have surnames. White garments are
preferred by them, which in case of mourning are ezohanged for
blue. The women wear head dresses of black cloth, and in the
shape of a stirrup; and hence their designation. They engage in
ploughing, planting, and such like occupations.
24. Ttdi Kid, "The families of Tsai." These are found in
Kwei-chnh, Siu-wan, Tsing-chin, "Wei-ning, and Ping-yuen.
The men wear upper garments of coarse woollen; and the
women use the same material to dress their hair, which, in the
shape of a cow's horn, more than a foot long, is fastened oa the.
top of their heads with a strong hair-pin. The foot of the horn
is ornamented with blue cloth. The son's wife and his own father
■ever speak to each other. For three full months after going
into mourning, they eat neither flesh nor rice, but merely gruel
made of cockle, in conformity to some of their old customs. When
the husband dies, the wife is burned alive with him, unless violently
rescued by her own parents or family.
26. Pdh fihdi Uek Midu, "Black Aborigines of the Bight
Stockades." Tbeje are found in the prefecture of Tu-yus.
1 » *


268 SKETCHES OF THE MIAU-TSZE.
They are fierce and cruel in their disposition* The women
tastefully adorn the edges of their garments, and the ends of their
sleeves with cloth of various colors, and embroider a square piece
of cotton fabric to cover the breast. This they call tfi-tu, or a
"stomacher." In the country, away from their stockades, they
.erect small cottages, which they call ma-l&ngf&ng, or "residences
for their knights." In these, the unmarried, both men and women,
assemble at night, and those who take a fancy to each other,
make marriage presents, consisting of oxen and wine. Three days
after marriage, the bride returns to her own parents' house, to
remain for six months, or a whole year. The mother in-law of
the man then goes to him to demand what she calls "capitation
money," and if it be not given her, she will then marry her
daughter to another man. If her daughter and her son-in-law
are both dead, she will then extort it from their offspring. This
latter is called " Demon-head-money."
Note.—Id the picture two couples »re lean, one in a cottage, and the other
in the open country, at no great distance from the cottage. Both of them appear
as well-pleased lovers, end one of the yonng men is about to entertain his sweet-
heart with music, on a rods organ made of bamboos. They all appear is gay
attire like that of the Highlanders.
26. IAng Kid Mian,"Aborigines of the Ling families." These
dwell in the district of Li-po.
The last day of the tenth moon is annually observed by them as
a great festival, when they offer sacrifices to demons. Both men
and women wear blue turbans around their heads. Those of the
unmarried are somewhat longer than those worn by the others.
Annually, at mid-autumn, the unmarried men and women collect
together, sing and dance, and those who are pleased with each
other, make their selections and wed by private contract. As
soon as they have offspring, the wife may return home; this is
called, "Returning to her kindred;" and the dowry gifts are then
sent by a go-between. If, however, the wife has no offspring, she
never returns home.
Soke.—Here again the artist's pencil has pictured two couples: they all appear
together in the open country, merrily dancing, but not joining hands, these
being concealed by sleeres full twice the length of their arms. All are bare-
footed, and their long hair hangs loose, over their shoulders.
27. L&u kU Heh Midu, "Black Aborigines dwelling in two
storied houses." These are found in tfee two districts of Pah-chai
and Tan-kiang.
The men are industrious farmers, but are obstinate and stupid.
The women dress up their hair on the top of their heads, in the


SKETCHES OP THE MIAU-TSZE.
SCf>
shape of a ram's horn. They love to dwell in the upper lofts of
their houses. When a person dies the body is coffined, and laid
up in some secure room. This is done for a period of twenty years,
when, an auspicious day. being chosen, all belonging1 to the
stockade, bury their coffins by tens or a hundred together. A
public ancestral temple is then erected, called the "Demon Hall."
That place henceforth is regarded as inviolable and sacred; and
woe to him that profanes it. The' people pay the highest honors
to demons. They are very fond of rearing cattle, and feed and
herd them in the lower stories of their dwellings, while they
themselves occupy the lofts.
28. liang Chuh-lung Kia, "Families of *the bamboo dragon
Tsang." These reside within the prefecture of Ngan-shun.
The women wear white upper garments, barrel-shaped petticoats,
and cotton head-dresses of a square form, with their hair bound
into a queue, more than a foot long, pendent behind. In dressing
their hair they use pig's fat, which has a very bad odor. On the
natal and nuptial days of their kindred and friends, they are
accustomed to bring and present to them wine and sheep, and also
new jackets and trowsers, as tokens of honor and respect. They
lay out their dead in coffins, and consume them with fire, and then
inter their ashes. Annually, on the seventh day of the seventh
moon, they offer sacrifices at the graves of their ancestors.
29. Peh Ko-h, "White Ko-los." These are residents in the
departments of Ngan-shun and Ta-ting.
They differ from the Black Ko-los only by being inferior to
them in natural endowments. They seize reptiles of all sorts,
drink their blood, roast and then, like beasts, devour their flesh.
They wind up their dead in the raw skins of oxen and horses, and
thus burn them. A people residing in Pau-ting, called Aho,
appear to be- identified with these.
80. Tting Kiting Heh M'mu, "Black Aborigines of the Clear
River," i. e. the district of Tsing-kiang.
The men put on broad heavy trowsers, bind up their hair with
scarlet bands, wear silver chains about their necks, and large rings
in their ears. All, both men and women, go barefooted. They
have extensive forests, and carry on commerce with the Chinese,
whom they salute as their companions. They delight to dress
themselves in theatrical robes; and, for that purpose, purchase
old girdles and state dresses of the Chinese, paying for the same


270
SKETCHES OF THE MIAU-TSZE.
many times their value. The unmarried men are styled Ln him,
and the women Ldu-pei. Annually, on the bright clear days of
spring, taking wine with them, these gentle masters, and gentle
ladies, the lo-k&n and the ldu-pei, ascend some lofty mountain
crag, where they sing in concert In their delight, they give a
horn of wine to those they most fancy, and at evening they hie
away with their chosen companions. From that time the man
will neither plough nor plant, till an heir is born to him.
Note.—In bit picture, oar artist exhibit! a very animated scene, comprisiag
six persona gaily attired, three men and three women: one of the latter' Ja
seen administering a horn of wine to her loser, while hard by another, as-
tonished at this, is about to be seized by his sweetheart, who has a born of
wine filled for him.—"Lo-han," or netaa, (Sansc Arhat), as nted by the
Bndhists, denotes a high degree of refinement, such as to constitute a passport
to nirvana. (See Capt Yale, p. 239.)
31. Tu Kih-l&u, "Native Kih-lau." These are found in the
district of Wei-ning.
They are rude people, and both men and women wear garments
made of straw. They rub their feet with hot oil to harden them;
and then climb the mountains like wild animals. They hire them-
selves out to the Ko-lo as servants.
82. Tm&nhman Midu, "Short petticoated Aborigines. These
reside at Pah-chai in the prefecture of Tu-yun.
The men wear broad short clothes. The upper dresses of the
women have no sleeves nor bosoms, and scarcely cover their
bodies before or behind. They wear no trowsers, while their
petticoats, thick and finely plaited, are scarcely long enough to
conceal their nakedness. They earn a livelihood by collecting
grass and fuel. They are much addicted to wine; and, when
intoxicated, will lie down and sleep in mountain caverns. In the
coldest weather, they will go and bathe in the brooks, which they
do to warm themselves.
S3. Y&h-tsioh Midu, "Crow Aborigines." These are found
in the prefecture of Kwei-yang.
The women ornament the borders of their sleeves, and other
parts of the upper garments with white muslin, and also their
petticoats. And hence their designation, "Grow." They delight
to fix their abodes upon high mountains, where they plant various
kinds of grain for food. When their kindred die, they select the
high mountain tops as the moat desirable burial-places. Their
talk is like the chattering of birds. All cases of dimcolty that need
to be adjudicated, they refer for decision to their old men.


SKETCHES OF THE MIAU-TSZE.
271
84 Sung Kid, "Families of Sung. These are found in the
two prefectures of Kwei-yang, and Ngin-shun.
They are the posterity of some Chinese, who in the times
described in the Annals of Confucius, wandered abroad and con-
sorted with barbarians. Their written and spoken language is
quite like the Chinese. They resemble the Chinese too in their
dress, and also in not a few of their rites and ceremonies. Recently
many of them have become students, and compete for literary
honors.
85. Kik'mung Kuying Miacu, "Aborigines designated Kih-
snung and Ku-yang." These belong to the town of Kin-cbuh in
Kwang-shun.
They select for their places of abode caverns in cleft rocks, many
tens of feet high, which they reach by means of bamboo ladders.
In tilling their fields, they do not employ oxen, but use hoes and
spades instead of the plough. They harrow in their seed, but
never weed the growing corn. They wed with music and dancing,
and after they have weaned their first child, the dowry is
bestowed. When their kindred die, they do not lament, bnt laugh
and dance, shout and sing. This is called "Tumultuous mourning."
The following year, when they hear the voice of the goatsucker,
the whole family wail and cry, saying, "As the year comes round,
the birds return, but our kindred come not back to us."
36. Kau 'rh Lung KM, "Dog-eared Dragon families." These
are found in the town of Kang-tso, and in the prefecture of If gin-
shun and Ta-ting.
The men wear turbans, but no hats or caps. The women,
braiding their hair into a spiral shape, fasten it with a piece of
white cotton cloth, forming a knot on the top of the head, and
so leave the two ends of the cloth, above the knot, standing out
like the two ears of a dog. They dress in particolored garments,
and adorn themselves with precious pearls. In the spring season,
after the vernal equinox, they erect a pole in the field, called the
"Dragon-staff," or May-pole. The unmarried men and women,
dancing around this pole, select consorts for themselves. Whan
daughters have eloped in this manner, their families ransom them
by sending oxen and horses, for which purpose match-makers are
employed.
.Vote.—In tha.plctor* two couple* srs SSM dancing mott merrily (mad •
"Dngon ttanV 'n Vattbo* pote. fifteen or twenty feet high.


272
SKETCHES OP THE MIAU-TSZE.
37. Ping-f&h Miau, "Subdued and pacified Aborigines."
These reside in the encampment at Sin-tien, within the precincts of
Kwei-ting.
The men wear straw tunics and short trowsers, the' women
short upper garments and barrel-shaped pej&icoats. Thej pin up
their hair with a long bodkin. At weddings and for sacrifices to
the dead, dogs are used.
88. Ko-lo, originally called Lu-luh; the modern designation,
"Ko-lo" is incorrect They are found in the prefecture of Ta-ting.
These are divided into two tribes, one white and the other
black. Tbey are tall, of a dark complexion, with sunken eyes,
aquiline nose, wear long whiskers, and have the beard shaved off'
above the mouth. They pay great deference to demons, and on
that account are sometimes called "Dragons of Lo."
In the time of the Three Kingdoms there was one Tsi-ho, who
especially distinguished himself in the train of Wuhau, (the famous
Chu Koh-liang), whqn he discomfited Mang-hoh, and was honored
with the title, "Prince of the Kingdom of Lotien." The remote
ancestor of the present chief was named Ngan, and for many
generations his descendents have ruled over the land.
At the present time these Ko-lo are divided into forty-eight
clans, the elders of which are called, chieftains, lit. "Head-
and-eyes," and are of nine grades, the most distinguished being
called Kang-ttui. These are never addressed by their proper
names, and are exempt from the requirements of the salutation
ritual. They are honored with a silver mounted staff, and all
affairs of great importance are referred to them for decision.
'Next to the Kang-tsui, are the Moh-htvei, Shoh-krvei, and so on to
the Meh-tsoh, all of whom are honored with offices of trust Their
language and literature are Mongolian.
The men bind their hair into a tuft with blue cloth, and make it
fast on the forehead, like a horn. Their upper dresses are short,
with large sleeves, and their lower garments are fine blue. When
one of their chieftains dies, all that were under him are assembled
together, clad in armor, and on horseback. Having dressed his
corpse in silk and woollen robes, they burn it in the open country;
then invoking the departed spirit, they inter the ashes. Their
attachment to him, as their sole master, is such that nothing can
drive or tempt them from their allegiance. Their large bows, long
spears, and sharp swords, are strong and well wrought They


SKETCHES OF THE MIAU-T8ZE. 273
train excellent horses, love archery and hunting; and so expert
are they in tactics, that their soldiers rank as the best among all
the uncivilized tribes. There is this proverb; "The Lo Dragons
of Shwui-si rap the head and strike the tail," which is intended
to indicate their celerity in defence.
Not*.—TUl sketch is well illustrated by the ertist's picture, exhibiting a
party of »ix men, all armed with loog spears; three of them are on horseback.
Oue of the pedestrians in the group, is carrying a deer ou his shoulders. The
party is apparently returning from a chase upon the mountains.
39. IA mm Uz, "Children of the 14 family." These are found
in Kiensi, Kwei-chuch, and Tsing-chin.
The men gain a livelihood by trading; the women wear straw
sandals; and, when not engaged in the fields, spin and weave
woollen clothes for garments. They are fond of rearing domestic
animals, leading them out upon the hills. Their festivals are the
same as the Chinese.
40. S't-H Midu, "Aborigines of West River." These are
found in the district of Tien-chu, in the prefecture of Chin-yuen.
The petticoats of the women do not come below their knees, add
their legs are bound round with 1>lue cloth. The unmarried men
carrying reed organs, and the unmarried women some provisions,
assemble in the fields, where they feast, sport and play, singing
and dancing. Those who are pleased with each other form'
engagements and wed, and in company together hasten away.
As soon as they have offepring, the marriage presents are conferred,
consisting of oxep. •
41. Heh Ldu Midu, "Aborigines of the Black Loft," found
in the regions about Tsing-kiang and Pah-chai.
Those living in contiguous stockades unite and together erect a
public loft, on an elevated site, and call it "Assembly Hall." It
has several lofts, and from the upper one a hollow stick of timber,
more than ten feet long, is suspended and called the "Long
Drum." If any one is involved in a quarrel, he mounts the loft
and beats the drum-, when each and all in the stockades, armed
with their swords and spears, assemble at the hall, to hear the
case decided by their elders. The family that brings up the suit
must make ready a bullock and some wine, and then, if it is found
that the "Long Drum" has been sounded without sufficient cause,
the bullock is forfeited and appropriated to the public use.
42. Shteui Xih-lau,." Water Kih-lau." These are situated
between the districts of Shi-ping and Yu-king.
MCBRAS III


274
SKETCHES OF THE MIAU-T9ZE.
They are expert in catching fish and will go into deep water in
the cold winter. Hence their name, Water Kih-lau. The clothing
of the men is nothing different from that of the Chinese; but the'
women, conforming to the customs of the aborigines, wear long
and finely plaited petticoats, though not barrel-shaped. These
people keep our laws and respect onr authorities, and in all their
conjugal and sacrificial rites are like the Chinese.—Besides the
five tribes of Kih-tau (synonymous with Kih-lau) I will notice
some other distinguished, tribes aa they are described in onr
historical books.
Note.—These five are enumerated under the word Kih in
tionary, and .appear to be identical with those described wndar Moa. 46, 47.,
62, 68, and 70, given in the aequel of thla Hat In bis picture, accorepacking
this sketch, onr author give* us a group of tbeae man, four hi number, with
their net* and baskets; they are kueo-aeep la the water, eagagcd in their
occupation as fishermen.
43. Ko-lduen Kih-lau, or those Kih-lau whose women form
their hair into the shape of an iron boiler.. These are situated in
'the department of Ping-yuen.
The men make their clothes of drilling, which they manufacture;
the women wear blue upper dresses and short petticoats, and with
blue turbans form their hair into a tuft, shaped like aa 'iron boiler.
These people, when sick, take no medicine; but having prepared
a loaf of bread, and adorned it with red and green silk, they place
it in a bamboo sieve, and then invite sorcerers to come and pray
to it (for the recovery of the sick).. They are naturally fond of
intoxicating liquors, and averse to agricultural pursuits.
44. Tiling Midu, "Bine Aborigines." These are found in the'
districts of Kien-si, Chin-ning, Siu-wan, and Kwei-chuh. Some
of this tribe have a distinctive name; these reside in Piug-yaen.
Blue colored garments are preferred by this tribe. The women
with blue turbans bind their hair into a.tuft, and surmount it with
a flowered kerchief. The men wear straw sandals and I
of bamboo splints. They are naturally cruel and i
now somewhat subdued and gentle.
. 45. Peh Mi&u, "White Aborigines." Then i
regions of Lung-li, Kwei-tung and Kien-si
, This tribe prefer white garments. The men go bareheaded and
barefooted. The women roll up their hair and fasten it with a
long clasp. When about to sacrifice to their ancestors, they select
large bullocks, having fine and well-shaned head and horns, and


9KETCHES OF THE MIAU-TSZB.
275
fatten them. Then collecting all the bullocks in their stockades,
they make them fight in the open fields; the one that gets the
mastery over the others they regard as the lucky animal; and
immediately, after having selected an auspicious day, slaughter
the animal for the sacrifice. The master of the sacrifice must b»
dressed in white upper garments, blue breeches, and long and
finely plaited petticoats. At the time of sacrifice all .the kindred
and families must be assembled, when they drink and sing aloud
for entertainment
46. Tsien tau Kih-lau, or the Kih-lau who shave their heads.
These reside in the districts of Kwei-ping and Shi-ping, and in the
department of Ping-yuen. They are also designated IHm m&u
Kih-lau, or the Kih-lau who shave off their hair.
All both men and women have their hair not more than an
inch long. In agriculture they are diligent and laborious. ' Whan
any of their people die, they collect fuel and burn their corpses.
47. Y6 tdu Midu, the Aborigines who adorn their heads.
These are found at Hin-yu in the department of Kuchau; they
are all black, and are classed with those of Tung-tsai. The people
of this tribe are naturally quarrelsome. In their farming operations
they do not use the ox, but draff the plough by human strength.
The first day of the eleventh moon is their great annual festival.
The women braid their hair into a tuft; and over it bind on a
fan-shaped bonnet, made of silk and ornamented with silver, and
fasten it with a long pin formed like a guitar. They wear double
rings on both ears, and chains on their necks. Their upper
garments are short, and both the border and cuffs are ornamented
with embroidered lace. In marriage the daughters of paternal
sisters are united to the sons of maternal uncles. If such an
uncle has no son, then a large present must be sent to him, which
is called, "the money of the sister's daughter." After such a
present has been received, the daughter may then be affianced to
another; but if it be otherwise, she can never more be given in
marriage.
48. Hung Mi&u, "Red Aborigines." These are found in the
department of Tung-jin, and most of diem belong to the families
of Lung, Wu, Shih, Ma, and Peh.
Their garments are made of striped spotted silks, the manu-
facturing of which is the special business of their women. When-
ever any quarrel oocurs among those who are of the sans class,


276
SKETCHES OP THE 1IIAU-TSZB.
the women must interpose their counsel before the parties will be
satisfied. During*- the fifth moon, on the recurrence of the day
marked tiger in their calendar, husband and wife sleep apart from
each other, and dare not speak, or go out of the house. On
account of their belief in gods and demons they hate the white
tiger! They kill their sacrificial and domestic animals by tearing
them in pieces; and, only partially roasted, they eat them with
their blood. When a person dies, they take the garments which
'he has left and form an effigy, the people all beating their drums.
This they call the drum of condolence.
•' 49. Htvd Mian, "Flowery Aborigines." These are found in
the. regions of Tfi-ting, Ngan-shun, Tsun-i, and Kwei-yfrng.
They have no family names; are simple and obstinate; dread
our laws; and though rude in manners are yet diligent in their
field labors. Their upper garments are striped blue and white,
made of old cloth torn into stripes, have no collars or sleeves, are
strait-bodied, and are put on over the head. Sometimes they will
tear a piece of this coarse striped cloth into halves, and wear it
coiled about the neck. In the first month of spring, they select a
smooth and level site for lunar sports. There the young unmarried
men will play upon their reed organs, while the damsels with their
tinkling bells, are singing and dancing and making themselves
merry. After a whole day has been thus spent, seizing their
favorites they return to their homes. In modern times the people
of this tribe are wont to employ female go-betweens, to negotiate
matrimonial alliances, who regulate the amount of presents accord-
ing as the damsels are handsome or ill-favored, and who sometimes
require the bridegroom to go to the house of the bride in order to
consummate the marriage; in which case, however, after remaining
there one night, he may take her with him to his own house.
In seasons of mourning, kindred and friends bring presents of
wine and meat, and weeping walk round and round the dead till
their grief is exhausted. On the twenty-seventh day they bring
a fowl, a bowl of rice, and a jar of wine, and go to the sacrifice,
inviting sorcerers to make incantations; this they call J&ng-Uih,
lit. "letting off the seven," i. e. the completion of their Sabbath
service. (?) This sacrifice being finished, they cut the fowl into
mince-meat and break their dishes (used on the occasion); this
they call kmei sdn, ".dismissing the demons." In the burial of
their dead they use no coffin, but binding the hands and feet with


SKETCHES OF THE MIAU-TSZE.
277
a shroud, they then inter their remains. The burial-place is thus
selected by divination: they cast an egg upon the ground, and if
it is not broken, they regard the site as a lucky one. When sick
they take no medicine; but slaughtering a domestic animal, they
dress it and provide a feast, and pray-to the demons; and this they
will do even though it may bring utter ruin upon the family.
Customs of this sort are very common among the aborigines.
60. Ydng-p&u, a tribe situated between the districts of Tsun-i
and Lung-tsiuen.
These employ go-betweens in their matrimonial affairs, and have
their funeral and sacrificial rites, wailing and making great
lamentation: Indisposition they are crafty and cruel; they will
never submit to our officers, whom they violently resist. Disputes
originating among them, must be settled by their elders.
61. ItSngszi, a small tribe of Aborigines found in the depart-
ment of Wei-ming.
Their manners, and customs are very extraordinary. ' For
example; when the wife has given birth to a child, the husband
remains in the house and holds it in his arms, for a whole month
not once going out of doors. The wife, in (he mean time, does
all the work in doors and out, provides and serves up both the food
and drink for the husband, she only giving suck to the child.
When any one dies, the kindred of the deceased, at the moment
the breath leaves the body, take hold of the head and turn the
face backward, saying " It is good to look to posterity."
62. Ydv Midu, "Aborigines of the Yau family." These
- are found in Ping-yueh, and many of them bear the family
name KL
They are a mild and docile people, peaceful, industrious, econo-
mical, and though poor never act the robber. In modern times,
many of them have become students in our literature, and attend
our examinations. The women manufacture cloth and excel in
giving it fine colors. Their great festival is on the first of the
twelfth month. Some of them, who reside in Tung-mung and
L&n-tu, manufacture garments from the leaves of trees, and wear
short petticoats. On arriving at womanhood, the young damsels
erect booths of bamboo in the country, and there the young
unmarried men play upon musical instruments for entertainment.
When any one dies the body is not interred, but bound up with
grass bands and rattans, and suspended on a tree in the forests.


278
SKETCHES OF THE MMU-TSZE.
53. Tung Miau, Aborigines who reside on level sites by tbe
water-courses in the regions of Tien-chu and Kin-ping.
These cultivate cotton; and the men imitate our people both in
their regimen and costume, and consequently very many of them
are employed by the Chinese.. The women wear a horn-shaped blue
bonnet, and ornamented dresses. They embroider handkerchiefs
and other articles, and consider themselves exceedingly beautiful.
Tbe people are very well acquainted with our language, and for
a long time they have been subject to our government Many of
them are to be found also in Hu,-kwnng.
54. Pehrjin, a tribe living in the department of Pu-ngan, and
there found among all the military stations.
Both men and women wear coarse woollen garments, which are
never washed. They are docile and wholly devoted to the Bu-
dhistic religion. All the dialects of the Kolo, the Chuns'-kia, and
the Kih-lau, are unintelligible to them, so that they have to employ
interpreters in their mutual intercourse.
55. Sth-chung, a tribe of Aborigines which is situated in the
district of Li-po.
The men of this tribe are fond of agricultural pursuits. The
women are occupied with spinning and weaving. Their upper
garments are short, not coming below the knees. When a relative
dies, they sing songs. They have no coffins,- but secure the body
between pieces of plank. At the burial they all weep and cry^
and the children of the deceased parents watch over the grave for
three days, and then disperse.
56. Tang Miau, Aborigines who reside in bamooo iorests on
the sides of hills and mountains j they are the same as those called
the Blue Aborigines, and are found in the regions of Ping-yuen.
They care little for agriculture, and only cultivate a few species
of vegetables that grow on the hills. Both men and women
manufacture their own garments.
67. -Chu-thi Kih-lau; these are found in Shih-tsien, Li-ping',
Ku-chau, Ping-yuen, and Tsing-ping.
They are a filthy race, live in fbuf places, like the dog and the
swine, and for a whole year round never wash the face or body.
If they catch any wild game they will devour it like the wolf,
doing out or in, the men always carry with them their swords
and their bows. If alone single handed they are unable to avenge
themselves on their enemies, they will make ready beef and wine


SKETCHKS OF THE MIAU-TSZE.
279
in order to enlist the aid of those who are strong, and who, when
feasted on flesh and filled with wine, readily jeopardize body and
life. In case persons thus enlisted are killed, the loss of the man
is repaired by a bullock!
Those of this tribe who reside in the district of Tsing-ping
understand our language, and are submissive to our authorities.
68. Pi-pau Kih-lau, or the Kih-lau who are clad in long robes.
These also are found in the department of Ping-yuen.
The inner garments which are worn by both the men and women
are1 scarcely more than a cubit in length; over these, however,
they put on a long robe, much longer behind than before, with an
open space for the neck. They likewise wear a hooped shaped
petticoat, made of wool and of diverse colors. In their disposition,
they are gentle, and are dilligent and laborious in agricultural
pursuits.
59. Kuh-ling MvSm, families of Aborigines who are numerous
in the district of Ting-fan.
Hasty and violent in their disposition, they are always ready
to fight hand to hand with their sharp weapons, and, going out
and in carrying their spears and bows, are feared by all the other
native tribes. At present they have turned their attention to
agricultural pursuits and to the manufacture of cloth. That
spun and wove by the women is exceedingly fine; and whenever
it comes into the market, every one seeks to purchase it, so that
it is a common saying, among our people, "If you wish to make
under garments or pantaloons, you must have the Kuh-ling manu-
factured cloth." 'In forming marriage contracts, the people of this
tribe also employ go-betweens.
60. Tung Mi&u, Eastern Aborigines, who are found in Kwei-
chuh, Sin-wan, Lung-11, Tsing-ping, Tsing-bhin, and Kwang-shun.
These have no family names, but are divided into clans. The
women wear flowered upper garments, without sleeves, in two
parts, and descending low down before and behind; they also wear
short aprons, finely pleated. The men allow the hair on the crown
of their heads to grow long; their upper garments are short, and
are embroidered on the back. At mid-autumn all the stockades
unite and invite magicians (or demon-masters) to offer sacrifices
to their ancestors, and also to the deceased who have belonged to
their respective clans; bullocks are killed and a feast provided, and
each of the guests in rotation calls over the names of those to whom
2 0


280
SKETCHES OF THE MIAtJ-TSZE.
they pay this homage. After the sacrificial services are ended,
all their relatives are invited to drink wine, which is done to great
excess for a day and a night; then the festival ends. Annually,
in spring they go out upon the mountains for a hunting excursion,
and the birds they chance to take are presented to their ancestors.
The people of this tribe keep our laws, attend on our authorities
with decorum, and in their public business and private or domestic
manners, appear to be like our own good people.
61. Ttz-ki&ng Mi&u, Aborigines of Tsz-kiang. These are
found in Kwang-ping, Tsing-ping, apd about the city of Tan-
kiang; and they seem to be like those in the department of Tuh-
shan, known as the Kiu-ming and Kiu-sing, "Nine names," and
the " Nine family names."
They are quarrelsome' and careless of human life, and when they
capture an enemy they are accustomed to eat his flesh almost
while he is yet alive. The first of the eleventh month is their
great festival, on which day they close their doors and remain at
home. To do otherwise is considered very unlucky. The people
of this tribe who reside in the district of Ping-yueh occasionally
enter our army as soldiers; they are strong and love to go into
battle. There are some also who read our books and compete at
our literary examinations. Judging from their appearance, these
would not be recognized as Aborigines.
62. Hung Kih-lau, the R.ed Kih-lau, who reside in the regions
of Kwang-shuh, Ping-yuen, and Tsing-ping.
When children are bereaved of their parents, the bodies of
the latter are placed in coffins, which are not-interred, but are
deposited in caves or by the side of a river, where the coffin is left
uncovered. By the side of the coffin they erect a wooden tablet
and write on it ki& Uin tien, "Temple of our Parents."
63. Pdh Fan Mi&u; these are resident in the department of
Ting-fan. Their costume is wholly like that' of the Chinese.
Such are the customs of these people that, while their men live in
ease, the w.omen labor hard, in tilling the fields by day, and by
night in manufacturing cloth; they collect the paddy and store
it up unthreshed; they prepare the pestle and mortar and the
threshing-floor; and, at the appointed season, they bring forth
the stored paddy, and beat it out and cleanse it. At their feasts they
beat their long drums for amusement; the last day of the tenth
month is their great festival. They do not select a titne for the


SKETCHES OF THE MIAU-TSZE.
381
interment of their dead, but carry them out for burial in the silence
ef night, saying they cannot bear to have their kindred know
what they are doing.
64. Nung Mi&u: these reside at Lo-hoh and Tsih-hang in the
department of Yung-fung.
In the fifth year of Yung-ching, this tribe, originally under the
authorities of Kwang-si, were removed and placed under those of
Kwei-chau. They are industrious farmers; shave their heads, and
in their costume, &c, conform to the Chinese; their women,
however, still adhere to the customs of the Aborigines, wear short
upper garments and long petticoats, and cover their heads.
65. Xiu-M: these are like the Black Aborigines, and are found
in the towns of Hing-lung and Kni-li.
The designation of this tribe, Kvi-ku, "Nine Parts," or the
"Nine remaining-parts," was given to them in the time of the
hero Wfi han (CM Ko-liang); when he subdued the nations of
the south of China, he destroyed all of this tribe excepting only
nine persons, who were left alive. Hence their name. It is a
numerous and widely extended tribe. They are hasty and fierce
in their disposition; wear iron helmets on their heads, and have
guards for their faces, but no covering for their shoulders and
back. Over their chest they wear an iron cuirass that descends
to the knees; beneath on their legs they have a coat of mail or
iron greaves; they also bind iron plates on their thighs. They
are so strong that they easily carry wooden shields in their left
hands, while with the right they wield the spear or javelip, carry-
ing a heavy sword in their teeth, and moving swiftly as the birds
of the air. They carry heavy cross-bows, which require three
men to work them. Their shots are most fatal. They were sub-
dued under the reign of the emperor Yung-ching, and surrendered
their arms, when a city was built to keep them in check.
NoU.—The picture, accompanying lata (ketch, ta one of our author's best,
and portray* both the men and their armor iu a most life-like manner.
66. Ydu-jin, Wild-men, or Dog-men. Formerly none of these
were found in the province of Kwei-chau; but in the reign of the
emperor Yung-ching they were removed from tbe province of
Kwang-si to the districts of Kwei-ting, Tsing-ping, Tuh-sban, and
other places. They have no fixed residences, but roam from their
habitations at pleasure. They prefer places that are near rivulets,
where they can bring the water into their houses by means of
■caaAa it


SKETCHES 07 THE MIAC-TBZE:
tpouts made of the bark of trees, so as to save them the trouble of
going out to draw and bring it in. When not occupied with their
agricultural labors, they go out and collect medicinal plants, Ac,
on the hills, and travel about in their settlements practising the
healing art P*p'dn-M is the Deity they worship by sacrifices.
They have carefully preserved a book (or books) which they call
p&ng-pit; they have also round seals, which have been handed
down from their ancestors, bearing an ancient character, which is
now inexplicable, and which they regard as precious and keep
secret In manners and customs they are generous, and so liberal
that they will not pick up and keep anything that another may
chance to have lost
67. Mdn-jin, or Barbarian Aborigines. These reside in the
two towns of Sin-tien and Tan-hing.
The men wear garments made of grass and reeds; the women
dress in blue, their garments being made of flowered cloth. They
wear also short aprons. On all occasions of mourning and burial,
they slaughter bullocks and sing and dance. In disposition, they
are cruel, yet love to fish and hunt The last day of the tenth
moon is their great festival, when they offer sacrifices to demons.
At present in the town of Yuen-ho, in the department of Sze-nah,
there are families of barbarians whose manners and customs are
quite like these Man-jin.
68. Hwa Kih-lau, or the Flowery Kih-lau: named also Xik-
tau t these are found in Shi-ping in the department of Chin-yuen,
in Lung-tsiuen in the department of Shih-tsien, and Hwang-ping
ehau in the department of Ping-yueh.
The men are. idle and averse to agriculture, while they love
hunting', and make it their business to chase deer and catch birds
ia nets. The women are fond of dress and of ornaments, and
adorn their persons, with the richest silks. This tribe is the fifth
of those known as the ancient Kih-lau.
69. Td-tdu Lung-kid, or the Great Head Dragon Family;
these are found in Chiu-ning and Pu-ting.
The men wear coarse straw hats, and the women wear garments'
of' their own manufacture, with' short blue petticoats. They mak»
head-dresses from hair, taken partly from their own heads, and
partly from the manes of horses; and it is from the great size of
these hats that they are called the Great Head Dragon Family.
All, both men and women; actively engage in agriculture.


SKETCHES OF THE MIAU-TSZE.
70. T&-y& Xih-lau, or the Kih-lau which beat out their teeth;
these are found in Eien-si, Tsing-ping and Ping-yueh.
Before their daughters are given away in marriage, two of
their front teeth must be beaten out, to prevent damage to the
husband's family. This practice has secured to this tribe its
designation, as given above. This tribe is divided into five clans,
which do not intermarry. Their hair, on the forepart of the head,
is turned back and disheveled; they go barefooted; and are care-
less of life. They wear a piece of coarse woollen cloth wrapped
around their waist, without folds in its sides, and call it an apron.
All the five clans, and both men and women, dress in this style.
Note.—How the abeence of two front teeth Is to prevent damage to the
haaband'a family doea not appear, and it Is not easy to conjecture what has
(Wen riee to eo strange a practice.
71. Tung-Uai Midu: the families of this tribe are found in
all the regions about Ku-chau.
They are divided into two encampments, one called the Greater,
and the other the Less; the first is also called Ye-tau. Those of
the greater hold the lesser subject to their bidding; and any one
who offends, must pay dearly for it — perhaps forfeit his life for
his temerity. The people of this tribe are celebrated for their skill
in building boats.
72. Muh-lau; these consist of the following four families,
Wang, Li, Kin, and Wan, and are scattered over many districts
and departments of Ewei-chau.
They dig holes in the ground for furnaces and make fires,
around which in cold weather they sleep on the skins of bullocks,
instead of mats or wadded bedding. When they sacrifice to
demons, they prepare dragons made of grass, with flags of various
colors, go out into the country, and there present their offerings.
When any of their festivals recur, they sing and dance for amuse-
ment The dress of those who reside at Tu-yun and Tsing-ping
is like those of our own people. When a parent dies, they put on
mourning garments like purs; and the eldest, or some one in his
stead, mourns seven weeks, meanwhile never washing or going
out of the house. They pay great respect to their superiors and
teachers, and are rigid in their course of education; hence many
obtain degrees at our provincial examinations.
78. Yen K\A Mdu: these Barbarians are found in the town of
Yuen-ho in Sri-nan. They delight in fishing and hunting, and
20*


384
•KETCHES OF TBB MJAU-T8ZE.
consider fish and crabs as the most delicious of all articles of food.
In manners and customs they are wholly like the Mdn-jin.
74. T&ng-tung Lo-h&n: these families are found in the de-
partment,of Li-ping.
Both men and women engage in agriculture and in traffic.
The women arrange their hair in tresses on each side of the head;
and wear a comb on their foreheads. The rich have gold and
silver rings in their ears. Their upper dresses are short, fastened
close around them by double girdles tied in knots behind. Upon
the breast they wear a square piece of embroidery, ornamented with
silver or brass tinsel. ( They wear either long pantaloons and short
aprons, or no pantaloons and long petticoats. They cultivate tbe silk-
worm, and manufacture embroidered silks. Every few days they
wash their hair with fragrant water, and are cleanly and industrious
beyond what can be found among any of the other Mdn-jin. •
75. Pu-lung Chung-kid, or the Chung-kia who assist the
Dragon: these are found in the two departments of Nan-lung and
Ngan-shun, and the two districts of Ting-fan and Kwang-shun in
the department of Kwei-yang.
The first of the twelfth moon is their great festival, when an-
nually they make themselves merry in beating their brazen drums.
Sometimes they chance to dig out of the ground a brazen drum,
supposed, as they say, to have been left there by Wu-han when
he subjugated the south of China. In the purchase of these brazen
antique drums there is great competition among the rich. When
one dies, they slaughter oxen, invite their kindred, and pour out
wine from a bullock's horn. The sons of the deceased abstain from
meat, and while in mourning eat only crabs and fish. They
likewise use fish in their sacrifices. In tbe burial of their dead
they set up an umbrella oyer the grave, and after the lapse of a
year bum it. They are naturally fierce and savage, and going
out and coming in always carry their sharp weapon, ready to
revenge the slightest insult. Of late these customs have been in
a measure prohibited, and the people have become accustomed to
law and good manners. <
76. Si Midu, "Western Aborigines," comprise the families of
Ma, 8i6, Ho, Lo and Lui. These are found in the prefectures of
Kwei-yang and' Ping-yueh.
After having taken a wife the husband will not sleep with her
till she is with child by another, man, then he will lodge with her.


SKETCHKS OV THE J^IAU-TgZE.
285
After they have gathered in their harvests, annually on the tenth
month, they assemble all their cattle in the country, and invite
those who are good singers and expert in the practice of enchant-
ment; these clad in broad large felt robes, finely plaited about their
Ioius, wearing felt hats and leathern boots, lead the van; while a
hundred couples of boys and girls, dressed in green with embroidered
sashes, piping and dancing, follow in their train. After this has
been continued for three successive days and nights, the oxen are
then killed as a thank-offering for a plentiful year. This is called
sacrificing to the "White Tiger." They are an upright people,
and have respect for the laws.
77. Kiu Ming Kiu Sing Midu, "Aborigines of the Nine
Names and Nine Surnames." These reside in the district of Tush An.
They are naturally crafty and savage, and are often changing
their specific and family names. Whenever a marriage or death
occurs among them, oxen are slaughtered and their friends invited
to festivities. When intoxicated they must needs wrangle and
fight, and at once have recourse to weapons; and if any are
wounded, they must be reconciled by a present of oxen. The
women engage as planters on the mountains. In their customs
they are like the aborigines of Tsz-kiang. (See No. 61, above.)
78. Tifin, "Squatters," are found in all the above-named
localities; and in Kwei-yang and Kwang-shun, they intermarry
with our people and soldiers. Most of the men are traders, and
the women diligent farmers. When planting and sowing in the
fields, they sing their rustic songs, which are most pleasing to the
ear. Annually at the opening of the year, they sing divine songs
and beat their drums to propitiate the demons of pestilence and
plague, when all the assembled families eat and drink together.
Those who reside in Kung-shwui are the most quarrelsome, though
of late they have become in a measure subdued.
79. Tung-jm, or "Tungites." These are the most numerous
in Hia-yu and Kung-chau. They are naturally very suspicious,
and going out or coming in, must keep company. They subsist
on the poorest diet, and in winter protect themselves from the cold
by wearing the coarsest apparel.
80. Peh Ageh-tsz, "White Foreheads." A tribe situated be-
tween Yung-fung and Lo-huh.
The men tie up their hair in a spiral-shaped horn. All classes
prefer white clothing. The men wear short dresses; but the


286
SKETCHES OF THE M1AU-TSZE.
women prefer theirs long, though they never appear in. barrel-
shaped petticoats. Their manners and customs are like the Lvh-
ngek-Uz (see No. 2l, above). When sick their sole recourse is
to demons.
81.. Y&ng Kwang; a savage tribe found in the departments
of Tu-yun, Li-ping and Shih-tsien, and in the districts of Shi-ping,
Lung-tsiuen, Yu-king and Lung-li
These comprise the five several families of Yang, Lung, Chang,
Shih, and Yau.
The amount of land cultivated by them is proportioned to their
numbers; and the quantity of cloth manufactured by them is
determined by the personal demand among themselves. All their
leisure time is occupied in hunting and fishing. On nuptial and
funeral occasions they make presents of hogs to each other. They
live in thatched hovels without doors or windows, and close them
up with mud when they go abroad.
82. Heh Miau, "Black Aborigines." These are found in
large numbers in Pah-chai, Tan-kiang, Tsing-kiang, and Ku-cbau.
Many strange customs have obtained among them. Black cloth-
ing and caps are preferred; and both men and women go barefooted.
Swift as monkeys they will climb up precipices, and travel over
thorns and briers. They are savage and fond of fighting; wear
white feathers on their heads; and always, going out or coming
in, carry spears and javelins, poisoned arrows and crooked swords.
Since they were subdued in the 13th year of Yung-ching they
have been more mild and less savage. In the coldest weather
they put on no additional clothing; they have no beds, and eat the
coarsest food, uncooked and cold, using only wild vegetables and
cold water, eating with their hands without spoons or other utensils.
Early every spring those of each stockade select a place for a
concert of instrumental music, and all both old and young collect
together with their bamboo musical instruments. The largest
of these instruments are more than ten feet long, and are played
on by accomplished masters; others are very short and are used
by the secondary players. To these they dance, keeping time with
their feet beating on the ground like the sound of a drum. On
the 15th of the first moon, they kill oxen and sacrifice to demons,
to secure a plentiful year. Women of bad character they call
Amei; and over their graves when dead, their paramours erect
bamboos adorned with colored thread.


[ 287 ]
ARTICLE II.
THE SHALL CHINESE LARK.
Bt Robbbi Swim hoi, Esq., H. B. M. Consulate, Am or.
Read before the Society, July 19th, 1859.
"Along the ikjr iti muatc loeta,
"And dUUnt bills mound the notet."
This little songster, called in mandarin "Pmcm Tien-fei" (ffi
55 or "^y™S m mid-heaven," and in the Amoy dialect
the Paw-tewah, is a great favorite among the Chinese, and is
generally kept in a high cylindrically shaped cage, made of light
bamboo wicker-work, with a round movable wooden bottom
fastened to the upper part by pegs; from the centre of this bottom
a small stick projects about 6 inches, and on it is placed a piece of
coral or other rough substance, for the bird to stand on while
singing or shaking his wings, and the height of the cage enables
the bird to jump without fear of striking its head. Besides the
usual pots fastened inside and filled with water, millet, and dried
"notonectse" or boat-flies (collected and dried purposely for the
support of insect-eating birds), a wee bit of a cage is generally
attached to the wires outside, into which live grasshoppers are from
time to time inserted, and torn out by the bird and devoured with
evident relish. How much better the Chinese style of cage is
adapted for the lark, than the cage used by fanciers at home, I
will leave others to judge. One thing is certain, the captive as he
hangs in his cage suspended over some shop in the busy throng
of men, sings away most merrily regardless of all that passes below.
His congener the Northern Lark, Melanocorypha Mongolian
(Pall.) called the Peh-ling or 100 spirits, a bird far more highly
prized than our little friend, is kept in a very low-roofed wicker-
cage not above | foot high, but having also a circular wooden
flooring with a central projecting piece shaped like a small round
table for the birtrto stand on.


