EXTENSIVE VIEW OE THE CENTRAL, FLOWERY NATION. 
 
 
 % 
 
 MISCELLANEOUS 
 
 REMARKS 
 
 UPON THE 
 
 GOVERNMENT, HISTORY, RELIGIONS, LITER- 
 ATURE, AGRICULTURE, ARTS, TRADES, 
 MANNERS, AND CUSTOMS OF THE 
 
 CHINESE: 
 
 AS SUGGESTED BY AN 
 
 EXAMINATION OF THE ARTICLES 
 
 COMPRISING TEE 
 
 CHINESE 
 
 mm 
 
 V 
 
 MARLBORO' CHAPEL, 
 BOSTON, 
 
 BY JOHN R. PETERS, JR. 
 
 BOSTON: 
 1845. 
 
 EASTBURN'S PRESS 
 
 it 
 
 i 
 
Entered according to the Act of Congress, in the year 1845, by 
 
 John R. Peters, Jr., 
 
 (For the Proprietors of the Chinese Museum,) in the Clerk's Office of the 
 
 District Court of Massachusetts. 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 Within a few years past, attention has been particu- 
 larly directed towards China, by her war with En- 
 gland, and since the conclusion of that war, the United 
 States and other nations have hastened to make treat- 
 ies with the Celestial Empire, by which, to put them- 
 selves on a footing with the most favored. The zeal 
 and enterprise of individuals have also been awakened. 
 Christian communities are adding to the number of 
 their Missionaries among this nation of idolaters, and 
 merchants are flocking to the shores of China in pur- 
 suit of gain. Many excellent works have been written 
 on China, but in this reading age, books, periodicals 
 and newspapers have become so multiplied, that sight, 
 as well as description is necessary to make a lasting 
 impression upon the mind. As information is now 
 eagerly sought after, concerning China and its hundreds 
 of millions of inhabitants, this collection and the accom- 
 panying work have been made to furnish it. The col- 
 lection was formed without reference to labor or ex- 
 pense, and with the aid of Chinese, and of the Ameri- 
 can Missionaries, who have resided a long time in the 
 country, and who are well acquainted with the lan- 
 guage, manners and customs of this curious people. 
 
In collecting the materials for this book, the best works 
 on the subject have been consulted, and in most in- 
 stances the information derived from them is presented 
 in a condensed form. Among the works used, may be 
 mentioned the Chinese Repository, Dr. Bridgman's 
 Chrestomathy, and the works of Medhurst, Davis, Bar- 
 row, Staunton, Timkowski, Kidd, and Gutzlaff, as the 
 principal ones to which this work is indebted. 
 
 JOHN R. PETERS, Jr. 
 * August 15, 1845. 
 
GENERAL VIEW 
 
 ENTRANCE AND INTERIOR OF THE MUSEUM. 
 
 The entrance to the Chinese Museum, as fitted up 
 in the large hall in the Marlboro' Chapel, is made to 
 represent the entrance to a Chinese Jos house or tem- 
 ple. Across the whole front, above the door-way, 
 extends a beautiful carved, lacquered and gilt cornice, 
 called by the Chinese, " Um-Yum." Beneath this, in 
 the centre, is suspended the "Tsoi-moon" or "Lucky 
 door," a fanciful shaped frame divided in panels, richly 
 carved and finished with gold and lacquer. On either 
 side of the "Tsoi-moon" is suspended an enormous 
 lantern covered with paintings of the Chinese dragon. 
 Over the door is an inscription in large, golden charac- 
 ters, reading from right to left, as follows: " Choong- 
 wa-tie-Koon," or in English, " An extensive view of 
 the central flowery nation." On the sides of the door 
 are suspended two tablets with the following characters 
 upon them, reading downwards and beginning with the 
 one on the right, viz : " Een-tsze-chaow-shy-hum-wy- 
 gni." " Mow-tsze-eeu-yon-she-maw-laaung." A Chi- 
 nese aphorism. A free translation of which is, "Words 
 may deceive, but the eye cannot play the rogue." 
 