THE SMALL CHINESE LA EE.
280
the greater part of its outer web white. A streak of light ochreous
yellow runs over the-eye, and another from the bill round below
the ear-coverts. The ear-coverts are reddish, but not more so
than the top of the head. Throat, belly and vent, ochreous white.
Breast and flanks, reddish brown with a tinge of rust-color, the
former being spotted with narrow arrow-head spots of blackish
brown, the latter streaked here and there with a pale shade of the
same color. Under wing-coverts pale rust-color.
The male is much redder than the female on the under parts,
and the female has speckles on the throat and face which are
wanting in the male. She is also larger, though her wings are
shorter and rounder. In the breeding season 'the feathers' get
considerably abraded in both sexes, which gives the bird a much
browner and dingier appearance; but in the winter, after the
autumnal moult, the plumage once more resumes its rich tints.
The male while singing on the ground generally raises his crest,
which gives him a very elegant appearance.
Male. Bill oJ tenths of an inch; to gape 7 tenths; length
to end of tail 5 in. 7 tenths; wing 3 in. 7 tenths; tail 2 in. 4 tenths;
tarsus 9 tenths; middle toe and claw 7\ tenths; Outer toe \ in.;
inner toe 6) tenths; hind toe 4J tenths; its claw over £ inch.
Female. Bill 4$ tenths; to gape 6 tenths; length 6 in. 1 tenth; x
wing 3J tenths; tail 2 in. 4 tenths; tarsus 1 in.; hind toe 4£ tenths;
its claw over \ inch.
The members of this genus differ so slightly in color, that
without attention to the proportions and other peculiarities, it is
almost impossible to distinguish them; for example the Sky-lark
and Wood-lark are perfectly distinct birds at home; yet I have
seen some very good bird-fanciers for a while puzzled to point out
the difference. Our bird resembles A. Malabarica to a degree,
yet on comparison I think there are sufficient grounds to separate
them.
Having said something about its colors and affinities, let us
take a glance at its domestic habits. For this purpose we must
follow it to its haunts. There is an island in the Amoy harbor,
honored by the name of Whale Island, from the similarity of its
profile to that cetacean; and when the day is gradually yielding
to darkness, and outlines stand out more apparent, the resemblance
is very complete when viewed from certain points of the harbor.
The fore-part of the island is clayey, and covered with loose rocks
HCBKAt V


292
THE SMALL CHINBSB LARK.
appetite, as may be gathered from the mutual salutation when
friend meets friend. "Have you dined?" is the greeting question;
and the response is, "I have eaten my fill," or " not yet," as the
case may be. I give this as a closing episode to my notes on- the
lark, merely to show that you may look for help in vain from
your Chinese friends in ornithological pursuits. The Chinaman
cannot understand your object He quietly laughs to himself, and
thinks the indefatigable naturalist a great fool for his pains.


[ 293 ]
ARTICLE III.
ON THE BANISHMENT OF CRIMINALS IN CHINA.
Br D. J. Macoowan, M.D.
Read before the Society, September 81ft, 1858.
An investigation of the criminal jurisprudence of this land, which
should trace its history through forty-two centuries, would prove
a valuable addition to our knowledge of the Chinese, and form a
chapter of no small interest in the annals of the human family.
As there are now many students of this language, who from official
station must necessarily give attention to politics, it is to be inferred
that the desired history will not remain long unwritten. Pending
then the research and the philosophical analysis, which this sub-
ject is destined to receive, we tender some general remarks on the
various forms of Banishment, recognized by the Penal Code.*
These, in the converse order of their gravity, are what we propose
designating as,—
^ 1|f Chung-kitten, Military exile;
Li; Extra-provincial exile;
Jfe ft, Intra-provlnclal exile; and
jff j|£ ST? Kiai, Counter exile.
Hungwu, founder of the late dynasty, soon after acquiring
the empire, on the expulsion of the Mongols, disbanded his army
in part, by stationing a large portion of it on the frontiers, in
accordance with the policy of the Chau state (14th to 6th cent
B.C.), which restrained barbarian asrgression by means of military
colonies on its northern borders. Persons who were sent to fill
vacancies in those armies on the frontier, were called chung-kiuen,
military substitutes. Under the Ming dynasty, those military
colonies were rendered penal settlements. Vacancies in the army
were filled by criminals, to whom the name chung-hiuen was


ON THE BANISHMENT OF CRIMINALS IN CHINA. 296
slaves to soldiers and officers. They seem however to be unprofit-
able servants. Last year there was a dearth in Hi, and these men
were clamorous for support, engaging1 in bread riots. In 1854
two formidable bands of banditti were formed among them, one
under a leader named Twsin Kwangsien; nnd the other under
one Wuluh, by whom disturbances were created in various portions
of Pastern Turkestan.
The numbers and audacity of these exiles cause serious appre-
hensions of an insurrection, or of their joining with outer barbarinns
in aggressions on the frontier. Moved by such considerations, the
Tsiang-kiuen, or military governor-general of Hi, Tsalafunta,
petitions the emperor to order the discontinuance of the practice
of sending criminals to that territory, which he declares is already
filled to overflowing. The immediate object of the memorial is to
remonstrate against a recent edict, which is increasing the evil
of which the governor-general complains. It appears to have been
decided by the imperial government, that the exiles already in the
region of the Amoor, as well also as those who in ordinary course
of justice would be banished to Heh-lnng-kiang, shall be sent to
Hi. Tsalafunta's memorial, from which the above information
has been mainly abstracted, (Peking Gazette, June 19, 13d7,)
admits that there are cogent reasons why Manchuria should be rid
of this dangerous class, but it contends that they cannot be safely
transferred to the new frontier, Sin-kiang.
In Hi alone, exclusive of Urumtsi, and other cities of Eastern
Turkestan, there are, says our authority, above fen thousand par-
doned criminals, who are without means to make a homeward
journey. These, and others, it is feared may coalesce with the
outside barbarians, who are watching opportunity to foment rebel-
lion. If, therefore, the stream continues to flow in from the pro-
vinces, and from the Amoor also, it will be extremely difficult to
maintain the penal colony of the northern circuit in a state of
subordination.
After this vivid exhibition of the malady, onr authority respect-
fully suggests what he considers suitable remedies. As substitutes
for expatriation, he recommends fines, temporary imprisonment,
condemnation to the army now in the field, when suitable bonds
can be given, wearing of the cangue for life, and complete dis-
ablement. Commuting punishment by fines has been in practice
from the earliest period. Imprisonment has never been considered
t 1


296 OX THE BANIIBKBMT OP CRniTXALS IK CRI1VA.
a punishment; it it a provisional detention. The "wearing of
the cangue for life," is a torture which has been anticipated bj
•ohm tribunals, that of Ningpo among the number, by what is
called standing to death:—the criminal being placed standing in
a cage, the upper part of which encloses the neck like the cangue,
and in that position he is kept until he dies from starvation. By
"complete disablement," it is supposed that the governor counsels
the adoption of the classic punishment of hamstringing, which
comes down from the palmy days of the immaculate Yau and Shun.
According to Yu's revised and improved code, there were five hun-
dred cases incurring the penalty of hamstringing, which might
be remitted for a sum exceeding six hundred taels of silver.
Since the adoption of the humane code of Wanti, 179 B. C, when all
mutilations were abolished, that punishment has been more or less
in vogue among the extra-judicial punishments of the tribunals.
It has been inflicted in this city within a recent period, and would
find many advocates among modern jurists.
As the frigid north is obnoxious to southern Chinese, so the
calorific south is mimical to the men of the north, hence Tsala-
runta counsels the continuance of the practice of banishing the
latter, to the " mephitic mountains" of Kwajrihim and Yunnan.
The form of punishment that we have been considering is not
included in what is called the Five Punishments, viz., death,
extra-provincial exile, intra-provincial exile, beating with the
larger bamboo, and beating with the smaller bamboo.
Extra-provincial exile is the rendering we give to the term
Iw, which includes three degrees of distance—2,000, 2,500 and
8,000 IL The earliest instance of punishment recorded in Chinese
annals, save the execution of Tsz' Yu by Hwangti, was the Uu,
banishment of the "four evil ones" by Shun in the reign of Yau,
(2506 B.C.), to the four regions, and of the superintendent of
works to the northern frontier. It was not included.in the Five
Punishments of that period,* adjusted five years later, nor in the
code of Yu. It first appears among the Five Punishments of
Wanti, which included those that now bear that designation.
At the present time, a little difference exists in practice between
a modified form of military banishment and extra-provincial
banishment) there being a class of exiles designated military, who
are merely sent from their own to a distant province.
•"Branding, exciting At note, hamstringing, eutratlon, dwth.


ON THE BANISHMENT OP CRIMINALS IN CHINA. 207
The law contemplates the employment of these criminals as in
some sort slaves to the yamuns, or public offices, just as those in
Hi are slaves to the army. In some places it is not unlikely
that the banished of this class are to the present day to be found
employed as runners or lictors to the authorities. Vestiges of this
practice exist at Hangchau, as is witnessed at the triennial
examination of district graduates, when competing' for the provin-
cial degree. Of the ten thousand candidates, every denary has an
attendant, whose duty it is to perform menial services for the
scholars during the solitary confinement which the ordeal of com-
position imposes on them. These menials bear the name of military
exiles, since it was formerly the duty of that class of banished
criminals to perform servile labor at the Examination Hall. But
the gratuities of the literati to these unfortunate men became so
large, as to cause the hangers-on at the public offices to covet the
employment, and after a time the criminals were supplanted
by the indigenes. Those now who aspire to the service, still
styled as that of the exiles, are compelled to pay the petty officers
a bonus of three thousand cash. In like manner, it is said, the
banished criminals have been jostled out of the publio offices
generally.
There are then two classes of extra-provincial exiles, one coming
under the military designation, and the other to whom the term is
more strictly applicable. These criminals are to be met with in
every large city of the empire, and opportunities therefore are not
wanting of observing the operation of the system.
The whole number of banished criminals in the province of
Chehkiang, assuming those of Ningpo as a basis of calculation, is
about eight hundred, which would give the eighteen provinces
not much less than twenty-five thousand. They are under
strict surveillance, and by rule should report themselves, or be
reported by their sureties bi-monthly, to the district magistrate;
very little restraint is imposed upon any save the new-comers.
An allowance nearly sufficient to supply them with rice is made
by the local government, and the privilege accorded to beggars,
is claimed by the exiles,—that of suing at every shop daily for
a cash. Like the mendicants, the exiles have a responsible chief;
who collects quarterly, or annually, this tax from shopmen. Com*
pared with beggars, the poorest of these criminals is well to do.
All pursue some calling. Nearly all the dealers in second-hand
NOMAS
VI


298 . ON THE BANISHMENT OF CRIMINALS IN CHINA.
articles are of this class. They make much money as usurers,
lending small sums to the needy poor at the rate of twenty per cent
per mentem. They are notorious as receivers of stolen goods, and
between them and thieves on the one hand, and detectives so called,
on the other, there is a good understanding. They are always
ready for a row that will pay, and when hired as bullies are careful
to have a show of law or justice on their side; nevertheless, despite
their sharpness and circumspection, they sometimes become involved
in the meshes of'the law, or get roughly bandied by the people.
About twenty were killed a few years since, to the east of Ningpo,
in an attack on the villagers who rose against the salt monopoly.
They had been hired by the mandarins as more formidable than
the military', and so indeed they were; but the insurgents came
upon them in overwhelming numbers. These same villagers are
now in a state of insurrection, having for leader a native of the
place, who escaped from a distant region to which he had been
banished for insubordination. They are always men of ability,
and not unfrequently well educated. One of those at Ningpo
was banisbed thither, for having succeeded, by a welLwritten thesis,
in pushing a dullard to whom he had conveyed it, through the
examination to the attainment of a degree. Some bring property
with them. Their families are allowed to accompany them; or
they may send for them. In this manner it happens on the
occasion of a general pardon, that many are found who decline
availing themselves of it, preferring exile with its certain means
of subsistence, to the uncertainties of their old haunts. There
exists a strong community of feeling among them, and the whole
body are apt to resent an injury to a member, even sure to do
so, if the sufferer has been wronged as a criminal. This will be
understood when it is stated that the criminals in one province will
be found to hail from the'same region of country in another:—
thus the province of Chehkiang is the place to which by law
offenders from Shantung, Chihli and Shansi are banished.
Branding those condemned to banishment is less practiced now
than formerly. Those who are branded have two characters on each
cheek;—some "exiled robber," others "exiled thief." "Run-
away exile" is imprinted on those who have attempted to escape.
The payment of a small sum of money to those to whom the
execution of the sentence of branding is committed, purchases
exemption from au indelible stigma.


ON THE BANISHMENT OF CRIMINALS IN CHINA. 309
When a death occurs among them, intelligence of the event is
transmitted to the magistrate of the district whence the deceased
came. If buried at the public expense, custom requires that a bam-
boo dust-pan and a broom be deposited in the coffin; for a deeply
seated superstition teaches that members of society who consume
without rendering an equivalent, become post-horses in the me-
tempsychosis, recompensing in that capacity, the unmerited favors
conferred upon them in the human state of existence* These homely
. utensils facilitate the transmigration, the dust-pan becoming 'the
head, and the broom being easily transformed into the caudal
extremity of the quadruped.
What we have styled intra-provincial exile, is called Tk. This
slight punishment was anciently a very severe one, including as it
did the servile labor of hulling rice. It comes down from the
Han dynasty. At the present time it means banishment for from
one to three years, to another part of the province. Sixty blows are
reckoned as equivalent to intra-provincial banishment for one year,
and one hundred blows as equivalent to three years banishment.
Lawgivers of almost every land and age have endeavored to
restrain the unruly by banishment, but perhaps in no country have
they resorted to what, for want of a better term, we call "counter -
exile." It consists in sending to their original place of abode, the
quarrelsome, the litigious, demogagical busybodies, and others
who render themselves obnoxious to the officers of another district.
They are detained at their own town or village under greater or
less surveillance, and for a longer or shorter period according to
circumstances. Its palpable utility commends this piece of whole-
some discipline to rulers of every grade, from the district magistrate
to him who wields the vermilion > pencil. The Peking Gazettes
often contain imperial mandates directing such and such a person
to this counter exile; most commonly those who have come up
to the capital With frivolous complaints, or unsubstantiated charges.
The latest case that has come under our notice, was that of the
plaintiff dame Tsiang Neyang. It is not stated why the unlucky
lady was non-suited.
In the negotiations recently completed at Tientsin, which inau-
gurate a new era in this old world, the toleration of our holy religion
has been secured. We cannot dismiss the subject before us with-
out expressing a hope that the stipulations referred to will have a
retrospective bearing, and secure the return to their homes of those
a i *


300
ON THE BANISHMENT OF CRIMINALS IN CHINA.
exiles in Hi, whose only offense has been that of worshipping the
Most High according to the dictates of an enlightened conscience.
The Criminal Code enacts banishment to that dreary region against
adherents of heterodox sects. Under the operation of this law, so
like what we have read of in other lands, many Christians whom
the tribunals could not compel to apostatise, have suffered for
their fidelity by banishment. As China has been compelled to
concede toleration to an extent almost unknown on the Continent
of Europe, let it be availed of in behalf of the exiles of Turkestan,
now more privileged than those in some civilized states, who in
battling for the same natural right, are exposed to punishments
not more endurable. ,
It were a mistake, and to the Chinese very unjust, to consider
the disregard of human life exhibited of late at the tribunals, as
illustrative of the criminal jurisprudence of this country. The pre-
sent is an exceptionable period. Ordinarily the life of the subject
is guarded with jealous care, capital punishment being inflicted
only after obtaining the imperial warrant In the expense
and trouble involved in banishment, is afforded an evidence of a
desire to spare the effusion of blood. It is but just to add also
that since the reign of Kienlung there has been a gradual meliora-
tion of the Code. In no period of Chinese history have punish-
ments been mitigated to the same degree. The reign of King-ti,
who immediately succeeded the reformer Wan-ti already referred
to, may be an exception; for that monarch went so far in relaxing
the code as seemingly to demoralize his people.
The Manchu statesman whom we have quoted, proposes those
severe punishments as a substitute for banishment, only as a tem-
porary expedient, contemplating recourse to transportation when
it can be employed, without hazarding the tranquillity of Hi. He
fortifies his recommendation by citing a precedent. During the
Mohammedan rebellion in 1825, all criminals who had incurred the
penalty of banishment were retained in the provinces, until that
remote dependency was tranquillized. We have just seen a report
from the district magistrate of Ningpo to the governor of this
province, in relation to criminals now under condemnation of banish-
ment, but detained in consequence of the unsettled state of the
country. The numbers of this class occasion much inconvenience,
and an alteration of the laws respecting them is earnestly advocated
by the local authorities.


on the Banishment of criminals in china. 301
The inquiry naturally suggests itself, why has the Amoor not
been used for a penal settlement—since 1852? Is it from fear that
the race which is incroaching on the Malayan Archipelago, which
would if unobstructed contest with Anglo-Saxons for supremacy
in Australia and the west coast of America, may in the course of
time dispossess the Manchus of their hunting grounds? Or, as
those criminals on the north-west threaten to coalesce with tribes
unfriendly to the government, are the apprehensions that the ad-
vancing tide of Russian power in the north-east may find, in the
weak nationality of China, facilities for further progress?


[ 302 J
ARTICLE IV.
COTTON IN CHINA.
Bt D. B. Robertson, Esq., H. B. M. Consul at Shanghai.
Read before the Society, July 19th, 1859.
The cultivation of Cotton'in China dates from the earliest period,
and were the subject of sufficient importance, its gradual spread
from the southern and western to these northern provinces could
easily be traced, and would afford interesting matter for enquiry.
In Chinese it is called meen-hwa jjA Iffe, being a compound
word,—meen, to be joined, as a bud to its stem, and kwa, flower.
The first mention made of this product will be found in the Shoo-
king, an historical classic compiled by Confucius B.C. 500, but
subsequently lost in the reign of Che-hwang-te, when a prosecution
directed against books and literati, swept off all the existing records
of the empire; and which was rescued from utter oblivion, by oral
tradition, in the reign of Wan-te of the Han dynasty B.C. 178.
This classic has reference to events embraced in a period of
about 630 years, from the reign of Yaou H B.C. 2356, to that
of Ping-wang ^ 3E B.C. 721; so that it may bje~said to be a
record of public acts of 2579 years ago; and although various
learned individuals have questioned this claim to high antiquity
on the ground of error in computation of time, there does not
appear any very reasonable motive for disputing it; and tradition
at least goes for something in the absence of more satisfactory
proof.
The Sboo-king appears to be a collection of records and reports,
and the section we have to refer to, is a return,—entitled the
"Tribute of Yu ||"— of the revenue derived from the waste
lands brought into cultivation, which, as in all early periods, was
paid in kind and not in money. Originally Yu was the engineer
appointed by the Emperor Shun, to drain the land and control
the rivers (B.C. 2255); and certainly the works he performed


COTTON IN CHINA.
303
were as stupendous and extensive, as they were scientific and
useral; and well entitled him to the title of "Great," by, which
he is still called. On the death of Shun, .his son was put aside,
and Yu elevated to the Throne B.C. '2205. It is the engineering
exploits of the great Emperor which are detailed in the section
alluded to.
The passages in the "Tribute of Yu" which speak of Cotton
are as follows.
"The foreigners from the island brought grass-cloths; while
their baskets were supplied with weaving'Cotton, and their bundles
filled with smaller and larger oranges; which they were allowed
to bring as tribute," and again;—" their baskets were filled with
different coloured floss silk and silky cotton."
These notices are slight indeed, but sufficient to show that at
that remote period Cotton and its use were known.
It would take more space and'time than this note permits of to
trace the first growth, not the introduction, of Cotton in China;
but we may briefly remark that the Chinese authorities on the
subject state, that in the time of the Han (B.C. 202, to A.D. 23),
and Tang (A.D. 620 to 904), foreigners brought tribute of Cotton
to China, although it was not yet planted in the empire; and
only during the Sung and Yuen dynasties (A.D. 1127 to A.D.
1333) was it first cultivated.
It is however very improbable that so useful an article, and one
evidently known from a remote period, should have been cultivated
in China only so lately as the year 1127, far back as that is, and
we can only conclude that the term "E" barbarian, politely ren-
dered "foreigner," had reference to the people of'those regions
beyond the pale of what was then Chinese civilization 4 although
inhabitants of what is now comprised in the eighteen provinces of
the empire; and such conclusion is borne out, when we find it
stated by a great authority in such matters, Seu Kwang-ke, who
lived in the Sling dynasty (A.D. 1308 to A.D. 1028) in this district
of Shangliae, and wrote a standard work on the cultivation of Cotton,
that the provinces of Shanse, Shense, Fuhkeen and Ewangtung
first derived advantage from it; for ships brought it to Canton and
Fuhkeen by sea from the outside foreigners; but those residing in
the confines of £hanse and Shense received it from over the western
frontiers. It is apparent therefore that the introduction of Cotton
into China was gradual; the probability being it was brought from


304
COTTON IN CHINA.
India both by sea, and over die barrier range of mountains that
separates China proper from the plains of Hindostan, into the in-
dependent regions of China, from whence it was sent as tribute.
Of its introduction however to the northern provinces, history
affords more precise data; for there was a certain madame Hwang'
who flourished in the Yuen dynasty, some 500 years since, and
who, having passed a considerable share of her life in the provinces
of Kwangtung and Fuhkeen, where she was initiated into the
advantages of Cotton, conceived and carried out the idea of trans-:
porting it to her native place; and at Sung-keang, within a few
miles of Shanghae, she distributed the seeds she had brought, and
prosperity dawned among the people; all however, we can say of
this story is, there is something in it.
Tuou Kew-ching, the author of an agricultural work termed
"Records of intervals from the plough," gives the lady credit only
for improvements in the preparation of Cotton, and in weaving it,
and most likely he is correct in so doing,—for the gradual advance
\ of Cotton cultivation can be traced without difficulty from Kwang-
tung to Fuhkeen, and to Chekiang, and finally to this province,
the route being by the seaboard and not the interior.
But the cultivation of Cotton is not confined to the seaboard;
it is found on the western boundaries, or what may be termed the
extra-provincial portions of China. In a Chinese work entitled
"Information respecting the recently subdued Barbarians," it is
said the country of Aksu, somewhat to the south of the Celestial
Mountains (Teen-shan), near the rivers which form the great
Tarim-gol, produces Cotton which covers the fields like yellow
clouds, and the district round Khoten, Kashgar, and Yarkhand
still pays i tribute in home-grown Cotton, as it did in the time
of Marco Polo, who mentions the circumstance. This confirms the
statement-of Seu Kwang-ke the writer above mentioned, when he
says,—the inhabitants of Shanse and Shense received it from over
the western frontiers.
Regarding the cultivation of the plant, it would occupy too much
time to enter fully upon that; those who are curious on the subject
will find every information in various Chinese books, as also in Mr.
Fortune's works, who describes the Chinese Cotton plant as the
"Gossypium herbticeum," a branching annual, growing from one
to three and four feet high, according to the richness of the soil,
and flowering from August to October; the flowers ore of a dingy


300
COTTON IN CHINA.
Next comes the spinning of yarn and almost every family has its
spinning wlieel called fang-chay, hy which one person can turn
out from eight to nine taels weight of yarn per diem, at ten cash
per tael wages. Nor do the means of profit cease here; the loom
is ever at work in the villages, and a woman can with ease weave
thirty feet of thirteen inches of cloth or even more in a day.
•Sufficient of ihe seed is retained for the next year's sowing, the
remainder is sold for the oil press, and the stalks being in much
request as fuel, find a ready market in the cities; thus every portion
of this plant is a source of profit to its grower.-
The province of Keangsoo is celebrated for its Cotton; in Gan-
hwuy and portions of Chekeang it is also grown to a considerable
extent; but the rich undulating plains of the first produce the
finest sorts, and at one period of the year, in the words of a Chinese
author, "theflower of the Cotton covers the field like yellow clouds,"
for many tens of Biles; - indeed few crops are more beautiful; the
dark rich green of the leaves give the appearance of a carpet
spread over the land as far as the eye can reach, which may well
excite the poetic fancies of not only Chinese but foreigners who
gaze on so fair a scene.
As in all places celebrated for the production of any particular
article, there are some districts in Keangsoo and the neighborhood,
the produce of which is preferred to that of others, and indeed
the soil there is more suitable for the cultivation of the plant. The
neighborhood of Shanghae is reputed for the quantity and excel-
lence of its Cotton, and the following may be> taken as a fair
average percentage of returns.
Shanghae, 60 per cent.
North of do.—Pihkeaou 4 „
South of do.—Lunghwa, 10 „
East of do.—Pootung, 50 „
West of do.—Keating, 100 „
comprising the following districts:—
Chingyang been JEHU
Tsungming been &
Shanghae been jffy ^
Paousban been ^ [Jj
TMBgpoo been $T fit ^


COTTON IN CHINA. 807
Keating heen $f
Taeteang chow ....
***H
Chuensha ting jl| j§§
Fungheen heen 3$£ |f
Nanhwuyheen
Hwating heen ...
****
Loo heen .... # m
These are the principal places of produce; Keating however
bears the palm, for both quantity and quality.
It is of course difficult to estimate with accuracy the quantity of
Cotton produced in these districts; three piculs per mow is said to
be a good average crop, and were the superficies of the land under
cultivation known, some approximation to the truth might be
arrived at At present this is difficult, but the result of inquiries
regarding the export of this article, shews to some extent what
the production is, and allowing say, one-third for home consump-
tion, a rough calculation may be made.
Export of Raw Cotton from Shanohab.
To Southern China—
To Chaou-yang and other) Bale* Cattiet
ports in the East of \ Cleaned, 16,000 each 65
Kwangtung Province, )
Do. Do. Do. Uncleaned, 8,000 60 .
To ports in Fulikeen, Cleaned, 20,000 104
To Central China—
To ports in Chekeang, ... Uncleaned, 70,000 60
To Northern China—
To ports in Shantung, .. .Uncleaned, 150,000 101
To Neuchwang, &c, Cleaned, 76,000 83
To Upper Province*—
To Hookwang, Ac, Cleaned, 30,000 145
Small.quantities for in- j c, d 2Q m ltf
land consumption, ... ) ''
Total Bales, 384,000
Tli!s 38-1,000 bales at 100 catties to the picul may be said to re-
present 3o9,850 piculs or about 21,420 tons of Cotton exported


308
COTTON IN CHINA.
annually from the port of Shanghae; adding one third say
119,950 piculs, will show a total of 479,800 piculs, equal to about
28,560 tons, the produce of the Cotton fields in Keangsoo.
The information comprised in the above return was obtained
some years since, but on enquiring, there appears little reason for
altering it, the Cotton hongs having been re-established since
their dispersion by the rebels, and the trade resumed.
The price of Cotton varies with circumstances, like all other
marketable produce. At the present time, the following may be
taken as a fair average:—
Uncleaned.
No. 1, White, 6,800 cash per picul.
No. 2, „ 6,600 „
No. 1, Yellow, 4,800 „ „
No. 2, „ 3,200 „
Cleaned.
No. 1, White, 20,000 cash per picul.
No. 2, „ 12,000 „
Yellow, 7,500 „ „
but these quotations are lower after the crop is picked; for instance
the best white, No. 1 cleaned, averages about 17,000 cash per
picul, as in an indifferent year it rises in proportion.
Cotton for exportation is packed in bales; the weight of which
varies as the above return shews, for what reason is not very
clear, but doubtless there is a cause for it. The packing, pressing,
cording and shipping cost about 2,500 cash per bale. The freight,
of course, depends on its destination.
The above is but an imperfect notice of a subject worthy of
consideration, but to enter more fully upon it would occupy more
space than the limits of this paper will permit.


[ 309 ]
ARTICLE V.
A SKETCH OFTHB TAUIST MYTHOLOGY IN ITS MODERN FORM.
Br ths Rbt. Josbph Edkins.
Read before the Society, Ma; 17th, 1659.
At the head of this mythology is a trinity of persons, who preside
over the intellectual universe, the physical being governed by
divinities of a lower grade. The title of the first individual in this
triad is Yuen shl t'ien tsun, the honoured one of heaven, first in
time. The heaven in which he resides is called "the upper capital
of the jade-stone mountain," or more shortly, "the jade-stone
pure region." Tauism follows the Hindoo method of imagining a
tier of heavens ranged one over the other, or scattered through
the starry, spaces, constituting the residences of divinities. The
entrance to his palace is called, in imitation of the style of an
oriental emperor, "the golden door." He is said to have created
the three worlds. He brought into existence Devas, and other
rational beings, in overwhelming multitudes. He sets the staijs
in motion, and causes the planets to revolve. He is the source of
all true doctrine, and is in himself immaterial, and spontaneous.*
The second person is called Ling pau t'ien tsun, the honoured
one of heaven mho is valued and powerful. He resides in the
"upper pure region." The collection of sacred books is' ascribed
to him. These books came into existence at the time when the
world was. formed. He calculated the succession of times, and
divided the ages into kalpas. He determined the movements and
interaction of the two principles Yin and Yang, which pervade all
nature. He is very wise and benevolent, and occupies the pole of
the higher world.
Lau-tsI himself, the historical founder of the Tanist system, is
the third person in the triad. He communicates to mankind the
doctrines, which the first in the .triad had uttered, and the second
had collected in the form of books. He is said to instruct mankind
* This and the following descriptions are chiefly taken from the work Hluen
men jib. long, a book of daily prayers used by Taufou.


310 A SKETCH OF THE TAUIST MYTHOLOGY
in every age and country. Under various assumed names, he has
appeared as the teacher of emperors and kings, the reformer of
successive generations. He is the author of the " Book on-reason
and virtue," consisting of 5,000 words. He controls the Yin aud
Yang principles, is very wise and benevolent, and is called T'ai
shang lau kiiin, tlie most eminent aged ruler, Tau teh t'ien tsun,
fhe honoured one of heaven, who inculcates reason and virtue. He
resides in the "very pure heaven."
Subordinate to this supreme triad are various divinities, of whom
the highest is Yuh-hwang-ta-ti, the great jade-stone emperor. He
is the governor of the physical universe, and as such corresponds,
say the Buddhists, to Indra Shakra in then* mythology. He is
inferior to the San t'sing, the above-mentioned triad, as Shakra is
inferior to the Buddhas. His residence is the pure jade-stone
palace in the T'ai-wei tract of stars. An ancestor of the hereditary
head of the Tauist sect, whose family name is Chang, has been
promoted to this rank.
There is a " ruler of earth" corresponding to Yuh-hwang-shang-
ti, the ruler of heaven. This personage is-<called Heu t'u. From
the earliest periods, the Chinese used language, which ascribed
divinity to earth, or rather the spirit of the earth. He dwells in
•Vjfclaoe made of the seven precious stones. He presides over the
routs of the soil, and over the mountains and rivers. He is styled
Heu t'u hwang ti k'i, spirit of'imperial earth, ruler of the soil.
Next to these occurs a series of star-gods, astrology forming a
principal element in the development of the Tauist polytheism.
'J he divinity who is called T'ien hwang ta ti resides in the present
pole-star. He is said to rule over the north and south poles, and
to regulate the affairs of heaven, earth and man. He presides
over war and peace, and the revolutions of the stars. In his posi-
tion he resembles the high mountains of the earth. His residence
is called the palace of the Lesser Bear, at the pole of the Tsi-wei
tract of stars.
The lord of the stars (sing chu) is another personage who is
called the great emperor of the north pole. He regulates the
movements of the sun, moon and planets, and presides over the
stars, the great circles and the seasons. His residence is a star of
the same name, near the pole. ./■
The, spirit of the south pole is called the original holy honoured
one of heaven, and the longjived great emperor of the south pole.


IN ITS MODERN FORM.
811
He distnouies golden charms, and pours down light to save meu
from suffering-.
The spirit of the Mar T'ai yih, is called "the honoured one of
heaven, who listens for the cries of sufferers to save them." His
residence is the "eastern palace." He is said to assume number-
less forms in various regions, in order that he may save men.
With a boat of lotus-flowers of nine colours, 'he femes men over
to the shore of salvation. Holding' in his hand a willow branch,
he scatters from it the dew o'f true doctrine.
The "father of thunder," Lui tsu, fills all regions with his- as-
sumed forms. While he discourses on doctrine, his foot rests on
nine beautiful birds. He has under him thirty-six generals, t'ien
tsiang. He spoke the book caHed Yuh k'u pau king. Those who
disobey him ave changed to dust. His commands are swift as
winds and fire. By the power of his wisdom, he overcomes de-
mons (Maras). He is the father of all living'beings, the teacher of
all spirits. He is styled "the honoured one of heaven, the thun-
derer who renovates mankind." Kwan yin one of the great
Bodhisattwas of the Buddhist religion is also addressed in the
prayers of the Tauists. They imitate the Buddhists in their des-
criptions of him, speaking in the same manner of his various meta-
morphoses, his disposition to save the lost, his purity, wisdom,
and marvel-working power.
The son and moon are also adored as gods. The former is
called T'ai yang ti kittn, the tun-ruler, or "the honoured one of
heaven that diffuses true light," or " the bright ruler of the palace
of the sun." He is said to preside over the door of light in the
south, and over the soul (hwen) and intellect of man. He is the
most honoured of all the lights of heaven. Wherever he shines,
he changes evil into good.
The spirit of the moon presides over the door of darkness in the
north. She protects the material soul of man (p'eh), and sends
down with great impartiality, happiness and misery on the good
and the bad among mankind. She is spoken of as the hare tra-
versing her nine paths,* and is styled the honoured one of heaven,
the light of whose wisdom shines brightly.
* In the Chines* astronomy thr moon'* orbit consists of nine parts, tlis whole
forming a very Intricate serpentine pnth on both siilrs of Hie ••rlipiic. The nine
portions are distinguished by the name* of colours. Of these, ouniu*, one, the
while, i» ruiained in inudcrn uatioiiuiiiu-al works as the div-ig'iation of the
■noon's ciiliio orbit.
t 2


312
A SKETCH OF THB TAUI8T MYTHOLOGY
There is a very well known triad of subordinate divinities called
San yuen, the three original ones, or San kwan, .the three rulers.
They preside over three departments of physical nature, heaven,
earth, and water. They are styled the three holy men who form
a unity (T'ai kih). They send down good and ill fortune on men,
and save the lost. They are called in their collective unity san kwan
ta ti the three rulers mho constitute one great god, and "the
honoured one of heaven, who is easily influenced."
The next deity to be mentioned is Hiuen t'ien shang ti, high
emperor of the dark heaven. He is also denominated Chen wu
ta ti, the great military emperor. He is described as the model
of the true ascetic. He has transformed himself eighty-two times
to become the instructor of men in the three national religions.
He is called the spirit of happiness, and the honoured one of heaven
who overcomes demons (Haras), and who came from the golden
door (of heaven) to assume a human body. ,
There are several personages, belonging to different periods of
Chinese history, who are worshipped under the name tsu,patriarchs.
Some of them are real and others fictitious. The older five patri-
archs are styled ti kiiin, imperial ruler. The first is Shau yang,
or Tung hwa. He is placed at the head of a series of men, who
have-transmitted the doctrines of Lau tsu to modern times. Cheng
yang whose real name was Chung-li k'iuen, and who is said to
have beeen a general of the Han dynasty, is the second. The
third is Feu-yeu, who is also called Lii tsu. He is in the Tauist
religion, what Kwan yin is in the Buddhist He is said to have
bten born in the T'ang dynasty, and to have revealed the secret
doctrines of the spirits and genii. The fourth Hai chan, was a
statesman who served the Liau imperial family. His name was
Lieu tsau. The last of the five is Chung yang ti kuln. His name
was Wang hi and he is styled the teacher of perfect truth, who
communicated to men the mysterious doctrines of heaven, caused
them to know the way to immortality, and spread far and wide*
the principles upheld by the various schools of Tauism.
Another series of patriarchs consists of five distinguished authors
of no great antiquity. They are Chang tsl yang, author of Wu
chen p'ien , book on the discovery of truth, Slab, hing lin, author
of Hwan yuen p'ien, book on returning to the origin, Sieh tsX hien,
who commented on the former of these two works, C'Uen ni won,
writer of several noted works, and Pell tsl t'sing, another well-


IN ITS MODERN FORM.
313
known author. These men did not live earlier than the tenth
century, and all belonged to southern China. They are styled
chen jen, true men, and are also with two others called " the seven
true men of the south." The other two are Lieu yung nien (a
commentator on the work Wu chen p'ien and disciple of its author),
and Peng hoh lin (a writer of some Tauist hymns).
There are seven Tauist writers of north China, whjty are called
"the seven true men," or "the seven true men of the north."
They were principally of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries.
The first is Ma tan yang and the seventh, a female, is his wife.
She is named Sun t'sing tslng. The others are Tan c'hang c'hun,
Lieu c'hang sheng, K'ieu c'hang c'hun, Wang yuh wang, and
Hoh kwang ning. The woman is called yuen kiiln original ruler,
while the rest are styled "true ruler."
A female divinity named Teu mu, the aged dame of the great
bear, is of Hindoo origin. She is addressed as "queen of heaven."
Her Hindoo name is Ma-li-che.
The god of literature is Wen c'hang. He is said to have trans-
formed himself ninety-eight times, and to have wrought numerous
wonderful effects. He has promoted all the three national religions.
He equals in authority the three rulers of heaven, earth and the
sea, and assists those who are seeking office, or testing their abilities
in the public examinations.
The divinity who presides over T'ai shan, a high mountain in
the province of Shantung, is called Tung yoh ta ti, the great
emperor of the eastern mountain. There are four other divinities
ruling over the principal mountains in the north, south, west and
centre of China, but this one is more the object of Tauist worship
than the rest He is said to have appeared in many successive
ages in the person of various teachers of Tauist doctrine. He
rules over punishments in the present and future life. Two series
of rulers in hades, one of ten, and another of thirty-six, are subject
to him. The names of the good he records as deserving of heaven.
Those who are corrupted and deceived, he seeks out, that he may
save them.
Confucius has a place assigned him among the deities of this
religion, and he is addressed as "the honoured one of heaven who
causes literature to flourish and the world to prosper."
The living head of the Tauist religion, a person of the Chang
family, is honoured under the title T'ien shT, heavenly teacher.
MCBIAS vni


814 A. SKETCH OF THE TAVIST MYTHOLOGY, ETC.
Like almost all the deities that go before, he is addressed with the
the title Ta td, great emperor, and T'ien tsun, the honoured one of
heaven.
There are some other personages whose names appear in Tairist
history, who are also honoured as gods. Htt tsu, an ancient phy-
sician, worshipped as a medical divinity; Koh tsu, a well known
Tauist author, and an alchemist of the third century; Sah tsu, and
three broa^rs in thfl Han dynasty, called the San Mau. are among
the most conspicuous of these individuals.
In this enumeration, those personages are not mentioned who
have reoeived posthumous titles from the state. The divine honours
paid to them are a part of the national religion, but there is no
special form of worship appointed to be used for them in the Tauist
books. They are such as Kwan ti, the god of war, the protectors
of districts and departments, called Cheng hwang, and of lesser
territorial divisions called T'u ti. They may in some sense be
classed with the personages immediately honoured by the literati
in the Confucian temple, and who receive similar titles.


31fi
AMERICAN EMBASSY
reach the capital by the land route, and if he arrived in that part
of China first he must wait for them.
The policy of the Chinese Government in important crises is to
devolve the management of a special mission on one or two of its
best servants, and make them responsible for its termination, rather
than commit it to officers as part of their ordinary duties. This
policy the rulers have found, after long experience, to insure, more
than any other which they know, the success of an undertaking.
It was exhibited in the present case, and there were many reasons
for adhering to it until all the treaties were in operation; but so
far as one could see none of those reasons involved the needless
delay of going north by the common post routes, and every argu-
ment was used by the American minister to convince the Com-
missioners of the importance of adopting a different course. A
passage to Taku in the frigate Mistiatippi was offered them by
Commodore Tattnall; but they alleged that until they received
permission from the Emperor it would be impossible for them to
accept the polite offer. It may be observed that the Chinese do
not regard the exchange of the ratifications of a treaty by the day
fixed as of paramount importance, nor does an unavoidable post-
ponement in their opinion impair its obligations; they have not
yet learned the customs of the West in these particulars.
Arrangements were made for an exchange of visits between the
Chinese and the American Plenipotentiaries, which took place on
the 2d and 4th of June at Shanghai. At these interviews it was
agreed by the former, that as the necessity which lay upon them
of meeting the English Minister before they returned to Court
would prevent their arrival in Peking in time to exchange the
American treaty at that place within the time specified, their
failure to do so should have no effect on the validity of the com-
pact The delay had arisen from causes which they could not
control, but they felt satisfied that the Emperor would regard it
as immaterial. The fact in respect to the exchange was, that
more time must be granted, for the day was only a fortnight hence,
and their copy of the treaty was in Peking.
Kweiliang observed, that as the right granted to the Americnn
Envoy to go to the capital was derivative, dependent on articles
in the treaties with England and France, and on arrangements
made in carrying them out, there was a propriety in Mr. Ward
going tlnther at the same time with the envoys of those nations.


TO PEKINO.
317
He knew that His Majesty desired them all to visit his metropolis,
and therefore assured Mr. Ward that he would he received with the
same respect that was given to the others, and might proceed
north when they went. He and his colleague allowed that every
stipulation had been fulfilled by the latter, who had arrived in
time to exchange ratifications before the year expired; but their
duties in connection with the other treaties prevented their com-
pleting this ceremony by the appointed day.
These conditions and arrangements were put in writing by the
Commissioners. In their dispatch they explained the reasons of
their remaining at Shanghai for so long a period, but said that
they would start for the north as soon as the unsettled points
were arranged. They alluded to the necessity they were under
to go overland; but when the three Ministers reached Peking
the exchange of the ratifications of their treaties would at once
be made, adding, "In this manner the relations between the
several parties to these compacts will be placed on a permanent
and amicable footing, and all their provisions carried out to the
common advantage of all." In his reply, Mr. Ward took the
precaution to repeat what he had already mentioned, and stated
that as he had formally proffered them the President's ratification
within the stipulated time, he regarded the exchange as having
been made dejure, and that all rights dependent thereon accrued
from that date.
Two days after these arrangements had been completed, their
Excellencies, the English and French Plenipotentiaries, reached
Shanghai on the Gth of June. The sequel of their negotiations
with the Chinese Commissioners was briefly referred to by the
latter in a communication to Mr. Ward, dated the 11th, in which
they told him that the Allied Ministers could not remain longer
in Shanghai, "because the time for exchanging their treaties is so
near at hand;" and as they themselves were therefore to leave for
Peking on the 13th with their retinues, Mr. Ward could do so
when he pleased.
The impression which was left on the minds of those who
heard the remarks of Eweiliang and Hwashana in relation
to these proposed visits, and their own connection with their
objects, was very strong that they were sincere in their hopes
and plans to bring this perplexing and difficult mission to a
.prosperous conclusion. It in much to be regretted that they


318
AMERICAN EMBASSY
would not venture on the responsibility of violating the etiquette
of their "posts, and go by one of the steamers at their service;
their declinature, with all the information they possessed, shows
what they thought they would incur by such a step. With the fate
of Kiying before them, who can wonder? Still more deplorable
is it that they did not state at least what they knew of the defenses
at Tuku, and the arrangements made to receive the foreign
Ministers at Pehtang. Their only observation to the American
Legation on this point, was "that the Ibcywan would not be
allowed to go up to Tientsin." No one is perhaps able to define
the degree of their responsibility, and determine their know-
ledge of the latter particulars, for all who are acquainted with the
statecraft of this people, are awnre of the reticence of its func-
tionaries, and also of their unwillingness to interfere with the
proceedings of others over whom their direct authority does not
extend. In judging these points, some allowance may be made for
persons exposed to rhecaprices of a despot, and the intrigues of rivals.
Mr. Ward left Wusung with his suite in the Powhatan, the
flag-ship of Commodore Tattnall, having the chartered steam-
tender Toeywan in company, and reached the' mouth of the
Pei-ho on the 21st of June. The English and French Ministers
were already there, and a fleet of 17 steamers under the com-
mand of Admiral Hope; which, with the French frigate Duchayla
and tender Norzagaray, made in all 21 steamers at anchor out-
side of the Bar. It was reported that the forts had been rebuilt
since last year on better principles of fortification, and three or
four lines of iron stakes and heavy timber booms laid across the
channel. The Admiral had already told the Chinese at the forts
the purpose of his arrival, and desired them to open a passage
through the abattis for his vessels, that the British Minister
might go to Tientsin. This they had declined to do.
The tide did not allow the dispatch-boats and tenders to cross
the Bar till the Slth, by which day, fourteen of them, including
the Norzayaray and Tocywan, were anchored inside. The latter,
having on board Mr. Ward and the Commodore, proceeded beyond
the others, with the intention of approaching as near to the fort as
the stakes would permit. In doing so she took the ground, and
though Admiral Hope most kindly sent the gun-boat Pluwr to
assist in getting hfer off, she remained there under the batteries
until the tide floated her at sunset


TO PEKING.
819
While in this position, a party of five was sent in the barge to
land at the first jetty which led from the southern water-gate
to the river's edge. It was above the first boom of iron stakes,
and a similar causey further up afforded additional facilities for
entering the fort. Un approaching the first jetty, three or four
men came down to meet the boat, followed by half a dozen others
armed with spears and swords, who remained a few rods behind;
all were dressed in common blue clothes with turbans. The first
party represented themselves as belonging to a company of
volunteer braves, which had been placed in the forts to destroy
pirates, and prevent men-of-war going up the river; and their
orders were to fire upon whoever attempted the passage. The
spokesman of the company, a gigantic fellow, assured us that he
knew that the Emperor had issued orders to conduct the foreign
Ministers to Peking; and furthermore, he had heard that Hang-
fuh, the Governor-general of the province, had that day arrived
from Panting, and had gone on to Pehtang, a town a few miles
on the coast north of the present entrance. He was asked to
send Mr. Ward's card over to this place, which was unknown to
all of us, but declined to do so on the ground that it would be
presumption on his part; neither could he furnish a carriage or a
sedan to take a messenger there, nor a pilot to guide the steamer
to the mouth of the river. These things did not pertain to him,
but he had no doubt we could easily find the town ourselves, for
the masts visible across the intervening land were those of junks
lying in the river near it. There was a confidence in the bearing
of this man and his comrades, which made us suspect that tbey
were assuming their present character, — a suspicion which the
unusual quiet rather confirmed.
While talking with him, three or four others were seen in the
gateway, and perhaps a dozen more on the upper jetty, with as
many half dressed boatmen loitering about their scows. No flags
were flying from this or the other forts, nor were any men to be
seen on the parapet of the nearest. The mats which hung over its
port-holes prevented observations within. Small iron caltrops were
scattered along the water's edge, and near the wall ran a wide
ditch, whose outlet at the jetty was deep. The chief speaker
would give no information respecting the force within the forts,
but he assured us that no harm would be done to the Toeywan..
if no attempt was made to remove the booms. This information,


820
AMERICAN EMBASSY
meagre as it was, was communicated to the Admiral, who had
already decided to open a passage up the river.
That night and the next day the attempt was made, which
brought on the battle 5 but the tender received no injury during it.
8he went out of the river on the 26th, towing two boats of wouncled
- men to their ships, and returned the next jlay to assist further as
might be needed. She was therefore not ready to proceed to the
town of Pehtang until Wednesday, when she was dispatched with
a letter for the Governor-general. The coast in this direction is
to low that the entrance cannot easily be distinguished; and
Captain Semmes did not feel safe in running very close in, as no
■survey had been made. A boat was sent towards a village near
which three junks lay; but or reaching them, they were found
empty, and it proceeded ashore. The inhabitants fled at its ap-
proach, but when the three gentlemen from it reached the village, a
few of them returned, and said, that fearing an attack, and not know-
ing the American flag, which they had never before seen, they had
all fled into the country, at the same time sending a messenger to
the encampment to obtain protection against the invaders. The
two parties were becoming acquainted, when one of the villagers
exclaimed, "The horsemen are coming! You had better run to
your boat!" Another of them willingly accepted the letter to
take it to Pehtang, and the three gentlemen hastened back across
the uncovered beach to the boat, which they reached just as some
troopers appeared over the bank. A note was received the next
day from Sun, the Intendant of the Tientsin Circuit, who confirmed
the report made by the soldiers at Taku respecting the intended
reception of the three Embassies at Pehtang; he informed us that
the Governor-general was then at Tientsin, but that the letter
would be immediately forwarded to him, and an answer sent as
soon as possible.
This note was answered on the 2d in Mr. Ward's name, and the
6th of July proposed as the day of meeting His Excellency; but
through the delay of his clumsy junks, his answer did not reach
the ship until the evening of that day. It was couched in civil
terms, expressed his intention to carry His Majesty's orders into
effect, and to do everything to facilitate the journey of the American
Embassy to Peking. He also added that he had been directed to
prepare an escort for the English and French Embassies, but his
communication to the Hon. Mr. Bruce had been declined on the


TO PEKING.
321
25th, on the ground "that orders had already been given to the
men-of-war to commence the battle." He expressed his "wonder
and alarm" on hearing this, for he "supposed that the real in-
tention of the English Plenipotentiary was merely to proceed to
Peking to exchange the treaty;" and assured Mr. Ward "that
the works at Taku were merely erected to defend the locality, and
with no sinister design whatever—if the English minister wished
to go to the capital that way, therefore, a full discussion upon the
matter should have been held with him before attempting it."
It appears .suitable to the unexpected turn of affairs, and the
suspicions which the battle of the 25th would naturally eanse in
the minds of the Chinese with regard to the intentions of all those
whose flags had been seen there, to quote the sentiments of this
dispatch; for it would seem from its tenor 'that the letters from
Shanghai sent by Kweiliang on the 11th had not been received,
and that Hangfuh had come from Pauting on hearing of Admiral
Hope's arrival in the Gulf. Steam had probably been too quick
for the posts and the circumlocution-office.
The first appointment having failed, another was made for the
8th; and Hangfuh's reply was received in full time to move the
frigate towards Pehtang. On that day, Mr. Ward and Commodore
Tattnall, accompanied by a small party, proceeded in the tender
to the entrance of the river, under the guidance of a pilot The
land codld not be seen from the frigate, but two forts furnished
& waymark to the entrance; and when within half a league, the
party met the three junks pent to receive them. These vessels
had been carefully fitted up for the occasion, and in one of them
the foreigners proceeded to the landing, which was likewise
ornamented with silk festoons. An immense crowd lined the
banks, the boats, and the streets. We proceeded in carriages to
the place of meeting between files of muskeeters, spearmen and
bowmen, and to do further honor to the occasion, a long line of
cavalry had also been drawn out on the opposite bank, all in
uniform. Though the equipage of these vehicles, and the discipline
and apparel of these soldiers were not quite equal to those in the
West, there was all the evidence of respect in the arrangements
that the most fastidious person could have desired.
A large concourse of officers was assembled, among whom were
several we had known last jear; one of them was the mercurial
Pien, the sub-prefect of Tsang-chau, as bustling as ever. The
KCBKAB IX


823
AMERICA* EMBASSY
red covered tables, piled up with saucers of fruits and sweetmeats,
and plates of eold viands, with the chairs and other things around
them, were set out so exactly like those I hud left standing at
Taku in May last year the day before the battle, that it seemed
as if alt bad just been moved over to this room. The principal
personages having been seated, the Governor-general led the
conversation, and in the most quiet manner, inquired of Mr.
"Ward what he had come for and when he arrived; and as if this
information was new to him, proceeded to ask, "Have you heard
that there has been a conflict at Taku with the English?" This
question being answered, the next was, "Then you have heard
people speak of it?" He then, after a few observations, went
on to say, that as the Imperial Commissioners had not yet arrived
in Peking, and the treaty could not be exchanged until they came,
he wished to know where the Minister preferred to wait until
that time, and then voluntarily offered to obtain the necessary
orders for him to remain meanwhile in Peking as he desired, for he
had no doubt of Kweiliang's arrival within the month. During
the meeting, he introduced a stout officer, who, the moment
he began to speak, was recognized as the chief speaker on the
jetty at Taku, and was brought forward to explain that he had
there given correct information in all that he had stated. The
impression left after this interview was that the provincial officers
were somewhat embarrassed, now. that they found the American
Minister still desirous to proceed, and made this excuse to obtain
definite directions respecting the intentions of their Government,
in order not to implicate themselves.
The town of Pehtang ( ft ^ i.e. Northern Embankment,)
gives its name to the river which flows north of it, a stream in
size and appearance similar to the Pei-ho or White River. It lies,
on the coast five or six miles above Taku, in the Eastern Circuit
of the metropolitan prefecture of Shuntien, and in the district of
Ningho, a town about twenty miles up the river. Judging from
the scores of junks at its jetties, and the docks for building them,
it possesses a large trade. The population is reckoned to be over
30,000, including the people of a few hamlets thereabouts. They
mostly dwell in houses made of the soil, a tenacious mud that
needs to be strengthened with millet stalks when mode into walls.
Whether from the saltness of the soil or other causes, almost no
grass or grain, trees, or anything green, are seen near the place.


TO PBKINO.
823
On the 16th a dispatch was received from the Governor-general,
stating that he had been "honored with His Majesty's commands,
permitting the American Envoy to leave for the capital any day
he pleased after the 10th of July, there to await the arrival of the
Imperial Commissioners, with whom the ratifications of the treaty
would be exchanged." He informed Mr. Ward that he had ap-
pointed Tsunghau, a Manchu civilian, holding the office of super-
intendent of transportation and a brevet commissioner of the
gabelle, with Chang Pingtoh, a Chinese colonel in the army with
brevet rank of general, to be his escort. Associated with them
was Li, a sub-prefect, and others still lower in rank, in all amount-
ing to nearly twenty officials above the 7th grade.
Mr. Ward accordingly appointed the 20th July as the day for
starting, and mentioned that the number of his party would be
twenty persons. Commodore Tattnall at first intended to go, but
his health compelled him to decline the journey. The preparations
for departure were made, and the Minister and his suite left the
Powhatan on Tuesday, the 19th, to proceed into the river. At his
departure from the anchorage he was saluted by the two Russian
steamers then there, and His Excellency General Mouravieff, the
Governor-general of Eastern Siberia, came on board the tender
to take leave and hand him a letter for General Ig-natieff. the
Russian minister at Peking.
The persons composing the Embassy were as follows:—
His Excellency John E. Wahd, } ^ Extraordinary and
) Minuter FlempotefUuwy,
Dr. S Wslu Williams, j Simtaries to the
W. Wallace Ward, Esq.,) 9
Rev. W. A. P. Martin, 1 A$gigtani Interpretert,
Rev. Wm. Aitchison, J •
Lieut. S. D. Thenchard, Flag lieut. of Com. TattnalL
John L. Fox, Surgeon.
B. F. Gallaher, Purter.
Lieu^ Alex. W. Habersham.
William H. Shock, Chief Engineer.
Algernon S. Taylor, Captain of Marine*.
Rev. Hbnr* Wood, Chaplain.
John W. Sandford Jr., Astittant Surgeon.
Gbobob W. Heard^ Esq.,)
John L. Lobman, Esq-, J


32fi
AHKRICAM XMBASST
gateways added to the gay appearance of the row, but the wretched
road took away all appreciation of their elegance.
The wall of the city near this gate is in good order, rising'
about sixty feet, and the five storied guardhouse over it nearly
forty more; they presented altogether an imposing appearance;
not a man was seen in or upon them, nor. any cannon. The
avenue within is over a hundred feet wide and unpaved, and the
centre of it in consequence of the recent rain, was now a quagmire,
through which horses, carriages, and drivers floundered in great
confusion. The scene was disappointing to all who had entertain-
ed high expectations of the glory of the metropolis of China;
yet the vast crowds of men, women, and children quietly standing
in dense multitudes in front of the houses, and lining the sides of
the carriage way in an unbroken row, most of them well dressed
in white or blue garments, together with the yellow-tiled temples,
honorary gateways, and shops ornamented with pillars and fancy
signboards, rendered it an interesting and animated sight. The
house prepared for the Embassy was situated in the Old or Manchu
portion of the city, about half a league from the gate, in Thirteenth
Street, and the neighborhood of Lau-kiun-tang. These quarters
formerly belonged to the prime minister, Saishanga, and were
confiscated on his disgrace in 1852. They contained altogether
nineteen rooms with intervening court-yards; the buildings were
of one storey, and the apartments plainly furnished. It was re-
ported that the quarters fitted up for the English and French
Legations were other palaces which had also belonged to this
grandee.
The next day the Imperial Commissioners, who had reached
the city on the 20th, were informed that the American Minister
had arrived and was ready to confer with them. It was deemed
by Mr. Ward to be only a suitable mark of respect to the Chinese
Government, that until he had seen the Commissioners, the mem-
bers of his suite should not go abroad. The letters for the Russian
Legation were sent, and an acknowledgment received from them
the same evening1.
On Friday morning, Sieh, the provincial Judge ot Kiangsu,
came to confer respecting the meeting with Kweiliang, and to
speak of the presentation to the Emperor. This man, while holding
the office of Iotendant at Shanghai, had been brought into contact
with foreigners and had now been associated with the Commis-


T? PBKIITO.
827
doners on account of bis experience; he had come to Peking as
their secretary in the expected conferences with foreign ministers.
He is a man of talents and craft, and the effect of the late victory
was apparent in his altered bearing. At this visit be wished to
learn so much of our views as would give his Government an idea
of the course to pursue, but was referred to the plenipotentiaries
themselves, who were to meet on the morrow; they would discuss
every point, and their subordinates could come to no conclusion.
The Judge however stated, that in consequence of the part taken
by the Toeywan on the 25th ult., the Emperor, was in some
doubt respecting the sincerity of the peaceful professions of the
Americans; and their movements on that day gave force to the
hostile expressions used last year in one of Mr. Reed's dispatches,
in which he spoke of being forced to join the Allies. The remark
furnished an opportunity to tell him what was done by the Com-
modore on that day, and exhibit the serious consequences which
had, and* might still, arise to his own country from its neglect in
preparing for the reception of the foreign ministers on the coast.
The impression had got abroad among the people, he assured us,
that the Americans landed their own men from the boats lowed
up by the Toeyroan, derived chiefly from the assertion of one of
the English prisoners, who said that he was an American, and had
landed from those boats. It is not surprising that such an idea
had obtained credence, though its existence was now first learned,
and the opportunity was improved to state the reason of the tender
being there, and assure jSieh that, though she had towed boats in
and out, she had not landed a man nor fired a gun.
About 11 o'clock the next day, Mr. Ward, attended by three
of hit suite, repaired on horseback to the Kia-hing sz* near the
northwest corner of the Hrvang-ching or Imperial Citadel, which
surrounds the walled inclosure called the Forbidden City, in
which the Imperial family lives. He was there met by the
Commissioners, attended by about a hundred officials of every
shade of button, all dressed in their easy summer costume; but
none of them in full embroidery. The contrast between this
meeting in the capital of China, where not a soldier, nor an
implement of war was seen, nor even a musician, to the military
parade which is common in European capitals and courts on such
occasions, illustrated the different usages in the governments at
the East and West of this vast continent in these particulars.


828
AMERICAN EMBASSY
The Commissioners themselves were as courteous as usual, and
Kweiliang in* better health than when at Shanghai.
He opened the conversation by a full expression of bis feelings
at the recent occurrences at Taku, and at having been refused an
interview at Shanghai bj the English and French Ministers. Ha
was, of course, not interrupted in whatever he wished to say, but
judging from his energetic, and almost bitter manner of expres-
sion, it seemed as if he felt that some vindication of his own
polioy was required under the circumstances. *He was now in
the presence of his fellow courtiers, many of whom were opposed
to his policy, and watching for his fall; and from the free and
unusual conduct of some of them, we inferred that they were
persons of far higher position, even perhaps of the Imperial
household, than their insignia indicated — sn inference which was
afterwards confirmed. It was not surprising that individuals
about the palace should desire to be present at the interview, after
what had so recently transpired almost within their hearing.
Regret at the sudden disappointment of his plans and hopes may
have had its weight in the mind of Kweiliang; and as he now
anxiously looked forward to the further development of events, he
may have felt that he had done what he could to bring about a
peaceful solution of difficulties. So far as my own feelings went,
they were those of sincere regret at the position of these officers,
and a strong belief that they would have been able to have given
all the treaties full effect if their arrangements had not been un-
expectedly frustrated.
It was sometime before the Commissioner* were ready to enter
'upon the principal object of the interview. They said that the
Emperor wished to do honor to the American Minister, now
that he bad reached his capital, not alone to exhibit his friendly
feeling to I An personally, but to prove the respect he felt for the
President; and therefore they had now only to discuss the mode
and time for an audience. In speaking of the President, they
used the terms Ta Htvatig-ti, ||| ^ or August Emperor,
and Inun-chA jQ" ^ or princely ruler; they have also learned
the word Preddent, but it is an awkward combination of unmean-
ing syllables in Chinese, and they seldom employed it.
These are great changes from former usages, and in order to
explain them, it will be well to refer briefly to the views entertained


TO PEKING.
by tbe Chinese respecting1 tbe position of their sovereign. They
suppose that all the human race has been placed under tbe authority1
of one head by superior Powers. These Powers, included under
the comprehensive names of Tien and 2%.or Heaven and Earth,
have delegated the direct control of mankind to the One Man, who
was and always has been the Emperor of China; it is he alone
who makes with Heaven and Earth, the Trinity of Powers, Tim,
Ti, Jin, i. e. Heaven, Earth and Man. The Emperor of China
has the position, therefore, of the Vicegerent or co-ordinate of
Heaven, and it is a solecism in the mind of every true subject of
his throne to suppose or admit of a second Ta Hwftngti. The
claim to this title has in fact been waived since the earliest times
by nearly all other Asiatic sovereigns in favor of the Chinese.
Remtisat observes, that all the ambitious conquerors who have
arisen on the continent have regarded their full title to be the
Sovereign Monarch of the race as incomplete until they had obtained
the throne of China. The Chinese now are beginning to learn
differently; and the terms used on this day for the chief ruler
at a friendly and independent power evinced the progress of the
change.
Still, whatever terms the Commissioners might use to denote
the entire equality of the President with their Emperor, his Rep-
resentative only was now in Peking, and in tbeir view an audience
with the sovereign was indispensible, before the treaty could be
exchanged. They agreed that the United States was totally
unlike Annam, Cores, -Lewohew, 'or Stem, whose envoys brought
tribute to court, who made the same prostrations, consisting of
three kneelings and nine knocking*, which were performed by
native officials, and who were honored by presents after the cere-
mony. The American Embassador hnd brought no tribute,
and would not be asked to perform the usual rite; 'Unit," inter-
posed Judge Sieh, who was seated with the Commissioners, "once
kneeling and thrice knocking will do for a friendly power." This
remark was not taken up by them, however, nor ever alluded to
again as a compromise; the proper hotou, a rite which implies
knocking the bead on the ground either once or thrice, was never
required of Mr. Ward as a condition of his audience. It is a con-
fusion of terms and ideas to represent the issue that was made as
being dependent on this act, and prevents our understanding how
much the Chinese really conceded.
ncbkas . x


330
AMERICAN EMBASSY
Before they began to describe what mode of approach would be
admissible, Mr. Ward deemed it better to state explicitly what his
own views were on this subject, which now began to assume an
importance it had not before taken; for the Commissioners bad
not hinted at an audience in Shanghai, taking it for granted no
doubt, that it was a sequence of a visit to the capital. He assured
them ,of the great respect he felt for His Majesty, in which he
knew he likewise expressed the sincere sentiments of the President,
who indeed had made them known in the letter of which he was
the bearer. He had now come to the capital to deliver that
letter, and to exchange the treaty; and he would regard an
audience with the Emperor as a mark of high favor to himself,
and respect to his country. But important at the present juncture
as a reception at court would be to China herself, he could not
kneel when he- came before the Throne, for he never saluted bis
own ruler in that manner, nor did the representatives of the
United States kneel when they came into the presence of any
sovereign on the earth. To kneel was, in his view, entirely a
religious act, and he did so only in the presence of God. The
treaty itself made no mention of an audience, he himself had not
asked it; and now that they had spoken of it he wished to state
what his views on the point were, remarking that in other
particulars he was ready to conform to the etiquette of the Chinese
Court when they were made known to him.
, Hwashana here observed, " Our rulers are equal, and so are we
all as their ministers; now, as'we kneel before the Emperor, if
you do not, we become unequal, for you are then raised above us."
To this clever turn on the part of this minister, it was explained
by Mr. Ward that their positions were entirely different from his.
Hwashana was a subject of the Emperor and must obey his orders
and observe his ritual; but Mr. Ward was the representative of
another country, whose dignity he could not compromise by such
a compliance. Besides, in the treaty made with Lord Elgin it
was stated, that at an audience nothing should be required of the
English Minister which was derogatory to the honor of other
oountries, and which was not accorded by ministers at other
courts; and though Kweiliang Had declared that this treaty was
now null, these stipulations at least expressed the sentiments he
held last year. Furthermore, they themselves must feel that if
the respect paid to a person was not voluntary, it was merely


TO PEKINO.
3S1
hypocritical; and in performing the salutation of bowing, he (Mr.
Ward) exhibited all the respect he felt for his President, which
they would readily acknowledge was quite as great as he could
possibly feel for their Emperor.
The Chinese were asked if they would willingly degrade their
country abroad by doing anything derogatory to its honor, or in
violation of their conscience. This was a contingency easy to an-
swer, for with them conscience did not oppose these prostrations,and
the probabilities of their going abroad were uncertain and remote;
but we were hardly prepared to hear Kweiliang say that he
would perform the. hotau, and do whatever was required of him
at an audience in Washington, he would even burn incense before
the President if asked to do so. A stronger testimonial to the
religious character of the homage rendered to the Emperor by his
subjects could hardly be required; but it was further strengthened
by the judge adding, "If we do not kneel before the Emperor, we
do not show him any respect j it is that or nothing, and is the
same reverence that we pay to the gods."
They then went on to observe that he would regard it as an
indignity for an embassy from a friendly nation to visit his
capital, and the Envoy not see him, when he required too so much
less of him than he did of his own courtiers; and the President
would be offended with him for not showing his representative
due respect. In some European courts, even in the English,
persons knelt before the monarch when presented to him, and it
would be no more derogatory to do so here than there. "You are'
a Plenipotentiary," interposed Hwasbana, turning to Mr. Ward;
"you have full powers, and can certainly do such an' act."
"I am not invested with powers sufficient to enable me to
change the laws and usages of my country, and can do nothing
to degrade it," was the reply. The full force of this remark will
be better understood, however, when it is explained that the term
used by the Chinese for plenipontentbary might also be rendered
all-mighty or completely powerful. The Chinese now desired
that further discussion, might be postponed to the next interview,
so that both parties could reflect on the subject. This would give
them time to consult again with the Cabinet.
They now proposed to adjourn to the next room, where a
sumptuous repast had been spread partly in foreign style, with
table-cloth, knives, silver forks, and napkins, which was quite


888 AMERICAN EMBASSY
unexpected, as an incidental evidence of the preparations which
had been made to entertain the foreigners in Peking;. While
at table, Mr. Ward requested that hones might be sent to the
Legation, for members of his suite to take exercise; but Kweiliang
replied, that as soon as the audience bad taken place, everything
in the city and suburbs would be shown them with the utmost
pleasure. It is well known that the usage of the Chinese in
relation to foreign embassies, is that their first duties are with
the court, and this practice of not publicly honoring them until
afterwards, was referred to in a letter from the Russian Minister.
The day of this interview was very hot, and the fatigue of the
visit was increased by the cloud of fine dust, which rested over the
whole city like a lurid pall, covering everything. The streets
through which we passed were all unpaved, and the buildings
exhibited a dilapidated, neglected aspect, relieved only now and
then by a newly gilded shop front or a clean white wall. In pleasing
contrast to the decay and dirt, many magnificent locusts and other
trees towered above the buildings, and gave a rural, cheerful look
to the scene, while they lessened the heat and dust The large
pond or lake north of the Hmdng thing is overgrown and neglected,
presenting a melancholy contrast to its original beauty and capa-
bilities aa described by former travelers. The yellow tiled brick
wall around the Hwang-chingis in good condition, and the interior
is said by the Russians to be well kept.
This visit was returned on Tuesday, August 2d, at the bouse of
the Legation, by the Commissioners, who came in the same sort
of carriages that had been furnished the Embassy on its journey.
There was no military escort, and no parade in the dress or number
of attendants upon the Prime Minister; it was a plain visit, cha-
racteristic of the little display usually seen among high Chinese
officers, and so far as is known was, the first one made by the
Prime Minister within the capital upon a Western embassador.
The subject of the audience was immediately brought forward,
and much of the same ground again discussed. The principal
point insisted oq to-day was that kneeling .was practiced at some
European courts,—certainly it was at the English; and therefor*,
as Mr. Ward had agreed to do at Peking whatever he would do
at any of those courts, he was bound to kneel at the Chinese. The
usage observed at Rome was also referred to, and brought on soma
explanations respecting the similarity in the religious sense given*


TO PEKtdO.
3.13
to the kneeling1 before the Emperor and that before the Pope.
Hwashnna asked if he was not a kx&u reang, or king of religion,
and this, homage paid him by those of the same faith. It was
shown to both the Commissioners that they were mistaken in their
facts and inferences; for at the English court even subjects did
not always kneel when they came into the presence of their
Sovereign, but only when they received the honor of knighthood,
or on some other special occasion; and no foreign ministers,
American, English, or any other, ever kneeled to the Queen or the
Pope J those two rulers had not demanded it, no envoy had ac-
corded it, and it could not be performed in Peking.-
In order to bring the discussion to a point, they requested to
have the ceremony Mr. Ward was willing to perform described in
a communication to be sent to them, but the draft of what he
presented before they left was declined as being too explicit In
it he agreed to bow very low before the Emperor, more than Once
if he wished; to stand uncovered, and not to turn his back while
in his presence; but he would not kneel or make the kotau.
Instead of the word bow used in the draft, they wished to insert
the phrase "bend the right knee slightly, and still.stand;" but
after what they had said respecting the religious nature of the
ceremony, this was inadmissible. They concluded this conference,
after it had continued five hours, by saying that they must report
to His Majesty that the customs of the two countries were so
unlike, it was better that no audience took' place, much as he
desired to do honor to the American nation in its representative.
They had conducted their argument with patience and candor,
and exhausted every fact and reason they had for its support; but
to the last they were evidently unsatisfied in respect to the real
practices at European courts. They felt that the debate was an
important one, and the precedent now given could never be ex-
ceeded on future occasions; they were ready to give up their claims
to supremacy over foreign ministers, but were unwilling to concede
an audience to them with less than was required by European,
sovereigns.
It was agreed at this time, on Mr. Ward's proposal, that the
business which had brought the Legation to the capital should be
finished, so that it could return to Pehtang-on the llth; and the
Commissioners disclaimed all restraint upon its movements. They
said they had placed policemen in that neighborhood to restrain


834 AMERICAN EMBASSY
the crowd which would otherwise throng) but there was no pos-
sible reason for preventing a few peaceable foreigners from going
where they pleased. They were apparently apprehensive, however,
of some untoward collusion between us and the Russians, if free
intercourse was allowed; both from the many questions the Judge
had asked about the' dispatches we had sent to them, and from
their detention for six days of the answers which came in this
evening from General IgnatiefE The facts regarding this question
of circulation about the city are more satisfactorily explained by a
reference to the ideas entertained by the Chinese respecting the
dignity of an embassy, that its members should not concern them*
selves about the trivialties of trade, at least until its public business
is over, or the chief has had his audience. Foreign ministers
and legations have in earlier times demeaned themselves in the
opinion of the Chinese, by living with merchants, or like the
former E. I. Company's chiefs at Canton, by engaging in trade.
It was now supposed that nothing more remained to be done
but exchange the treaty. The Chinese dignitaries were obliged to
go twelve miles to' the summer palace of Yuen-ming Yuen to
report to the Emperor, who was sojourning there during the hot
weather, and no answer was expected till the 4th; but the next
morning the Judge unexpectedly appeared with disturbed coun-
tenance. . He had just come into the city with a plan of compromise
which they all thought would succeed. This was that the
Commissioners should address Mr. Ward a letter stating that, as
the Emperor had decided to grant bim an audience, it was neces-
sary beforehand that, he should state to them what form of
obeisance he would make in coming before the Throne, and they
would then make the necessary arrangements. He need only
reply to this, that when he delivered the President's letter to His
Majesty, he would render him every mark of respectful deference
which he did to the President, without addition or diminution.
On being furnished with a draft of the reply, the Judge said
it was perfectly satisfactory, though it did not cover the undecided
point of kneeling at European courts, lie then remarked that
the audience would probably take place on the following Monday
(the 8th), and in the most confident and cheerful manner, went
through the details of the audience and presentation of the letter
as it he had no doubt of their occurrence. The particular
compromise wbioh had been contrived between the requirements


TO PEK1NO.
335
of Chinese court ceremonial, and tbe obduracy of republican
independence, consisted in placing the table, on which the
President's letter was to be laid, before the throne in such a
manner that its embroidered cover would conceal most of the
person of the Minister. - As he approached it, he should then bow
as low as he had already proposed, and a chamberlain would
approach on either side as if to raise him up, crying out, "Don't
kneel!" Those of his suite presented with him would then go
through the same ceremony, after which, be would respectfully
present the letter by placing it on the table, from whence it
would be taken by another courtier, who on his knees would hand
it to the Emperor. In this singular manner was the character of
the Sovereign to be saved, in the eyes of his officers, by the Em-
bassador being restrained, as it were, from completing a prostration
which was not intended to take place.
This unexpected concession of the whole point was supposed to
be chiefly due to the personal wish of the Emperor to see the
foreigners himself, cooperating with the well known desire of
Kweiliang and Hwashana for the audience on political grounds;
and when Sieh left the -house uf Legation, with the drafts of the
two papers to be submitted to the Privy Council, he seemed to
have no doubt that the matter would be satisfactorily arranged.
The arrival of Kweiliang's dispatch was accordingly anxiously
looked for, but instead of it the Judge himself returned next day
more dispirited than ever to inform us of another turn of affairs,
and that his motion had been outvoted. How much hand he had
in the matter himself, to get fame and promotion by his skillful
diplomacy of a delicate question, is a point which admits some
discussion. I am disposed to think his sense of the desirableness
of arranging an audience at any rate led him to throw his influence
in its favor; but his ill concealed superciliousness rendered him a
disagreeable man in a conference, a trait the more observable from
its not being common among Chinese officials. His Majesty's
decision now was that, unless Mr. Ward would either actually
touch one knee, or the end of his fingers, on the ground, he
would not admit him to Court. Of course this was refused, and
the question of an audience finally decided in the negative.
It hod- been discussed five days in every possible light, and
during all their remarks the Chinese Commissioners had never
trespassed the bounds of strict politeness j much less had they even


.336
AMKH1CAN EMBASSY
■ referred to the helpless condition of twenty foreigners in their
capital as a reason for complying with a ceremony in their eyes so
liberal and unobjectionable — a form which tbey could not perform
before their sovereign, but might be culled on a dozen times in a
day to make when saluting their friends. The antiforeign ministers
. at court were probably strong enough to prevent an audience with
the performance of a mere bow, now that their party had a power-
ful argument against an extension of intercourse in the late pro- .
ceedings; and this sudden turn, of concession one day and refusal
the next, confirms this supposition; while the whole debate supports
my own opinion that if the representatives of Great Britain and
France had been in the capital, all would have been admitted
at the Chinese court in the same manner as at their own. It is
unfair to the Chinese to take up the impression that they were
insincere or dogmatic in all their assertions. They had strong
reasons for desiring an audience, but in their position erroneous
ideas might easily be firmly believed, especially on such a point as
the usages of kneeling at the court of St. James' when receiving
the accolade. Mr. Ward and his brother had both been recently
received at the Tuileries, and the usages of an audience there were
described to them. We knew that Lord Amherst bad agreed in
1816 to kneel before the Emperor as he did before the King, and that
Macartney had done it; we were aware, too, that Russian envoys
had made kotau; but neither side referred to those instances.*
The next dispatch from Kweiliang indicated his unpleasant
hesitation. His view required, as the necessary sequence of the
arrival of an embassy at Peking, that its chief should see the
Emperor and deliver his letter of credence; but that chief had, in
the present instance, "firmly maintained his own opinion when
consulting upon the ceremonies to be observed at an audience;"
and —jumping to his inference — he* then says, "we are quite at
a loss, therefore, to understand for what purpose your Excellency
has come to Peking;" and concludes with the dilemma, that, "As
the treaty of Tientsin must be exchanged somewhere, where is it
to be?" The Minister was at the capital, and nothing could be
done officially until he had seen His Msjesty, which he declined
to do, and yet the treaty must be exchanged. There was, in his'
mind, a complete deadlock.
See note at Uie end of the Nuratire.


TO PEKING.
887
The answer recapitulated the circumstances under which the
American Minister had accepted the invitation of the Commis-
sioners at Shanghai to come to the capital, and quoted the
Imperial rescript made known to him by Hangfuh confirming
that invitation. Mr. Ward then proposed to deliver the President's
letter to them, and afterwards to exchange the treaty. In their
rejoinder, the same difficulty was involved in their minds as in
the previous letter; for, as Mr. Ward would not see the Emperor,
so neither would they receive the President's letter; and, this
premise beinggranted, it would consequently be still more unsuitable
for the treaty to be exchanged in the city itself. These difficulties,
singular as they may appear to us, naturally grew out of the
education and notions of these officers respecting national etiquette,
and the dignity of their sovereign. It is quite as well, perhaps,
-that this whole discussion took place with the American Minister,
who in his visit was left free on one important point, — for not
being ordered by his Government to see the Emperor, he was not
anxious about doing so.
A delay of thirty-six hours took place before answering this
communication, and the reply was ready when Judge Sieh came
in to learn the cause of the silence. The Chinese were now ap-
prehensive that the President would be displeased at the non-
reception of his Minister; and Sieh suggested that if Mr. Ward
would express a wish for Kweiliang to receive the letter, it
would be granted; or if he would say where, out of the metropolis,
he preferred the treaty to'be exchanged, his proposal would be
considered. Neither of these propositions was attended to, but
there was no objection to add to the reply, then ready to be sent,
a disclaimer of want of respect to his Majesty, and the expression
of sincere regret that the Minister had found himself unable to
comply with the ceremonies of an audience at his Court; for if he
should fail of rendering him every mark of respect, not wholly
inconsistent with the laws and usages of his own country, he would
be rebuked by the President This filled the record to their satis-
faction. The next day, a copy of the Imperial rescript, embodying
the final decision of the Government, was furnished.
It gave a summary of the proceedings at Taku at the time of
the battle; and though it contained two or three important errors,
it proved that the authorities on the coast had endeavored to open
communications with the Allied Plenipotentiaries. It then pro-
XI


338 AMERICAN EMBASSY
eeedad"At this juncture, the American Envoy, John E. Ward, in
compliance with his engagements with Kweiliang, came to Pen*
tang in Ma ship, requesting that he might go to Peking, as ha
. was the bearer of a letter from the Present, of the United States.
Our permission was accordingly given for him to bring the letter
up to the Capital, where he arrived with it This day, the Ministers
Kweiliang* and HwashaaahaWbatfded up the -various dispatches
received from him for Our examination, and from them it is clearly
to be seen that his sentiments are exceedingly respectful, and in-
div»t4v* «f (he iittboH sir^rtty'inft jralfcfrlBess.
"Let the letter which the American Envoy has brought be
talc en and Jet^ Kweiiiang .and fBVash-in&Hbe specially appointed to
receive it for transmission to Ourself. In regard to the exchange
pf the treaty,: it -TRold b« pf^pexmdiwdj to return to Shanghai to
do it, but when We reflect that the Envoy has already come over
the seas for this purpose, we now specially direct that the Great
Seal be affixed to the Treaty, and it be delivered to Hangfuh, the
Governor-general, and let him exchange the ratifications with the
American Minister at Pehtang. After this has been done let last-
ing friendship and commerce continue between the two nations.
This will show forth our great regard and kindness to people from
afar, and clearly exhibit the deep respect we entertain for truth
and justice. This from the Emperor."
In their note inclosing the above, the Commissioners appointed
the hour for receiving the President's letter, and informed Mr.
Ward that his escort would be ready on the 11th, as had been
previously agreed. They then happily observe, "Hereafter we
will cherish the same feelings of respectful regard towards the
President which you have now made known towards our own
Emperor; and let these sentiments be the expression of the
friendly relations which shall hereafter exist between Our res-
pective nations."
Matters were now drawing to a conclusion, and on Wednesday
the Letter was received by Kweiliang at his former hall. Ha
took the box as it was brought in, lifting it to his head as he
delivered it to an attendant to place on the table. He then in-
formed Mr. Ward that the functions of himself and Hwashana as
plenipotentiaries ceased with that interview, and they would soon
render back their seal to his Majesty. It is impossible not to feel
a high degree of respect for Kweiliang, not alone from his long


TO PEKING.
and honorable services, and regard for his station as the first states'
man in the Empire, but from his veneiabfe'age-and tfce uoftfteeted
kindness of his demeanor. Hwashana has less urbanity, but his
practical sense and candor entitle him to a high position. Chosen
doubtless for their well known ability, these two men were appointed
to negotiate at a critical period m the Mttwy pf .their down try ^
and while we are able to judge the value of their concessions, we
are not so able to astimate the obstacles they may have had to
overcome in reaching them; and they are still less in a good posi-
tion fully to appreciate all their results. We are probably more
disposed to be strict in our judgment of their errors add failings,
than to consider the misconceptions and disadvantages under wbick
they have been nurtured, and the ignorance they are in of their
own true interests.
Preparations were- made for departure the next morning. Two
convenient mule litters were furnished for Dr. Band ford and Mr*
Aitcbison, who were too ill to ride in carriages. Letters were
received from the Russian Minister, with a file of the Timet
newspaper to the 19th of May, but no personal intercourse took
place with any member of that Legation. While the Embassy
was in Peking, the Chinese officials left its members to the quiet
observance of the Sabbath, on which days public services were
conducted by chaplain Wood.
A few tradesmen brought their wares at various times for in-
spection. The state of currency at the capital is deplorably badr
and much of the traffic is carried on with paper money. The
Mexican dollar is almost unknown, but was reckoned at 58
candareens of sycee and exchanged for 740 copper cash; a bank-
bill of 1000 cash is worth only 170 of copper, and fifteen such
bills are exchanged for a tael of silver. The supply of copper and
silver is inadequate even for the wants of the city, and nothing
indicates a prospect of improvement in trade, or increase in the
metallic currency. The Government liberally supplied us during
the whole journey, and neither for boats, servants or provisions,
would they accept any recompence. Tlje weather was charming,
the thermometer seldom rising to 88° at noon; and the day*
were agreeably varied by showers and sunshine.
We arrived at Tung-cb.au about sunset on the 11th, having
stopped on the road three times for the sake of the invalids. The
channel of the Pei-ho had fallen a foot during the fortnight.


840
AMERICAN EMBASSY
We found that its descent has difficulties as well as the ascent; and
the boatmen showed their skill in avoiding the shallows, as the
current swept them on from one side to the other in its tortuous
course. The depth seldom reached seven feet, and was frequently
under three; the steep banks are constantly falling in on one
aide and increasing on the other, but absorption by the porous soil
gradually diminishes the volume of water flowing out to sea and
reduces the capabilities of the stream. This river is more than a
thousand miles in length, and with its affluents drains the greater
part of the province of Chihli; but owing to the nature of the
soil, and the contingencies of freshes and droughts, the navigation,
during the seven or eight months it is free from ice, is not al-
together to be depended on. Since the traffic by the Grand Canal
has been obstructed, the shipping on its waters has diminished.
On.reaching Peh-tsang, it was found that our kindhearted
escort had sent forward the.litters from Tung-chau, so that the
invalids experienced no detention. Dr. Sandford had improved
while in the boats, and he finally reached the frigate stronger than
when he left Peking; but Mr. Aitchison was now weaker. He
was placed in his litter with the faint hope that he would survive
to reach the ship, but he died a few hours after leaving the boat.
His body was carried to Pehtang, and buried at the anchorage.
As a Chinese scholar his attainments were remarkably good, and
his uniform kindness and christian virtues had endeared him to a
large circle of acquaintances during the five years of his residence
in China.
The roads beyond Peh-tsang were now dry and smooth, and the
traveling in carriages agreeable. A violent storm of rain that
night flooded them, and the contrast next day was dismal; but
the cortege was able to reach Pehtang on the 16th about 2 p.m.,
in time for the. previous appointment with the Governor-general
and Treasurer. They were surrounded by a large retinue of
officials, and had lined the streets with files of spearmen and archers
'to receive Mr. Ward. Waiving all ceremony and preparation,
they proposed to exchange the treaty before he went on board
the Toeyrvan, then lying in the river. This was accordingly done,
and certificates of the exchange passed between the respective
parties that same evening.
After the exchange, Hangfuh proposed' to deliver one of the
two- prisoners taken from the English, and brought him forward


TO PEKING. Ml
for that purpose. The .man, named John Powers, had declared
himself to be an American, but now said that be was a .Canadian
by birth; and it required considerable explanation to make the
Governor-general understand how he was not an American citizen,
though be was born in territory adjoining the United States,
and not in England. The Chinese were also informed that he
would not be demanded of them even if he had been. They were
in some perplexity when they ascertained that he was an English
subject, but after hearing all the points of the case, concluded to
deliver him to Mr. Ward entirely on the ground of humanity, as
he had consented to receive him only on those terms. This man
and his fellow-prisoner had been well treated by the Chinese, but
were both ill at this time.
The three officers constituting the escort, Tsunghau, Chang, and
Li, came on board in the evening to take leave of the Minister.
The first had won the good opinions of all from the .day we
started, by his gentlemanly bearing and unremitted efforts to
render the journey agreeable. He has since been promoted to
the superintendency of the gabelle in Chihli, and bids fair to rise
to eminent posts.
The next day the steamer returned to the outer anchorage, four
weeks after her passengers had landed at Pehtang. Her arrival
was hailed by Commodore Tattnall and his officers, as a relief to
the monotony of their anchorage, and on the evening of the 18th
the Powhatan sailed for Shanghai.
In this brief narrative, two objects have been kept in view.
One has been to describe the reception and proceedings of the
American Embassy in its journey to the Chinese capital; the
other, to exhibit, more particularly than would have been necessary
had the Embassador seen the Emperor, the discussions held with
the Commissioners'upon the ceremony required at the Chinese
Court so as to show the views which it now entertains. Many
notices of incidental interest respecting the people and country
have been omitted, but the circumstances of the visit were peculiar,
and the opportunities scanty for inquiring into what had not been
already more satisfactorily investigated, by previous visitors to
Peking.
The reception of the Entbassy was courteous, rather than
cordial or open; while all the antecedents of its visit might, in the
minds of some persons, have justified the Chinese Government in


34L>
AMERICAN IMBA88T
granting it no more than a mere entry to its capital for specified
purposes in a manner previously stipulated. After starting on his
mission, the Minister committed himself entirely to the authorities,
and they treated him in a manner to prove that some degree of
confidence may be placed in them, and that they designed to
carry out that part of the treaty of Tientsin which related to the
visit to their capital.
While I am ready to concede that many of the objectionable
points in Chinese policy will be maintained by the rulers until a
stronger power adds force to arguments drawn from reason and
humanity to induce them to alter their proceedings, there are,
I think, others which are better left to the gradual advance of
knowledge and intercourse between foreigners and natives. To
have this government upheld by the people, its authority most be
consonant to their views, and as these change its policy will cor-
respond j but to force the government to act against its supposed
best interests will surely produce reaction. The treaties of Tien-
tsin were all distasteful to national pride, and jeoparded, in the
opinion of many loyal subjects, the vital interests of the empire.
But with a better understanding the fears of all classes might reason-
ably be expected to subside, and even give place to co-operation.
At present Christendom stands before paganism, in this its last
stronghold, in a doubtful position. Ignorance adds untold power
to fear in the efforts the latter is making to resist the advancing
tide, and we should be careful not to strengthen the worse side.
The interests of humanity are not always strong enough to bear
up against those of ambition, commerce, or conquest; but in this
part of the world, at least, the arguments in favor of a peaceful
progress of all the best interests of both natives and foreigners
coincide. What seems to be most wanting just now is a better
acquaintance with each other's motives, plans, and condition,
especially among the influential classes of the empire, who if they
could believe that their own authority was not endangered would
probably be less indisposed to resist changes.