 By turning to the left in ascending the stairway, the 
 visitor will find the cases numbered around the room in 
 regular order as in the catalogue, the small cases being 
 numbered last. 
 
As much of this large collection as the hall, which is 
 one hundred feet long by seventy feet wide, will accom- 
 modate, has been arranged. The two sides, the extreme 
 end and the middle, are occupied by large cases, which, 
 with the exception of one, contains groups of figures of 
 the full size of life, likenesses of individual Chinese, 
 dressed in the costumes appropriate to the situations 
 and employments in which they are represented. Two 
 of the cases are facsimilies of occupied rooms, com- 
 pletely, but differently furnished, in the houses of a 
 wealthy person. Another case is a complete represent- 
 ation of a Chinese store with the merchant, his assist- 
 ants, a purchaser, &c. 
 
 Between the large middle and side cases, many 
 smaller ones are arranged, containing models of houses, 
 bridges, vessels, &c, and others containing an immense 
 number of specimens of Chinese arts and manufacture, 
 articles esteemed curiosities by the Chinese themselves, 
 beautiful specimens of their curious and wonderful art 
 of carving in ivory, sandal wood, tortoise shell, stone, 
 &c. Also many articles of food peculiar to them, as 
 birds' nests, sea slugs, sharks' fins and others. 
 
 The end of the room at the entrance is covered with 
 a large and beautiful collection of Chinese paintings in 
 oil and water colors, consisting of landscapes, portraits 
 of Mandarins, and Hong merchants, views of the differ- 
 ent processes of manufacturing porcelain, silk and cot- 
 ton, raising and curing tea and rice, and a great variety 
 of others. 
 
 The ceiling is covered with a great number of lan- 
 terns suspended from it, many of them of beautiful 
 construction and materials, and others, the forms of 
 which could hardly originate in any other than the dis- 
 torted fancy of a Chinese. 
 
 The Museum is exclusively Chinese, collected from 
 all parts of the Empire, and with the aid of this work, 
 
will give the visitor a better knowledge of this curious 
 people than can be acquired by reading the most faith- 
 ful descriptions alone, or even by a transient visit to 
 China. 
 
 There is only one other Museum of this kind in the 
 world ; which is that brought from China, by the late 
 Mr. Dunn, of Philadelphia, who resided in the " Ce- 
 lestial Empire" for a number of years. His Museum 
 was opened in Philadelphia in ] 839, exhibited for a few 
 months and then removed to London, where it no% 
 remains. 
 
 To make the Museum still more attractive there are 
 two Chinese attached to it, one of whom " T'sow- 
 Chaoong," speaks English, and is ready to give visitors 
 any information in his power. The other named " Le- 
 Kaw-hing," or Professor " Kaw-hing" was a teacher of 
 music in his native land, but having acquired the habit 
 of smoking opium and not being able to give it up 
 while there, left his country for that purpose and has 
 succeeded in his undertaking. He will occasionally 
 favor visitors with a Chinese song, accompanying him- 
 self on some of his original and curious instruments. 
 
CASE I. 
 
 ; No. 1. The Emperor Taou Kwang, (reason's glory.) 
 
 2. Mandarin of the first rank. 
 
 3. Mandarin of the second rank. 
 
 4. Mandarin of the third rank. 
 
 5. Mandarin of the fourth rank. 
 
 6. Military Mandarin of the fifth rank. 
 
 7. Military Mandarin of the sixth rank. 
 Mctgnificent embroidered satin screen suspended 
 
 on the wall. 
 View of the great wall of China through the door- 
 way on the right. 
 View on the left of part of one of the ancient Im- 
 perial palaces on the island of Tseaou-shan in 
 the Yang-tsz-Keang near Nanking. 
 On the top of this case is one of a pair of hideous look- 
 ing figures such as stand at the door-ways of Chinese 
 temples, to guard the entrance. The China ware drag- 
 ons are such as ornament the corners and other parts of 
 the roofs of sacred edifices. 
 