TO PEKING.
343
Note referred to on page 336.
The following extract from Pauthier's Hitloire des Relations
Politique* de la Chine, Chap. X. pp. 209-231, furnishes many his-
torical notices of this ceremonial, and will illustrate our discussion.
The work was received here in July last.
ThU quostion nforemonial has obtained a certain deitree of Importance In the
political and diplomatic relation* of Western nations, but never, »o far »t I am
•ware, ha* reecbed Ilia forma or the importance with » Inch it ha* been invented
|n the East, during more than three ihouaand years. In that moat ancient
n>Hiarchy where the tradition* of the old woild are (still preserved.
It 1* not in tlieae timet that the endless conflict between the European and
Asiatic mind ha* begun. It had already arisen in the day* of Darius, the
king of Persia; for accordim; to Valerius Maxima*, the Athenian* condemned
Timugoras to death for havintr saluted that monarch in the Persian manner,
in the belief that their city haa lieen humb'ed by this slavish act of one of it*
citizens, and that waa one of the greatest of crime*. This instance la not the
only one furnished by Grecian annals. Comm. another Athenian, doubtless
remembering the example of Titua ores refused to salute Artaxerxes Muemon,
to whom he had been sent on public affiiira by his frllow-citixens. In the
Persian, that is, the Chinese manner. The relation of Nepoe might almost be
deemed to recount an uccurrenco at the court of Peking :—
"Conou. having been sent to .irtaxerxe* by Pharnabsxe* to accuse Titsa-
phernes, on hi* arrival addressed himself, according to the Persian usage, at
first to the Chilisrch. then named Tithrausten, who held the second rank In this
empire; to Dim he made known his desire to have an Interview with the
king, for no one could be permitted to see him without this formality. This
minister replied, 'There is no alternative, and you had better reflect maturely
whether you will speak personally to the king, or make known to him In
Wrltiug what you wish to say, fur you must salute him by prostrating yourself
before bite when you come into his preseuce. If this be too serious a thing,
I see no other way than for you to write out what you wish him to know.'
Comm. answered biin, 'J see nothing very serious iu this manner of doing
honor to the king, so far as I am personally concerned; but I fear it will lie a
reproach la my country, if, when I am sent as an envoy by a state which i*
used to commanding others, 1 conduct m?eelf after the usages of foreign
nations rather than my own.' It was on this account, therefore, that Couon
•ant the king to writing what he wished to say in person."
Previous lv Couon, according to Plutarch, Themistocle* had less scrapie or
mora policy. Themistuclee, seeing himself in trouble, adddreased himself first
to Artabailee the Chiliarch, statl:tg that he was a Greek by birth, and -desired
to explain to the king some very important matters of great interest to him.
"fMreoger," and Artabsues, ' the laws of men are not everywhere the same,
that which Is agreeable to some is. not so to others, but it is good for all to
respect and maintain the laws of their own country. . You Greeks, for instance,
usteem liberty and equality above everything else. We, among a great number
of good lews which we have, possess one more excellent io our eyes than all
the rest, that which require* u« to honor the king, and to adore in him the
image of Qod who preserve* all things. If then you can accommodate yourself
2 i


344
AMEKKAN EMBASSY
to our usages and worship him, you can, as we do, Bee and confer with him;
but if you have other notions, you can speak to him only by intermediate
agency, tor the custom of Persia demands of every one who asks an audienee
of the king that he worship him."
"Artabanes," answered Theniistocles, "I am here to add to the glory and
power of the king; I will obey your law, since such is the will of God who
has raised the Persian empire to such a grandeur; I wish even that your
master may receive the adorations of increasing multirudes. This is no ob-
stacle to the desire I have to see him." "But," rejoined Artabaoea, "who shall
I tell him you are? for you seem to me to be no ordinary man." "Aa to that,"
said Themiatoclcs, "nobody, Artabanes; I shall explain it before Hia Majesty."
When he had an audience, he adored him by prostrating his head to the
ground, and kept silence until the interpreter was told to ask his name. Ha
then replied, " Great king, I am the Athenian Themistocles, who,Vanished and
persecuted by the Greeks, has come to Keek an asylum with you." Artaxerxes,
though filled with admiration at his greatness of soul and courage, made no reply
to him at this first audience; but, with his fiiends, felicitated himself upon
this event as one of the happiest which could have happened to him, and
prayed the god Arimanes always to put such thoughts into the minds of bis
enemies and lead them to banish their great men. He made sacrifices to the
gods, followed by a great festival; he was so joyful that he was heard crying in
his sleep three times", "I am Theniistocles the Athenian I"
Nepos, in his life of this hero, briefly refers to the same incident. He simply
relates that the conqueror of Salamis wrote to Artaxerxes to say, that, banished
from Greece, he had come to ask an asylum and his friendship; for the histo-
rian doubtless thought it would tarnish the glory of his hern to make it known
that he had prostrated himself before a foreign king. Although many Greeks
had gone to the Persian court, very few of them, so say the historians, would
submit to the ceremonial practiced by Themistocies and Tlmaeoras, both of
them Athenians. The conduct oi those two Spartans meutioned by Herodotus,
who having been condemned to die for the safety of their country, and had
ansae into the presence of Xerxes to expiate the murder at Sparta of the two
heralds sent by Darius, was very different. "Having been admitted on their
arrival at Susa," says Herodotus, "into the presence of the king, the
halberdiers wished to force them to prostrate themselves and adore him; but
they resisted, saying that they had never dune so, and never knocked their
head against the ground; that it was not their custom to worship a man, and
that they had not come there to practice any such ceremony.". They then
addressed themselves to Xerxes himself, "O king of the Medes! the Laced83-
mouiaus have sent us here merely to expiate by our deaths those of the
heralds who were killed at Sparta." Xerxes, who had a generous soul, told
them that he .was not going to imitate the Lacedeemnniane, who, In destroying
bis heralds had violated one of the most sacred laws of mankind; that ha
would not even reproach them with it, fur that If he should put them to death,
be would Indirectly justify the crime of the Spartana.
The ceremonial of the ancient Median court, which Alexander wished to
adopt after the conquest of Persia, was the same as that of the court of Peking;
and a story is told by Plutari'b in his life of Alexander, that Oassander, on see-
lug some barbarians, who had come to the court of the son of Philip, adore him,
burst out laughing; for, reared in the usages of Greece, he had never seen any-
thing of the kin'I; but Alexander was so irritated, that taking him by the hair
he ttruck bis head against the wall.
According to Valerius Maximus, Quintus Curtius, and many other ancient
writers, the salutation, or rather the royal adoration, consisted in prostrating
one's self to the ground; and Seneca calls it Persian servitude. Aristotle plsces
among the things which they honor, sacrifices, praises in verse or prose, re-
wards, tombs, support at the public expense, certain foreign usages, as those of
prostration, extasy, &c. Valerius Maximus relates that the mother of Darios
saluted llstihuthia. and adored him in the Persian manner in the place of
Alexander. Tigranes, king of Armenia, says Plutarch, wished to prostrate


TO PEKINO.
345
himself basely before Pompey and -embrace his knees, but Pompey pievented
him. This form of salutation was In ase elsewhere then at the Persian court.
According to Trebeiliu* Pollio, Zenobia wss saluted and adored in the Persian
manner. Llvy and Poly bins auree that a like usage existed among the Car-
thaginians; for the commissioners sent from that city to Tunis where the Roman
army then wss, did not confine themselves in the interview,-as the Roman
envoys did. to libations to the gods after adoring Terra,as is usual among men,
but servilely pronraied themselves at the feet of those who formed part oi the
council and kissed them.
Many ancient historians, as Xennphon and Arrian. have attribnted to Cyrus
the introduction nf this mode of saluting the king. The first says, "As soon
as they saw Cyrus, every one fell down and adored him, whether the order had
been given beforehand by some one there present, who wished to give the first
Instance of this mode of testifying respect to him; or whether the spectators
ware all struck with admiration at the sight of him. This is certain, that
before that time no Persian had ever prostrated himself so before him." We
read however, that Nebuchadnezzar, not many years before, fell down on his face
before Daniel, and worshiped him; and the usage of thus adoring the king
was likewise known in E^ypt, as some of the drawings in that country testify,
so that the practice was not unknown in countries of which the Persians had
knowledge.
In the fine discourse which Arrian mskes Callisthenes hold with Alexander,
be says :—" Reflect now, if, when you return to Greece you try to force this
bnmiliating salutation upon the Greek people, the freest in the world; or If
leaving out the Greeks, you try to fasten the opprobrium on the Macedonians
alone If we go back to Cyrus, son of Cambyses, we shall find that he was
the first among mankind to get himself saluted by prostration on the earth, and
thence this humiliation extended to the Modes and Persians: do not forget,
however, that the Scythians, those poor but free men, gave a good lesson to this
name Cyras in the person of Darius; the Athenians and Spartans in the person
of Xerxes; Clearchus and Xenophou with only 10,000 men, in that of Arta-
zerxss; and lastly, in the person of this same Darius, before that Alexander
wished to be himself adored."'
Perhaps these excursions into Greek antiquity are rather long; but there one
breathes a pure air, and the dignity of man seems there to find i's highest ex-
pression. Tne Greek world is, in most of its relations, the opposite of the
Asiatic; but that world is now little more then a toMsss'r.
It was doubtless, after bringing all Media and Babylon under his sway, that
Cyrus, and later still Alexander, inflated with the pride of conquest and seduced
by those forms of society, took these adulative rites It was then that the
Achemenian kings of Persia took the titles of Hagadauita, or Friend of God;
Bagacithra, or Scion of God; Bagafmxa, Favorite of God; the word maga or
Says, and later bog, beg, and ssgslss, signifies God in the Arian language!
spoken at the Persian court. The Grand Dukes of Russis have called the Km-
peror of China, Bogdai-khan or Divine Sovereign. We find similar qualifica-
tions given to the kings of Egypt; Amtm-mai, beloved of Ammon; Hhta-mai,
beloved of Phts; Amotit, Oohmos, or Ahmos, child of the Moon; Tsssrsssi,
bornofThot; jmnemot, born of Ammon, the title which Alexander affected;
after his conquest of Egypt, when he went to the temple of Jupiter Ammon to
receive the divine baptism.
The Ascriptions discovered in the Babylonian and Persepolltan ruins confirm
the relations of the ancient historians respecting the pretensions of the Persian
kings. One instance found at Bisoutoun, B.C. 600, reads: "I am Darius, the
sovereign, the king of kings, the king of the Persians, the king of the provinces
of Media, Sosiana, Babylon, Assyria, Arabia, Egypt, Lydia^ Armenia, < appa-
doda, Parthia, Drangiana, Bactria, Sogdiaoa, Sacla, Arachosis," Ice. The
present kings of Persia call themselves among other names, Skah-en-ikah, king
of kings.
The sovereigns of China have never taken any other title than Tikes fsa, or Sot
of Heaven (except the sty Is of their reign); this is very fine, it is true, but it a
■cnaAS


346
AMERICAN EMBASSY
> tarm which devolves Mtk on the man who reeolvee to taka it This ear*>
moiij, of which we hare given a abort htatorlcal notice aa it existed among the
ancienu, doea not aaaaa to hare been of Chineae origin; at leut it bj not men-
tioned in the hiatorjr and ancient booke of the country aa far back aa Oaa
fuciua in the fifth century before Cbriat. Thia great phlloaopher, who haa
made China a nation unique among the nations, neither practiced nor recom-
mended it. We do not meet it in the Ritual of the Cbau dynasty (B. C. 1184-
302), where three reverencee with the hand toward! the earth, or raited to the
forehead above the bead, are, described aa practiced instead of the modern
ia* ami kii kau. The Master of Ceremonies then did not know each a. cere-
mony among bla minute and complicated ritual, which be taught the king
himself. It appears that this new rite, which bears all the iraits of a theocratic
nmeiiiimlal, preeerrod erao in Europe, waa introduced by the famous Tain Chi
Hwaogti (who reduced the feudal states of China to a centralised monarchy,
B. C. 890-906), and whose object in destroying aH the monuments which existed
at that time waa to entirely recreate the civilization of China. Aa he wished te
introduce many other usages of western Asiatic nations into China, thia Assy-
rian-Median ceremony may well hare formed a part of them. However thia
may have been, the practice of this rite was soon thoroughly incorporated into
the practices of the Chinese court, aa a few extracts will show.
"Towards A.D. 713," says Remusst, "some embassadors came from the Calif
Waled to offer Irlbute to the Emperor Hiuentsnng. They asked to be excused
from the prostrations at the audience they sought, and were in consequence
tried before a court, which declared, in its sentence, that they were worthy of
death for having committed an unpardonable1 crime against the custom, but
the Emperor graciously remitted the sentence. The ealipb then sent new
embassadors, who protested that in their country they prostrated themselves
only before God, and never before kings. They were severely reprimanded for it,
whereupon they prostrated themselves. In 798, Haroun al Raschid sent three
embassadors to the Emperor of China; they aH performed the ceremony, and
the prime minister loaded them with presents. It must be remembered that
the Chinese well knew the great power of the Arabs at this time, and had had
disputes with them in Thibet and Samarkand, and the Emperor Taitsuug had
in bis pay a carps of Arab auxiliaries, which had satiated m retaking his two
capitals from rebels."
P. Gaobil refers to this last incident in bit abridged History of the Tang
Dynasty. "In 708 the Calif Haroun sent three embassadors to the Emperor;
when saluting him they performed the ceremony of kneeling and knocking the
head on the ground. The first envoys whom the Calif sent to China made greet
objection to perform this ceremony. Chinese history relates that the Mo-
hammedans declared they never kneeled except when they worshiped God;
however, being instructed on the point, they no longer felt any scrapie and
performed it. It ie from this that the native historian in noticing this embassy,
remarkt that the Chinese ceremonial waa .performed by the Mohammedan
embassadors when saluting the Bmperor."
This la the same Harouu al Ratcbid, who, three years after sent embassadors
to the Emperor Ti-tsung, and also to the Emperor of the West at Favla, where
he was received with presents. History does not Inform us whether the Arab
embassador at Pavia prostrated himself before Charlemagne; then there were
only three great empires iu the world, that of Charlemagne, that of the Calht,"
and the third of China.
We aae from this glance what importance haa been attached to thia question
•f oeremo jy during the last three thousand years. We will close it by referring to
the opinion of a man whose authority ia equal to that of any other in ancient or
modern timet. "I learned afterwards from the Emperor," says O'Meara, M that
Lord Amherst bad been tent as embassador to China from Great Britain. He>
remarked that he thought the English minister! had made a mistake ia not
requiring him to submit to the usages of the court to which he waa sent, or
otherwise that they should not have sent him there at all. A man who goes to
a country ought to conform himself to the received customs of that country,


TO PKKINrt.
acad it would have been no degradation on the part of Lord Amherst to have
gone through, before the Emperor of China, with the ceremonies practiced by
Che first officers in the empire. If I should send an embassador to that court, I
would order him to ascertain, from the highest dignitaries, what ceremonies
were practiced before the Emperor, and conform to them, if demanded of him,
but do nothing in addition. Perhaps they have lost the friendship of this
nation, and great commercial advantages by this childishness."
This last word (enfmtiUage) is characteristic in the mouth of Napoleon, who
knew the value of court ceremony. Themistocles, whose name he had evoked
in a memorable circumstance, had judged likewise at the court of Artazences.
The question will erelong be again brought up, since, in the treaties of Tientsin,
the western Powers have stipulated that the court of Peking shall receive their
ambassadors.. We shall see then what is their policy in the matter. We know
what England, Holland, Portugal, and Russia have heretofore done in regard
to it. Prance has not yet had occasion to manifest her policy. However, the
writer k.nnws what the government of Louis Philippe intended in 1844 when
it seat a minister plenipotentiary to China to negotiate a treaty of commerce.
The following is the incident Towards the latter part of 18 H), he published In
the Revue de I'Orient an article, entitled Document! offieieU chineu mr lee
ambaitadti itrangiret etvoyiei prit de Fempereur de la Chine. It drew attention.
M. de Lagreul, then appointed plenipotentiary, did him the honor to ask him
by one of his attaches to call on him, for the purpose of inquiring if be wished to
go with him to China. Daring the interview, in which H.de Lagrene was plessed
to speak very highly of the publications of the writer, the latter Inquired if the,
mission was going to Peking, and not to Canton alone, for then he would
go with pleasure. The minister replied, that he was not going to Peking for
this reason; thst the article published in the Revue de I'Orient, describing the
ceremonial observed at the Chinese court had been read to the ministry,
and that after deliberation it bad decided that the embassador of the king of
the French should not submit to this ceremonial. M. de Lagrene' remarked
that as far as he wss slone concerned, he saw no objection to doing it, for a
minister or an ambassador ought to .comply with the usages of the court to
which he wss accredited; but that at any rate he should observe his instructions.
In tiie actual state of things, it would perhaps be the best plan for the powers
which have signed the trestles of Tientsin to understand what course they will
follow, and agree upon the instruct ions they will give their resident minirters
at Peking upon this point. It is rather doubtful whether the President of the
Bosrd of Rites will make any concession in respect to ceremony, and it la
certain he will not show .as much strictness as the ministers of Hiuentsung did
to the envoys of the Calif Haroun; but it is equally certain that he will make
the least possible concession to European ideas, for he knows Hist it is precisely
these usages, reputed inviolable by the Chinese, which have now fur three
thousand years, maintained this active and restless people under control, and
made them the singular state they now are.
Europe, even at this date, has only a poor and even incorrect idea of China.
She has scarcely folly appreciated her usages, seeu as it were from ufur. She
would be surprised if she knew the body of rltusl lsws which regulate all the
acts of social life, from that of the Emperor to that of the lowest of his officers;
for the former, though regarded in Europe as an absolute monarch, has less real
personal power than the most constitutional of our sovereigns. He Is under
these ritual lawa. He himself performs this rite on many occasions, as when he
sacrifice* to Heaven or to Earth, when he worships in the temple to Shln-nung,
to the goddess of Silkworms, to the highest Sages, of whom Confucius is first,
to the Spirit of Heaven, Earth, and the North Star. On these occasions he
makes the three kneelings and nine knockings. He even does so before his
mother on solemn occasions, as at her birthday.
On the other hand, his sons perform the same ceremony to him; though the
empress makes nine reverences to him instead of the nine prostrations. All
other princes of the blood, high officers, even feudatory kings when they receive
invostiture from the emperor, perform this obeuauce.
1 4 *


348
AMKRICAM BHBASSr
It la hardly probable therefore that European governments will induce the
Chinese government to change their usage, at least for a loog time. If oar
advice wee asked a poo tbie question, we should say that it wee Impossible for
European embassadors to submit to tbia ceremony, at leaat uuleaa modified;
and then that it *ould be better for each embuasador to observe the etiquette
of hie owu court, dressed in the habilimeuts that court requires. Each nation
will then preserve its own traits. Chinese embassadors who may be seat to
European courts, or to America, will there perform their own ritual. All
disputes ou the matter will thus be avoided.
Supplementary to the above, and in order to better understand
the detail of an audience before the Emperor, a translation of the
. paragraphs given in the Td Tang Hwui Tien, or Collected
Statutes of the Ta Tung Empire, is here added from Sect 895 in
Book 130. M. Pautliier has furnished the ritual of an audience
taken from the Td Tting Tung Li, which is fuller in its parti-
■ culars, but the Hwui Tien probably contains an account of all
the ceremonies now required of foreign envoys.
Whenever an envoy with tribute arrives at the capital, he most first go to
the office of the Board of Kites to present his letter of credence. A table must
be previously prepared, and «ot in the middle of the principal ball to receive it*
The marshal in charite ot the embassy, clothed iu his official robes, leads the
envoy, followed b\ his suite, each ol them dressed iu their native court costumes,
from their hotel to the office of the Board of Rites. They enter the corner gate
on th" left side, and remain siai'ding below the stairs ou the left. An Under-
Secretary of this boaid u»e» hi" place on the lelt of the table, aod two roasters
of ceremonies stand near the pillars on the two sides, all dressed in their robes.
The marshal first mounts the steps and takes his place want of the left band
pillar; two Interpreters and two ushers then lead the principal envoy and his
suite in their proper order up the steps, where they stand. All then kneel.
The first envoy, respectfully holding the letter of credence, hands it to the
marshal, and he in turn delivers it to the Under-Secretary, whose duty it is to
place it properly upon the table in the hail. Tbey retire to their stations. Toe.
envoy and his deputy perform the ceremony of three kneelings and nine knock-
ing*, rise, and are conducted out by the ushers, when the marshal goes with
them and their suite out of the hall. The master of ceremonies takes charge
of the letter of credence, and next day transmits it to the Privy Council. Should
the Emperor's birthday, the winter solstice, or the new-year occur, on each of
Which His Majesty holds levees in the palace, the grand chamberlains aod the
marshal, with their subordinate*, conduct the envoy and his retinue through the
great Soulh Gate into an antechamber, where they quietly wait till they are
introduced through the Cbing-tu Gate. His Majesty enters the palace of
Supreme Harmony, and his courtiers perform their obeisance. The envoy and
his suite are then conducted by the ushers to the west side of the portico in
front of the palace, to the end of the line on that side. There they hear th*
order, "perform the three kneelings and nine knockiuga."
If It la not one of the abovenienfioned days for a levee, a request is mad*
through the Board of Kites that one be appointed, and when the time baa com*
to be admitted into the Presence, the minister from the Board of Rites, arrayed,
in his court embroidery, leads the envoy dressed in his national costume, with
the Interpreters in nniform, to the onter door of the palace, where they remain
a while. His'Majesty, arrayed in the customary dreas of the palace, enter*
the side hall, where the high dignilaries of the palace, the household guarusand
'their officers, and other attendant*, are all placed in their usual posts. Th*
minister of lite Hoard of Bites conducts the envoy, followed by the interpreters,
to the west side ol the portico. Here they perform the great ceremouy, when


TO PEKING.
they ascend the western steps, accompanied by an Interpreter, and go to the
door of the palace and kneel ouUide of it. Hit Majesty then makes gracious
Inquiries, which the Minister of Rites transmits to the interpreter to make
known to the eovoy. The latter returns his reply, the interpreter translates
it, and the Minister of Riles communicates it to His Majesty for them. When
the audience is over, they are conducted out .
If the Emperor wishes to treat the envoy with unusual honor, the several
bodies of Mauchu and Chinese dignitaries are assembled, each stationed in their
appropriate ranks, and all arrayed in full embroidered robes. The Minister of
Rites conducts the envoy to the portico before the palace, where the ceremony
la performed; they then go up by the western stairs, and enter the right door
of the palace, taking their place at the end of the line of officers on the right
aide. The interpreter stands just behind his superior. His Majesty graciously
commands them to be seated. The officers of the palace and of the household
guards, and the assembled body of the Manchn and Chinese grandees, with
the Minister of Rites, all make an obeisance. Each being seated iu his place,
the envoy comet forward and makes his obeisance (knocks head once), after
which be lakes his aeat. Tea is then handed. The cupbearer takes tea to His
Majesty, and all make their obeinance; then the soldiers of the guard baud
cups to all the officers present, to the envoy and bis suite, each oue bowing bia
head to tb- ground as he receives it. When this ceremony is over, all bow as
a( first. The Emperor then graciously makes kind inquiries of the envoy,
which are transmitted aa before described. The audience over, the Minister of
Rites eouduets the envoy out to the antechamber, where His Majesty's orders
are received to invite him to a banquet. The marshal Anally conducts him
beck to his hotel. The next morning st dawn he repairs to the Great South
Gate of the palace, to return thanks for these fsvors. The President of the
Banqueting Hall gives orders to the ushers to arrant a every one iu bis place.
The envoy is conducted np the portico of the palace, and stationed so at to
face the northwest, when he performs the grand ceremony as required.


[ 350 J
ARTICLE VII.
METEOROLOGICAL TABLES,
FROM OBSERVATIONS MADE IN JAPAN.
We are indebted to gentlemen resident in Japan for the following
tables, which we hope to continue from time to time, enlarging
the sphere of observation, as oar intercourse with that nation
extends.
The first table has been constructed under the superintendence
of Townsend Harris, Esq., then United States Consul-general for
Japan and now resident minister at Yedo. The other is com-
piled from an elaborate Weather report, published at Desima in
the Dutch language, by Dr. J. L. C. Pompe van Meerdervoort,
Medical officer to the Dutch government in Japan. The thermo-
metries! observations have been reduced from the Centrigrade
to Fahrenheit's standard.
In submitting these tables to our readers, we take the opportu-
nity, thus afforded, publicly to tender the thanks of the Society to
those gentlemen who have enabled us to plaoe these memoranda
in the pages of our Journal, and also to solicit, from them and
others, further observations on this and kindred topics. At no
very distant period invalids, from Shanghai and other cities on
this coast, may find in the Japanese islands places of resort where
their impaired health may be restored by a far more pleasant
process than a long sea voyage. We wish to learn, therefore, all
that we can about the climate of Japan.—Off the east coast of
this continent, there is, it is now well-known, a current, "a river
in the ocean," similar to that off the east coast of America, called
the Gulf Stream. This is called, by the Japanese, the Black
Stream or Euro Sirvo. A notice of it has already been published,
by Lieut. Bent, among the Papers of Commodore Perry. Further
knowledge of this immense current may yet serve to show how
the early inhabitants of the "New World" were drifted a cross
the North Pacific, from the eastern coast of the old continent to
the western coast of the new.


TABLES.
361
METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS.
Midi at tbb U. S. Cohsulatb-obhbbal, Simoda, Jafab.

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[ 358 ]
ARTICLE VIII.
RECORD OF OCCUBRBNCES.
Furam »r tub Editorial Cokmittbb, Dbo. 1st, 1860.
Disaster may often seem to retard, but can seldom if ever prevent
the accomplishment of the well-designed enterprise. Frequently
its effects must be salutary, because it will stimulate to mora
careful endeavors and to more vigorous efforts, and thus essentially
aid in securing those very ends, which, at first, to the superficial
observer, it might seem to have thwarted. The eclat caused by
the temporary success of the great Atlantic telegraph and by the
news of "China open," one of the first messages conveyed by it,
was quite premature. In this and all similar cases, where the
retarding forces and the difficulties to be overcome or reniOYcd
have not been duly considered, disaster may be inevitable; at-the
same time, however untoward it may seem and however dis-
couraging it may actually prove to the faint-hearted and irresoratd,
disaster is not failure nor repulse defeat. All that has happened
to the Atlantic cable will not prevent electricity from accomplishing
in due course its legitimate wonders. Nor will the' repulBe from
the mouth of the White River prevent steamers from navigating
the inner waters of China or hinder foreign embassadors from
gaining access to the court of Peking. '**■'•■ v.'
The Record of Occurrences, given in the second number oftimV
Journal, was brought down to the 20th of last April, at which
time it was. generally expected that the several treaties signed the
preceding year, in Tientsin and Yedo, all being duly ratified!
would soon be exchanged and their varied stipulation be 'carried
into effect. With regard to the Japanese, that expectation hai
been realised. All the provisions, particularized and defined b+
the new treaties with Holland, Russia, England, France, and thf'
United "States, thus far appear to have been scrupulously observed
by (be supreme government at Yedo, This augurs well' for the
far east. In regard to the Chinese, however, a different policy hat
•btained. Dark and ominous shadows have here coine oveV the
ROMAS XIII


356
RECORD OF OCCURRENCES.
to be prevented from going into the interior of the country from any of the
opened porta and placet; and a certain number of snch missionaries shall for
this purpose be furnished with due passports by the Russian consul and the
authorities on the frontiers.
"Art. 9. Those parts of the mutual frontier between China and Ilussia that
hare not been hitherto surveyed and settled shall be immediately examined on
the spot by a joint commission appointed by the governments of the two high
contracting powers, and the line of demarkation as settled by them shall be
attached to this treaty as an appendix or additional article. After, the final
settlement of the boundary line, a detailed description of the same, together
with a map uf the adjoining country, shall be executed and signed by the
commissioners on both sides, which documents shall be considered by both
governments as incontestable proofs of the line of frontier for the future.
"Art. 10. Instead of the usage hitherto pursued of allowing the members
of the Russian spiritual mission to reside for a certain limited period at Peking,
they shall enjoy in future the right of returning to Russia by way of Klakhta,
or any other route, as may be deemed advisable by their superiors, and other
missionaries may be sent to supply their places at Peking.
"All ex|ienses incurred for the support of the Russian embassy at Peking
shall in future be home exclusively by the Russian government, and the
Chinese government Bhall be henceforward liberated from the charge of sup-
porting it as hitherto.
"The travelling expenses of the members of the embassy, couriers, and other
persons sent by the Russian government to Peking, either by way of Kiakhra or
any of the ports opened to foreign trade, shall be paid by themselves; but the
local authorities are bound to give every assistance in their power to facilitate
their journey and forward them with as little delay as possible.
"Art. 11. In order to insure a regular communication between the govern-
ments of China and Russia, as well as for the requirements of the spiritual
mission at Peking, a light post shall be established to travel once a month
between Kiakbta and Peking. The Chinese courier shall leave Peking and
Klakhta on a certain fixed day* of every month, and is bound to deliver the
letters and despatches committed to his care within fifteen days.
"In addition to this there Bhall be established a heavy post between Kiakbta
and Peking for the transmission of parcels and packets every three months, or
four times in the year, which shall be conveyed each way within one month.
The expenses of the light and heavy mall shall be borne jointly and in equal
proportions by the Russian and Chinese government."
These large provisions were secured by the Russian plenipon-
tentiary with remarkable facility and at a very small expense. It
would appear that, nearly or quite simultaneously with the
departure of the Special Missions from England, France, and the
United States to the court of Peking, in the early part of the
year 1857, Count Poutiatine was dispatched by the Czar for the
same purpose vid Kiakhta. There denied an open way to the
capital, his right by treaty, he proceeded to the coast and on board


RECORD OF OCCURRENCES. fl.r>7
the war-steamer America, soon, appeared off the mouth of the
Peiho, duly accredited to the imperial court in Peking1. This was
in August 1857. There too he was denied access; but having1
succeeded in delivering a dispatch for his Majesty's ministers, he
then came down to Shanghai. After a short visit here he returned
again to the 'mouth of the Peiho, where his request for a reception
at Peking was still refused. Thrice thus foiled, he now proceeded to
Hongkong1. In a letter from Lord Elgin to the Earl of Clarendon,
dated there Nov. 14th, 1867, we find the following "extracts.
"Since I wrote to your Lordaliip my previous dispatch of this day's date
Count Poutiatine haa arrived, and has done me the honour to call upon me.
He informed me that, Dot having been successful in obtaining at Kiakhta any
reply to bis application for admisvion to Peking, he proceeded on hie own
responsibility to the mouth of the Peiho. On hi* arrival there he waa first
visited by three inferior mandarins, who informed him that no communication
to the court of Peking could be made on his behalf from that port. At he
evinced, however, no disposition to depart, a mandarin of higher rank soon
presented himself, giving it out that he was accidentally on the spot on a tour of
inspection. This mandarin told him that he would forward his letter to Peking,
but that if he wanted a reply, he must return to Kiakhta, and await it there.
Count Poutiatine declined to accede to these terms, and the consequence waa
that another mandarin, who had no doubt been sent express from Peking,
waited upon him, and offered to take his letter to the capital, adding, however,
that a fortnight would elapse before a reply could be received. As the mandarin
refused to provide for him a residence on shore, the Count determined to pass
this interval at Shanghai.
"On his return to the mouth of the Peiho he received his answer, which
consisted, be said, of a refusal to see him at Peking, with an intimation that,
under no circumstances, could the performance of the "kotow" be dispensed
with. I observed to his Excellency, that if it were not an indiscreet question,
I would veninre 10 ask to whom he addressed the letter which he had sent to
Peking. He informed me, in reply, that he had addressed it to the tribunal
with which the Russian government is In the habit of corresponding. He
styled it a Tribunal for Foreign Affairs, but I believe it is generally regarded
rather as a tribunal which deals with colonial or dependent states.
"Count Poutiatine was very decided in the expression of his opinion that
nothing could be done with the Chinese government unless pressure were
brought to bear upon Peking itself, and that the use of vessels drawing so little
water that they could navigate the Peiho would be the beet means of making
such pressure effective. The mandarins on the Spot, if I rightly understood
him, had, in conversation with him, adverted with exultation to the fact that
our shlps-of-war could not perform, this feat. I told him we were pretty
strong in craft of the description to which he referred, that we had, as he no
doubt knew, a quarrel of our own to settle in this neighborhood, but that when
that affair was concluded, we should be prepared.to go northwards in force,
and very glad to be accompanied by the flags of other nations interested with


RECORD OF OCCURRENCES.
e» in oatoadlng oMnnUI istsSteas with CUm, end inducing that court to
abate Iti aboard pretensions of .uperloilty.—Carrifo»itnc* nlatiwt u th* Sort
mfBlgin'i Sffimi MUtito to China a.i Japan. 1867-1856, p. 53.
The affair, alluded to above, having been concluded, and Lord
Elgin, on the eve of bis departure northward, haying prepared the
draft of a letter to the senior secretary of state at Peking, took
Occasion, when trasmitting a copy of it to Count Poutiatine and
to Mr. Reed, respectively, to intimate to them that, in his opinion,
* the weight of representations of the plenipotentiaries of the allied
powers, and, therefore, the probability that the government of
China might be induced, without further coercive pressure, to
consent to such arrangements as might obviate future misunder-
standings and tend to.develop commercial relations between China
and other nations, would be increased if their excellences [ Mr.
Reed and Count Poutiatine] should see fit to support the attempt,
about to he made" by himself and Baron Gros. This was in
February 1668, while his Lordship was still before Canton, on board
the Furious. To this communication Count Poutiatine replied
from Macao* four days later, February 8th, in the following terms.
"Sly Lord; I bad th« honor to receive yoar lordship's latter oftneaaY
loataat, as wail aa another of the same parport from hie fassBsasy Bare*
Greet Id which yon invite me to support conjointly the demand from the
Chinese government, of the rights for the general benefit of all dviUaed "Unt
The enclosed copy of your letter to be addressed to the Prime Minister of the
Bmpsror of China contains the enbetence of those demaode of general interest.
Yoar Lordship haa been good enoottb to communicate te me, alee, information
of the latest stents at Canton, which, though they properly concern the Intel sals
of England, at the same time terre ee grooudt for general demands that may
lesd to remove in future all similar discords between China sad other nations.
'.' Soak frank and important communication! impoee upon me the duty to
offer yon my sinosrs thanks, and enable me to answer your propcstttoas with
fall knowledge of foots. I fosl most happy to be able, in accord ansa with my
instructions! which were made known to the Earl of Clarendon,'to aeeapt yoar
intituled aa well as that of Baron Grot, to present to the Chi dm* government
sissaftsnsoae note* on snbfssSs of general interest. The demands of general.
interest, as considered by Bnasia, consist in sstebllshlng a regular rtlphmslis
iofocooorsa with th* court of Peking, in the sxtsneion of foreign trade, sunt at
sppskny, the liberty of eoaeateooe to all who profets Christianity. si-
,^Conformably to thee* views I have prepared a letter to the Bapreanr
CswicU. of State at Pskiag, in which I. sat forth thst Bosnia Insists aa tk*
Sdoption by China of th* sabstoass of the general demands by Baghmd and
Francs, and desire, thst high Cbln*ee dbjnitariat,' vested with foil powers, bs
named to treat on mature of general interest to all nation*. A copy of this
letter 1 will hart the honour to forward for your Lmnahip'a parassl. I trunV


kbcord ov oeovmuvoM.
359
it will be found to coincide with the views which ths represenUtiTes of the
Allied Powm «ntortoia on the mbject. I propose to tend it with that of th«
minister of tba United State*, to be delivered In Shanghai simultaneously with
joar and Baron Oroa' notae. In this letter to the Supreme Council of Stete,
1 also revert, aa la dona In yours, to private question* solely concerning Bnasia
and China, such a* the establishment of the frontier line, and tbe pillage of
ear factory at Tarbogatae in Western China.
"My endeavour* to open negotietion* at Peking last year, as your Lordship
li aware, were uaaucceaifnl. The Chinese government, contrary to the express
stipulations of our treaty of 1738, has declined to receive me at Peking. This
refusal I communicated to the Imperial Cabinet at St. Petersburg last Novem*
ber and am expecting additional instructions on this point Meanwhile hi*
Imperial Mejeety, my August Sovereign, has been graciously pleased to order
that I should endeavour to attain the end confided to me, exclusively by
peaceable mean*. I should, therefore, have acted contrary to the wishes of his
Imperial Majesty, if I had not availed myself of your and Boron Groe'
invitation. It opens me the way to renew my communications with Peking,
and to add my efforts in attaining the universal desire of seeing China opened
to the beneficial influences of ell Christian nations. I fully sympathize with
your Lordship's wish that the government of China may not decline our Joint
endeavoure to come to en understanding with it, and, having before its eyes
the whole weight of consequence* at Canton, may timely avoid the evil* of war
before they ere spread on some new ground. At tbe same time I cannot
refrain from rendering full Justice to the spirit of moderation and conciliation
which ba* animated the represents tires of the Western Powers In their recent
proceedings against China."—Set Corrttpondenct, Ifc, p. 186.
This is good testimony, and exhibits the attitude and aim of the
Treaty Powers in clear favorable light The general tenor of the
letters, one from each of the four foreign ministers, addressed
to the premier and forwarded from Shanghai, is well-known. The
responses to those weighty communications were most unsatisfac-
tory, and only served to hasten the plenipotentiaries northward to
the mouth of the Peiho. Negotiations failing there, and the forts
of Taku having been taken, an advance was made to Tientsin.
The necessity for that advance is fully and most satisfactorily shewn
in a dispatch dated May 19th 1858, and addressed respectively
to Count Poutiatine and Mr. Reed. Lord Elgin says —
*' It is with very great regret that I have to inform your Excellency that the
peaak of the endeavour* which I have made, in conjunction with Baron Groe,
to satisfy myself a* to the nature and extent of Tan'* powers, end the tana fidri
of the court of Peking, in eppointlng him to treat with me, has'brought me to
the conclusion that nothing but delay and disappointment are likely to result
from an attempt to open negotiations with him at this place. 'I need not re-
capitulate to your Excellency the history of these endeavours,'as you are already
fiutttiier willi it; bot I cannot refrain from expressing my acknowledgments
2 5


360
RECORD OF OCCURRENCES.
to your Excellency for the exertion* you have made to bring the Chinese aatho-
ritiea to mora reasonable eeotimema. Deeply impressed, however, vita the
importance of settling the differences now subsisting between Great Britain and
China, and obtaining aecuritiee ngntnat their recurrence at the earliest possible
period, I consider it to be my duty, before abandoning the attempt far the
present and applying to my government for fresh Instruction*, to make a
farther appsal to the Court of Peking from soma point nearer the Capital. This
decision, which I bare taken in coucert with Baron Ores, is perfectly ooaaartaat
with the coarse which I hare hitherto followed in my eDdaavoars to opea
negotiation* with the Chinese government, and with the language of my suc-
cessive communications to the Court of Peking, copies of all of which are m
yonr Excellency'* hand*.
"It i* proper, however, that I should Inform your Excellency that the
commander-in-chief of the navel force of Great Britain in these teas, whoa*
authority on such a point U, of courts, conclusive with me, decline* to permit
the vessel* under his command to ascend tlie river towards Tientsin while the
forts at its mouth remsin In the occupation of Chine** troop*. He will,
therefore, a* a preliminary measure, in concurrence with the commander-la-
chief of the French naval force, summon the commander of the fort* to deliver
them temporarily into his hands on the condition that they shall be returned t*
the Chinese government when the negotiations in which the plenipotentiaries
are engaged shall have been satisfactorily concluded. Should this summons b*
disregarded, he will take them by force.
"I have already had the honour of communicating to your Excellency *o
fally, in conversation, the general view* of policy by which I have been guided
in determining on thia mode of proceeding, that 1 do not think it Decenary to
enter, at length, upon thia branch of the subject on the present occasion. It
he* been a matter of unfeigned gratification to me to believe that the sincerity
of my desire to pursue a moderate course, in my. relatione with the Cbineea
government, has been appreciated by your Excellency. . I shell therefore do**
this letter with the assurance that, notwithstanding the greatest stringency of
the measures which the Inaccessibility end Impracticability of the Court of
Peking impose ou me iu this Instance, I shall present myself In the river or at
Tientsin with the same earnest desire, and aim at a pacific settlement of existing
differences, and the same readiness to acc-pt reasonable terms of accommoda-
tion, by which I have been actuated in the successive endeavours to opea
negotiations with the Cbineea government, which I have already made in concert
with your Excellency."—Set Ctrrmpm**ms, p. 308.
To fhia letter prompt and hearty responses were given, by Mr.
Reed and Count Poutiatine, both declaring their readiness to follow
his Lordship up the Peiho, and to unite with him in pacific measures
to negotiatie new treaties and open the way to the court of Peking.
This was on the 19th of May; the particulars of the action on the
following day, and the renewal of negotiations at Tientsin early in
June, were detailed in our last number. Supplementary to that
detail, and with special reference to the Russian treaty, we subjoin