 This case contains a figure of the Emperor, six Man- 
 darins of the highest grades, and a beautiful embroid- 
 ered red satin screen. 
 
 The figures are clothed in the splendidly embroidered 
 satin state dresses worn only at court or upon the most 
 solemn occasions. 
 
 In the head of His Imperial Majesty we have an ad- 
 mirable likeness of His High Commissioner Keying, 
 who is said to bear a strong resemblance to him, and 
 has had the honor to negotiate all the late treaties made 
 by the Celestial Empire with foreign nations. 
 
 The " Son of Heaven," or " Ten thousand years," 
 
10 CHINESE MUSEUM CASE I. 
 
 as his titles read, clothed in the richest embroidered Im- 
 perial yellow, which his subjects may not wear, and 
 seated in the dragon chair of state, upon which a lib- 
 eral number of heads of this fabulous animal stand con- 
 spicuous, has just affixed the vermillion pencil ratifying 
 the treaty between China and the United States, pre- 
 sented by one of his counsellors. 
 
 The four Mandarins standing in front with their 
 heads respectfully covered according to Chinese eti- 
 quette, which is the opposite to ours in many respects, 
 are of the four highest grades in the empire ; this is 
 also the number of the chief officers of the Imperial 
 Council, two of whom are Tartars and two Chinese, 
 who serve as a communication between the Emperor 
 and the different boards of civil office, revenue, rites, 
 war, &c, having charge of the affairs of the Empire. 
 
 The Military Mandarins standing a little in the rear 
 of His Majesty, as body guards, are of the fifth and 
 sixth grades. 
 
 Each figure in this case has a string of court beads 
 about the neck, part of which consists of a single string 
 running a short way down the back and terminating in 
 an ornament made of some precious stone set in gold. 
 Peacocks' feathers, which are also badges of rank, are 
 fastened to the knobs of their caps and hang down be- 
 hind, and the usual accompaniments of rank and 
 wealth are seen at their sides, consisting of embroider- 
 ed fan cases and small bags for containing areca nut 
 and tobacco. A great part of the embroidery upon the 
 dresses of most of the figures in this case is concealed 
 by the " Makwa" "riding coat," or upper garment. 
 
 The splendid sereen suspended at the back of this 
 case, together with that in No. 2, are supposed to have 
 been taken at the north during the war with Great 
 Britain, and were presents to two aged persons from 
 the officers of the districts in which they resided. They 
 
CHINESE MUSEUM CASE I. 11 
 
 are made of beautiful materials, and the elegant writing 
 and rich embroidery upon them, done in gold thread 
 and floss silk, show that no labor or expense were spar- 
 ed in making them every way worthy of the donors and 
 those they intended to honor. A translation of one of 
 them has been deemed sufficient, and will be found in 
 the description of figures, &c. in No. 2. 
 
 The Chinese divide their civil and military officers 
 into nine ranks, distinguishable by balls or knobs, upon 
 the apex of their conical caps, of different colors and 
 substances, and square pieces of embroidery upon the 
 breasts and backs of their dresses, representing a bird 
 for a civil and a beast for a military officer. The in- 
 dication of the first rank is a ball or knob of red pre- 
 cious stone, the second red coral, the third blue, the 
 fourth dark blue or purple, the fifth chrystal, the sixth 
 opaque white, and the seventh, eighth and ninth, by 
 gold or gilt ones, distinguished by being flowered or 
 plain. Nobility in China is only hereditary in the fam- 
 ily and connexions of the Emperor, and extends to all 
 his relations descended from the same ancestors; all 
 those of his mother and grandmother within four de- 
 grees ; and lastly all those of the consort of the crown 
 prince within two degrees. These are styled princes, 
 are of different degrees of rank, distinguished by the 
 colors of their girdles, are obliged to reside within the 
 precincts of the Imperial city, and receive pensions 
 from the Emperor for their support. They appear to 
 possess little or no influence, and are not treated with 
 much respect by the official nobility, who consist of 
 those possessing the first rank in the Empire, those of 
 the second who are employed in any official capacity, 
 and those of the third, whose office confers any civil or 
 military command. The five titles are kung, how, pih, 
 tsze, and nan, which are equivalent to duke, count, 
 baron, baronet, and knight. The two last are of infe- 
 
12 CHINESE MUSEUM CASE I. 
 
 rior consequence, while the first three take precedence 
 of those standing in the first of the nine ranks without 
 these titles. 
 
 " The chief source of rank and consideration in China 
 is certainly cultivated talent ; and whatever may be the 
 character of the learning on which it is exercised, this 
 at least is a more legitimate as well as more beneficial 
 object of respect than the vulgar pretensions of wealth 
 and fashion, or the accidental one of mere birth." 
 
 " Wealth alone though it has of course some neces- 
 sary influence, is looked upon with less respect com- 
 paratively, than perhaps in any other country. The 
 choice of official persons, who form the real aristocracy 
 of the country, is guided, with a very few exceptions, 
 by the possession of educated talent ; and the country 
 is therefore as ably ruled as it could be under the cir- 
 cumstances." 
 
 " All real rank of consequence being determined by 
 talent, the test of this is afforded at the public examina- 
 tions. These are open to the poorest persons ; and 
 only some classes, as menial servants, comedians, and 
 the lowest agents of the police, are excluded. The 
 literary degrees to be acquired are four, viz : "sew- 
 tsae" talent flowering, " keu-jin" elevated persons, 
 "tsin-tse" advanced scholars, and "han-lin" ascended 
 to the top of the trees. The examinations for the first 
 two degrees are held in the districts and principal cities 
 of the provinces, and the third and fourth triennially in 
 the capital, the latter being in the presence of the Em- 
 peror himself. To pass the examinations it is not ne- 
 cessary for the candidates to explore the realms of na- 
 ture. Geography, astronomy, chemistry, anatomy, and 
 mechanics are little known, and the celestials are still 
 ignorant of the laws of electricity, galvanism, and mag- 
 netism, the theories of light, heat, and sound, the use 
 of gas for illumination and the giant powers of steam. 
 
CHINESE MUSEUM CASE I. 13 
 
 The highest excellence consists in closely imitating the 
 ancients who are their paragons of excellence, and to 
 attempt to surpass them in virtue or intelligence would 
 be the height of presumption. The sacred four books 
 and five classics, compiled by the Chinese sage, Con- 
 fucius, and his disciples ages ago, are the text-books 
 of the student of the present day. A perfect knowledge 
 of these with the authorized commentaries upon them, 
 with a thorough acquaintance with the history of China 
 from the earliest antiquity is what is required of them. 
 The chief excellency of their essays for examination 
 consists in introducing as many quotations as possible, 
 and the farther they go back, for recondite and unusual 
 expressions, the better ; but they are deprived of every 
 scrap of writing, and are expected to carry their library, 
 to use their own phrases, in their stomachs, that they may 
 bring forth their literary stores as occasion requires." 
 
 " This knowledge can only be acquired by great ap- 
 plication and perseverance. The first five or six years 
 at school are spent in committing the canonical books 
 to memory ; another six years are required to supply 
 them with phrases for a good style ; and an additional 
 number of years, spent in incessant toil, are needed to 
 insure success. Long before the break of day, the 
 Chinese student may be heard chaunting the sacred 
 books ; and till late at night the same task is continued. 
 They tell of one, who, fearing the task assigned him 
 was too hard, gave up his books in despair ; and was 
 returning to a manual employment, when he saw an 
 old woman rubbing a crowbar on a stone; on asking 
 her the reason, she replied that she was in want of a 
 needle, and thought that she would rub down the crow- 
 bar till she got it small enough. The patience of the 
 aged female provoked him to make another attempt, 
 and he succeeded in attaining to the highest rank in 
 the empire." 
 