RECORD OF OCCURRENCES.
two short notes,~excellent in both manner find spirit. The first,
dated Tientsin, June 15th 1858, is from Count Poutiatine to Lord
Elgin. The italic* are our own.
"My Lard, I had the honor to inform roar Excellency that it my flint inter-
view with the Chinese high commissioners, I had proposed to them to treat
wiili me on the basis set forth ill my dralt of treaty. The negotiation* on this
•ubject have since proceeded with morn success and rapidity than I'cimld have
hoped at the beginning, so much so that the evening before last I was title, to
sign a treaty, which in substance differs in nothing from the draft which I had
the honour to communicate to your Hxcellency. I shull not fail shortly to for-
ward to you, my Lord, an exact translation of the treaty which I have concluded.
"It is right I should here express the great obligation which Rutsia owes to Great
Britain and France for such a hsppy and speedy result. It is the success of
the arit/M of the two Allied Powers which hat forced the Chinese to yield, at last,
to the just demands of civilized nations. . As the principal actors in the great
events which are about to open a new era in the existence of the Chinese people,
the names of your Excellency and Barou Gros will have a well-merited place
in history, and every good man will pray that the efforts which have been
made for the purpose of spreading real civilization, and for the propagation of
Christianity, may bear abundant fruits in tiiis vast empire.
"From the concurrence of different circumstances, Russia has not thought it
right to take part in the measures of coercion employed against China; she
will thank God for It, but she can appreciate at the same time the difficulties
to which two Great Powers are exposed. The spirit of moderation which has
presided over all the actions of your Excellency and Baron Gros has caused the
Chinese people to feel little of the disastrous consequences which war neces-
sarily brings with it. It is, without doubt, one of the most fortunate circum-
stances in the present complication, that these great results have been obtained
by means of a comparatively insignificant force, and principally by • salutary
pressure, and one of but short duration, in the immediate vicinity of the seat of
the Supreme Government.
"It is for your Excellency now to decide on the future fate of the present
government, and it will depend on you to place the necessary check on the stream
which might otherwise deluge China, now newly opened, and cause so many
disasters. The too great concessions whicli might be exacted from a govern-
ment so roughly shaken would but precipitate its fall, which would produce
new and much graver difficulties. It is repose that is necessary for China, and
it will be alike profitable botli to the commerce and general interests of other
States, who certainly desire nothing so much as to see the Chinese government
arrive at the conviction that the concessions which it has now msde are, above
all, of utility to itself.
"Permit me, my Lord, to offer you my personal and moat sincere thsnks for
the fraukness of the communications whicli you have been good enough to make
to me, and which have aided me iu accomplishing the mission with which my
Government has intrusted me."—See as above, p. 332.
Two days subsequently, t. e. June 17th, Lord Elgin addressed
to the Russian minister the following note in reply.
NCRHAS
XIV


362
RECORD OF OCCURRENCES.
"M. li Comte,. 1 nave bad the honour to receive your Excellency's letter of
the 16th Indent, in which you inform me that yon have made more rapid
progress than yon at one time ventured to hope for in your negotiations with
the Chinese high commissioners, and ibat yon hare aigned a treaty, not mate-
rially differing from the draft which you had the goodness some days ago to
communicate to me. I beg to thank yonr Excellency tor the obliging terms in
which you have conveyed to me this very satisfactory intelligence, and to add,
that I shall always have pleasure in acknowledging the benefit which I have
derived, on various occasions, from your Excellency's enlightened cooperation
In the performance of the difficult duties which we have had to discharge
together. I beg further to assure your Excellency that Inter west heartily into
the feelings which have inspired the latter portion of the letter which I am now
acknowledging. It is indeed my firm conviction that, by availing themselves
of their rights as belligerents, not to extort any selfish advantages or territorial
acquisitions for themselves, but to irduce the Chinese government to mitigate,
in the Interest of all, its traditional policy of delusiveness, and to bring its high
officers into more direct contact with the representatives of other Powers,
Great Britain and Franc* have adopted a coarse which it calculated to smart from
China very serious calamities. At the same time, I think that it is the bounden
duty of the Treaty Power* to do all that in them lies to prevent foreigner*, and
more especially tkote who claim the immunities of exterritoriality, from ahveing the
the privileges which the Chinese government has been induced to concede. So soon
as the terms of the French and English treaties are definitively settled, I shall
be happy to concert measures with your Excellency for the attainment of this
object."—See p. 333.
In the extracts now beiore tbe reader, the most essential objects
and difficulties of the recent negotiations are brought to view, and
also some of the results and the means by which thej have been
attained. The retrospective view, thus taken, was necessary in
order rightly to understand the present attitude of affairs and the
difficulties'which still remain to be encountered.
Here, in passing, is the proper place to allude to the new "line
of demarkation " between Russia and China. This line, we believe,
extends along the whole frontier from Central Asia to the Pacific
Ocean; but how far it has been determined on we do not know.
It is known, however, that all the territory on the left bank of the
Amour, and a portion of tbe right, between the river and the ocean.
have been "restored" to Russia.
Five days after the conclusion of the. Russian treaty, that nego-
tiated by the United States minister, the Hon. William B. Reed,
was signed. The particulars of its ratification and exchange have
been already sufficiently detailed, in our pages, by Dr. Williams.
That treaty, consisting of thirty Articles, has been made public in
Proclamation, 'given under the hand and seal of Office at the


RECORD OF OCCURRENCES.
305
den, hindered in the exercise of their natural and unalienable rights.
Some of the principal additional points provided for by the new
treaty are these: that in case of trouble with any foreign power
the United States will exercise their good offices in behalf of the
Chinese on being informed thereof; that the originul copy of the
treaty, as ratified by the President of the United States, shall
be deposited in Peking; that the Emperor, on the exchange of
ratifications, will ■ immediately promulgate the new treaty at the
capital and in all the provinces; that the highest diplomatic agent
of the United States resident in China may at all times correspond
with the Emperor's Privy Council; and that once a year, the
United States Minister may visit and sojourn in the capital near
the Emperor. The twenty-ninth article, securing religious tolera-
tion, we quote entire:
"The principles of tlie Chirstian religion, as professed by the Protestant and
Roman Catholic churches, are recognized 88 teaching men to do good, and to do
to others tu they would have others do to them. H ei Batter those who quietly profess
and tench these doctrines shall not be harrassed or persecuted on account of
their faith. Any person, whether citizen of the United States or Chinese convert,
who, according to these tenet*, peaceably teach and practice the principles of
Christianity, shall in no case be interfered with or molested."
Commodore Tattnall's action on the 25th of June, however
questionable it may be in a political point of view, was a generous
return for the Plover'' service the preceding day, when the Toey-
wan was grounded close to the Tnku batteries; and his visit to
the wounded admiral in the midst of the fight, when the com-
modore's barge was sunk and his cockswain killed by a round shot
from one of the Chinese guns, was a gallant display of generous
regard. The sympathy also of the commodore's men was striking-
ly exhibited by the repeated transferrence, to their wounded and
suffering friends on board (lie allied vessels, of the fresh provisions
sent off for themselves from the Chinese officials. These, though
they may be regarded as small incidents, are significant facts.
Touching the proceedings of their Excellencies, the Hon.
Frederick W. A. Bruce and Monsr. de Bourboulon, envoys ex-
traordinary and ministers plenipotentiary, our record must stand
open. Hardly had these new representatives of England and
France entered on the discharge of the high trusts, devolved on
them by their respective governments, when the progress of friendly
intercourse was suddenly interrupted by the bloody and desperate
conflict at the mouth of the Peiho; and now after the lapse of


AH these and other nets oftike character notwithstanding, there
are yet, itx the picture, some light fays which should hot be passed
by unnoticed in this brief surrey of the Emperor's wide domi*
nions, with its population claiming to number not less than four
hundred millions. At the Five Ports, during the current year, a
large measure of prosperity has been enjoyed, not less by the1
foreign residents than by the Chinese. In Canton and the neigh-'
boring villages and towns there has been uninterrupted peace,
Such as of late years has been unusual in those regions. Here id
Shanghai, both io city and suburbs, as well as in the foreign set*
tlement, the tide of population has advanced, and domestic and
foreign commerce increased. Of the ruins, caused by the wicked
insurrection of the Fuhlden malcontents, scarcely a vestige now
remains, while here and there are to be seen substantial marks of
improvement Excepting the temporary excitement, which last
summer grew out of the " coolie traffics," so called, there has-been*
nothing to disturb the public peace. — This prosperous state of
aJaifs, at all the open ports, may be accepted, we think, as strong
testimony in favor of the foreign elements, social, political, coop
mercial and religious, Which are cow beginning to operate in these
several localities.
Last, but not least, in the Category of what should be borne in
grateful remembrance, at the present time, are the manifold bless-
ing of Divine Providence. Sickness and pestilence have been, in
an unusual degree, averted from the; inhabitants of the land, as*
well as from those sojourning here, while the productions of the soil
have been plenteous", thus abundantly rewarding the labors of the*
husbandman,- and furnishing large supplies for exportation tit for-
eign lands. These tokens of good, while they demand the tribute'
of thanksgiving,' may well inspire confidence and trust in HM
government Who ruleth supreme among the nations.
From the ''Peaoefnl-South,'' Annam, the rumours and reports,,
that reach us very indirectly, are far from being pacific; and were
it not for that failure, in the exchange of treaties, which has so
Unhinged the foreign relations at the court of Peking and which
must speedily be retrieved, his Annamese Majesty might hope ere-
long to be-left in the undisturbed exercise of his tyranny. Of late
the French and Spanish forces would seem to have been inclined
to withdraw from their advanced posts; but if it has indeed been
so, the present, demand for the-further exercise of Power, here in


308
HECORD OF OCCURRENCES.
the Middle Kingdom, may at no very remote period furnish the
means requisite to give a new turn to the course of events in
Cochin-china.
Eastward of us, in Japan, we find that the several treaties, so
carefully and successfully negotiated during the year 1858, have
been not only duly exchanged but also that their varied and im-
portant stipulations are taking effect. At Yedo, the seat of the
im|iei'ial government, diplomatic agents are now resident; and
foreigners, of various nations in considerable numbers, have esta-
blished themselves, under the consular authority of their respec-
tive governments, at the open ports of Nagasaki, Kanagawa and
Hakodudi, where the demand for articles of commerce has far
exceeded the highest expectation of the most sanguine. In Japan,
however, as in China, conflicts have arisen between the natives
and the foreigners. In Yedo, as in Peking, there are antagonis-
tic parties, some strong conservatives and some bold reformers;
while at the open ports in that country, as in this, there have
already been witnessed lawless acts of violence. There was, and
there seems still to be, at Yedoj some mystery in the action of the
imperial government; and at the open ports in Japan there may
yet be still sharper and more fatal conflicts, — so diverse are the
views and the interests, the principles and the policy, of those who
there have so suddenly been brought into close proximity.
If weighty responsibilities rested on those who negotiated the
new treaties, no less are devolved now on those charged with their
execution. The recognition of consular jurisdiction and the
immunities of externtoriality was ample indeed, and now imposes
the most sacred and solemn obligations. The treaty negotiated by
Mr. Harris, Lord Elgin, in order to avoid confusion and perplexi-
ty, made "die model and basis" of his own, adhering very close-
ly to its stipulations, and even in most cases to its phraseology.
His Lordship, howeverj induced the Japanese to add these "two
or three important concessions," that there shall be a reduction of
duty, from 20 to 5 per cent, on "cotton and woollen manufactured
goods;" that, at the end of fine ypars, there shall be "a revision
of the tariff," if either government desires it; and that henceforth
all the official documents, addressed to the Japanese authorities,
"shall be written in English."





JOUBNAL
OP
THE NORTH-CHINA BRANCH
OP THB
ROYAL ASIATIC SOCIETY.
Vol. II., No. I. September, 1860.
(all publ. of v. II)
SHANGHAI:
PRINTED AT THE OFFICE OF THE NORTH-CHINA HERALD.
MDCCCLX.
KRAUS REPRINT LIMITED
Nendeln / Liechtenstein
1967


Reprinted from a copy in the collections of
The New York Public Library
Printed in Germany
Lessing-Druckerei — Wiesbaden


PREFACE.
At the oponing number of a second volume, we might well leave our Journal
to introduce itself, assured by the favourable reception of previous issues, that
the objects of our institution are being thus far successfully accomplished.
In taking this opportunity to acknowledge the contributions which have
been placed at our disposal, we are glad to be able to point to a fair variety of
subjects in the present number.
The interesting events now occurring in this empire, so pregnant with materiel
on which arc based the hopes of occidentals, will, we are persuaded, open a
much wider field for scientific pursuits and enlightened investigation. China
has long engaged the attention of the world, and is amply repaying the efforts
that have been made towards securing the benefits of mutual intercourse between
the two hemispheres. Japan must still be.looked to as a land of promise; but
what is already known, is sufficient to stimulate progress, and to place the
prospective advantages beyond the region of surmise. It may be but the
"crumbs from the table" that shall fall to our share; yet we have no doubt
of being able to insure a continual supply of such articles as shall interest
the intelligent reader, and add our mite towards the more perfect elaboration of
the history of Cosmos.
Ed. Com.





CONTENTS.
PlIIJV
Article I.— A Sketch of the Life of Confucius, 1.
Articlb II.—The Ethics of the Chinese, with special reference to the
doctrine of Human Nature and Sin,
Article III.—On the Cosraical Phenomena observed in the neigh Uorhi»> I
of Shanghai, during the past thirteen centuries, 43
Article IV.— On the ancient mouths of Yangtsi kiang-, 77
Article V.— Dissection of a Japanese criminal, <*•>
Article VI.— Notes on the Mineral Resources of Japan, &c, IK
Article VII.— Supplemental Memorandum on tho present state ut the
Magnetic Elements in China and places adjacent, !>■'»
Article VIII.—Temperature of Hakodadi, !"'•
Article IX.—Winds and weather at Chefoo, !'<
Article X.—Record of Occurrences, 1<'-"'





JOURNAL
OF
THE NORTH-CHINA BRANCH
OF
THE ROYAL ASIATIC SOCIETY.
ARTICLE I.
A SKETCH OF THE LIFE OF CONFUCIU3.
Br the Rbv. Joseph Bdkihs.
Confucius became the acknowledged chief sage of China almost
immediately after his death. The energy of his personal character,
the influence of his system, and his teaching, were at once very
widely felt A short time only elapsed before he was placed
highest, in position, among all the philosophers or teachers of the
country. In the History of Sze-ma Tsien his biography is found
among those of royal families, and not, where we should have
expected to meet it, along with the lives of scholars and sages.
Commentators on that work explain this as resulting from the
extraordinary reverence with which he was regarded. The bio-
graphy given by this great historian is very full of facts. There
is indeed no lack of evidence and particularity respecting the life
of the great sage.
The following selection of these facts will serve to shew of what
kind they are. As one of the world's greatest and most noble-
minded teachers, he deserves special attention from us and a much
fuller notice than the one now before the reader.
Belonging to the sixth century before the Christian era, Con-
fucius was contemporary with Thales and Pythagoras; but he
differed greatly from them in the practical character of his
philosophy and his abstinence from speculation. He was great as
a moralist, and therefore he is rather to be compared with Socra-
tes, who was c —lewhat later. These two men are alike in the
NCRSAH voi,. II. no. i. I


A SKETCH OF THE LIFE OF CONFUCIUS.
extpnt of their influence, in deep moral convictions, and in the
high rnnK they assigned to morals. Yet they differed much in
personal characteristics and their mode of treating the subject on
which they gave instruction. Confucius was the stern censor;
Socrates the acute reasoner and master of irony. Confucius re-
fused to discourse on the future state; Socrates loved to meditate
upon death and the after condition of the soul. Confucins laid
down rules for the government of self, of the family and of the
state; Socrates was rather the inquirer after knowledge and the
lover of virtue for its own sake, holding that to be virtuous is to
be happy. Confucius followed antiquity; the good examples and
instructions of past sages were to him law and authority. Socra-
tes rather listened to the internal voice, which if carefully heard
will teach us what belongs to us and what we ought to do. The
influence of Confucins embraced, besides what is of a moral kind,
that also of a scholar and critic. He gave to posterity editions of
ancient books, the repositories of the earliest Chinese wisdom.
The influence of Socrates, so far as it was not of a moral kind,
was that of a philosopher. His disciples, taught by him how and
where to inquire, founded mighty systems of human thought which
have never ceased to exercise the most powerful effects on man-
kind. Confucius is described by his disciples as morally pure,
amiable, good, respectful, careful, temperate, and yielding in his
disposition, so that he was honoured and trusted by contemporary
princes, who sought his advice without his ever being forward to
tender it. Socrates is painted by his disciples as spotless in moral
character, pious, upright, temperate, clear-sigHted, and, when
unjustly condemned to die, as exhibiting the most exalted courage
and resignation.
Without proceeding further with these comparisons, which are
in anticipation of the subject, it is time to proceed to the details
connected with the life of Confucius.
The family name of Confucins was Kung, and his proper name
Kieu. This last is not to be spoken; and the sound Meu is
substituted for it in reading. It is the name which Chinese eti-
quette forbids to be mentioned; and which is therefore called
hwei,* the prohibited name. His common appellation was Chung*
• Sometimes a rich Chinese has discovered that his proper name has been
the same with that of one of his Ancestors, and has paid a large sum to govern-
ment lor permission to take a new name.


A SKETCn OF THE LIFE OF COXFCCJCS.,
sage and was the lord paramount to whom the rulers of aO
the other states rendered or ought to render feudal obedienee.
Confucius examined the temples to the boundary divinities and
the gods of the land, the temple to ancestors, the private palace
(ming fang) and the hall for audiences (chau). When he had
examined these antiquities he said,—"I know now how truly
wise was Chen kung." It was here that he visited Lau tan, the
celebrated founder of the Tauist religion, who praised him for
the depth of his wisdom and the purity of his doctrine and
conduct.
His usual object in journeying to other states was to give ad-
vice to the rulers of those states with regard to their mode of
government. If they did not follow his advice, he declined their
presents and the tokens of their good-will. He also examined
into the customs, the music, and the court ceremonies of the regions
he visited. He was so enraptured with the music he heard in the
Tgi country that he failed to notice the taste of animal food for
three months after. He found on returning to Lu, his native
state, that its ruler made use of a certain dance in the court cere-
monies which formed a part of the ritual of the lord paramount.
This excited the indignation of Confucius, who wished to see
ancient customs strictly observed by men of all ranks. More than
once he reproved the princes of small states for performing reli-
gious acts that should be exclusively done by princes of higher
grade.
The disordered condition of the Ln kingdom growing worse
and worse, Confucius at length resigned office, and applied himself
solely to books and to teaching. At the age of forty-seven he retired
and edited the classics. He was the critical editor of the national
sacred books and the expounder of their doctrines. He attempted
to transmit in a pure form that which had been taught by the
early sages of his nation. It is this circumstance that imparts
certainty to the Chinese account of Confucius. He lived in the
historical period, in an age of criticism, himself performing the
chief part in that criticism. There is no difficulty in knowing
certainly that he lived at the period, and wrote the works ascribed
to him, when this point is properly kept in view.
"After passing through lower offices Confucius was made first mi-
nister of Lu, the modern Shantung, at fifty-four years of age. His
disciples noticed that he looked extremely pleased, and asked him,


A SKETCH OF THE LIFK OF ('OXFPL'I I's. :"»
"We have heard that the superior man* when calamity comes is
not grieved, and when happiness comes is not glad, why then are
you so pleased?" He replied,—"There is such a saying, hut it does
not mean that there should be rejoicings when the inferior man is
raised to a post of honour." He had held the reins of government
seven days only, when he put to death for misconduct an influen-
tial person named Shau-chen Mau. Tsi-kung one of his disciples
came to him and inquired whether this act of severity was not a
mistaken one. The reply of Confucius was as follows. "There
are five evils in the world, a dangerous nature inclined to mischief,
conduct perverse and stubborn, a false and plausible tongue, a
tenacious memory for what is bad, a disposition that readily yields
to what is wrong. To possess one of these is to deserve death at
the hand of the good ruler (kiun tsl). This man possessed them
all. He had great facilities for collecting a band of followers to
do mischief, and great powers of persuasion for deceiving the
multitude. Added to this he was restless and ambitious, and
therefore he could not be suffered to live."
Confucius lived to be so old a man that some of his pupils died
before him. "When he heard of the death of Yen Yuen, he ex-
claimed, "Heaven has inflicted a loss upon me. Heaven has
inflicted a loss upon me." He finished his annals of the Lu king-
dom, his native stale, at seventy-one. It contained the history
of 240 years, and was called Spring and Autumn. This work
is regarded as a model for the judgment exhibited in the selection
of facts, the laconic style of its composition, and for the clear,
simple, honest and decided manner of the author. He said him-
self that he wished to be judged by this production, and that
from the time of its publication all thieves and traitors in the em-
pire would begin to feel alarmed. This illustrates the Chinese
idea of the duty of a historian. He holds in his hands a moral
power, which he must ever exert on the side of virtue. It is from
him that retribution for crime proceeds, and the severity of his
sentence is perhaps feared the more because the retribution of the
future state is so little believed in China.
At seventy-two ho felt his strength decay. He said,—"I am
• The superior man, kiun tsT, Is he who com bines wisdom with benevolence, find
indeed who constitutes the ideal man, the pattern of all virtues. Tho word kiun,
nunm prince, and causes the compound term to mean something like "nature's
noblriiinii," he who is born to hold high station.


0
A SKETCH OF THE LIFE OF (ONFrtll'S.
sinking. I shall not again dream that I see Cheu kung." This
prince, one of the national sages, was the brother of Wu wang
the first emperor of the Cheu dynasty. One day Confucius
called to him Tseng tsl, a favorite disciple and said,—"There is
one thing which constitutes a summary of my doctrine," He then
committed to his care the Ta hio, Great instruction, which says,—
"The doctrine of the great instruction consists in the illustration of
resplendent virtue, in bringing the people near to you, and in
stopping at the point of perfect virtue." He also committed to
Tseng tsl, the Book of Filial Piety, Hiau king. It says,—" The
ancient kings in rendering the empire obedient, employed one per-
fect virtue and important doctrine, by which the people were kept
in harmony with each other, and no enmities existed between the
high and low. The foundation of virtue and the chief thing in
education is filial piety. The Ta hio was originally embraced in
the Li Ki, Book of Rites. The Hiau king was a separate and
independent work. Confucius used to say,—" The character of my
mind is seen in the Spring and Autumn [Annals], and of my mo-
rality in the Book of Filial Piety."
A panegyrist said of Confucius,—"He preserved to us the re-
membrance of Yau and Shun, the wise princes who flourished in
the first period of our history. He held up for admiration the
deeds of Wen and Wu, the founders of the Clieu family, the most
long-continued of all the dynasties, and that under which Con-
fucius himself lived. He prepared a standard edition of the
national history (Shu king) and poetry (Shi king). He gave a
corrected detail of the ceremonies and music to be regarded as
those established by precedent and authority. He compiled the
Chun tsieu, the model of history and of historical morality, and
he extolled the doctrine of the Yih king, Book of Changes, which
contains the national philosophy. More than :i,000 disciples were
taught by him, and they admired so much the tasks he accom-
plished that they were expecting wise princes like those of anti-
quity to reappear in the world."
When he was another year older, he heard of the death of Tsl
lu, a pupil to whom he was greatly attached, and he uttered loud
lamentations on occasion of it. A few months after in the sum-
mer time he rose early one morning and with the aid of his staff
walked for awhile near the doorway of his house, singing the
words—"The mountains are falling: the trees are goinjj- to decay;


A SKETCH OF THIS LIFE OF CONFUCIUS.
7
wise men are disappearing." He entered the doorway and sat
down. Tsl kung when he heard it said,—"The master is about to
be sick," and hastened to his side. Confucius said to him,—" You
are late in coming. Illustrious kings no longer appear. Who will
be able to carry out my doctrines?" He died, after seven days'
illness, in the year B. C. 479. His disciples mourned for him three
years, and after that period returned to their occupations. Tsl kung
built a hut oyer the grave, remained there for three years mora,
and then went hack to his home.
His faithful followers, unwilling to desert him, built houses near
his tomb. They received the name, "Village of Confucius."
Sacrifices were offered him year by year, and the literati met
frequently at the tomb to celebrate his memory. The building in
which they met was afterwards converted into a Miau, or temple
to the dead. The clothes and cap, harp and books, of the de-
ceased sage, were here preserved.
In the perpetual worship of Confucius, which then commenced,
titles of honour given by successive emperors were employed.
, For the first few centuries after his death, he was spoken of as
Father, wittf a string of preceding adjectives. In the Tang dy-
nasty, A. D. 700, he was styled,—Wen siuen wang, the king,
proclaimer of literature. During the Sung and Ming dynasties,
when the practice of conferring posthumous titles was greatly
extended, new epithets were added to those of Confucius. Tbs
term wang, "king," was not dropped till the sixteenth century,
when the title now used in temples was appointed by imperial
edict. It runs—Chi' sheng sien shi kung tsl, the most holy ancient
sage Confucius. The founder of the Ming dynasty in the four-
teenth century, appointed that sacrifices should be offered to
Confucius in every city through the empire. He was called by ft
decree, "Lord of the element of wood."
In thus adding to the religious ceremonies performed in honour
of the great sage, his. ancestors were not forgotten. A chapel waft
placed behind the hall where the tablets of the philosophers are
worshipped, as a receptacle for those of the father of Confucius
and the other principal wise men of China.
The first of the five titles of hereditary nobility, namely, that
called kung, "duke," wajconferred in perpetuity on the eldest of
the male descendants of Confucius in a direct line. He is entitled,
Yen-sheng-kung. The Chief Magistrate of the city where he was


s
A SKETCH OF THE LIFE OF CONFUCIUS.
born is always chosen from his descendants, as also the official
examiner in literature for the same city.
Tin: way in which the Chinese characterize the peculiar merit
of Confucius, is to represent him as the preserver of the doctrines
of Yau and Shun, and the other wise emperors of antiquity.
They say that heretical doctrines sprang into life and grew
luxuriantly very soon after his time, and if he had not edited the
classical books, posterity would not have known what those earlier
doctrines were. He taught the true mind of heaven and earth,
laid down laws for mankind, recorded the instructions of past
sages, and pointed out the path of peace and virtue to all coming
generations. Was he not then, they ask, wiser than Yau and Shun?
Among these traditional doctrines they mention—(1) Taking
the middle. This was the advice of Yau to Shun. It is true for
politics and for philosophy. Confucius made it the basis of the
Chung Yung, the Invariable Mean, a work which was formerly
appended to the Li Ki, or Book of Rites, but was in modern times
made one of the new division called the Four Books. They men-
tion—(2) Filial Piety, which he shewed to be the principle that
chiefly influenced all the wise kings of antiquity, and which they
transmitted in succession from Yau to Cheu kung. They notice
in the teaching of Confucius—(3) His record of bright examples,
instructing men in their duty, and in corre-pondonce with this,
his description of the universal harmony seen in heaven and in
enrth. Both of these were given in the oldest part of the Book
of History as the doctrine of the early emperors. They also
include in these instructions—(4) The utterance of Confucius
respecting jen, benevolence. He described it as embracing self
restraint and self discipline, with the exercise of respect and polite
attention to others.
Confucius avoided the discussion of obscure subjects, ne
preferred to sj>eak upon those which were useful and important
in a practical view. In the work Lun yu he explains and enforces
the virtues, love to parents and other relatives, fidelity to kings
and friends, and benevolence and uprightness towards all. The
same work treats of human nature and of the law of heaven
only once, and in that ca-e it is his disciple TsT-kung that speaks.
He discusses not the causes of things but their practical character.
Mencius loved to search into causes, and in this he differed from
Coutitciiis.


A SKETCH OP THE LIFE OF CONFUCIUS.
0
The following1 is aD example of Lis teaching. The subject is
jen, brneeolcnce, or goodness. "For your neighbours to be distin-
guished for goodness is well. If you do not reside among the
good you cannot be intelligent. None but the good can bear
well the restraints of poverty and resist the temptations of abund-
ance. Only the good man is able to love and to hate men as he
ought. He whose will is set on goodness is free from what is
wrong. A man cannot establish his name except he be good. I
have not seen the man who truly loves goodness and hates what
is not good. He who loves it knows that it is better than every
thing else. He who hates what is not good will most assiduously
avoid it. I have never known a man use his strength to be good
and find it not sufficient; if there be stich a man I have not yet
seen him. Would you know if a man is good, look at his faults,
for faults depend on men's temperament. Goodness is not far
from us; if I wish it, it is here (within me). As to my being
holy or good, I dare not profess it, but I may say this, that I
never feel otherwise than pleased with what is good, and am
never weary of instructing others in it"
When Yen Yuen asked him, what is goodness? Confucius re-
plied, "To subdue self and return to orderly conduct. Let a man
subdue himself but for one day, and the world will come back to
goodness. Goodness consists in rigid self-control and kind for-
bearance towards others. Its rule of conduct is this;—What you
do not wisli others to do to you, do not to them.—To make good-
ness operate in the world, five things are needed, viz: to be res-
pected, liberality, fidelity, intelligence and kindness."
This account of jen, goodness, may help us to understand the
place held by the Confucian ethics among other systems. It
comprehends so much more than mere benevolence, that it appears
to approach nearly to our word virtue. It includes the ideas of
goodness, self-discipline and love; and its rule of action tow ards
others is the same as the golden rule of our Saviour,—" Do unto
others as ye would that they should do to you." Our own word
goodness has much' the same extension of meaning. Virtue as a
feeling and an activity is benevolence, jen, as thus extended in
meaning. Virtue personified is the superior or virtuous man,
kiun-tel. The virtuous man takes for his law of action the chwuj
yung, or incurxublc mean, the medium between two extreme!-'.
On the one side of it are faults of omission, and on the other
NI BKA» VCL. 11. NO. I. 11


10
A SKETCH OP TBI LIFE OF CONFUCIUS.
of commission. This agrees with the doctrine of Aristotle on
virtue.*
This doctrine, of the virtuous middle, Confucius professedly
derived from Yau, the ancient wise emperor, adding to it himself
the idea of time. The virtuous action should not only be between
extremes in its own nature but also in the time of its performance.
It came through the hands of the emperors and sages, Shun, Yu,
Tang, Wen, Wu and Cheu kung, to the epoch of Confiicius.
The religious feelings possessed by Confucius may be judged of
by his uttered sentiments respecting prayer and sacrifices. "In
sacrificing to ancestors, act as if they were present, tsi ju tsoi,
and do the same in offerings to the gods, tsi shen ju shen tsai.
When I am not at the sacrifice, I look on it as still unperformed."
He was not satisfied for it to be the act of a substitute. It is
Very common in China for the ancestral rites to be performed by
another. Confucius sometimes allowed his son to take his place,
but he would not consider himself as having discharged his duty
in this case.
"Although he had coarse food," says another passage in the
Lun yu, "he would not omit the offering of n part as a sacrifice,"
and the presentation of this to his ancestors on a small table in
the centre of the dining hall according to the ancient manner,
was conducted by him with as much reverence as on the annual
days of sacrifice. Commentators describe this as a constant remem-
brance of the source from whence he came, the authors of his
existence. This virtue is called pan pen, recompence of the root
We might expect that, if enlightened by revealed truth, Confucius,
who felt thus towards his forefathers, would have been a devout and
grateful worshipper of God the Father. This feeling in his mind,
rightly directed, would have led him to recognize the love of him
who is the source of all being and all happiness.
But what were the thoughts of this sage respecting Heaven,
and the Great Ruler of heaven,—for the phrases mean in Chinese
the same being? Though he did not know God as Father, he
knew Him as Ruler. Under the impression of the greatness and
glory of Shang te, he said, "When a man has sinned against
Heaven, there is no room for prayers." His sin is too great to be
forgiven; and supplications addressed to the gods of the house,
* See Article on CMimm Ethics, by Bar. O. John, in the present number of
this Journal.


A SKETCH OF THI LIFE OF CONFUCIUS.
11
either to the spirit of the kitchen or to that of the northwest cor-
ner, are quite thrown away. Chu fu tsl says, in commenting on this
passage, $$ f£ ft % #T l$> *•* tien> heaven, is
the same as li, reason. A recent Chinese author, Tsien Ta-hing
remarks upon this, that the mention of prayer shews it to be not an
abstraction, but a person that is meant It would be improper to
aay, "Pray to reason." He quotes the Book of Odes as saying,
—"Reverence the anger of heaven, fear the'majesty of heaven."
And he adds, if an abstraction, such as reason, is referred to, these
expressions in ancient poetry would be without meaning. You
may speak of reason as being that law by which heaven operates,
but you must not say that heaven is identical with reason."
This view of the ancient Chinese belief respecting heaven is
preferable to that of the pantheistic philosophers of the Sung dy-
nasty, and there need be no hesitation in adopting it.
On one occasion when Confucius was sick, his pupil Tsl lu wished
to pray for him to the spirits of heaven and earth. He replied,
"Should this be done?" The pupil answered,—"Yes, for it has
been said, by a writer on the subject of death, that prayers should
be offered to the spirits above and the spirits beneath." To this
he replied,—" I have long ago prayed." In so speaking, say the
common annotators, he was far from meaning that he had prayed to
the spirits referred to. What he intended to convey was the idea,
that his life had been such as to require no prayers. His freedom
from sins rendered prayer needless. This explanation is certainly
in the spirit of the Sung philosophy. By other readers it is be-
lieved to mean that he actually prayed habitually to heaven. We
would prefer to believe this. But at any rate the expression
must not be taken as proving Confucius to have been a prayerless
godless man. It does not relate to his feeling respecting Heaven,
so much as to that respecting the worship of spirits then existing.
He did not approve" of the superstitious regard paid to the spirits
by his countrymen." This led him to say, on another occasion,
* Respect the spirits, but keep them at a distance." He held that
heaven should be regarded with profound reverence, but that acts
of prayer and sacrifice, such as were used in the worship of the
inferior spirits, should not be performed. Only the son of heaven,
the emperor, can sacrifice to heaven and earth, and accompany
offerings by prayers to the supreme spirit of heaven and earth.
For men of inferior position to worship heaven in this manner,
I


14
A SKETCH Of THE LIVE OF CONFVCIKS.
had no sliding weight to employ in measuring actions, but instead
of it a fixed centre. He did not attend to what Confucius had
said respecting the moveableness of the centre, in holding to which
virtue consists. He says, in the Chung yung, that it is a variable
centre, or fftf ul shi ckung. Mencius himself was led by op-
posing views to speak of right as always collateral with benevolence.
Where Confucius talked of goodness or jen only, Mencius added,
on all occasions, the word i, rectitude, as a moderating principle
that should ever be present in maa.
The mode in which the orthodox writers of China have proceeded,
in cases where Confucius has not uttered definite opinions, has
been still to claim him as belonging to their party when they have-
expanded their system, and to maintain that their newly added
doctrines were included in the teaohings of Confucius though not
particularly dwelt upon. The attributes of perfect wisdom, good-
ness and holiness, which they ascribe to him, require that all truths
should be considered as known to him, though they had not beea
developed by circumstances into a concrete form.
The first public recognition of his title to perfect wisdom and
holiness (sheng) and perfect goodness (virtue) is in the writings
of Mencius. He himself disclaimed this title.. His humility
would not allow him to receive the designation jen jen, good man,
or tkengjen, holy man. But according to Mencius his words, "I
am never tired of learning, or weary of teaching," establish his.
title to be called both holy and good in perfection.
China honours her sages by the preservation of their places off
burial; ancestral temples are built to them \ while their descendants
receive titles and emoluments, from the state. Jn travelling
through the country, many a spot is found to have a special
interest belonging to it, from the reminiscences clustering round
it of the great statesmen, poets, sages or warriors of past times.
The more remarkable, such as those which commemorate the acts
of Confucius, are under the charge of the central government, or
of persons specially delegated for that purpose; while the less
important are cared for by the local government and the inhabi-
tants of the neighbourhood.
Few literary Chinese enter the province of Shantung without
visiting the tomb of Confucius. It lies about thirteen miles east of
Tsi nan, the capital of Shantung, at the base of Ni shan, on the
south side. Above it, on the hill side, stands the temple. The


A SKETCH OF THt T.1FE OT rOVFUCIUS.
15
beauty of the Si shui is mentioned in the Book of Odes. It is at
present a winding1 stream about three yards wide at the point
where the mound and temple are. Ni shan is the hill from which
the sage derived his name. The grave stands a mile to the south
of the temple, and the land it occupies contains 400 mm. The
inhabitants, at the foot of the hill, are the posterity of the sage.
At some distance is another hill called Rung tsi shan, hill of Con-
fucius, where stood formerly the house in which he taught his
disciples. His family residence was at Ni shan, and this was the
building in whose walls was found, long since, a copy of the Book
of History. The story of its discover}', one of the most interest-
ing facts in the preservation of ancient books in China, is given
in Medhurst's Shoo king, and other works; but the Ku wen shang
shu, as afterwards published and generally accepted as a genuine
exemplar of the Book of History, has been subjected to a severe
ordeal of criticism, and proof given that it has assumed a form
very different from that which it had when found in the ancient
house wall and was published by Rung Ngan kweh.
The land which belonged to the sage near these two hills is
still in possession of the Rung family, and cannot be alienated.
The sepulchre is surrounded with a wall so as to look like a fort.
The temple erected above the funeral mound, at a distance of a
mile on the side of the hill, is like other ancestral temples in its
general arrangement. The sage himself is seen in the centre on
the northern side of the principal hall, called ta cheng tien, the hall
of great accomplishment; while on his right and left are placed
his disciples and subsequent sages, to the number of seventy-two;
besides these there are three thousand ordinary disciples, such
being the sum of the followers of the sage during his life.
In this temple all these sages, except the ordinary disciples,
are represented by images of clay, not by upright slips of wood or
tablets only, as is commonly the case in the temples of Confucius.
The image of Confucius himself is of vast dimensions, moulded and
painted to represent the ancient costume. On his shoulders he
bears two globes, emblems of the sun and moon. His bead-cover-
ing is that, called Ping tien kwan, 2j£ ^ having suspended
on it twelve strings of pears. He holds in his hand the slip of
ivory called Chau pan, or siang fuh, ^ carried
by mandarins in the imperial presence, and by the emperor when
he sacrifices to heaven. On the roof beams of the hall, over this
t *


lfi
A SKETCH OF THE MFE OP COKfUCIfS.
image, the bat is the principal carved ornament. This animal is
used in Confucian architecture from the identity in sound of the
wotdjuh, happiness, with the second part of the term for bat,
pien fuh. Numberless living bats have made the roof of the
temple their constant abode. An emperor of the Ming dynasty,
noticing this circumstance, said, Wan fuh lai chau, Ten thousand
kinds of happiness (or bats), come loyally before him. This
sentence is inscribed on one of the monumental boards.
On the right of Confucius are two smaller images, those of Yen
Yuen his favorite disciple, and Tseng tsi, author of the Ta hioh.
On the left are two others, representing his grandson Tst si,
author of the Chung yung, and the well-known Mencius.
Beyond these, and still smaller in size, are the seventy-two
hien jen, virtuous men, among whom are found many of the per-
sonal pupils of Confucius, as well as a few carefully selected from
the numerous Chinese philosophers down to the present Manchu
dynasty. Before the Sung period, when the Sing li philosophy
rose, there were bnt forty-three of those still retaining their place
in this national pantheon of wise men. Twenty-three teachers of
that philosophy took the place, by order of the Ming emperors, of
as many who were degraded into the inferior rank of the three
thousand. Four more were added in the Ming period, and two
additional ones during the reign of the Manchus.
Tablets of the three thousand ordinary disciples of Confucius
complete the list of the persons honoured in this temple.
The title of the sage himself is, Chi sheng sien me Eung tsi,
J£ jfa (m the most holy ancestral teacher Confucius.
The next four are entitled fuh sheng, ffl shuh sheng,
Mfc y, chwen shing fa j^f, and ya sheng, Q respec-
tively. All these titles imply proximity to the dignity of sacred
wisdom, for that is the idea of the word sheng, but they all fall
short of it Fuh sheng, is the continuator of the sage; shuh
sheng, the narrator of the sage's instructions; chwen sheng, tradi-
tional communicator of them; and ya sheng,lie who is but little
inferior to the perfect sage.
In the temples erected to Confucius in the larger cities, an
image of the sage is sometimes used, but in those of the smaller,
a tablet only is usually employed. In both kind? of temples the
representative of the other wise men is commouiy a tablet, but
not necessarily so. Statues of them are also sometimes found.


A SKETCH OF THE I.IKE OF CONFUCIUS. 17
The use of statues at all is an innovation, evidently derived
from Buddhism. Their introduction was doubtless contemporary
with the appointment of state gods, such as Kwan ti, the god of
war, in the SuDg and Ming periods. The extent of their use is an
index to the feeling that the literati in the country have with
respect to image worship. They would never have been thought
of, but for the prevalence of idolatry in the Buddhist form, and
they would have been regarded as of much more importance,
were not the genius of Confucianism opposed to popular supersti-
tions. The true adherent of this school looks coldly on image
worship and doubts its efficacy. But it has so far triumphed, that
a state polytheism has been established under a Taouist guise,
and even in the most sacred edifices of the purely Confucian faith,
traces of its influence are found to exist.
Among the inscriptions in honour of Confucius on monumental
boards are, j(l Mfc, teb p'ei t'ien ti, in virtue he is the
equal of' heaven and earth; *|£ rlj^^) tau kwan ku kin,
in doctrine he it superior to the ancients and moderns; |(£
fljjj wan shi shi piau, the teacher and example oj ten thou-
sand ages.
The wall in front of the gateway to these temples is called,
ty] § wan jen kung t'si%ng, the palace wall of ten thou-
sand fathoms in height. There is an allusion here to the words
of a disciple of the sage, Tsi kung, who said on one occasion
when asked if he were not as wise as Confucius, — " My wall is ten
feet in height; that of the teacher is several tens of feet high.
The grandeur of his dwelling is seen by all around. He who
does not enter his door, fails to witness the real beauty of the
ancestral temple, and the riches of the attendant officers. Few
can enter it,—it is too grand and lofty for common eyes."
The gate to the temple of Confucius is called ling sing men,
|§| , the gate of the *tar of literature.
The temple is superintended by persons benring the same family
name, K'ung, his descendants. They enjoy an income annually
from the treasury, and one of them receive! the hereditary title of
peh, the third in rank among the five classes of Chinese
nobility. It is his duty to superintend the sacrifices in the
temple in the spring and autumn.
In the course of last century, the emperor Kien lung presented
an ancient incense urn of wood to the temple of Confucius. It
M'BKAs VOL. II. NO I. Ill


18
A SKETCH OF THE LIFE OF CONFUCIUS.
belonged to an ancestor of the sage of the seventh generation,
and is therefore about 2,500 years old. It has seven words en-
graved on it in the great seal character, 7^ I
flfr, "Made for Fu k'au meng; the characters carved by the
maker." Before this it was preserved in the palace.
The temple to Confucius at K'iih feu already described is one
of six erected to him in various parts of the empire. 'They are
distinct from the temples attached to the examination hall in each
district and department, and which amount to 1,511 in number.
Of these six temples that in Shantung as the birth place of the
sage is the first in rank. The others are in Shansi (T'ai ngan), in
Chekiang (Kil cheu,) in Kiangsu, in Sich'wen (Tseh cheu,) and in
the imperial palace. That belonging to the province of Kiangsu
is situated about twenty-five miles to the west of Shanghai in the
neighbourhood of T'sing p'u. A descendant of Confucius removed
his residence to this place in the sixth century and brought with
him some relics of tiie sage, consisting of articles of clothing and
a hat. These he placed in a grave and erected a temple beside it
Since that time it has been frequently rebuilt by other persons
not of the K'ung family, the representatives of that clan having
again disappeared from the vicinity.
The authorities for the life of Confucius are in the first place,
the conversations known under the name Lun Yii. They consist
of fragments originally written by the disciples of Confucius or
by the pupils of those disciples. The work now known under
this name and included in the Four Books, is believed to have
been found hidden in the wall of the house of Confucius at the
same time when the Shu king was discovered there. The princi-
pal compilers were probably indebted for their information to Yeu
joh and Tseng seng, two of the most noted of the disciples of the
sage. There was a Lun yii of the Tsi kingdom, and also of the
Lu kingdom. This is the Lu Lun yii. The edition of Chu fa
tsi is universally employed as a school-book.
The second important work is K'ung tsi kia yii, or Confucius'
household talk. This work was composed it is said by K'ung
ngan kwoh, and published with a preface and notes by Wang
shuh. Both these men were noted authors of the Han dynasty.
It is very valuable as an ancient book, though lapse of time may
have partly disturbed the genuineness of its contents, and much
of it is found in the next work here to be mentioned.


THE ETI1M.S OF THB CHINESE. i!l
desires. Tt seemed far more important to him to lay down, ex-
plain, and enforce a moral rule for the guidance of men in the various
relationships of life, than to inquire into the nature and origin of
moral sentiments. He described virtue as consisting in a happy
mean between two vicious extremes. He maintains that there is
a due medium between the vice of excess on the one hand, and
that of defect on the other. Virtue consists in avoiding both
extremes and observing the mean. The difference between the
virtuous and vicious man consists in this,— the former lives in the
due medium and the latter does not. The glory of the emperor
Shun shone forth in his ability to use the due medium in all his
administrations. The excellency of his favourite disciple Yen
consisted in his choosing the happy medium for his portion, and
never forsaking it. The truly virtuous man is he, who does not
commence to tread the path of virtue and stop half-way, but fol-
lows on to the end of life. He, who in following the due medium
can retire from the gnzing world and live forgotten and unknown
without regret, is a holy man. All sin and its consequent evils
spring from the neglect of this golden rule. Confucius often
mourned over the fact that so few were able to persevere in the
path of life. The sage is exposed to the sin of excess, and the
foolish and depraved to the sin of defect. "States," said he,
*' may be equalized, offices and emoluments may be rejected, men
mav be courageous enough to tread on swords—all these though
extremely difficult may be done, but the happy medium cannot be
observed. The path of virtue, though near to all and easily known,
is appreciated but by a few."
The resemblance between this doctrine and that of the Peri-
patetics is very striking. Sir James Mackintosh, in speaking of
the latter, says, — "The celebrated doctrine of the Peripatetics,
which placed virtue in a medium between two opposite vices, was
probably suggested by tbe Platonic representation of its necessity
to kr*>p up harmony between the different parts of our nature.
The perfection of a compound machine is attained where all its
parts have the fullest scope for action. Where one is so far ex-
erted as to repress others there is the vice of excess. When any
one has less activity than it might exert without disturbing
others, there is a vice of defect. The point which all reach with-
out collision against each other, is the mediocrity in which the
Peripatetics placed ciiiue."


THE ETHICS OK THE CHINESE.
23
tbere is a sin of defect. If certain of the original principles of our
nature are developed to sucb an extent as to check or overpower
the others, or, if any are not developed sufficiently to harmonize
with the rest, then disorder and discord prevail. If all are de-
veloped in such a way that each shall hit the mark, then complete
harmony will be established, and the man will be morally perfect.
The law of the Invariable medium is universal; it applies to all
things and circumstances, and true virtue consists in observing it
at all times and in all places without regard to consequences.
But Tsi Si goes beyond Confucius, and maintains that human
nature is in perfect harmony with this law. Man has not only
the power of discovering it in practice, but he has it in him at his
birth. He teaches, therefore, not only with the Peripatetics that
virtue consists in the mean between two extremes, but also with
the Stoics, that virtue, or moral rectitude, consists in living ac-
cording to nature. According to Tsi Si, nature is that which
Heaven has decreed to be in man, and the true path of life lies in
following it. This path cannot be forsaken for a moment; that
which can be forsaken is not the true path. He would define
vice as that which is unnatural, and virtue as that which is natu-
ral, to man. He did not use the word than (goodness) in speak-
ing of the innate rectitude of human nature, but the word chung
(middle) which means the same, and is quite as expressive. He
says, that the state of the passions before their manifestation may
be called chung, that is, they are not inclined either way but are
upright, and perfectly free from all depravity. Tsi Si then seems
to have been the first to propound the doctrine, that all men at
their birth are endowed ?vith a nature that is perfectly good, and
that virtue consists in following it implicitly.
From the writings of Mencius we learn that these questions
were greatly agitated in his time. There were many who ventured
to differ from the opinions of Tsi Si and Mencius, and to main-
tain theories diametrically opposed to theirs. Probably this was
the reason which induced Mencius to give a more articulate enun-
ciation of the doctrine of the Innate QoodneM of Human Na-
ture, and to explain it at length. The teachings of Confucius, as
we have already seen, were not explicit on this point. He had
left the question open to discussion. There were those who held
the opinion that man does not possess any innate moral principles,
but that the human heart is like a sheet of white- paper upon


THE ETHICS OF THE CHINESE.
25
those who are brought up in tbe most favourable circumstances
to the cultivation of virtue, turn out to be tbe vilest of tbe vile t
How can it account for the fact, tbat men though plunged into
tbe deepest depths of vice, still retain something within them
which lifts up its voice in behalf of virtue, and condemns them
as self-murderers; or the opposite fact, that men in spite of this
monitor will not only do, but even delight in doing what is wrong?
Such a theory can never account for this contradiction which
every man feels in himself. Neither can it account for the deep
sense of personal guilt which the transgressor carries about with
him. Every man feels that he himself is accountable for his
conduct, and not for the circumstances in which he is placed.
Consciousness protests against every theory, which would reduce
man to a mere lump of animated matter left to the disposal of
events. A man may become a creature of circumstances, but he
cannot become to without a sense of self-degradation.
Mencius -^p could not compare muu to the clay of the
potter, which may be made to assume any form in bis plastic
hand; but rather to a precious seed, which contains in itself the
germs of all moral excellence, and can only be fully developed in
circumstances congenial to its nature. The celebrated compaiison
of tbe mind to a sheet of white paper, would be regarded by him
as altogether unjust. That of Professor Sedgwick would answer
his purpose better. "Man's soul at first," says Professor Sedg-
wick, "is one unvaried blank, till it has received the impress of
external experience. Yet has this blank, been already touched
by a celestial hand, and when plunged in the colours which sur-
round it, it takes not its tinge from accident but design, and
comes out a glorious pattern."
Mencius recognised in man not only private desires, but also
benevolent affections and moral sentiments. He maintained that
every man possesses within himself a principle of benevolence,
which induces him to pity and help others;—a principle of justice,
which induces him to be ashamed of that which is shameful in
himself, and hate that which is hateful in another;—a principle of
propriety, which induces him to respect and reverence those to
whom respect and reverence are due;—and a principle of wisdom,
by which he may know and approve the right on the one hand,
and know and disapprove the wrong on the other. These prin-
ciples, according to Menciu*, are not superinduced upon human
SCHKA* VOL. 11. .NO. I. IV


THE ETHICS OF THE CHlNI'eF.
2''
to him, injustice is more contrary to nature than even death.
Life, says he, is what I desire, justice also is what I desire: hut
if I cannot retain both at the same time, then I will let lite gn
and keep justice. Though I desire life, yet there is something
more desirable than life; hence life is not to be secured by any
means whatsoever. Death is a something that I hate, hut there
is something more hateful than death; hence there may be cala-
mities which should not be avoided. If of those things which
men desire there is nothing more desirable than life, then why
might not men adopt any means whatever to secure it l If there
is nothing more hateful than death, then why might not men
employ any means to avoid calamities? There is then something
more desirable than life and more hateful than death. This some-
thing all men have, and is by no means peculiar to the sage.
The moral nature is spoken of by Mencius as the nobility which
Heaven confers upon every man, and as being .incomparably
superior to all earthly digniries. The dignity which the prince
confers, the prince can take away, but. no one can be spoiled of his
native dignity if he desires to keep it.
But Mencius does not only affirm that man is endowed with a
moral nature; he denies that there is in man a positive principle of
evil. If sin be committed, says Mencius, it. is not to be regiirded
as the sinful production of a positive principle. In this, however,
he does not materially differ from some of our most celebrated
divines. Origen, Augustine, Leibnitz, Butler, Howe, and many
besides have maintained that there is in man no positire principle
of sin. "Augustine," says Miiiler, "is not the first who seeks 10
reduce the notion of evil to that of negation. Among the church
fathers, this notion of evil makes its appearance in manifold forms."
"The tendency of the will," says Leibnitz, "is essentially towards
the good." "No passion," says Butler, "God hath endowed
us with, can be in itself evil." Again, "There is no such thing
as love of injustice, oppression, treachery, ingratitude; but only
eager desire after such and such external good, which the most
abandoned would choose to obtain by innocent means, if thev
were as easy and as effectual to the end." "I shall not," says
Howe, "insist to prove that sin is no positive being; but I take
the argument to be irrefragable, that is drawn from that com-
mon maxim, that, omne ens positicvvi est vel primttm, vel a primo,
all positive existence is either first, or from the first. And hence
S


28 THE ETHICS OF TDK CHINESE.
sin being supposed only a defect, a soul that is only defecfibly
holy, might well enough be the cause of it; that is, the deficient
cause."
But Mencius does not only deny that there is in man a posi-
tive principle of evil; but also maintains, that man is naturally
perfect, and may, by simply following his nature, be as perfect as
Heaven itself. Mencius says, that the root of the cardinal virtues
is in the heart;—that he who thoroughly searches into his own
heart, will know his nature;—and that he who understands his
nature, knows Heaven. He did not even allow an innate principle
of defectibility as a cause of evil. Man is not only devoid of any
positive principle of depravity, but he is not wanting in any posi-
tive principle which may be necessary to enable him to reach the
very acme of moral excellence. He is mentally and physically
born to virtue, to which he is as naturally inclined as water is to
flow downwards. As there is no water, says Mencius, which
does not tend downwards, so there is no man whose nature is not
good. The fact that men do what is wrong is no proof, accord-
ing to him, that they are by nature bad. Just as water, by
striking it, may be made to pass one's forehead; or by forcible
means caused to ascend a mountain; so, says he, men may be
caused to do that which is immoral. But it is not the nature of
the water to ascend; even so, it is not the nature of man to do
that which is evil.
But if man is radically good and perfect, what is the source of
sinful actions? How is it that men are continually doing that
which is evil? Mencius traces the whole to two sources—the
negligence of the individual, and the influence of external circum-
stances. A piece of ground, says he, sown at the same time with
barley, will not at the time of harvest be all alike. To what is
the difference to be ascribed? Not to the seed, but external in-
fluences, such as, the difference in the richness of the soil, the
nourishing influences of the rain and dew, or the care bestowed
upon it by the hand of man. The force of the argument derived
from the universality of human depravity, which Jonathan Ed-
wards wields so powerfully, would not be felt by Mencius, because
he would not allow the premises. In his opinion men are not
universally bad. Though by far the majority are sunk in vice,
still he thought that there were some grand exceptions, and in
proof of which, he could point to the holy men and sage*. Now
E


THE ETHICS OF THK CHINK9F..
there is no natural difference between the holiest and vilest of
men; they belong- to the same family, and naturally are equally
perfect. The moral law is common to all hearts, and it delights
the heart just as food delights the palate. When asked if all
men might become holy like unto the Emperors Yau and Shun,
he replied—"Yes. Holy men and sages are superior to other
men only because tbey consider and know the ralue of the treasure
they possess, and keep it" "Humanity," says he, "is the heart of
man, and justice his path; to forsake the right way and not walk in
it, to let go the heart and not seek for it,—this is very sad. When
men lose a fowl or a dog they know how to seek for them, but
when they lose their heart they know not where to seek for it"
That is, men pay more attention to, and are more anxious about
such insignificant things than they ore about their hearts; and
from this depreciation and neglect of their true nature, springs
most of the evil that is in the world.
Such is the theory of Mencius. The agreement of many parts
of it with that of Butler is very striking, and many of the objec-
tions that some would make to it, might be made with equal
propriety to that of the great moralist. The difference however
is very important and palpable; and it would be interesting, did
time permit, to point them out We cannot deny but that there
are traces of the divine image, which was originally stamped
upon the nature of man, plainly discernible even now upon his
soul. Granting that human nature is a ruin, still sufficient of the
original superstructure remains to indicate what it primarily was,
and for what it was intended by its Maker. To the many, it
looks a mere heap of rubbish; but to the inquiring few, it will
appear to be nothing less than the remains of a glorious building,
intended by the master builder to have been the permanent abode of
virtue and peace. Amid the moral disorder, the elements of order
may be discovered, and their relative functions ascertained. The
social affections are there, though often overpowered by the pri-
vate desires; conscience is there, though often silenced by the
clamour of the passions—never despoiled of its right to command,
though generally too weak to enforce obedience. Mencius failed,
not in maintaining that all this is true of human nature, but in
taking it for the whole truth; and hence nothing can be more
fallacious than his theory concerning it He, however, is not the
only philosopher that has done this. It is very common in trea.


TIIE ETUICS OF THE CIIIVESE.
31
politeness are neglected. Hence the necessary results of follow-
ing- one's nature and complying with the passions are contentions,
thefts, derelictions of duty, and retrogression into savagism.
Seun tel compares human nature to a crooked stick and a blunt
knife; as the former must be softened by heat and unbent by the
Yin kwo before it can become straight, and the latter need the
grinding stone before it can become sharp; so men, because
their nature is originally and entirely vicious, need teachers and
laws to rectify them, and the moral code to establish order. Those
who are transformed by teachers and laws, and guided by the
established principles of propriety and justice, are called virtuous
men; but those who act according to the bent of their nature, are
called immoral men. Tsl si and Mencius, as we have seen, placed
virtue in following nature; Seun tsl places it in acting contrary to
nature in every particular. He says, that Mencius did not attain
to the knowledge of nature, nor examined into the difference
between that which is natural and artificial in man. According to
him, man by nature is wholly destitute of the principles of justice,
propriety and goodness, of the social and benevolent affections.
With Hobbes, he makes man a purely selfish being in his natural
state; and his philosophical writings, like those of the former,
might be read without reminding any one that the author was more
than an intellectual machine. He says, when hungry to eat,—
when cold to desire warmth,—and when tired to seek for rest,
such is nature. At present, however, should a man be hungry
he would not dare to eat first in the presence of his superiors, but
will yield to them. And why 1 Not because it is natural but
because he has been taught to do so. The respect which a son
feels for bis parents, and the younger for the elder brother, is not
nature, but nature reversed.'
As a proof of the innate and total viciousness of human nature,
he adduces the fact, that much personal exertion is necessary to
become virtuous. Spontaniety is an infallible criterion of the
natural. What is not spotaneous is not natural. It is natural
for the eye to see and the ear to hear, and both organs perform
their respective functions without instruction or exertion. Such
would necessarily be the case with respect to virtue, if man were
endowed with a virtuous nature. But such in fact is not the case;
on the contrary, men need exercise much thought ere they can
understand what virtue is, and resolutely set themselves to seek
3 *


THE ETHICS OF THE CHINESE.
virtuous men? No, says Seun tsl, but die contrary. If you say
that men's nature is good, then what honour do you confer upon
the sage? But if you sny that men are universally depraved by
nature, then the sages derive honour from the fact that they
surpass other men, and are able to invent, laws and establish
institutions which tend to reform men and preserve order.
But if men's nature is radically and wholly vicious, whence
came justice and propriety, or the moral code? Whatever prin-
ciples of justice and propriety may exist, they are nothing more
than the artificial productions or inventions of the sages, and by
no means the offspring of human nature. Just as a vessel is the
production of the potter's invention and not of his nature, so the
moral code is an artificial production of the sage. As the former
has to think out the art of making utensils, so the latter has to
think out the art of making moral codes. Thus, according to
Seun tsi, necessity is the mother of invention in morals as well as
in everything else. There is a certain want; the potter sets nbout
thinking how this want may be supplied, and a cup or a plate is
the result of his cogitations. Human nature is bad; ruin is the
inevitable consequence of allowing men to follow their natural
dispositions; the sage sets about thinking how this nature may
be reformed, and these dispositions curbed, and the result of his
cogitations is the moral code. Now though men do not possess a
moral nature, still they are endowed with the power of knowing
and acting, and hence may leurn what is right, or rather useful,
and act accordinglj\ The sage has the power of accumulating
ideas and to invent, and all men are able to understand his
teachings and live according to his precepts. Men's advance-
ment in intellectual and moral excellency depends on their own
exertions. If they will apply themselves to learning, exert their
mental faculties, and give themselves up to good works without
ceasing, they will become extremely intellectual and perfectly
virtuous. Seun tsi maintains that all men may become morally
perfect, and that the reason why they are not so is that they will
not. "All men," says he, "may become holy, but all men cannot
be induced to become holv. The immoral man may become vir-
tuous, but he will not, and the virtuous man may become deprav-
ed, but he will not;" there is nothing but the will that prevents
them from exchanging position, and hence the truth of the saying,
"the pedler may become a sage like unto the holy emperor Yu."
M'BHAS VOL. II. .NO. I. V


34
TRK r.THICS OF TnK CHINESE.
Such is the doctrine propounded by Seun tsT. He stands on
the opposite pole to that of Mencius, and is nearly as far from the
truth. As the doctrine of Mencius fails to account for one class
of phaenotnena in the moral nature of man, so does that of Senn
to! fail to account for another class equally important and real.
The former fixed his eye exclusively on one side of human nature,
and mistook it for the whole; and the latter fixed his eye on the
other side exclusively, and mistook it for the whole. Whilst we
feel that there is much truth in what they both teach, still our
nature spurns either as the whole truth. The same Bible which
states that "the carnal mind is enmity against God," states also
that "when the Gentiles, which have not the law, do by nature
the things contained in the law, these, having not the law, are a
law unto themselves." In the Scriptures, we find all that is true
in their teachings recognized and taught, whilst their errors are en-
tirely excluded. In the Bible alone do we find our nature searched
to the bottom, and all that is great und all that is miserable in it
represented, together with the reason of the one and the other.
"Is it not clearer than day" says the deep-thinking Pascal, "that
we see and feel within ourselves indelible characters of excellence?
and is it not fully as clear, that we experience every moment the
effects of deplorable baseness? What else, therefore, docs this
chaos, this monstrous confusion in our nature, but proclaim the
truth of these two estates, and that with a voice so powerful, as
is always to be heard, and never to be resisted. Behold the
present estate and condition of men! On the one hand, they are
carried towards the happiness of their primitive nature, by a
powerful instinct still remaining within them; and, on the other
hand, they are plunged in the miseries of their own blindness and
concupiscence, which is now become their second nature. Enow
then, proud mortal, what a paradox thou art to thyself. Let
thy weak reason be humbled, let thy frail nature compose itself
in silence; learn that man infinitely surpasseth man; and let thy
own history to which thou art thyself an utter stranger, be de-
clared to thee by thy Maker and thy Lord." Seun tsl then was
right in proclaiming the universal innate depravity of human
nature as a profound source of misery, but decidedly wrong in
denying to man a moral nature as an innate principle of great-
ness. As a moralist he may be classed with Paley and Bentham.
In China, Mencius is the moralist of conscience, and Seun tsi that
of utility.


THE ETHICS OF THE CHINESE.
Yang tsl B lived about the commencement of the Chris-
tian era. His theory of human nature, like that of Seun tsl, lias
■ever been popular in China •> and, for ought we know, is believed
in by none of the literati of the present day. As a man, he does
not stand so high, in the estimation of the nation, as Seun tsl. In
treatises on human nature, both names are generally coupled to-
gether, and equally branded as heretics. Yang tsl seems to have
been influenced by both the writings of Mencius and Seun tsl.
He probably felt, that there was some truth in what both these
philosophers had said, and that neither was to be wholly rejected.
Mencius had shown very plainly that man possesses a moral nature,
—a something that lifts up its voice in behalf of truth and jus-
tice,—a something that gives its verdict for the right even when
the wrong is pursued,—a something so deep-rooted in man, that
he cannot shake it off at his will and pleasure,—a something very
different from his garments, which he may put on or throw off at
his convenience. But though he had plainly done all this, still
he had completely failed to account for and explain the pheno-
mena of sin. Seun tsl, on the other hand, had proved very clear-
ly that there is a strong and universal bias to sin in men ^—so.
strong, that nothing but laws and punishments can restrain men-
from proceeding to the greatest lengths of vice, and that the'
most resolute determination and undaunted perseverance are neces-.
sary to enable them to rise in the scale of moral excellence;-—so;
universal, that even holy men and sages are not by nature exempt
from it Though Seun tsl bad shown all this very convincingly,
yet he had failed to account satisfactorily for the existence of &
moral law, and to prove the non-existence of a moral sense.
Yang tsl steps in, in the character of an eclectic, adopts the posi-
tive, and rejects the negative side of each of these two extreme
theories. And hence he announces the doctrine that, human
nature is both good and bad, and that both elements are mixed in
it. There is something in every man that is radically good, and
something that is radically bad; and the difference between men
consists in this, namely, that some cultivate the good part of their
nature, and others the bad. He who cultivates the good side of
his nature will make a good man, and he who cultivates the vi-
cious side of his nature will become a vicious man. Thus, Yang
tsl fully allofved the existence of this mysterious contradiction of
our nature, though altogether unable to account for it. He did


THE KTIIICfl OF TUP. rHINF.SF..
37
children of depraved parents. If the sons of Yau and Shun were
naturally endowed with a principle of goodness, it could not hut
have been developed under the genial influences of such holy pa-
rents; and if Shun and Yu possessed an original principle of
depravity, it could not but have manifested itself in the pernicious
circumstances in which they were brought up. Thus, according
to Han Wun-kung, men are horn into the world with natures
morally different, and this difference will account for all the di-
versity witnessed among them. His doctrine is as pernicious in
its practical tendency, as it is absurd in theory. As the masses
helong to the lower grade, it regards them as hopelessly lost to
reason and instruction. It takes away from them all hope of ever
heing able to advance one step in the path of virtue. As their
moral condition is unchangeably fixed by a decree of Heaven, it
would be folly in them to aim at self-improvement. Though the
upper grade may become brighter and brighter by means of edu-
cation, and the middle grade ascend or descend according as they
cultivate the virtuous or the vicious part of their nature, the lower
grade are irreparably lost to the transforming influences of in-
struction, and can only be coerced or frightened by means of laws
and punishments. The upper and lower orders cannot exchange
position; the former cannot descend, nor the latter ascend.
The philosophers of the Sung dynasty •JH are now to be
considered. ''The Chinese philosophical literature," says Mr.
Meadows, "divides itself into two epochs. The first began with
Confucius and ended with Mencius; and the second with Cheu
tsi who commenced his labours about a. d. 1034, and ended with
Chu t?i who died in a. d. 1200. The writers of the second are
often mentioned as the philosophers of the Sung dynasty. Among
these Chu tsi the closer of the second epoch stands foremost.
From the middle of the fifteenth century until now, a period of
six hundred years, his views of philosophy, morality and politics
have become supreme in China. Kang hi in an early period of
his reign openly ascribed to Chu tel the merit of having, after full
consideration of the works of his predecessors, definitively fixed
the national views of philosophy. Hence for the last 150 j'ears
the authority of Chu tsi has been, if possible, more exclusively
paramount than before. During that period, more than ever, it
has been by his eyes that the Chinese have read their ancient
Sacred Rooks. Now even supposing, what is a supposition of


33
THE F.TITICS OF TIIF. C1TIXKSF..
the wildest improbability, that any Occidental could, by direct
study of the ancient Sacred Writers, attain a juster comprehen-
sion of their meaning throughout than Chu tsi, the result would
be valueless except in an antiquarian point of view."*
We have already stated that, in order to understand many
parts of the Chang yung, it is necessary to lay aside the commen-
taries of Chu tsi and others of the Sung dynasty philosophers; and
that these philosophers are regarded, by not a few of the very
ftett scholars, as the corrupters rather than the expounders of the
doctrines of the sages. We regret to find ourselves at variance
with a writer whose opinions, on Chinese matters, are so justly
entitled to have much weight, as those of Mr. Meadows are; but,
it is our conviction that there are thousands in China, who do not
read the Sacred Books with the eyes of Chu tsi, but on the contrary,
think for themselves, and find in them doctrines very different from
those imputed to them by him. Not many days since, we were told
by a very respectable native scholar from Sucheu, that Chu tsi
never understood the doctrines of the sages. This.gentleman is
only a member of a school which, we have every reason to believe,
is yearly waxing stronger in numbers and influence. Neither do
we think that the result, of attaining a juster comprehension of
the meaning of the Sacred Books of the people, would be valueless,
except in an antiquarian point of view. Whatever value tbey
attach to the labours of Chu tsl^ it does not exceed that of an
expounder; and their faith in him, as such, depends upon the
correctness of his expositions. Prove to them that his views, on
any passage or subject, do not harmonize with those of the sages,
and they will not hesitate as to which to choose. Now it can be
proved almost to a demonstration, to an intelligent Chinaman,
that his views on very important points—such as the »uwt-per-
sonality of the Deity, do not agree with the teachings of anti-
quity; and this is of great practical value to those who are inter-
ested in the moral and spiritual advancement of the people. It
is an interesting fact, that one of the doctrines which the new
school hold is the personality of the deity, in opposition to the
pantheistical teachings of the philosophers of the Sung dynastv;
and that the arguments, which they adduce to establish this doc-
trine, are principally drawn from their ancient Sacred Book*.
• The Chinee and fhelr Rebellion*.


TI1K ETHICS OF TnF. OHINF.SK.
The theory of Human nature in relation to the doctrine of Sin,
which these philosophers maintain, is very different from anything
that had been propounded by the holy men and sages. It was a
clever attempt to harmonize all the conflicting views of the pre-
ceding orthodox and heterodox writers. Though they professed
to hold the doctrine of the innate goodness of human nature, we
shall find that, in reality, they were nearly as far from Mencius as
from Seun tel. In order to understand the views which they
entertained on this subject, it is necessary to pay special attention
to the meaning of the word ting (nature) as employed by them,
and its relation in man to the kH (the material principle). All ex*
istences, according to these philosophers, are reduced into or based
upon two principles—the material and the immaterial. Whether
the former is evolved out of the latter, or, whether both have
eternally coexisted as two essentially distinct entities, is difficult to
determine. There are passages which seem to teach the former
'doctrine; and there are not a few which teem to teach the latter.
For our present purpose it is by no means necessary to determine
which is the correct view, as both are regarded quite distinct,
though united, in man.
The immaterial principle is the fixed order of the universe, or
the law which pervades all things. By means of matter and its
inherent law, all things—both animate and inanimate,—have been
produced and formed. Now, sing (nature) is merely this all-per-
vading immaterial principle, as it exists in man and all animated
beings. When asked what sort of a thing nature is, Chfi tst
replied, that Chung tsl's definition that, nature is the immaterial
principle, is exceedingly good. Nature, says he, is the immate*
rial principle, and the immaterial principle is nature; they are
essentially one thing; only it is necessary to know why it is some-
times called nature, and why sometimes called the immaterial
principle. Again, he says, that benevolence, justice, propriety
and wisdom, are all contained in nature. Chung M had said that
nature was nothing but these; but Chfi tel says that, though
these may be considered the principal elements of it, still they do
not exhaust it, and that it embraces all things. Nature, being the
immaterial principle, is without figure and form. In man, bene-
volence, justice, propriety, and wisdom are nature; but these are
mere principles without form and figure, hence nature is so also.
What is decreed by Heaven (nature), is united to the material


4U
THE ETHICS OF THK CHINESE.
principle, and both are essential to the production of things. Clin
tsl says, that where either is wanting, the production of things
cannot take place. If the material be wanting, the immaterial
will be destitute of a resting place; and if the immaterial be want-
ing, the material will be destitute of the principle of life, intelli-
gence, See. Man is thus a being compounded of two principles—
the one an entity, and the other a law. On the mode of their
union Chu tsl says but little. It is evident that he altogether
ignores the existence of a spiritual entity in which the immaterial
principle inheres. The immaterial principle is perfectly good, and
hence the nature of man, being identified with it, must be so too.
This is a fundamental position, and is maintained very tenaciously
by these philosophers. The nature of man, says Chu tsl, is en-
tirely good, and though the actions of the emperors Kieh and
Chen were savage and wicked in the extreme, still they knew
that they were wicked; if I desire to act thus, there is no help,
it is lust that carries men away. Since the immaterial principle
in man is good, whence the evil? To this Chu tsl replies that,
what is called evil has its root in the material principle. The im-
material principle in man is orignally destitute of all perverseness,
but the material is not so. In the latter there is the obscure and
the bright, the thick and the thin; and the character of the being,
whether vegetable, animal, or man, depends upon the quality of
the material principle which he receives. The immaterial prin-
ciple may be compared to pure water, and the material to a pond;
if the water flow into a clear pond, the water will be clear; if into
a muddy pond, the water will be muddy. The pure part of the
material principle is obtained by men, and for this reason they
may become perfect in wisdom and goodness; the coarse part is
perverse and those that obtain it are dull, such as birds and beasts.
It is because men receive the purer part of it, that they differ
from the brute creation; as to the immaterial principle, it is the
same in both. Even in brutes, where the material presents an
aperture, there is a partial manifestation of the indwelling ra-
tional and moral nature; and hence the reason why some are
called just brutes, and some benevolent brutes.
Among men, some receive the pure and thick part of the ma-
terial principle, and some the coarse and thin; and this will ac-
count for all the diversity observable in them. Those who obtain
the thick and bright quality, are born intelligent and virtuous;


THE ETHICS OF THE CHISFSE.
41
and those who receive the thin and coarse, are born dull and
vicious. Those who obtain the bright and not the thick, will be
intelligent but not virtuous; and those who receive the thick but
not the bright, will be virtuous but not intelligent In those who
ohtain the purest and thickest quality, the immaterial principle is
like a pearl in clear water; in those who receive the coarse qua-
lity, it is like a pearl in muddy water; in birds and beasts it is
like a pearl in a very foul place.
Thus, according to this philosophy, the mental and moral na-
ture in all animated creation, is striving to manifest itself, and is
only prevented from doing so fully, by the passive resistance of
the material. The way is open in one direction, but shut up in
another; and because of this, says Chu tsi, some are expert at
trade but cannot learn books, and some are eminent for filial piety
but are wanting in due respect to others. These are only partial
manifestations of the all-perfect nature, occasioned by the inter-
vention of the imperfect material principle. The former is like
the sun and moon, and the latter like the intercepting cloud. The
former is like a ball of fire, and the latter like unto ashes; as soon
as the ashes split, the fire will shine forth. Matter, then, is the
source of all the vice and stupidity that is in the world; not, how-
ever, as an active power militating against wisdom and goodness,
but simply as a passive obstruction to their perfect manifestation.
But these philosophers speak of another nature besides the all-
perfect one which we have been describing; and which they
denominate K*i chih chl sing. Chu tsi defines it to be the nature
which results from the union of the immaterial and the material
principles. When, says he, the nature conferred by Heaven is
spoken of, the immaterial principle alone is referred to; but when
^» 'tt ^ c^''n s'n£>'s sP°^en °f> it 's tne ma"
terial principle united with the immaterial that is referred to.
The doctrine of the K'i chih chi sing was first introduced by
Chang tsi. The elder Chung tsi says that, to discourse of the
immaterial principle and not of the material is not complete, and
to discourse of the latter without the former would not be intel-
ligible. Because of this, says he, Mencius' doctrine is incomplete,
inasmuch as he spoke exclusively of the nature conferred by
Heaven, and did not take into consideration the material principle.
<Now of this compound nature, or the nature conferred by
Heaven as united to the material, it is right to say that it may be
aoaaas vol. ti. no. t. ti


42
THE ETHICS OF THE CHINESE.
bad. Just as water which in the fountain is pure, and even in the
muddy pool may, abstractedly considered, be said to be pure, is still
called muddy; so the immaterial principle, or the true nature of
man, may be said to be evil, as soon as it is joined with gross matter.
In this Chu tsi felt that he was bordering upon heterodoxy, and
in danger of coming into collision with Mencius. "If we say that
virtue is originally nature, but still that vice cannot be said not to
be nature, I fear," says an enquirer, "that what we are saying
will not agree with what Mencius has taught." In reply, Chu tsi
said—"This part of the subject is exceedingly difficult, and cannot
be understood at once; formerly I had my doubts as to the har-
mony of these two sentiments, but after much thought I have
been able to understand the subject clearly, and am now satisfied
tbat there is no error, and that they perfectly agree."
The K'f cLih clu sing though bad may be reformed, and this is
the work of instruction. Though the material is inferior to the
immaterial, still it cannot be governed by it. The former is hard
and coarse, the latter is soil and fine; and hence the former often
gets the mastery. Now, the object of instruction is not to rectify
the immaterial principle in man, but to enable it to overcome the
material; it is to lift up the pearl from the foul place, and wipe it
clean. By resolute purpose and indomitable perseverance, the
superior part of this compound nature may obtain the victory;
the inferior may be rectified; and the due medium may be ob-
tained.
Sin, however, in the Scriptural sense, is not recognized in their
system. The contrast of good and evil, according to their view,
resolves itself into a difference in degree. The immaterial princi-
ple has different degrees of manifestation, according as it is ob-
structed or not by the material; if the degree be a higher one, the
result will be virtue; if the degree be a lower one, the result will
be vice. Chung tsi says, that what is called vice is not really
vice, but a defect or an excess of the good.
Chu tsi ascribes great honour to Chang tsi and to the two
Chung tsi for propounding the doctrine of this compound nature;
and says, that it is the only complete one. Their merit, he says,
is very great among the disciples of the holy men and sages, and
they deserve the sincere thanks of all future scholars. Before
their time none had spoken in this way. For instance, Han Wun-
kung in ascribing to the nature conferred by Heaven three grades,


TI1K ETIircS Or T1IF. CHINRSK.
43
did not distinguish between the material and immaterial in man.
Of this nature, he asks, how can there be three grades? This is
the mm everywhere and always. Again Mencius, in speaking
of the radical goodness of human nnture, refers exclusively to the
nature bestowed by Heaven, and hence much was left by him
which required to be explained. Then, Sena tsi and Yang tsl, in
speaking of human nature as being radically bad and both good
and bad, did not discriminate between things that differ. If this
doctrine had appeared earlier, there would have been no room for
all this diversity of opinion. It has both head and tail, and by
the establishment thereof, the doctrines of previous philosophers
are done away with.
From the above sketch it will appear, that the doctrine of the
Sung dynasty philosophers, though differing from all the precede
ing ones, is still indebted to them all for its existence. Had Seun
tsl, Yang tei, and others not appeared, they would have maintain*
ed a very different theory; probably, they would have adopted
the doctrine of Mencius intact. By these so-called heterodox
writers, the doctrine of innate depravity had been too firmly
established to be ignored; and hence their attempt to account for
the fact, in such a way as would harmonize with their doctrine of
the innate goodness of human nature. In this theory of human
nature, the innate depravity of man is not denied, but only trans*
ferred from what may be regarded as the real ego of man, and
placed in that which is external to it; and this is its weak point
Christ traces Sin to the heart—the inmost centre of life—the
seat of the inclinations and self-dcterrainntion, and just for this
reason it is able to make man unclean. This theory, on the con-
trary, maintains that it comes from a sphere of life which is an
external one in relation to the real ego of man; from which it
follows, that it is not able to effect impurification of the entire
man, but that it is more to be considered as an earthly impurity
thrown on from without, by which the beaming forth of the true
form of the inward life may be prevented, and its phenomena
disturbed. Sin then is no longer our act but our misfortune; a
lamentable disease, which has its ultimate ground in the strength
of the material, and in the weakness of the immaterial, principle.
Let the consciousness of each individual testify which harmonizes
best with its phaenomena, — whether the teachings of Christ, or
those of the Sung dynasty philosophers.


44
THE ETHICS OF THE CHINESE.
Such then are the views, which have been held by the Chinese,
of Human nature and Sin; and it is verj interesting to notice,
how thoroughly the question has been sifted. It proves that the
Chinese are a thinking people, and that some of the most abstract
and perplexing questions have not escaped their notice. At pre-
sent, the doctrine of Mencius, and the doctrine of Mencius as
explained by Chu tsi, are almost universally adopted.* They
believe with Mencius that human nature is radically good, and
that there is no principle of evil in man; or, with Chu tsi, that
whilst the immaterial principle is radically and wholly good, the
material may be bad and become the cause of vice. And hence
the reason why they will not allow that the nature of man is or
can be bad, whilst they do not hesitate to say that man may be so.
* In the Tung i luh there are some very Ingenious remark* on the doctrine*
of human nature and win, by Ching Yan-tien, an author of the present dynasty.
His views are those of Chu tsi. With him, he maintains that the immaterial
principle is radically and unchangeably good, — that the material may be bad,
and does often become the source of vice.


10
ARTICLE Iir.
ON THE COSMICAL PHENOMENA OBSERVED IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD
OF SHANGHAI, DURING THK PAST THIRTEEN CENTURIES.
Br D. J. Macgowaw, Esq., H. D.
Read before the Society, December 83d, 1858.
A phrase, analogous to that which the Father of History applies
to Egypt, is descriptive of the region where we now reside. If
Egypt was the "gift of the Nile," this reclaimed plain, once a
marsh, is the gift of the nobler Yangtsz. At one period this
region was the delta of the Great River; the numerous water-
courses that intersected it, were so many bayotu, such as charac-
terize the embouchures of the Mississippi. The mineralogical
character of the formation, on which this alluvial flat reposes, is a
question of considerable interest in reference to the subterranean
forces of which it is the seat; but whether it rests immediately
upon granite, which forms the basis of the nearest mountains; or
mediately upon new red sand-stone, of which some of the adja-
cent hills are composed; or upon limestone, which is found pro-
truding at the Great Lake (Tai Hu), it is impossible for us, with-
out more information, to determine.
On the present occasion, I merely invite your attention to a
record of cosmical and other phenomena of this region. And I
would premise here, that according to Chinese cosmogony, man
is so intimately identified with the powers of nature, being what
they term "a miniature heaven and earth," that, in order to be
conversant with the science of civil government, one must study
celestial and terrestrial phenomena,— as the deviations from the
course of nature are all more or less porteutous of evil, excepting a
few, which are regarded as felicitous. Indeed, in high antiquity,
they professed to have a revelation in a tabulated form, procured
from the carapace of a tortoise, by which those who observed the
weather and seasons, might form correct opinions on the political
aspect of the times. In the Shu King, under the section Hung
Fan, or Great Plan, this doctrine is summarily laid down thus:—


46 roSMM'AI. PIIK.NMMKNA OF SHANGHAI.
Seasonable main, indicates Decorum.
Excessive rain, .. indicates Dissolutenentt.
Opportune pine weather, indicates Good Government.
Long-continued drouoht, indicates Arrogance.
Moderate heat, indicates Intelligence.
Excessive heat, indicates Indolence.
Moderate cold, indicates Deliberation.
Extreme cold, indicates Precipitation.
Seasonable wind, indicates Perfection.
Continued tempest, indicates Stupidity.
From these views, which have great influence on the minds of
the Chinese, it happens that a fuller account of subterranean
action, of meterological wonders, and the like, are found in their
records, than among the annals of any other people anterior to the
birth of meteorology as a science.
The authority for the occurrences about to be detailed in this
essay, are the Topographies or Miscellanies of Sungkiang and
Shanghai. These works, the Chi or Miscellanies, so numerous in
China, have attracted too little attention from foreigners, chiefly
perhaps because they seem to contain a mass of dull and useless
matter. Nevertheless they do contain also much that is of real
value. The chapters on Natural history will generally, and those
on Calamitous occurrences will always, repay investigation, if
perused with discrimination and patience. At first sight, there is
so much of the marvellous and fabulous, that the student is likely
to be repelled from their perusal, but soon he may discover that
their apocryphal character is due generally to the misapprehen-
sions and erroneous explanation of the observers.
In a former communication to this Society, I took the liberty
of calling attention to the importance of forming a Chinese Li-
brary, which should contain a complete collection of these Mis-
cellanies. Of the numerous works of this description, that have
come under my observation, the half dozen, I am about to name,
nay be taken as a fair specimen.
The fu or prefecture of Sungkiang, in which Shanghai is
situated, forms the right lip of the embouchure of the Yangtsa. It
extends from north to south above 173 U, and from east to west
190 U more or less, of which some 30 It, has been recently acquir-
ed from the sea. It is divided into eight hien or districts. The
subjoined statistics have been derived from the Miscellanies of five


COSMHAI. PHRNOMENA OF SHAN(11IAI.
47
of these districts, viz., Shanghai JNanhwai, Funghien, Tsingpu,
and Lau, together with that of the entire prefecture Sungkiang.
I have not yet been able to procure the works on the districts of
Chuensha, Hwating, and Kinshan; but as the volumes on Sung-
kiang prefecture comprehend those districts, the record may be
considered nearly complete. One explanatory remark more, allow
me here to add. It will be observed that the later centuries seem
crowded with incidents, while comparatively few occurrences are
noted in earlier ages. It must not be inferred that the pheno-
mena have been of more frequent occurrence in modern times;—
the difference is doubtless due to greater care in observing and
recording them, and also perhaps to the fact that sometimes, in
new editions of these works, selections only have been given.
For the sake of convenience, these records, about to be laid
before the reader, may be arranged into four sections, in the
following order of phenomena,—(1) Subterranean, (2) Meteorologi-
cal, (3) Botanical, and (4) Zoological; each of these larger divi-
sions will be divided into sub-sections; and each occurrence or
phenomenon numbered.
Section I, Subterranean.
Sub-section 1. Earthquakes.
The oldest of these records dates back only about four centu-
ries; I will specify the year, moon, day of each occurrence, and
its direction; then subjoin the remarks of the native chroniclers;
and thereupon add such brief notes of my own, as may seem
necessary for the elucidation of our subject.
No. 1. a. d. 1466; 4th moon. Great motion of the earth—an
earthquake—was observed, and white hairs were seen.
No. 2. 1509; 9th moon. An earthquake, which extended over
seven prefectures, including that in which Nanking is situated.
No. 3. 1506; 9th moon. An earthquake, preceded by a wind
like fire coming from the south-east; a few days after this, a
meteor was observed.
No. 4. 1525; 2nd moon, 15th day. An earthquake at night
No. 5. 1550. White hairs issued from the ground at Tsingpu.
No. 6.1552. White hairs, like horsetail hairs, with a yellow-
ish hue, about a foot long appeared.
No. 7. 1584; 1st moon. Implements and furniture rattled
in the houses, and blood fell at Tsingpu.
4 *


rosvtrAi. piu.vomksa of shanghai.
No. 8. 1596; 1st moon. W. to S.E. A drum sound in the
sky; Louses shook severed successive days; white hairs issued on
the sea coast.
No. 9. 1629; 12th moon. N.W. to S.E. A great motion;
noise as of wind and rain; houses were shaken.
No. 10. 1648; 4th moon, 3d day. White hairs issued from
the earth, after a storm.
No. 11. 1669; 6th moon, 17th day. N.W. to S.E. Houses
shaken; canal waters bubbled for two hours; and white hairs is-
sued from the earth.
No. 12. 1670; 6th moon. White hairs five or six inches long
produced from the ground.
No. 13. 1673; 7th moon. Many shocks of earthquakes at dif-
ferent times during this month.
N. B.—The following Nos. of this record are from the author's
private notes.
No. 14,1846, August; S.W. to N.E. Midnight, a shock of
considerable violence—felt at Ningpo also. The weather had
been remarkably dry and hot
No. 15.1850, April; S.W. to N.E. Very slight
No. 16.1852, December 16th; S. W. to N.E. 8A. 13m. p. u.
Continued about fifty seconds with an undulatory motion. At
10A. p. m. a slighter shock was felt. These shocks communicated
motion to bells, lamps, pictures and other suspended articles, and
stopped clocks. Tn some places cornices and portions of wall fell.
The first shock was felt at Ningpo about the same time. Meteors,
known as St. Elmo's light, were observed at the adjacent islands,
and mud, exposed by the ebbing tide, presented the appearance of
ebullition; thermometer 55°; barometer 33° 10'. The afternoon of
that day at Shanghai and Ningpo was hazy, in consequence of a
quantity of fine yellow sand diffused through the atmosphere.
Some persons experienced a peculiar sickening sensation at the
time. No noises were heard. At Ningpo a second shock was
felt at 11 A. p. m.
No. 17. 1803, April 14th; S.S.W. to N.N.E. 11*. 18». p.m.
It lasted more than a minute; twenty minutes after, a weaker
shock was felt; some walls and chimnies were thrown down; the
motion was vibratory. At Ningpo, at 11 A. a. m. 4A. 30m. and 9A.
p. m. subterranean noises were heard, which were precursors of
a succession of earthquakes; the first and most violent occurred at


rn«MirAL pmfkomptja of akanahai. fll
occasion of the recent earthquake at Simoda, the inland waters of
this part of China experienced a sudden rise, and an immense
wave deluged the harbor of Port Lloyd. From these facts we
may conclude, that the supernumerary tides of this coast are pro-
bably due to subterranean action. Or, they may have been mere
storm waves, as the period of their occurrence coincides with the
typhoon season. Typhoons, however, would not account for the
phenomenon with which the list commences.
Sub-tection 3. Depressions op Laud.
An ancient map, of the prefecture of Sungkiang, indicates the
site of Tsiangshwui, now a lake, Mau. A legend respecting that
catastrophe, is to be found in all the adjacent topographies of
Chehldang and Kiangsu. Children got up a report that when
blood was seen on the city gates, the city would sink and become
a lake. The keepers of the gate observing an old woman coming
every morning to see if the gates were bloody, killed a dog and
smeared the gates with its blood by way of hoaxing her. The
next day, seeing the ominous mark, she hurried out of the city
not daring to look behind her. Suddenly there was a great flood,
the city sank and became a lake. It is certain that the city sud-
denly sank in the latter half of the tlurd century of our era.
Instances of sudden sinking of land in this part of the country
are not wanting; one of these, the ancient city of Haiyen, is
rather out of the district to which this paper is limited. There
are a few instances related of small portions of uninhabited land,
■inking and becoming in like manner pools, but neither the places
nor dates can be easily ascertained.
Sub-tection 4, Eruptions.
No. 1. a.d. 419. At Tinglin, the earth opened several feet;
there was a sound of waves and an emission of fire.
No. 2. 964. From a hill on the Tien lake, a torrent of watei
gushed out and discharged into the lake.
No. 3. 1634; 6th moon. A jjjf Kiau rose at Tsungkwei king
aad damaged the grain and vegetables.
No. 4. 1548. During a violent wind a >§| Shin issued from
a decayed tree, accompanied with much rain and great waves; one
could not see more than a pace. Suddenly a strange fragrant
vapor was perceived in an adjoining pagoda, the summit of which
shone brightly.