14 CHINESE MUSEUM CASE I. 
 
 "The stimulus given to energetic perseverance by 
 making the highest offices attainable by nearly all 
 classes, is immense, and the effect, in encouraging 
 learning, incalculable. All persons acquire some know- 
 ledge of letters; and learning, such as it is, is more 
 common in China, than in any other part of the world. 
 Six poor brethren will frequently agree to labor hard, 
 to support the seventh at his books; with the hope 
 that should he succeed, and acquire office, he may 
 throw a protecting influence over his family, and re- 
 ward them for their toil. Others persevere to the de- 
 cline of life, in the pursuit of literary fame ; and old 
 men of eighty, have been known to die, of sheer ex- 
 citement and exhaustion, in the examination halls. In 
 short, difficulties vanish before them, and they cheer 
 each other on, with verses like the following : — 
 
 '• Men have dug through mountains, to cut a channel for the sea;. 
 "And bare melted the very stones, to repair the southern skies; 
 "Under the whole heaven, there i.s nothing difficult, 
 "It is only that men's minds are not determined." 
 
 Out of about 10,000 candidates, who enter the lists 
 for the third degree, 300 only are selected, and become 
 immediately eligible to office. The first post to which 
 they are appointed, is the superintendency of a dis- 
 trict, and there is not a magistrate throughout the Em- 
 pire who has not attained the degree referred to. At 
 the fourth and last examination, which is very rigor- 
 ous, a small number are chosen from the 300 who at- 
 tain the third degree, to enter the Han-lin-yuen or Na- 
 tional Institute, the members of which are considered 
 the elite of the country and from amongst them the 
 highest officers of the state are generally selected. 
 
 Nominal rank and titles, with the privilege of wear- 
 ing the dress and distinctive badges of mandarins, may 
 be purchased, for large sums, at any time, the only ad- 
 vantages being the gratification of personal vanity and 
 
CHINESE MUSEUM CASE I. 15 
 
 exemption from summary infliction of the bamboo. 
 But offices are to be had at times, by making liberal 
 subscriptions to the wants of government. A son of 
 Howqua, (the richest of the Hong merchants, who died 
 a few months since) was created a Keujin, in 1831, 
 for subscribing 36,000 taels, (above 50,000 dollars) 
 to repair the dykes of a portion of Canton River, in- 
 jured by an inundation ; and another son, or his father 
 in his name, contributed 100,000 taels (about 140,000 
 dollars) towards the war in Tartary. This liberal do- 
 nation his majesty did him " the favor graciously to 
 accept" and conferred upon the son the rank and title 
 of " Director of the Salt Monopoly." 
 
 The practice of disposing of office is strongly repro- 
 bated by the Chinese, who justly consider the literary 
 institution the glory of their country. 
 
 The Emperor is distinguished from his officers, by 
 his yellow dress, upon which the imperial dragon is 
 wrought in gold, and a pearl of great value adorning 
 , his cap. He is called the father of his people and is 
 supreme ruler of the lives and fortunes of about four 
 hundred millions of the human family or more than 
 one third of the inhabitants of the globe. " He is held 
 to be the vicegerent of Heaven, especially chosen to 
 govern all nations ; and is supreme in everything, 
 holding at once the highest legislative and executive 
 powers, without limitation or control. He is, hence, 
 entitled Tien-tsze, the son of Heaven; and is clothed 
 with most of the prerogatives of Deity. From him em- 
 anate all power and authority ; the whole earth it is ig- 
 norantly supposed (and it is the policy of such as are 
 better informed to perpetuate the ignorant notion,) is 
 subject to his sway ; and from him as the fountain of 
 power, rank, honor, and privilege, all Kings derive 
 their sovereignty over the nations. It is in conformity 
 with these haughty pretensions, that China has ever re- 
 
16 CHINESE MUSEUM CASE I. 
 
 fused to negotiate with " outside barbarians," until 
 compelled to do so by force stronger than her own. 
 
 " The power of the sovereign is absolute, as that of 
 a father over his children; although, theoretically, he is 
 under the control of. the heavenly decrees (of which 
 however he is himself interpreter ;) and practically, is 
 in a great degree subject to the influence of public 
 opinion, of customs, and of the enactments of his im- 
 mediate ancestors and predecessors. As his will is 
 law, it would be idle to attempt a specific enumeration 
 of all the prerogatives that belong to him. A state- 
 ment of a kw of the peculiar rights maintained by the 
 crown must suffice. The Emperor is the head of all 
 religion, and is alone privileged to pay adoration to 
 Heaven (or the supreme ruler of the universe.) He is 
 the source of law and fountain of justice. There can 
 be no appeal from his judgment ; and the gift of mercy 
 belongs alone to him. No right can be held in oppo- 
 sition to his pleasure ; no claim can be maintained 
 against him ; no privilege can protect from his wrath, 
 if it be his will to set aside establishod rules and cus- 
 toms. He is the main spring of the administration ; 
 none can act but under his authority and commission. 
 All the forces and revenues of the Empire are his ; and 
 he does with them whatsoever he pleases. He has an 
 indisputed claim upon the services of all his people, 
 and in particular of all males between the ages of 16 
 and 60 ; but this is a claim which it is rarely attempted 
 to enforce. In a word the whole Empire is his prop- 
 erty." 
 
 " The right of succession to the throne is by custom, 
 hereditary in the male line ; but it is always in the 
 pow r er of the sovereign to nominate his successor, 
 either from among his own children, or from among 
 any other of his subjects. The successor is frequently 
 nominated during the father's life time, in which case 
 
CHINESE MUSEUM CASE I. 17 
 
 he possesses several exclusive privileges, as crown 
 prince. The duties to be observed by the sovereign, 
 are strictly understood to consist in attention to the 
 moral and political maxims of the ancient philosophers, 
 Confucius and Mencius, and their most celebrated dis- 
 ciples, as detailed in their far famed works, the Five 
 Classics, and the Four Books." 
 
 It would indeed be strange, if in a country of such 
 vast extent as China, abuses of power did not some- 
 time occur ; but a happy, contented, and industrious 
 population is a pretty sure indication that the govern- 
 ment is, on the whole, well administered, and procla- 
 mations like the following, show that the ' Son of 
 Heaven,' notwithstanding the immense power confer- 
 red upon him is careful of his reputation amongst his 
 children. 
 
 " On the 30th of April, 1819, a hurricane from the 
 south east, brought prodigious quantities of sand from 
 the sea coast to the capital. The whole air looked 
 like a thick yellow mass ; at the same time a cloud 
 covered the sun, so that Peking was suddenly involved 
 in darkness ; it was impossible to distinguish objects at 
 the distance of a few paces." 
 
 " The philosophy of the Chinese, founded upon their 
 classical books, teaches them that every phenomenon 
 is a presage by which Heaven announces that morals 
 are corrupted, and that the Emperor and his agents 
 must do their utmost to restore their purity. Kia-King 
 desiring to prove his repentance, and to calm the su- 
 perstitious fears of the Chinese people, published on the 
 1st May, 1819, the following ordinance. 
 
 " Yesterday, at three quarters past five o'clock in the 
 afternoon, a south-east wind suddenly arose. In a few 
 minutes the air and the inside of the houses were so 
 filled with sand, that it was impossible to distinguish 
 objects without the help of a candle. This event is 
 
18 CHINESE MUSEUM CASE I. 
 
 very extraordinary. Seized with terror at the bottom 
 of my heart, I passed the night without sleep, endeavor- 
 ing to divine the cause of the anger of Heaven. 
 
 "According to the signs laid down in the great 
 model, to discover perversity, a long continued wind 
 indicates infatuation. The cause comes from myself, 
 who have probably not been sufficiently vigilant in the 
 acts of my reign, and entrusted the affairs of the Em- 
 pire to unskilful hands. Perhaps the ignorance of 
 negligent Mandarins has hindered the complaints of the 
 nation from reaching the throne, and the results of a 
 vicious administration have not allowed me to remedy 
 the evils which afflict the people. 
 