68 C08MICAL PHENOMENA OF SHANGHAI.
No. 6.1562; 5th moon. Nine Kiau issued from Fa hill at
Tsingpu; the water forced its way to the river; a black vapor
issued from the ground and went to the north-west.
No. 6. 1598; 5th moon. A Kiau issued from Ghungkia hill;
the south-west corner of the hill fell.
No. 7. 1599. Blood issued from beneath a kitchen.
No. 8. 1609 { 5th moon. A Kiau issued from Funghwang hill;
a tomb in front instantly became a pool of water.
No. 9.1643. A spring spontaneously appeared; the water
was not good, and it was stopped up.
No. 10. 1644. Blood issued from a pool.
No. 11. 1692; 6th moon. There was a noise in the ground as
of thunder, with sudden rain, which on level ground was three feet
deep; a Kiau with two horns forced its way out of the earth and
escaped.
No. 12. 1763; 7th month. Two Kiau rose from the top of Shin
hill; two openings were made in the rock above ten feet in size;
there was a great wind, and the rain fell two feet in depth at
level places.
Note 1. Under this sub-section I place those accounts of
the sudden rushing out of water, usually from a hill, attributed to
the fabulous Shin or Kiau. The Shin is popularly described as an
embryotic dragon, or a dragon in the first stage of existence. It
is formed by the perspiration of that animal falling from the sky
upon terrestrial beings. Animals thus affected become Shin, sink
into the ground and remain there, some say thirty, some a hun-
dred years, emerging in heavy rains as a Kiau, which is subse-
quently transformed into a dragon. These fabulous beings are
charged with much that is otherwise inexplicable in the world of
matter.
2. The first-named phenomenon does not belong to the doings
attributed to fabulous monsters. It seems to have been a tran-
sient volcano emitting an ignited gas, not dissimilar to one I have
elsewhere described as occurring in Manchuria. Carburetted hy-
drogen is freely emitted at different points of this district, and
permanently from what is known as the "Bubbling well."
3. One of the cases, No. 6, seems to have been a landslide; some
of the others were due probably to accumulations of water bursting
forth from hill sides. Sometimes nocturnal waterspouts appear to
have been the cause. Animals overtaken and disfigured by such


COSMtCAL PHENOMENA OF SHANGHAI.
53
floods and dimly seen, have been regarded as Shi* or Kiau. No.
11 was probably a case of this description. Electrical pheno-
mena attended the case No. 4. The two cases of the emission of
blood are not easily accounted for. Instances of that kind occur-
ring elsewhere, have evidently been spontaneous fountains deeply
tinged with oxide of iron.
Section II. Meteorological.
Sub-section 1. Fheshbts.
No. 1. a. D. 825. Taihu Great, Lake overflowed.
No. 2. 998. A flood, causing scarcity of food.
No. 3.1074. A rain continued from 1st to 6th month; the
lakes overflowed; the land could not be cultivated; houses were
destroyed; the inhabitants discarded their lands and went away
to beg.
No. 4. 1082; 6th moon. Excessive rains and calamitous, over
Kiangsu and Chehkiang.
No. 5. 1118; 8th moon. Freshets over this and four adjacent/kr.
No. 6. 1121. Freshets over this and four adjacent Jut.
No. 7. 1295; 6th moon. An extensive " water calamity."
No. 8. 1330; 7th moon. Destruction of 36,600 chin = 61,000
acres; above 45,000 families suffered in tbis and adjoining places.
No. 9. 1341; 4th moon. A water calamity occurred.
No. 10. 1376; 12th moon. A freshet.
No. 11.1404; 6th moon. Excessive rain for 10 days; high
places were covered several feet; low places more than ten feet.
No. 12.1425. Summer the rains injured the crops.
No. 13. 1454; 7th moon. Flood over six neighboring Jus.
No. 14. 1455; 7th moon. Flood over this and Suchau Ju.
No. 15. 1492. Crops damaged by rain.
No. 16. 1493. Crops damaged by rain.
No. 17. 1699; 6th moon. An overflow of the sea and lakes
(no mention of a storm).
No. 18. 1560; 7th moon. Rain from the 6th to the 11th day
and night carrying away houses.
No. 19.1518. Six prefectures suffered from a flood.
No. 20. 1520; 8th moon. A great wind and rain destroyed
the crops and occasioned a dearth.
No. 21. 1523. A severe storm, [perhaps it may have been a
typhoon,] the next day water suddenly rose above its usual level.


54
TOXICAL PHFN»MEVA OF SHANGHAI.
No. 22. 152!}; 6tL moon. Great rain, hail and lightning.
No. 23. 1523; 8th moon. Flood over four/**.
No. 24. 1541; 6th moon. Freshet drowned several tens of
thousands.
No. 25. 1559; 5th moon. Flood.
No. 26. 1602. Spring and autumn, over four Jku excessive
and continued rain, damaging wheat.
No. 27. 1626; 3rd moon. Wind, rain, and hail, damaged
wheat.
No. 28. 1627; 2nd moon. Wind, rain, and hail, damaged
wheat.
No. 29. 1636. Spring, a flood.
No. 30. 1648. Autumn, a flood.
No. 31. 1062; 4th moon, 5th dav. Great rains, flooding the
river
No. 32. 1654; 5th moon. Great rain for ten days; and again
in nest month, damaging rice.
No. 33. 1662; 1st moon. Great rains.
No. 34. 1668; 6th moon, 14th day. Violent wind and sudden
torrents of rain; river swollen four or five feet, destroying innu-
merable houses, accompanied with a water spout.
No. 35. 1671; 4th moon, 11th day. Excessive rain; again in
next month with violent winds, tore up trees, levelled houses,
continued three days and nights; next day a freshet. There
was a famine that year.
No. 36. 1675; 6th moon. Great wind and flood.
No. 37. 1675; 10th moon. Protracted rains.
No. 38. 1077; 6th moon. Flood.
No. 39. 1678; 5th moon. Hail-storm.
No. 40. 1681; 5th moon. Flood.
No. 41. 1081; 8th moon. Sudden torrent of rnin and rise of
water, undermining and overturning a part of the Shanghai
walls, killing several pei-sons.
No. 42. 1684; 1st moon. Steady rain till fifth month; da-
maged wheat.
No. 43. 1695; 9th moon. Great rains; sudden rise of rivers
and calamities.
No. 44. 1606. Summer, long rain injured crops.
No. 45.1698. Autumn, flood.
No. 46. 1703. Autumn, flood.


56 COSMICAL PHENOMENA OF SHANGHAI.
to a distant place where the wind ceased, leaving bank-notes or
sacrificial paper scattered about a villager's house.
No. 10. 1391. The sea suddenly overflowed and drowned
20,000 persons.
No. 11. 1405; 7th moon, 2nd day. A great wind and rain;
sea overflowed, drowning above 1,000 persons.
No. 12. 1440; 7th moon. Suchau, Sungkiang and two ad-
jacent Jtu visited by a violent wind, which tore up trees and da-
maged crops.
No. 18. 1445; 7th moon, 17th day. Great wind, which tore
iip trees and levelled houses; rain for a day and night incessant.
Lake and sea overflowed. Several places were covered several
feet with water; innumerable dwellings floated away.
No. 14. 1474; 7th moon, 17th day. A great wind and rain
which tore up trees; sea overflowed, and drowned 10,000 persons.
No. 15. 1487; 7th moon. A great wind and rain.
No. 16. 1504; 4th moon. A hail-storm, killed wheat, cattle,
and men.
No. 17.1506. Overflow of the sea, with great wind and rain.
No. 18. 1511; 6th moon. A great wind damaged the fields;
the people were scattered, and there was a famine and pestilence
of which countless numbers died.
No. 19. 1523; 7th moon. Destructive storms of wind and rain.
Nd. 20. 1540; 7th moon. A roaring of the sea; a N.E. wind;
several myriads were drowned; it was a year of dearth; men and
crops perished.
No. 21. 1541; 7th moon. In five prefectures the sea over-
flowed.
No. 22. 1566; 7th moon. A great wind and rain, levelling
houses and one monumental gate.
No. 23. 1570; 6th moon. The sea rose with a great S.E.
wind; occasioning destruction of dwellings and loss of life, inun-
dating the land with salt water; when a species of crab appeared
■ in great numbers damaging plants.
No. 24.1575; 12th moon. A great N.W. wind, levelled
houses, tore up trees, and made tiles fly; it lasted a day and a
night.
No. 25.1576; 3rd moon. A great wind; the sea overflowed
the dykes, salting the fields, destroying houses and drowning
people.


COSMICAL PHENOMENA OF SHANGHAI.
87
No. 26.1588; 7th moon, 13th day. The dykes gave way in a
storm of wind and rain of twenty-four hours duration; innumer-
able men and animals destroyed; also a loss of crops in conse-
quence, followed by famine.
No. 87. 1588; 10th moon, 13th day. Violent N.W. wind;
vessels capsized in the river.
No. 28.1688. Summer and autumn, strange thunder and
typhoon; rice, wheat, and beans were broken down.
No. 29. 1589; 7th moon. A great wind; trees were torn up
find grain injured.
No. 30. 1590. An overflow of the sea, destroying several
thousand houses, drowning innumerable animals and more than
10,000 people.
No. 31. 1627; 7th moon, 1st day. A typhoon with rain des»
troyed trees and dwellings; another a few days after.
No. 32. 1634; 7th moon. A great wind and rain damaged
houses and grain.
No. 33.1642 j 8th moon. A great wind, rain, and hail, da-
maged rice.
No. 34. 1643; 10th moon* At night violent thunder; wind
and rain broke trees and carried off tiles.
No. 35. 1645. Autumn, a great wind; the sea broke the
dyke, salted the land, and thereby destroyed the rice.
No. 36. 1648; 4th moon, 3rd day. A hail-storm; hailstones
the size of a fist wounding cattle and damaging crops.
No. 37. 1654; 3rd moon. A great wind and hail.
No. 38. 1665; 7th moon. A typhoon; the sea broke embank*
ment8, people floated out to sea on the wrecks of houses; some
were rescued by an officer.
No. 39. 1673; 7th moon, 20th day. Hail two or three catties
weight, killing horses and oxen.
No. 40. 1688; 7th moon, 10th day. A great wind, rain, thun-
der, and lightning; the next day the storm was still worsej it
extended over a thousand li; destruction of life and property in
every direction.
No. 41. 1691; 7th moon. Storm and flood, damaging the
crops.
No. 42. 1697; 6th moon, 1st day. A typhoon, destructive
of life and property.
No. 43. 1703; 3rd moon. An overflow of the sea.
MCBBAS VOL. II. HO. I. Till


o8 co*mk:al phenomena of shanghai.
No. 44. 1716j 7th moon. A typhoon; a bud harvest.
No. 46. 1724; 4th moon, 8th day. A great hail-storm, in
lumps of fifty catties, killed one and wounded many persons.
No. 46. 1725; 7th moon, 18 day. Typhoon; a sudden torrent
of rain from morning till night; it whirled about; next month the
sea overflowed.
No. 47. 1732; 7 moon. Typhoon several days, tore up trees
and levelled houses; sea overflowed; cities flooded.
No. 48. 1735; 7th moon. A great wind; sea overflowed.
No. 49. 1738; 10th moon, 6th day. Violent wind from N.W.;
flocks of sea birds filled the sky; the storm devastated the grains
for over a month and then dispersed.
No. 60. 1748; 7th moon. A great wind; sea overflowed, and
drowned above 20,000 people.
No. 51. 1752; 6th moon, 10th day. A great typhoon, conti-
nuing a day and a night; threw down walls and houses innumer-
able; the sea overflowed.
No. 62. 17G4; 11th moon, 11th day. A storm with hail; but
as harvest was already gathered, it did no damage.
No. 63. 1772; 6th moon, 18 day. A great wind; rain and
trees torn up; overturned vessels and houses.
No. 54. 1791; 4th moon, 5th day. A severe hail-storm.
Note. The above for the most part were no doubt typhoons,
although that term Mu-jung is applied to a few of them only.
All those that occurred from the 5th to the 9th month were of this
class, and some others. Inundations of the sea are more hurtful
than freshets, more destructive of life, and always damaging for
a time to the soil. The former however are of wider extent, and
attended with epidemics and famines. In some coses inundations
of the sea are mentioned without storms, but it does not neces-
sarily follow that none took place at the time.
Sub-section 3. Waterspouts.
No. 1. a.d. 1189. At Tien lake there was a great wind, when
two dragons were seen fighting, and the decorations of a neigh
boring temple were blown away; in an instant the dragons whirl-
ed over the top of the temple, and were visible far and near.
No. 2. 1512; 6th moon. A dragon was seen to the S.E. of
Whangpu; it scorched paddy and destroyed houses in its course.
Nn. 3. 1519; 8th moon. There was a great flood at Shanghai
and nine dragons fighting at sea.


COSMICAL PHENOMENA OF SHANGHAI.
61
No. 19.1694. A great drought; bad harvest.
No. 20. 1697; 5th moon. A great drought.
No. 21. 1705; 7th moon. A great drought.
No. 22. 1706. Summer, a drought; autumn, a dearth.
No. 23. 1708. Summer, a great drought.
No. 24. 1715. Summer, a great drought.
No. 25. 1723. Summer, a great drought.
No. 26. 1724. Autumn, a great drought.
No. 27.1734. Summer, a great drought and epidemic.
No. 23. 1787. A great drought.
Note. Taking the last hundred years of this record as a stan-
dard, one drought may be calculated on in ten years, at varying
intervals however.
Sub-section 6. amines.
No. 1. a.d. 502. A year of drought; harvest failed; rice
was 5,000 cash a tau; many starved to death.
No. 2. Iie5. People ate bran.
No. 3. 1281. Wide-spread famine.
No. 4. 1305. A famine.
No. 5. 1320. A famine.
No. 6. 1331; 7th moon. A famine, with water calamity.
No. 7.1383. A famine.
No. 8.1336. During this and two following years, there were
no harvests; people boiled and ate their sons and daughters.
No. 9. 1386. A famine.
No. 10. 1403. A famine at Shanghai city.
No. 11. 1405. A famine over this and three neighboring fus.
No. 12. 1483. A famine (following a winter in which there
was a thunder storm).
No. 13. 1496. A famine through the four neighboring^^.
No. 14. 1506. A famine.
No. 15. 1663. A famine, rice costing 170 (the figure is pro-
bably a misprint); the people scattered; attacks were made on
granaries; the leader of the riots was beheaded.
No. 16. 1568. A famine over twofiu.
No. 17. i583. A famine.
No. 18. 1589. A famine; people ate bran, roots of grass and
leaves of trees; many drowned themselves.
No. 19. 1590. A famine, from drought.
No. 20. 1591. A famine, and epidemic.


CHUNK Al. PHENOMENA OF SHANGHAI. G3
No. 14. 1750. Summer, a great ytth.
No. 15. 1757. Summer, a great yuh.
No. 10. 1787. Summer, a great yah.
Note. Our Chinese authorities afford us no information on
this the most im|>ortant subject in this collection. Yet this bare
record is not without its value. An attempt has been made to
trace the rise of the epidemic of the middle ages, so long the terror
of Europe, to this part of China. The conjecture is supported as
yet by very few facts, although in consulting records of this cha-
racter, I have paid some attention to the investigation of this
question. Further research is needed.
Sub-section 7. Irrbottlar Seasons and Extremes of
Temperature..
No. 1. a.d. 1147; 10th moon. Thunder and hail.
No. 2. 1445; 12th moon. Snow fell seven days and nights;
it was 12 feet deep; people were obliged to remain in their houses
until streets were cut out of the snow.
No. 8. 1483; 11th moon. At the winter solstice, great thun-
der and lightning and snow; the following year there was a
famine.
No. 4. 1510. An extremely cold winter; bamboo, cedar and
orange trees killed; for several years no oranges in the markets;
there was ice several feet thick, for a month in the river.
No. 5. 1575. In summer a poisonous heat killed many plough-
men and oxen.
No. 0. 1577; 5th and Cth moons. (Summer) a rain as cold as
winter; it damaged the crops.
No. 7. 1500; 6th moon, 18th day. At night (summer), snow
fell from midst of the moon, like the tine flowers of the willow, or
shreds of silk; taken in the hand all found to be hexagonal.
No. 8. 1502; 10th moon. Thunder, lightning and hail.
No. 9. 1018. 12th moon. Midnight, great thunder and light-
ning.
No. 10. 1020; 10th moon, 20th da;-. Excessive lightning,
thiit niirht flip moon was :is round n* on f)>o 15th (full).
No. 11. 1027; 12th moon. A great full of snow, over five feet
in one niglit; bamboo and other trees broken; birds and animals
died.
No. 12. 102*; 2nd moon. A fall of snow (say in March).
No. 13. 1031; 12th moon. Thunder.
5 *


61
COSMICAL PHENOMENA OF SHANQHAI.
No. 14. 1637; 12th moon. Very cold; the Whangpu river
and lakes frozen.
No. 15. 1643; 10th moon. At night violent thunder, rain
and wind, broke trees and carried off tiles.
No. 16. 1653; 11th moon, 13th day. Great thunder, three
times; shaking.
No. 17.1655. Winter, Mau and Tien lakes frozen over; for
several days, people could walk over them.
No. 18. 1608; 12th moon. Thunder and a rainbow.
No. 19. 1677. Winter, a thunder storm with snow.
No. 20. 1684; 12th moon. Excessively hot, like summer; at
night, there were heavy peals of thunder, with torrents of rain.
No. 21. 1690; 9th moon. Rain without clouds; no harvest
that season.
No. 22. 1694. Winter, ice in the Whangpu river.
No. 23. 1695; 12th moon. Thunder and lightning at night
with great rain.
No. 24. 1705; 4th moon. A great rain for ten days, as cold
as winter.
No. 25. 1711. A rainbow in the east on new year's day.
No. 26. 1691; 12th moon. Snow for four or five days; men
horses, and animals frozen to death; for half a month it was so
cold that no one went abroad.
No. 27. 1747; 6th moon. Snow fell.
Note. The Chinese record calls for no explanation. Electrical
action in mid-winter, and a temporary reversal of seasons in sum-
mer and winter might be looked for in such a history. Excessively
severe winters are often noted in records of this kind. The case
of excessive heat in summer, that killed men and animals in the
fields, is the only one of the kind I have met with. It may have
been a meteor caused the "poisonous heat." If its ravages were
limited to a particular tract, that explanation will suffice.
Sub-section 8. Meteors.
No. 1. a.d. 519; 5th moon. A shooting star fell and became
a stone.
No. 2. 1359. A goat-herd observed a shooting star, from the
midst of which a fish fell.
No. 3. 1306; 9th moon. A wind like fire came from the
south-east, followed by an earthquake; a few days after, a star
shot from the north-cast and fell into the sea.


ec
fOSVITAI. PHENOMENA or SHANGHAI.
No. 21. 1782; 6th moon, 18th day. A great wiuJ and miri.
trees were torn up, boats capsized, and houses thrown down; sea-
water was carried into the canals, making them briny for two
weeks. The day before this tornado, there was seen outside of
Yuling, something of the size of a house, formless, without head
or feet, resting on the ground, and then bounding over the dyke
into the sea, furrowing the ground in its course: no one knew
what it was.
Note. The instances of the fall of yellow sand, recorded above,
must have been excessive in degree; as we have long discovered
to our inconvenience, these showers occur every spring. As I have
elsewhere described them, I shall here only note the poisonous
one, No. 5, nnd state that I have been unable to ascertain what
mineral it was thnt fell. Whirlpillars, taking their rise in the
north or north-west, may raise up and carry to this place dust
or sand of any description. On this occasion it bore some
very potent mineral. For want of a better place, an electrical
phenomenon has been introduced as No. 7. Several cases of light-
ning striking buildings have been omitted. The sound of a drum
in the heavens is often met with in records of this kind. These
are owing sometimes probably to thunder without lightning, or
more frequently to invisible aerolites. The noise of demons may
be due to this also. Two large aerolites are to be seen preserved
in a publio building at Sungkiang. The meteor accompanied
by the fall of huge lumps of ice is remarkable; they could not
have been less than a foot and a half in diameter. I am at a loss
what to say about the case which closes this sub-section.
Subsection 0. Atmospheric Illusions.
No. 1. a.d. 1337. A hen was seen sitting on the sun; its feet
were not visible.
No. 2. 1348; 7th moon, loth day. At night a star as large
as a bowl, of a white and slightly azure color, with a tail about
50 feet long, lightened the sky, with a rumbling noise flew from
the north-east, nnd entered the midst of the moon, the moon then
looking as a reversed tile,—i. e. upright.
No. 3. 1505; 6th moon. At the north-west a five-colored
(variegated) cloud was seen, at first like th wings of a phcenix,
then as a range of hills, of a bright gorgeous light; in two hours
it disappeared.


OOSMI' AL PHENOMENA OV SHANGHAI.
No. 4. 1554; 1st moon. The 6th day after an eclipse of the
sun, black suns confusedly fell a couple of hours and then stopped.
No. 5. 1590; 7th moon. A small star was expelled from the
midst of the moon.
No. 6. 1593. A star issued out of the moon.
No. 7. 1011; 4th moon. A white rainbow, having the sun in
its centre.
No. 8. 1022; 8th moon. Before sunset there was a white rain-
bow several tens of feet long; extending from north-east to
south-west.
No. 9. 1222; 10th moon, 20th day. On that night (five days
after full), the moon was round as' if full.
No. 10. 1625; 3rd moon. A black rainbow seen to the south;
it was so long as to span the sky.
No. 11. 1626; 7th moon. Beneath the sun was a halo like a
black sun; also a large star was seen in the east with a red glare
irradiating it.
No. 12. 1650; 7th moon, 20th day. Near night, a belt of
black vapor darted from the sun's midst to the zenith; when from
the sea another rose, uniting with the black one from the sun as
a bridge; at night it disappeared.
No. 13. 1651. Summer, a black rainbow crossed the sun, its
head and tail touching the earth.
No. 14. 1678; 7th moon, 6th day. At night, the moon being
crescented, suddenly a black vapor severed the moon into two
parts, leaving a path between them a foot wide; the halves were
also divided by a narrower strip; the vapor disappeared in a
couple of hours, and the parts reunited; a large star followed with
a glare like a roll of silk.
No. 15. 1680; 1st moon. A black vapor from west to east
over the expanse of heaven.
No. 16.1681; 1st moon, 15th day. The moon red and with-
out light.
No. 17. 1718; 12th moon. A belt of red light extending from
north to south, fell into the sea with a noise.
No. 18. 1773; 2nd moon. A sea market was seen at Kung-
shan, visible a whole day.
Note. I make no pretentions to be an interpreter of nature,
professing to be a mere interpreter of the Chinese language, and
shall not be expected to offer explanations of all that Chinese


63
COS MI OA L PHENOMENA OF 9HANOHAI.
observers record. The cases of parhelia will be readily recognized.
The phrase "fighting suns," by which thes9 brilliant phenomena
are usually described, may also be rendered by "suns being in op-
position." Thus in translations of the ffl £J£ ^ it is said,—
"When the Hia dynasty j>erished (176a B.C.), two suns fought in
the heavens." By the sea market (18), a mirrge is intended; its
duration was remarkable. That part of the sea on JJangchau
Bay which lies near Kinhing, often exhibits this illusion. It is
more frequently seen from the opposite side. "Sea market" is
the general term by which the mirage is designated, and it is
noted as occurring at different points of the coast from Canton to
Shantung.
Section III. Botany.
Sub-tection 1. Strange Productions.
No. 1. a. D. 200? About the middle of the third century, there
was a spontaneous growth of rice.
No. 2. 1023; 6th moon. The lakes and fields ns far as Kia-
hing and Sucliau produced sacred rice. The hungry people ate it.
No. 3. 1350? A willow tree made a noiso like an ox three
successive times.
No. 4. 1307; 4th moon, 15th day. At the fifth tything of
Yangkiang western azure temple, there was a sound emitted from
the wooden pillars of a building of nineteen rooms resembling the
beating upon a tub inverted in water; on applying the hand to
the pillars, it was shook and repelled; it lasted a couple of hours.
No. 6. 1489. A felicitous bamboo; a single root gave rise to a
pair of parallel stems, having corresponding branches, and both of
tho same size and height; four years later the same thing occurred.
No. 6. 1492. Spring, a hai (a coarse kind of mustard usually
two feet high) grew in a shady place to the height of ten feet,
with leaves the size of the plantain; the flowers rose two feet
above the walls of the court.
No. 7. 1505. Another instance of a double bamboo.
No. 8. 1511; 2nd moon. At Pehsha village, 14th tything,
there was a tree that made a noise.
No. 9.1568; 3rd moon. In Shanghai a decaying tree gave
out smoke, like threads of silk, from an aperture.
No. 10. 1569; 10th moon. On a winter night there was thun-
der and lightning; pear and peach trees flowered, groin sprung
up, and plum and maiden hair trees fruited.


OOSM1CAL PHENOMENA OF SHANGHAI. 66
No. 11. 1606; 6th moon. A very old tree gave out blood.
No. 12. 1645; 1st moou. A decayed tree at Kinshan ignited
of itself.
No. 13. 1768. Spring, in the court of the literary chancellor,
a pair of bamboos sprang from one root.
No. 14. 1773; 6th moon, 17th day. Afternoon, during a fine
rain there was a sudden clap of thunder, when a decayed cypress
tree in front of the district magistracy revived and flourished.
yote. Two instances will be noted of the effects of electric
action on vegetation, and two of spontaneous combustion; the
other cases the reader will reject or explain as he sees fit.
Sub-section 2. Abundant Harvests.
No. 1. a.d. 1511. Summer, wheat had many branches and
heads.
No. 2. 1663. A year of great abundance; rice was excellent
and double the usual quantity.
No. 3.166''. A great harvest; one hoh of rice (133 lbs.) cost
only two tsien [say 70 or 80 cash] at that time at Hukwang, and
the right of the river it was still cheaper. The fields did not
yield enough to pay taxes; the granaries of the rich were over-
flowing, but they discarded it; goods of every description were
without purchasers; people called that the year of "ripe dearth."
No. 4. 1683. A very productive year; single stems of rice
had double heads, some three or four. Specimens were rolled up,
and deposited in a temple, with a written account; the circum-
stances became known from the discovery eighty-four years after,
on repairing the temple.
No. 5.1713. A year of abundance.
No. 6. 1731. A year of great abundance.
No. 7. 1737. A year of abundance; some stalks had double,
others four or five heads.
No. 8. 1744. A year of abundance.
No. 0. 1740. Rice with double heads, some with six or seven.
No. 10. 1753. A year of abundance; a tau of rice cost less
than one hundred cash.
No. 11. 1754. A year of abundance.
No. 12. 1761. A year of abundance.
No. 13. 1769. A year of abundance.
No. 14. 1773. A year of abundance.
No. 15. 1776. A year of abundance.


70
COSMICAL PHENOMENA OF SHANQHAI.
No. 16. 1787. A year of abundance.
No. 17. 1788. A year of abundance, and double-headed rice.
Note. The only pleasing feature in the records of which this
sub-section is composed, is marred somewhat by "too much of a
good thing." The agriculturist and political economist, the mer-
chant and vegetable physiologist will read with interest the brief
note on the distress occasioned by that year of remarkable produc-
tiveness, 1667.
Section IV. Zoolooy.
Sub-nvction 1. IIetekalouodi*.
No. 1. B.c. 167. Horns grew on a horse.
No. 2. a. d. 1352; 8th moon. A spayed bitch had a litter of
eight pups, one ol which had claws as red as blood.
No. 3. 15123; 6th moon. Tanchuen, a female servant in the
Hwang family at Shanghai, gave birth to a son, on the top of
whose head there were two horns of flesh, and whose eyes were in
the forehead, resembling the devil's bailiff; it was cast into the
canal.
No. 4. 1526. At Hwangking, a farmer named Kungfang had
a fleshy tumour over the ribs, on the side of the body, which being
cut open, a fcetus was discovered enclosed.
No. 5. 1552. A woman had a beard.
No. 6. 1554; 6th moon. At the village of Tuling there was
a boy born, who slipped under the bed and wailed; it was put to
death; it was hairy and had horns like the devil's bailiff (a
demon with a cow's head, to whom Yenlo king of hades sends the
souls of wicked men on dying).
No. 7. 1568. A sow brought forth a pig, having on its right
side for a paw a human hand.
No. 8. 1588. A pig born with eight legs.
No. 9. 1588. A black hog changed to white.
No. 10. 1593. A young cock on breaking its shell, was found
to have a comb hanging down like a fringe; in the middle it had
a horn.
No. 11. 1596; 3rd moon. A pregnant woman suddenly vo-
mited a fcistus an inch long; its body and limbs were rather per-
fect; it caused alarm and it was thrown away.
No. 12. 1600. A sow belonging to the Yen family produced a
pig, with a human head, white body, and long square nose; its
■ore legs had human hand-.


COSVirAL PHENOMENA OF SHANGHAI.
71
No. 13. 1601. A bufialo brought forth a calf with two heads
and four fore and two hind feet.
No. 14. 1613; 4th moon. The S4u family had a chicken, with
one head, four wings, four legs and two tails.
No. 15.1614. At Yangkia pang a boy aged fourteen years,
had on his abdomen, a human head, face, mouth, and nose com-
plete, but the eyes had no lustre.
No. 16. 1G32. A Mrs. Li changed into a man and begat a son.
No. 17. 1637; 7th moon. A three-legged chicken was pro-
duced.
No. 18.1646; 5th moon. The wife of one Yang had a son
with three eyes, and a horn from each temple.
No. 19. 1656; 12th moon. Outside of the great east gate,
Shanghai, a pregnant woman went twelve months and produced
something like a pig, the eyes at the side of the ears, its whole
body being full of hairs.
No. 20. 1658. A child born with two heads.
No. 21. 1644. A fisherman caught at Tsiangmau a large fish
weighing thirty-five catties, resembling a tench, with five eyes in
its head.
No. 22. 1680. At Kingshan a male child was born with its
eyes set in its forehead, and a fleshy horn on its head.
No. 23. 1680; 8th moon, 16th day. At Hwangnetun, a
strange fish was caught; it had no scales, a man's head, and a
tortoise back, of the size of an ox.
No. 24. 1685. A goat produced a kid and a monkey.
No. 25. 1694. At Chansha in a litter of eight pigs, one of
them had but one eye, and had a fleshy head.
No. 26. 1694. A child born with two heads, face to face; it
soon died.
Note. Records analogous to the above are to be met with in
Western history, and do not here call for special remark.
Subjection 2. Harb Visitors.
No. 1. a. d. 200? About the middle of the 3rd century, five
large birds were seen in the spring of the year; they were con-
sidered the phoenix.
No. 2. 290-307. At Lau district a sound was suddenly heard
in the ground at the Hwaiyau family residence, as of a dog bar-
king; digging they got a dog and a bitch; their eyes were not


72
C09MICAL PHENOMENA OF 8HANOHAI.
yet opened; they resembled ordinary-sized dogs; they were fed,
and many came to see them; old folks said they were rhinoceros
dogs, and that the captors would get rich.
No. 3. 456. A white bird was caught and sent up to the emperor.
No. 4. 1305. Locusts.
No. 5. 1351. Among a brood of seven chickens, there was one
that was like a full-grown cock; it stretched its wings and crowed.
No. 6. 1307. Mrs. Tsiang, a blacksmith's wife had triplet
sons j the scholar Pang wrote an ode on the occnsion.
No. 7.1510. The south hills of Shanghai visited by a tifrer
which devoured people.
No. 8. 1530; 7th moon. Locusts filled the heavens; a ty-
phoon carried them off to sen; those that fell on the ground became
crabs, which devoured the paddy or rice.
No. 0. 15-40. Locusts ate all the paddy.
No. 10. 1552. A pair of tigers swam from the sea to Kinshan,
and wounded three men.
No. 11. 1570; 0th moon. Devastation of the crops on the
coast by a small species of crab, after an inundation of the sea.
No. 12. 168'.). An animal resembling a monkey was seen on
the Li pagoda; it disappeared after a few days.
No. 13. 1595; 3rd moon. A deer above ten feet high swam
from Lang island and came to Shanghai, crossing the river; the
district magistrate sent above ten boats after it;.it was pierced by
an arrow, and stoned to death.
No. 14.1798; 2nd moon. Black rain fell; people's clothes
were spotted with it as by ink.
No. 15. 1000; 0th moon. A gigantic variegated bird lighted
at Hwnting, five or six feet high; its head had beautiful tufts
floating in the wind.
No. 16. 1000; 0th moon. A couple of tigers swam from the
sea to Kinslian and wounded three men.
No. 17. 1632. A tiger issued from amidst reeds at the
Whangpu; chased to Konpu and captured.
No. 18. 1633; 4th moon. It rained blood, from Wutsau
stream to the north-east.
No. 19. 1633; 11th moon. Blood fell at Hwating.
No. 20. 1639; 4th moon. Mrs. Pau had triplet sons.
No. 21. 1040. Spring; two monstrous fish were stranded near
Kinshat; one was black, without scales, about a hundred feet


(OJVKAI. PIIKNOMFNA OF SHANGHAI.
7fl
long; its intestines were like a cart wheel, and its tongue was ten
feet long; tlie other was smaller nnd while; they had no eyes.
No. 22. 1641. Locusts filled the sky.
No. 23. 1042; 3rd moon. Locusts.
No. 24. 1643. Spring, young locusts came out; meeting rains,
they were changed into crabs.
No. 25. 1645; 2nd moon. Four white swallows made their
nests at the east gate of Sungkiang.
No. 26. 1048. A tiger wits hunted by the military, and pierced
in the eye by an arrow.
No. 27. 1654. A fall of sweet dew.
No. 28. 165!); 4th moon. A white tiger was seen at Kinshan,
which suddenly entered the city and carried off" an old woman;
the military fought with it, and four of them were bitten; doors
were all shut; next day it suddenly disappeared.
No. 29. 1666; 6th moon. In the latter half of the month,
sea birds enme and rested on the sea shore.
No. 30. 1073. Locusts filled the sky; they came from the north
and went to the south; where they passed, they ate leaves of the
bamboo and heads of the reeds only, not touching grains; a pre-
fect on his way from Sucliau observed them clinging to the heads
of the rice all dead.
No. 31. 1080. Summer, sand insects damaged the paddy.
No. 32. 1080; 8th month. Locusts filled the air; they came
from the north and. went to south; they lighted on reeds, not
touching rice.
No. 33. 1082. A tiger came from the west, and devoured a
boy; the soldiers could not capture it.
No. 34. 1085; 8th moon, 4th day. At night a huge fish was
brought in by the tide; it was without scales; the flesh weighed
above 2,000 catties, over 3,000 lbs.
No. 35. 1089. Autumn, insects ate the rice.
No. 30. 1690. Summer, a dog crossing a river, fell off the
bridge, and suddenly sank; in an instant a great fish like a silure
with beard several feet long, was seen holding the dog in its
jaws, when they disappeared.
No. 37. 1692; 4th moon, 24th day. At Tea hill, Great stone
village, a willow tree several tens of feet was split asunder by
lightning, and in the middle a centipede was discovered, minus
its head, eight or nine feet long; it was of a dark reddish hue.
NCBRA* VOL. II. NO i. x


74
C09MICAL PHENOMENA OF SnANniJAI.
No. 38. 1704; 8th moon. Two large fish were seen sporting
beneath a bridge; they resembled boats, about them were innu-
merable small fish.
No. 39.1725; 5th moon. Locusts.
No. 40. 1728; 11th moon. Sweet dew on trees; taste of honey.
No. 41. 1229; 1st moon. Sweet dew fell; the governor of
the province reported it to the emperor Yungching.
No. 42. 1729; 8th moon. Aphides destructive.
No. 43. 1732; 7th moon. Insects ate the paddy.
No. 44. 1733; 7th moon. Aphides ate above half the rice.
No. 45. 1738; 10 moon, 5th day. Sea birds came in vast
flocks and devoured the crops; they remained a month.
No. 46. 1740; 4th moon. Mrs. Hiame Luh had three sons
at a birth.
No. 47. 1740; 10th moon. Wild birds filled the heavens and
damaged the crops.
No. 48. 1752; llth and 12th moons. During these two
months, sweet dew fell five times.
No. 49. 1756; 6th moon. An insect iA produced; that sum-
mer the weather was cold as winter, and the crops failed.
No. 50. 1760; 7th moon. An aphis damaged the riee.
No. 51. 1768; 10th moon. A tiger wounded men; chased by
husbandmen to Kwang hill, where they killed it.
No. 52. 1768; 8th moon. Fishermen cought a tortoise; on
the belly were the characters perfectly distinct -^p -^p t£ tvu
[horary characters].
No. 53. 1775; 10th moon. Sweet dew fell.
No. 54. 1776; 8th moon, 17th day. Sweet dew fell on trees
and vegetables, glistening like eyes; the taste was like that of
sweet-cakes; it fell for three nights.
No. 55. 1777. Grubs of young locusts appeared; after a few
days they were found clinging to the grass dead.
No. 56. 1780; 1st moon. Sweet dew fell.
No. 57.1784; 7th moon. Following the tide, there came
several myriads of centipedes, which entered the canal at Tsih-
pauching; people did not dare drink the water.
No. 58. 1788; 12th moon. Sweet dew fell for three days.
Note. Albinas. Nos. 3 and 25 were perhaps Albinos.
Triplets. Three cases are recorded between 1367 and 1640.
The number should be doubled, for it is to be presumed that
thpre was as many cases of triplet girls.


80 ON THE ANCIENT MOUTHS OF THE TANOTSl KTAlfO.
At present the water of the streams on the east of the lake all
flows to the east and north-east, and ultimately joins die waters
of the YangtsI at Waning and other outlets above that point.
From Warning round to Hangcheu no streams communicate with
the sea. The system of embankments now in operation was
established in the seventh century of our era. The river which
entered the sea at Eanp'u sometimes called Tungkiang, and at
other times Kuhshui, was then finally closed. The object of this
embankment was to keep the waters of the sea from spreading
salt over the adjacent country, and thus interfering with its fer-
tility. A strong tide enters at Wusung and proceeds up the
country for sixty miles or more, but it is composed entirely of
fresh water, that namely of the great Yangtsi itself. The well
water all over this district has in it a considerable quantity of salt,
showing that there is much of that mineral beneath the soil,
remaining there from former visits of the sea when the embank-
ment was still not formed.
The entrance of a stream from the T'aihu, into the sea at Ean-
p'u in former times is important as bearing on the question whe-
ther that town is the same as the Canfu of the Arabian travellers
in the T'ang dynasty. When there was a river's mouth at that
spot, it would naturally attract the principal trade of the adjoining
gulf. From that point to the eastward there are no hills on the
sea-coast except the few which protect the harbour of Chap'u.
The remainder of the coast is composed entirely of newly formed
alluvial land, lying low and protected by an embankment
If the point of observation be transferred to Hangcheu, we
have there a city which is washed on its western side by the lake
known as the Sihu, and celebrated throughout China for its
beauties. That lake is formed by water from the hills near it.
The city formerly stood on the south-west of it, but now it is on
the south-oast. The ancient name of the lake was the T'sien shui
0j| . The old sea embankment was on the landward side of
the modern city, the site of which formerly belonged to the sea.
This embankment passed over the ground now occupied by the
Chauk'ing monastery near the north-west corner of the city. The
T'sienshui was anciently a small river. When the present lake
was formed out of its waters, the embankment was named from it
T'sient'ang. Then this double name was applied to the Hangcheu
river, the T'sient'ang kiang, formerly called Kuhshui.