 " Perhaps there are among the Mandarins of Peking 
 and other cities of China, wicked and unjust men, whose 
 bad conduct has not been known to me. It is the 
 duty of the officers who represent me, to share in my 
 fears caused by the anger of Heaven. Each of them 
 is obliged to acquaint me of everything that passes, not 
 out of self interest, but through zeal alone. If there 
 are faults in the administration, if it is necessary to in- 
 troduce ameliorations, or to make changes, it is for 
 them to point them out with minuteness and impartial- 
 ity. If any of my subjects suffer innocently, his com- 
 plaint should be laid before me, in order that I may do 
 him open justice. 
 
 "As for the Mandarins whose administration is inju- 
 rious to the welfare of the Empire, and who oppress the 
 people — who, having recourse to cunning and artifice, 
 execute one thing and neglect another — who, deviating 
 from the regular mode of business, act only according 
 to circumstances, — it is my will that a detailed report 
 be laid before me respecting the misdeeds of these 
 wicked men. Such representations will be the proof 
 of real zeal for the throne, and I shall derive from them- 
 all the advantages to the Empire winch are conformable 
 
CHINESE MUSEUM CASE I. 19 
 
 to the commands of Heaven. But if advantage should 
 be taken of this to serve private hatred or interest, and 
 to make false accusations through a spirit of revenge 
 and personal animosity, then on the contrary, white 
 becomes black, and truth is mixed with falsehood, and 
 the orders which I give not only become useless, but 
 increase the blindness of the wicked. In our days the 
 human heart is perverse and corrupted ; secret and 
 anonymous accusations are made against honest men, 
 and often cause their ruin, which is sufficient to draw 
 down the anger of Heaven. The wind came from the 
 south-cast ; it must therefore be supposed that rebels 
 unknown to the government are towards the south-east, 
 and that their impunity is the cause of the derangement 
 of the Celestial harmony. 
 
 "Full of terror and alarm I think only of examining 
 myself, and endeavoring to amend. I sincerely inquire 
 into every thing. The superior and inferior Mandarins 
 of Peking, as well as those out of the capital, are bound 
 to turn their attention to their own faults, to endeavor 
 with their whole hearts, and with their whole strength, 
 to fulfil the duties of the offices entrusted to them. By 
 seconding my intentions they will succeed in strength- 
 ening their own virtue, and in preserving the nation in 
 future from the evils which are predicted." 
 
 The present Mantchou Tartar dynasty, who style 
 themselves Ta Tsing (great pure,) ascended the throne 
 in 1644, 200 years ago. The reigning Emperor, Taou 
 Kwang, succeeded his father in 1821, and is now sixty 
 four years old. 
 
 The Great Wall of China was constructed by Chi- 
 hwang-te, of the Tsin dynasty, the first universal mon- 
 arch of China, about two hundred years before the 
 commencement of the Christian era, to keep the Tar- 
 tar hordes from invading his Empire. 
 
 It extends from the Gulf of Pechele in a westerly 
 
20 CHINESE MUSEUM CASE I. 
 
 direction, a distance of more than fifteen hundred miles; 
 descending into the deepest valleys, and ascending the 
 highest mountains, one of which is 5,000 feet above the 
 level of the sea. 
 
 At important passes the wall is doubled — it varies in 
 height according to the nature of the ground. At the 
 point where Lord Macartney passed it, the wall, as ex- 
 amined by Capt. Parish, was found to be a mass of 
 earth supported on each side by walls of large brick, 
 with a stone foundation, and terraced with a platform 
 of square brick. 
 
 The total height of the wall, including the parapet of 
 five feet, was 20 feet — the thickness at the base was 25 
 feet, diminishing to 15 feet at the platform. It is flank- 
 ed with massive towers or bastions, about 100 yards 
 apart, which are forty feet square at the base, diminish- 
 ing to 30 feet at the top. 
 