82 UN THE ANCIENT MOUTHS OP THE YANOT81 KIANO.
the popular edition of the Shu king, and a pupil of Chufu tsl, but
he adopted himself in preference the opinion also originated in
the Tang period, that the ^ Three Rivers of the Yfl kung,
were three streams which convey the waters of the T'aihu to the
sea. This is a remarkable example of the imperfect criticism of
the school of Chufu tsi, and with it of the text books employed
since his time in education in China.
The better scholarship of the present dynasty has pointed ont
many of these faults in the criticism of the Sung period. The
reason is found in this case, in the lapse of time since the old
branches of the Yangtsi had disappeared. In the third century
the southern branch ceased to flow by Hangcheu, and in the
seventh, the embankment was made which cut off all communica-
tion with the sea along the north coast of the gulf of Hangcheu.
The Kinsha kiang, or Golden Sand River which rises in Tibet,
is described in foreign books as the Yangtsi kiang. By natives
however it is represented as a tributary, and the true Yangtsi
kiang is considered to be the Min, a river which has its sources
in the Min mountain in the north part of the province of Sich'wen,
passes Ch'engtu the capital and joins the Golden Sand River at
Sucheu. The name Min is in old books applied to the whole
river very frequently. In the geography of Ytt, the Min moun-
tain is mentioned as the source of the Kiang, the Great River.
The emperor Yfl began his labours in the north-west of China,
and continued them to the south-east. The Yellow River and
the Yangtsi with their tributary streams were successively sub-
jected to his attention, and were made to promote the productive-
ness of the land instead of being mischievous to it He was
buried at that spot where he terminated his great engineering
works. His tomb at Kweiki, the modern Shauhing, is carefully
kept by his descendants. He found his grave very suitably by the
ancient mouth of the principal stream of the .Yangtsi, and he is
still worshipped there after the lapse of 4000 years.
The bearing on geology, of this investigation by modern Chi-
nese authors into the history of their greatest river, will be obvious
to every one. The same causes which have gradually produced
this great alluvial plain, on which Shanghai and thirty or mora
other cities were built, are still in operation gradually forming
fresh land to the seaward, filling up old channels, originating new
ones, and by degrees increasing the elevation of the land. With-


ON THK ANCIRNT MOUTHS OF T1IK YANtlTrf KIANO. (fcl
out overflowing its banks and depositing; its sediment upon wide
breadths of country, tbis river does its work quite as effectually,
by the help of the powerful tides of the Pacific, which enable its
mud-laden waters to enter the thousand little canals that have
been made by man for the irrigation of the fields. The decay of
vegetable matter combined with artificial irrigation raises the sur-
face, and would, if continued sufficiently long, render the whole
region at length entirely independent of the embankments made
round the entire sea-coast for the security of agriculture.
Note A.
The most important passages on which the preceding criticism depends, are
those from the geography of Yii. The first says, "The Hivci and the sea both
belong to Yongclieu. The P'engli (Poyang lake) being fixed, the bird of light
had a place of rest. The three rivers having entered the sea, the Chentseh (T'ai
hu lake) became firm in its place."
The second says, "The Fanchung mountain gives origin to the Yang river.
Flowing eastward it becomes the Han. Yet further to the east it is the T'sang
river. Passing the SanshI, it proceeds to Tapieh and then running south enters
the Kiang. Going eastward the waters collect into a lake and thus form the
P'engli. Travelling on to the east the river is called the Pch kiang, and with
this name enters the sea. The Min mountain (in the north part of the province
of SIc'hwen) gives origin to the Kiang. To the east there enters a tributary
stream, the Chi. Again it travels in the same direction till it receives the Fung
(at Changsha). Passing the nine rivers (Kieukiang, said to be the Tungt'ing
lake) it proceeds to Tungling. Tho waters of the Tungi collect into a lake to
the northward. A branch going eastward is called the Chung kiang, and under
that name reaches the sea."
According to Cheng k'ang c'heng of the Han dynasty, as quoted in the Han
commentary on the classics, the Tungi is the same as the Nankiang. The some
work also cites from him the statement that the three rivers separate at the
P'engli lake and enter the sea by different embouchures. These testimonies are
highly important, says Yuen yucn, an author of the nineteenth century, as an
early commentary on the preceding passages of the geography of Yii, and parti-
cularly as asserting the identity of the Tungi, bend to the vattieard, with the
Nankiang.
Note B.
Some references to important passages in intermediate writers bearing on the
question are here placed together
Kwoh p'oh, a writer in the Tsin dynasty, a. d. 365 to 419, in his comment on
the BI Ya, explains the three riven of the emperor Yii as being the Min kiang
(i. e. the present Yangtsi kiang) the Chehkiong, and the Sungkiang.
It was Weicbau, in the time of the Three Kingdoms, who represented the three
Kiang which surrounded tho Wu country to be the Sungkiang-, the T'sient'ong
kiang and the Fuyang kiang. This is quoted In the work King tien shin
wen. He must however have said Chehkiong, changed erroneously for T'sien
fang by later writers. It was Chang sheu uueh of the T'ang dynasty who, in
his commentary on the Shi ki colled Shi ki cheng i, says, "According to the
geography Kwoh ti chl, the three rivers of the Yii kung meet at the P'eng H
lake (Poyang) and proceed as one river to the sea."
In the Chili fang, the topographical division of the classical work called the
Cheu li, the rivers of the province King cheu (Hukwang) are stated to be the Han
and the Kiang, while those of Yangcheu arc said to be the San Kiang, three
rivert. This tends to prove that the San Kiang, three rivers of the Yii kung
must mean three branche* near the va, iind lint above the Pnyang lake.


84 ON TMK ANCIKNT MOUTHS OK THE YANOTSI KIA\<i.
K'ung ngan kwoh of the Han dynasty rays, "The waters of the limn, eater
the Chen tseh." This agrees with what is said by other ancient writers respect-
ing the entrance of the waters of the Kiang into that lake, the modern T'aihu.
Notb C.
Among the authors of the present dynasty who hare carefully pursued this
investigation into the ancient mouths of the Kiang, Yuen yuen, who wrote in
the early part of this century, deserves particular mention. Host of the infor-
mation collected in this paper and the accompanying notes, is taken from his
work Cheh kiang t'u k'au. He commences that treatise in the following
manner.
"Changes in the courses of rivers in progress of time are very numerous.
The smaller rivers have become so altered that it is difficult to trace them. But
what is more remarkable is that there should be great errors respecting the
channel of the great rivers, whose position was determined from the time of Yii.
The principal mistake of this kind is that whieh confounded Chehkiang with Tsien
kiang and the Kuhshui, instead of identifying it with the Minklang. My home
is at Yangcheu on the north of the Pehkiang. While acting as chief examiner
at Hangcheu, I had occasion to travel much through the Wu (Sucheu) and
Yueh (Hangcheu) kingdoms. In my study of the classics and the histories and
my personal observation of the topography of the localities just mentioned, I
arrived at the conviction that the Great River and the Chehkiang were originally
one. I found proof that the Chehkiang was no other than the Nankiang of the
emperor Yii. During the lost few centuries, geographers in their criticisms on
the Three rivers of Yii, have missed the truth. I have therefore collected cita-
tions from ancient books with illustrative maps, and exhibited my results in this
treatise. The following are the conclusions to which I have come."
"The Kiang takes its rise at the Min mountain. The three kiang of the Yii
kung are the Pehkiang, the Chungkiang and the Nankiang. The Pehkiang is
the Minkiang, proceeding north of Nanking, Chenkiang, Tant'u, and Chang-
cheu to the sea, and is the same with the modern Kiang. The Chungkiang is the
Minkiang proceeding by Kauchun and Wupa to Ihing, where it entered the
sea. The Nankiang is the Minkiang proceeding from C'hicheu fu by Ningkwoh
to the T'aihu. Thence it passed Wukiang, and T'angsi in a south-westerly
direction to Hangcheu, where it bent to the eastward towards Yiiyau and there
met the sea."
"That which constituted the old channel of the Chehkiang, is now a strip of
fertile land leading from Wukiang about one hundred English miles to Hang-
cheu, with a narrow stream of water in its centre, which is the canal for the
conveyance of the imperial grain" (i. e. the Grand Canal).
"The land westward from Haining is somewhat elevated, but from the old
salt warehouse Lauyen t'sang onward to the southwest towards Hangcheu, a
tract embracing fifteen or twenty miles, the soil is low, easily accessible to
the sea-tide, and consists in many parts of moveable sand. In some instances
grounds devoted to mulberry cultivation have given way to the incursions of the
sea. When an embankment was in process of construction, it was found difficult
to drive piles in firmly. The deeper they were driven, the softer was the soil.
On the north-east of Lauyen t'sang, the soil is on .the other hand perfectly firm
and solid. Besides the tide at high water is seven or eight feet higher than the
Grand Canal at the Hangcheu custom-house, so that did not the embankment
prevent, the sea must flow inwards up the canal to Kiahing. Thus the preserva-
tion of the embankment in considerable strength is of great importance.
"The evidence derived from the present character of the region through
which the ancient Chehkiang is supposed to have passed confirms the conclu-
sions drawn from the old geography of YU, the Shwohwen and other works."


DISSECTION OF A JAPANKSI! CRIMINAL.
87
The greatest criminals who are condemned for capital Crimea
in Japan, such as regicide, parricide, murder of one's teacher,
incendiarism and lese-majest6, must always be executed in public,
after they have traversed the largest streets lying on the back of
a horse. The head of such criminals is exposed during three days
to the population. Other crimes of inferior classes are also some-
times punished by death. Then the principal local authority may
execute this punishment privately in the prison. This man had
been punished here already twice before for robbery, and had
been twice branded with a hot iron. He bore on his visage the
signs of his infamy: it was now the third time he had committed
robbery on the public road, and he was condemned to death.
A number of requests came even from men not medical, to
obtain permission to assist at the dissection. They wished to
obtain an accurate idea of the construction of the human body.
However praiseworthy their inquisitiveness might be, \ thought
it better not to allow their presence the first time; and therefore
I refused all suoh requests of non-medical men, with the excep-
tion of one I allowed to assist, who was a surgical-instrument
maker, and very anxious to know accurately for what purposes
different instruments were used, and what adaptation they requir-
ed. In this way he could greatly improve his instruments, and
perhaps make the Japanese very soon independent of foreign in-
dustry of this kind; for it is a fact that they make very good
instruments indeed.
The 9th of September, I commenced dissection at 8 o'clock, in
the presence of twenty-one of my own pupils, and twenty-four
other medical men from Nagasaki and its environs; in all forty-five
persons. This number may prove that the Japanese felt a great
interest in the affair. I told all these gentlemen that during these
practical studies they must always bear in mind their real object;
and never forget for a single moment that these corpses were only
subjects for scientific examination, and that all they might see
and do must have an earnest character, while every jesting re-
mark and all unbecoming conduct, having for their object the
dead human body must be degrading to any man, and much
more to a physioian. This warning had a very good influence
indeed, and I did not see anything done unbecomingly during
the time I worked with them.
The execution was performed by a master hand, and the wound


88
DISSECTION OF A JAPANESE CRIMINAL.
showed evidently that the head was cut off at one stroke. Such
executions are performed with the ordinary Japanese short sword,
for this purpose made very keen. I could not observe any fault
in the wound, the sword-cut was given just on the middle of the
spinous process of the 6th cervical vertebra, and the vertebra was
split through. The head was brought to me separately in a
basket.
The execution takes place in the following way. The criminal
is placed on his knees, while his hands are placed with the palms
uppermost, but he is not blind-folded. A foot and a half before
the place where the man is kneeling, they make a hole in the
ground, several feet long, broad and deep. The executioner is
at the left side, and an assistant also in a kneeling position on the
right of the criminal. The latter takes the right foot in his hand
and makes three signals behind the criminal's back. At the third
signal, the head is cut off and falls into the hole. At the same
moment the assistant lifts up the right extremity with some force,
so that the body falls forward and the bleeding neck comes just
above the hole. But I will return to the details regarding the
dissection.
In the first place, I opened the chest and the abdomen, and
showed the Japanese the normal position and the mutual relation
of all the different viscera; with the position of the pleura and
peritoneum. Afterwards I took out the contents of the chest and
demonstrated them. These were all quite normal so that they
furnished excellent examples for anatomical demonstrations. So
were the abdominal viscera, with the exception of the spleen which
was considerably hypertrophied. I could not demonstrate every-
thing so accurately as it ought strictly to have been done, for I
had only the morning till 2 o'clock to spend upon these cavities.
After finishing this, I taught them the most necessary and gene-
ral rules for making anatomical preparations. I dissected one
arm, and I let them dissect the other.
The results of their work were truly astonishing, considering
that, for the most of them, it was the first time they had seen a
dissection, and only one had before made an anatomical use of a
body at Yedo. I exhibited the anatomical plates of Weber in
the dissecting room; so that the pupils might check and confirm
their observations, if they worked and studied with an honorable
ambition.


DISSECTION' OF A JAPANESE CRIMINAL. 91
Besides this, it would be considered that this criminal brought
an expiatory sacrifice for all his sins and misconduct, by the use of
his body for this purpose, because he was in this way promoting
the advancement of science. He should therefore not be subjected
to the general treatment of criminal bodies, but priests would be
allowed to perform the customary services and prayers. The go-
vernment would give him a place in the sacred Japanese cemetery,
and a grave-stone would also be erected, all at the expense of
the authorities.
These judicious measures may be considered as proving the
natural civilized feeling of this people; for the general popula-
tion appreciated all that was done, and I may say that I have not
seen or heard anything against it. There has not been the least
animosity shown during or after the dissection.
Herewith I finish these notes, with the remark that I regard
this step of the Japanese as very important, and as a proof that
they will do the utmost for the scientific prosperity of their country.
These facts also show that the authorities are not tyrannical, but
that they try to surmount antipathies in a gentle and prudent
way; and this time they met with perfect success.
Desiha, lit November, 1859.
When writing the above, I little thought that my wishes would
be so soon complied with; but I must mention that I had another
body, also of a criminal executed for repeated robbery, on the 7th
of November. I used this also in the same way as the former.
This time there were more than sixty spectators, and what is
most remarkable one Japanese Lady was also present! She is
an accoucheuse, who has studied the medical science, and she
earnestly requested me to permit her to witness the dissection,
which I allowed, and I must say that she neglected nothing.
She always was very attentive and asked me several questions
which proved her to be very intelligent; she assisted also in the
operations. This second subject was interred in the usual burial
place for criminals, although he also had services performed for
him by priests, and a little grave-stone from the government. 1
have now no fear that they will cease to give the bodies.
Di:sima,17*A Komnlcr, 1800.
7


92
ARTICLE VI.
NOTES ON THE MINERAL RESOURCES OF JAPAN, fcc.
Br Wh. H. Shock, Chief Engineer in the U. S. Navt.
Read before the 8ociety, Sept. 12th, 1868.
In obedience to official instructions to collect all the information
practicable upon the mineral resources of Japan, its advancement
in the mechanical arts, sciences, &c., &c., I embraced every favour-
able opportunity that presented itself for that end. From the
best and most reliable information I could obtain, upon the mi-
neral resources of that country, I am of the opinion that her
Copper and Iron mines are next to inexhaustable; and from
what I have learned already, I think the same may be said also
of her Coal.
For a long period the Dutch received at Nagasaki, in exchange
for their merchandise, native copper; this exchange however has
been stopped for many years past, in obedience to an order from
the emperor; the consequence is that no more copper is now pro-
duced in Japan than is necessary for their own consumption,
which is comparatively very small, thus leaving for a future ge-
neration the duty of fully developing one of the most important
elements in the wealth of this rich empire.
Iron abounds in various parts of the country, the mines of which
are extensively worked, much more so at present than those of
copper. I have not succeeded in procuring specimens of the ore
for examination; but judging from the articles of casting I have
examined of their own construction, it must be of an excellent
quality. Specimens of their wrought Iron, cast and blister steel,
have been examined with very satisfactory results; and when it
is remembered that these people are anxious to avail themselves
of all the improvements in the manufacturing arts, as applied in
the United States and in England, it is not anticipating too much
to expect they will eventually produce these metals equal to either
of their productions. All the wrought iron submitted for my


HOT St ON THE MINERAL RESOURCES OF JAPAN, &C. 93
inspection has been hammered iron, in small flat bars varying
from 12 to 20 lbs. each; this I attribute to a want of proper
machinery for making heavier bars and its being better suited to
their purposes, as they have but very little use for bars of large
dimensions as far as I could ascertain.
Their principal iron mine is situated in the northern part of
Japan, near Hakodadi; there is one also near Yedo.
From what I could learn upon subject of coal mines, I infer
they exist in many, if not in all parts of Japan; I have seen speci-
mens of coal but from two mines, one situated within seven English
miles of Nagasaki, the other on the Island Kiusiu, more than
one hundred English miles from Nagasaki. The first of the
Japan coal, we used on board the Powhatan, came from the neigh-
borhood of Nagasaki and was received on board at that city, the
last from Sikuzen and received on board at Simoda. As I have
to report upon the evaporating power of these coals on meeting
the U. S. S. frigate Mississippi, I shall dismiss the subject for the
present, and proceed to state some facts relating to the state of
mechanical arts and sciences, applicable to machinery, as I found
them in Japan.
Within two years the emperor has determined to establish a
Machine shop, with Foundery, and all its appurtenances, at Naga-
saki, for the repair of his steamers and the building of others, and
has already applied to the Dutch government for a suitable person
to superintend and direct its construction, &c. Chief engineer
Hardis of the Dutch navy was detailed for that duty, and for the
last eleven months has been assiduously engaged in carrying out
the wishes of the Japanese government, having received a "carte
blanche" to order such machinery as he thought necessary; the
result has been a large collection of the most modern improved
machinery, equal in extent, size and finish to many of the first
class Machine shops in the United States.
The spot selected for the erection of the various buildings ne-
cessary to the establishment (all of which are well advanced to
completion,) is in a beautiful valley sloping down to and terminat-
ing at the left bank of the harbour, entering from seaward, and
opposite to the town of Nagasaki., It is expected that the whole
will be ready for operation in eighteen months from this date.
An extensive pier, several hundred feet in length, and extending
out sufficiently far to insure twenty feet at low water, is being


W4 NOTES ON THE MINERAL RESOURCES OP JAPAN, &C.
built, immediately in front and as a part of the above named
establishment.
The Japan apprentice system, as established by the emperor in
connection with his Machine shop, is in my opinion destined to
result most favourably in the advancement of their knowledge of
engineering; so anxious indeed are the Japanese to become fa-
miliar with the profession, both practically and theoretically, that
several princes and others have sought and obtained permission,
from the emperor, to place themselves under instructions and are
to be seen daily at their work, busily engaged at the lathe, the
vice, or at the forge, as the case may require, while others may be
found in the drafting-room preparing the necessary drawings for
the various departments.
The Japanese government have now two side-wheel man-of-war
steamers of about 900 tons burthen each, one of which, the Quon-
quomar, is officered and manned entirely by Japanese. Both of
these steamers were presented to them by the Dutch government


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RECORD OF OCCURRENCES.
glory—in the palmy days of Kienlung,—about a century ago;
since then the marks of decay have been such as to foreshow the
coming of even greater evils than those which now afflict the
nation. Bad as the present is, a still worse condition of the whole
empire seems inevitable.
The insurrectionary movement, to which we have alluded, and
which now threatens the extinction of the old government, broke
out in the extreme south of the empire, simultaneously with or
only a short time before the demise of his late Majesty, "Reason's
Gloryand Hienfung was proclaimed his successor in Peking,
at or about the same time that Hung Siutsiuen was declared
"Heavenly King" in Ewangsi. Thus "two suns" arose to claim
supremacy in the Middle Kingdom. From that date to the pre-
sent time, the conflicts between the Imperial and the Insurgent
troops have been almost uninterrupted, and usually attended with
great destruction of life and property. According to the state-
ments given in the Peking Gazettes, myriads on myriads of the
rebels have been exterminated; while on the other side, there is
good reason to believe the disasters have been not less, but rather
the reverse, as recent occurrences near us demonstrate.
The Tai Pino Kwoh, or "Kingdom of Great Peace," of which
Hung Siutsiuen is the head, came into existence some time in 1851,
and immediately assumed a complete organization. It at once
discarded the ancient Calendar and Classics of the Chinese; and,
in their stead, accepted the Christian Scriptures of the Old and
New Testaments and adopted a reformed Calendar.
The war, which the emperor's officers and army had already
for a season been waging against this body of Insurgents, was
now, on their part, entered upon with an energy and success
seldom if ever before witnessed in China. It was, too, so far as
the Manchu government and all idols were concerned, a war of
extermination. Early in 1853, Nanking became the capital of
this new Power and the centre of its operations. To that city,
not long afterwards, the ships of England, France, and the United
States, successively repaired, having on board diplomatic agents.
Lord Elgin's visit to the interior provinces, more than a year and
a half ago, brought down the latest authentic information, re-
garding the Insurgents, that had reached us, prior to their recent
movements,—the details of which, so far as they have come to
our knowledge, we have now to place on our Record.


RECORD OP OCCURRENCES. 100
stances not a few, the reports have been so vague or conflicting
that we cannot ascertain, with any degree of certainty, what are
the real facts; we do not know, in many important things, what
has been done nor how affairs now stand, between the belligerent
parties. Our Record, therefore, must be brief in many of its
details and accepted with due caution.
On some important points, where much doubt existed in regard
to the character and policy of the Insurgents, satisfactory infor-
mation has been supplied by recent visitors to Suchau, now the
temporary headquarters of two of their kings, Kan wang and
Chung wang. The Revd. Messrs. Crawford, Hartwell, and
Holmes, American missionaries, left Shanghai in a small boat, on
the 10th of June; the next day they passed the advanced lines ot
the Imperialists, about thirty miles north from this city; thence
went on to Ewanshan and Suchau, in each of which cities, re-
maining a night and a day, they had free communication with
the Insurgent leaders and with the common people. They re-
turned to Shanghai on the 27th. The Rev. Messrs. Edkins, John,
Hall, and Macgowan, English missionaries, left Shanghai on the
30th of June, and returned on the following Friday, having been
absent six days. From a second visit, accompanied by the Rev.
Messrs. Burdon, Innocent and Rau, Messrs. Edkins and John
returned on the 6th of July, having been absent only five days,
two of which they passed in company with Kan wang. In ad-
dition to the observations made by these and other visitors, we
have also several proclamations and pamphlets recently put forth
by the Insurgent kings, now eleven in number.
The late eruption of the Insurgents from Nanking, as their
own testimony comes to us by the first party of visitors, was in
this manner. Closely besieged, there were only two outlets
through which they could communicate with those beyond their
lines in the immediate vicinity of the city, and one of these had
recently been closed up. In this extremity, as n dernier resort,
they planned and executed the attack on Hangchau. As soon
as their pursuers had fairly reached that city, the Insurgents
abandoned it, moved directly back, joined those they had left in
Nanking, and then with their united strength swept away all the
encampments of their foes, leaving thousands of them dead on
the battle-field or by the way-sides, while "tens of thousands,"
as the Insurgents aver, came over to their own ranks.


112
RECORD OF OCCURRENCE*.
the two main divisions of the Insurgent forces are stationed, one
in the far west, having its headquarters in the capital of Sz'chuen,
and the other here in Kiangsu, with its headquarters in the cities
of Nanking and Suchau; while smaller divisions are to be found,
north of the Great River, in Nganwhui and Honan, and, in the
opposite direction, on the frontiers of Chehkiang and Fuhkien, as
well as in Kiangsi, Hupeh, Hunan, and Kwangsi—the original
seat and hotbed of the "Great Rebellion."
In regard to the organization, equipment, discipline, &e. of
these several divisions, recent movements have added very little
to our former limited stock of information; and it is not easy to
say whether their success in Sz'chuen and in this province should
be attributed, under an overuling Providence, to any improvement
or increased energy on their part; or, on the other hand, to the
gradual decay of the Imperial administration in all these pro-
vinces. The testimony is almost uniform that bad as the Insur-
gent rule is, that of the emperor's officers is much worse; and it
is this mal-administration that drove his majesty's subjects to
insurrection in the first instance, and that now leaves, over-run
and trodden down by intestine war, what were ten years ago the
fairest portions of his empire. Moreover, in cases not a few
nor unimportant, it is not the Insurgent army against the Impe-
rial that works all the mischief, but no small share of it is caused
and perpetrated by local bands or fragments of the emperor's
army that are in collision with masses of the people, compelled
to rise and arm and fight for their "inalienable rights," life and
property.
The following proclamation is one of those recently received
from Suchau, and was probably issued early this year.
WE, of the Great Peaceful Heavenly Kingdom
Truly Heaven-Ordained—
~p* -|- Kan wong Hung, appointed by royal decree Principal Di-
rector-general of the Literary Chancelorthip and of the
new dynatty, a sincere and faithful major-general com-
manding the palace-guard*;
55b BE Ht ^^St wang Chin, appointed by royal decree Secondary
Director-general of the Literary Chancelorthip and a
faithful and brave [commander] of the body-guards and
of the royal metropolitan troops;


IlliCORD OF OCCURRENCES. 113
J» 5^5 CliuDg wing Li, a faithful and just [commander] of the
metropolitan troop* and of the nocturnal guarde;
i£ fH? Tsan wanK Muno, appointed by royal decree alto a Se-
condary Director-general of tlie Literary Chancelorthip, a
faithful and upright [commander] of the royal metropo-
litan troopt and of the court-guarde;
■j^J: J Shi wang Li, a true and upright [commander] of the me-
tropolitan troops and the city guards;
iflP ]E ^f? ^U wang Yano> "faithful and upright [commander] of the
metropolitan troopt and of the city guards; and
jB[ T jjfti Chang wang Lin, a faithful and respectful [commander]
of the metropolitan troops and of the palace guards;—
Hake this proclamation, faithfully exhorting you to cast off darkness and come
into the light, altogether abandoning your stupid ways, so that each and all of
you may secure eternal felicity.
This empire Is the empire of the Chinese, and not the empire of the Tartars;
its throne is the throne of the Chinese, and not the throne of the Tartars; and
its sons and daughters with its rich products arc all Chinese, and do not belong
to the Tartars. But on the downfall of the Ming dynasty, they made it an
occasion to enter China by fraud and steal away the goodly insignia of empire.
And never since that day have our officers and soldiers and people had patriotism
and prowess sufficient to expel them from our borders, and sweep clean away
these debauched and frowzy monsters; on the contrary, with bowed heads and
minds dejected, they have become their ministers and their servants. For more
than two centuries, these robbers by their misrule have disturbed the Middle
Kingdom; and under their iron sway, by pains and penalties, have always and
everywhere held in check both our soldiers and people. All have been thus
willingly submissive to their sway, so that not one brave man, one true hero, can
be excepted. Alas, to speak of these things is truly enough to wound the heart
and to excite against them the strongest indignation.
Soldiers and people! In regard to the times past, as you were forced by
these Tartars to be thus submissive, it would be hard to charge you with deep
criminality. Then, moreover, our True Holy Sovereign not having appeared, there
was no one to whom you could turn and on whom you could depend. There
was no escape for you, for you could not free yourselves from these monsters nor
undertake a revolution. You were like those in thick darkness who cannot see
the sun in the heavens. Groping in that darkness, therefore, while waiting for
the light of heaven, it were hardly possible to avoid the wrong way.
Now, however, the case is altered; the three times seventy annual revolutions
of these monsters have announced their end, and the True Man of happy destiny
has made his advent; and reverently do we contemplate the heavenly grace of
the Heavenly Father and the Heavenly Elder Brother, so largely displayed in
their personally commanding the True Holy Lord, the Heavenly Lord, to come
down and rule the world with royal authority, transforming the rude barbarian
by the highly refined, destroying the depraved, and preserving the upright,
resolved to sweep away the Tartar dust, and to define and settle the boundaries of
our domains. This, therefore, is truly a most happy conjuncture, such as sel-
dom occurred in olden times, when you ought to acquire imperishable honors.
At once, therefore, let all the wise and heroic, with upward gaze, approach the
Sun, and yield themselves up to his glorious influences, evincing a profound
knowledge of the principles which characterize the rebellious and the loyal, and
thus acquire the singular merit of adoring Heaven and honoring the king.
Although you may even now be acting as Tartar officers and Tartar soldiers,
you are all really the children of the Heavenly Father; and yet having been
nnre made subservient to them, though unintentionally, you now cannot but b»
NCBItAS VOL. II. NO. I. XV


RECORD OF OCCURRENCES.
115
air and feeding on the wind, you are thus called to endure all possible hardships;
and ere an opportunity is afforded yon to secure any honors, you iUI by the edge
of the sword in battle. This truly Is most lamentable.
Moreover, not a few of you, both in the regular army and in the militia, have
sought your present places in order to escape the punishments to which yon
became liable on account of inadvertent acts committed in your native villages;
and you must needs know that yon are there detested as venomous serpents, and
also that the Tartars have many methods by which to annoy and harass yon. If
then you should chance to return to your native villages many of the inhabi-
tants would seek to barm you, and if they did not bury yon alive, they would
cast you living into an abyss. Many Instances of this sort were seen by the
major-general when on his way from Canton in the eight provinces through
which he travelled.
Some of you also, though unable to gain the highest honors, may stfll have
teen considerably advanced in rank, and yet never able to return home with these
lesser honors. Hence, as the old proverb says, "The rich and honorable, who
can never revisit their homes, are like those walking abroad in the dark night
clothed in rich attire." And so it is with you; while you remain abroad, in the
army, death not life is your portion; and if you chance to return home, still life
becomes death to you. There is for yon no place of repose except in death.
To ponder on these things in the midnight hour is grievous and painful in the
extreme. All these, however, are the wrongs and the miseries to which yon
have been subjected by the Tartars. And now, having once reached this pass,
what have yon of good in possession or in prospect? Can you, will yon, any
longer quietly and patiently endure these things? And yet all these are but
a small part of what you, soldiers snd militiamen, have had to endure.
As regards the cruelties and deadly injuries that have been Inflicted on our
people,—why, were all the bamboos on the southern hDls converted into pencils,
they would not suffice to describe the sins of these monsters, nor would all the
waves of the eastern ocean be enough to wash away their wicked stains.
Such now being the evils that have been Inflicted on the Chinese, by these
Tartars, we, all the people of the Middle Kingdom, are their eternal enemies;
and ought, therefore, moved with righteous indignation, to exterminate the va)e
barbarians, reclaim our ancient domains, and not leave behind even a remnant
of the guilty race. This Is required of us by the Just distinctions of good and evB
and the perfect principles of Heavenly Reason.
Why then any longer, with shame and infamy, continue to he their slaves
and menials? Why oppose our Heavenly Dynasty? Why not at once give SB
your adhesion? To act as you now do, is to forsake the broad highway, and,
abandoning your homes, to become outcasts. Alas! bow detestable, and yet
how pitiful!
Ton yourselves, moreover, all know full well the exceeding greatness of our
Heavenly Dynasty, affectionately cherishing all alike, making no distinction
between the brethren whether new or old, all being treated as one body. Those
whose merits are large, will be largely rewarded; and those whose' merits are
small, will obtain smaller rewards.
In the superior classes of society there will be the kings, the dukes, civil and
military officers, Ac, Ac; in the inferior classes, there will be the soldiers,
scholars, females and children,—all to be provided with food and clothing)—that
they may dwell in peace and quiet.
Those who have families shall live together in happiness; those who have not,
may wed as they And It agreeable; and those who are in the army, shall not be
without the delights of domestic life. Even though yon be In remote parts of
the empire, and there fall on the battle-field, the separation from the living is
only that between those in heaven and those on earth.
And yet still more, ail those who shall have assisted the True Sovereign shall
be placed in honorable stations, and their glory long enjoyed in this present age,
and in future ages on scrolls snd tablets be perpetuated for thousands of cen-
turies. What honors can be more lasting .than these?


116
RECORD OF OCCURRENCES.
Besides all this, universal peace throughout the empire is in full prospect, and
in four or five years, you will be honored as the ministers of the new dynasty;
lands will then be appointed to you, and in robes of honor you will be able to
revisit your homes. Fail not therefore, in view of such honors and emoluments,
to quit yourselves like men. Ponder well the course you take, and quickly
revolve and settle your plan of action!
The grace and favor of our Heavenly Court are very great; the past shall not
be investigated. If truly you can repent and come back, your abilities and ca-
pacities for the public service shall be placed on record. Do not, because of your
having been in the service of the Tartars as officers and soldiers, be so filled with
suspicion and fear that you cannot advance to our summons. Rather change at
once your course, quickly abandon your bad ways, so that you may secure eter-
nal happiness. This is our most earnest desire.
If still, as the fatal hour approaches, you cannot awake, but willingly continue
to be the slaves of the Tartar monsters, soon and suddenly our troops will make
their victorious onset. Then there will be no escape from destruction; even
repentance for you will be too late!
We, the major-general and his associates, being deeply concerned for our
common country, now so grievously afflicted by these monsters, do most earn-
estly press on you these our injunctions. Though you heed not our words, we
cannot but be thus earnest. What shall be your gain, and what your loss, we
beg you to consider well for yourselves; and whom you will forsake and whom
you will follow, it now remains with you to decide.
Hasten to improve this timely warning. Delay not till destruction overtakes
you. Then happily our intense desire to awake you, by these reiterated injunc-
tions, will not have been in vain.
To you all, the multitudes of the people, this proclamation is now made. Let
all listen attentively and understand!
This proclamation is probably the fairest index that can, at this
moment, be given of the general policy and designs of the Insur-
gent kings. Several similar papers, during the last ten years,
have been put forth by them at the various stages of their pro-
gress. Some of these were early translated, and published in the
public journals of the day, here and at Hongkong.
On comparing those earlier proclamations with this one, con-
siderable modifications would seem to have been made, introduced
no doubt in part, if not mainly, by Kan wang, or King Kan. To
him, therefore, the hopes of the Insurgent body, and the eyes of
all Christendom as well, are naturally enough now directed. For-
tunately his character and training are not wholly unknown to us.
He and the chief are relatives, descendents in the thirtieth
generation of an illustrious family of the Sung dynasty. Some
centuries back this family or chin, called Hung, removed from
one of the northern provinces to that of Canton, where ten years
ago it numbered about twenty thousand individuals. Like his
relative, Hung Jin was a student from his youth; and in 1843,
in company with one afterwards known as the Southern king,
he was baptized by Hung Siutsiuen. These three men, with
a few others, continued to labor together as zealous and humble


RECORD OF OCCURRENCES.
l5}3
was immediately opened, and with deadly effect. In the course
of the afternoon, Mr. Hills, with the Rev. Mr. and Mrs. Farnham,
all American missionaries, passed down quite through the eastern
suburbs, where, at various points, on their way, they saw small
companies of the rebels, but were in no way molested by them.
All that night and the next day, as no one knew with what
numbers the settlement and the city would be invested, the sense
of insecurity did not in the least abate. Consequently troops
were ordered up from Ghusan, and requisitions sent to Hong-
kong and to the north for reinforcements. The military com-
manders also, in order to be prepared for the worst, ordered the
ground near the walls, at the west, south and east gates, to be
cleared. The burning of the houses began at once, on Saturday
night; and, in the eastern suburbs, the conflagration did not
reuse till the following Friday.
Early on Monday morning, these visitors, who still maintained
their friendly bearing towards all foreigners, were seen advancing
in considerable strength from the west, and deploying, appeared
as if about to give battle. This was soon after nine o'clock. On
the part of the foreigners, every man was instantly at his post,
ready for action; and every available gun was brought to bear
upon the rebels, as directly as possible, from the Grand Stand,
and along the whole west line of posts, and also from the steamers
on the river. The firing was all, or nearly all, on one side.
To these men, so accustomed to victory during the last ten
years, and now for the first time brought, in the open field, to
meet Christian warriors face to face, this was a new mode of ac-
tion. If any credence can be given to the apparently honest
testimony of some of their camp followers, who were left behind,
the terror among them was awful. They had boldly taken up
their stand, as they supposed, at a safe distance, secure from all
harm, and there in thick array planted their flags. They stood
at first like statues; but when shell after shell came, from whence
they could hardly tell, and in some few cases destroying instan-
taneously a score or more of their number, the effects were all
that could have been imagined. Poor men—they could not long
hesitate; reluctantly, but steadily they furled their bright ban-
ners, marched slowly back, and so finally disappeared.
What losses they may have sustained we have no means of
ascertaining; their killed and wounded could hardly have been
less than two hundred; it may have been twice that number.


124
RECORD OF OCCURRENCES.
The only foreigner killed, so far as we have heard, was a Jesuit
missionary, Louis Massa; this occurred, as reported to us by the
French Consul, on Friday the 17th of August, near the Orphan
Hospital in Tsa-ka-wei, some miles distant from Shanghai. The
particulars of the fetal incident we have not been able to ascertain.
The three following Notes, borrowed by us from the North-
China Herald, August 25th, must close this part of our Record.
The first with a similar one from the French was delivered to the
Rebels on Wednesday the 22nd; and the second was received the
next day. The date of the third corresponds to Aug. 21st.
No. 1.
Shanghai, 18th Jugnit, I860.
Notification from the Military and Naval Commanders of H. B. H. Forces
at Shanghai.
Repona having reached ua of an armed force having been collected in the
neighborhood of Shanghai, we the Commanders of the Military and Naval
Forces of Her Britannic Majesty at Shanghai hereby give notice, that the city
of Shanghai and foreign settlement are militarily occupied by the forces of
H. B. Majesty and her Ally the Emperor of the French, and they warn all
persons that if armed bodies of men attack or approach the positions held by
them, they wilt be considered as commencing hostilities against the Allied
Forces, and will be dealt with accordingly.
To the Officers in command of the forces in possession of Soochow and other
places.
No. 2.
Lb, Imperial Commissioner of the Sovereign reigning in virtue of the True
decree of Heaven, &c, &c, &c, hereby i»sues a notification.
Whereas the appointed period of the Tsing (Manchoo) dynasty having ex-
pired, the True Sacred Lord was sent into the world to save it. And I, having
been honored with his commands to perform the work of Heaven by punishing
the crimes (of the rejected dynasty), have, from the time I r»sa in the cause of
right in Kwang-se, never fought a battle without couqnering, and never at-
tacked a city without taking it.
A abort time back, on our armies occupying Soochow, your countries once
and again pressed us to cnme to Shanghai, to discuss personally the various
matters connected with foreign trade. Hence it was that after retaking Sung-
keang, I came hither, not to eoek a quarrel, and to fight with foreign nations,
but to offer them a treaty of open commerce. And now perusing the commu-
nication of your countries, I am in the higheat degree surprised at the extrava-
gant perversity of Its language.
I would submit to you that I, under the loyal prince, have the general
command of a large body of officers, and of an innumerable army, and could
have no difficulty in causing the instantaneous destruction of rn insignificantly
small city sucli as Shanghai. When I, therefore, came to the place and stationed
my troops motionless before ft, it was really in a spirit of pure regard and of
consideration for our common faith. Had 1 at once ordered a hostile advance,
the members of the same house would have been turning against each other,
and we could not have failed to incur the ridicule of the Tsing dynasty.
With the Tsing dynasty, your nations have now a quarrel: you cannot have
forgotten the battle at Tefn-Uln. But our state, in at present csrrying on a
war, has no other object than to regain our own country; we are at enmity
with the Tsing dynstty, but with foreign nations we have no quarrel.
Your countries attach much importai.ee to open commerce and trade. Now
the advantages to be obtainod from us would be greater than those given by


RECORD OK OCCURRENCES.
125
the Tsing dyn*sty, for ofler the establishment of peaceful relations with us,
unrestricted commerce might be carried on at all place* without exception.
But tho wild and fallacious nature of the communication which has reached
us is such as renders it quite inexplicable. I must conclude that there is no
consideration for the feeling that should make us of one mind, in virtue of our
common religion, and that t!'ore is, it may be. an intention of seeking a quarrel.
For these reasons, I hereby issue a notification for the common information
of the foreign nations (at Shanghai). If you desire to carry on open com-
merce in accordance with an agreement, you can at once come and consult on
tho terms of an agreement. If however, it is your wish to make difficulties
and to engage in hostilities, then my troops move as a flood, my commands
go forth unchangeable as the hills; and we can only await the time when vic-
tory and defeat declare themselves. I trust that you will not briug sorrow on
yourselves.
An earnest notification. The 14th day of the 7th month of the 10th year
of the Heavenly Kingdom of Tae-ping.
No. 3.
Lit, the Loyal Prince of the Heavenly Dynasty, Arc, &'c, tic, addresses this
communication to you, the honorable Consuls of Great liritain, United States
of America, Portugal, and other countries.
That good faith must be kept is the principle which guides our Dynasty in
its friendly relations with other peoples; but deceitful forgetfulness of previous
arrangements is the real cause of foreign nations having committed a wrong.
When my army reached Soochow, Frenchmen, accompanied by the people of
other nations, came there to trade. They personally called upon me, aud in-
vited me to come to Shanghae, to consult respecting friendly relations between
us in future. Knowing that your nations worship like us, God the Heavenly
Father, and Jesus the Heavenly Elder Brother, and are therefore of one religion
and of one origin with us, I placed entire and umloubting confidence in their
words and consequently came to meet you at Shangliae.
It never occurred to my mind that the French, allowing themselves to be
deluded by the imps (the Chinese imperial authorities), would break their word
and turn their backs upon the arrangement made. Not only, however, did they
not come on my arrival to meet and consult with me, but they entered into an
agreement with the imps to protect the city of Shanghae against us, by which
they violated their original agreement. Such proceedings are contrary to the
principlea of justice.
Now supposing that the French take under their protection the city of Shang-
hae aud a few le (a mile or two) around it, how will they be able, within that
small space, to sell their merchandize and to carry on conveniently their mer-
cantile transactions?
I have also learnt that the French have received no small amount of money
from the imps of Hien-fung, (the Manchu Emperor,) which they have without
doubt shared amongst the other nations. If you, other nations, had not received
the money of the imps, why did several of your people also appear with the
French, when they came to Soochow and invited me to Shanghae to confer to-
gether? It is clear as daylight that your people also appeared at Soochow, and
urgently requeattd me to come to Shanghae. Their words still ring in my ears;
it is impossible that the affair should be forgotten.
My army having reached this place, if the French alone had broken their
engagements, coveted the money of the imps, and protected their city, how waa
it that not one man of your nations came to consult personally with me? You
must have also taken money from the impa of Uien-fung, and divided it
amongst you. Seeing again you committed a wrong, without taking into con-
sideration that you would have to go to other places than Shanghae to carry on
commercial business, you do not apparently know that the imps of Hien-fung,
seeing that you nations are of the same religion and family as the Heavenly
Dynasty, used money to establish a connection; this is employing others to kill,
and using schemes to cause separation.