 In building this immense work, the greatest probably 
 ever produced by human labor, and surpassing the sum 
 total of all other works of the kind now in existence, 
 every third man of the Empire was required to work on 
 it, by which means it was completed in five years. 
 
 So heavy a tax upon the industry of the people, and 
 the protection afforded by it against the Tartars, until 
 the time of Ghengis Kahn in the thirteenth century, 
 who then overthrew the Chinese Empire, have led the 
 Chinese to call it, " The ruin of one generation and 
 the salvation of thousands." 
 
 The other great work of China is the Imperial Canal, 
 which, like the great wall, stands unrivalled, in point of 
 extent and magnitude of undertaking, by any other 
 work of the kind in the world. Including the rivers in 
 its course, which are used as parts of it, it extends from 
 Ticn-tsing, near Peking, to Hang-tcheou-foo, a distance 
 of about 600 geographical miles, and is navigable for 
 the largest vessels ; thus rendering the internal com- 
 
CHINESE MUSEUM CASE I. 21 
 
 merce of the Empire almost wholly independent of coast 
 navigation. But this is not its only merit, as it renders 
 a vast tract of country, which would otherwise be an 
 irreclaimable swamp, capable of cultivation. It is 
 called by the Chinese, " Yun-ho," " The river for the 
 transportation of grain," and " Cha-ho," " The river of 
 flood gates." It was principally constructed by Koblai 
 Khan and his immediate successors, and is said to have 
 employed 30,000 workmen nearly fifty years. 
 
 A short distance from Nanking on the Yang-tsz- 
 Keang, rise the picturesque and precipitous rocky islets 
 called "The Three Hills of Kin-Kow" individually 
 called "Kin-shan," "Golden Island;" Pih-koo-shan, 
 and Tseaou-shan. On the latter is situated one of the 
 ancient Imperial Palaces. The island rises from the 
 river with considerable abruptness, and is enclosed by 
 mural cliffs which deny a landing except at the place 
 of debarkation, formed for the purpose of communicat- 
 ing with the Palace, temples, and other buildings upon 
 the rock. The " Yang-tsz-Keang" or "Child of the 
 Ocean," as this noble river is called, is one of the larg- 
 est rivers in the world, being second only to the Ama- 
 zon and Mississippi. 
 
22 CHINESE MUSEUM CASE II 
 
 CASE II. 
 
 No. 8. The Empress of China seated in a Dragon Chair. 
 9. Lady of a Mandarin of the first rank. 
 
 10. do. do. do. second rank. 
 
 11. do. do, do. third do. 
 
 12. do. do. do. fourth do. 
 
 13. Female Servant, with pipe. 
 
 Superbly embroidered satin Screen upon the wall. 
 
 Two Views; one of a Suite of Rooms in the Pal- 
 ace, and the other of part of the Grounds, at- 
 tached. 
 
 In this group, the Empress, the two ladies on her left, 
 and the servant, are Tartars. They, unlike the others, as 
 the observer will notice, are not adorned with ■ Kin- 
 leen, J or " the golden lilies," as the Chinese poetically call 
 the small feet, from the supposed resemblance of their 
 impressions to the leaves of their favorite lotus, or water 
 lily. This perfection of beauty is confined to the Chinese 
 alone ; the Emperor having had the good sense to pro- 
 hibit by a special edict, his own family, as well as all 
 Tartars from following the Chinese custom. The other 
 two ladies are Chinese; who are distinguished from the 
 Tartar ladies by a slight difference in dress, as well by 
 their small feet; the costume of the Tartar females 
 being very similar to the males, consisting of the same 
 cap and flowing robe, but distinguished by peculiar 
 shoes and the graceful sash, while the dress of Chinese 
 females contains another under dress, and sometimes 
 two, visible below the robe, which is not so long as 
 that worn by Tartars. The first article is a confined 
 
CHINESE MUSEUM CASE II. 23 
 
 looking garment, made of heavy plaits, and the second, 
 loose trovvsers, which hang down so as nearly to con- 
 ceal the " golden lilies." Their head dresses also dif- 
 fer some from that of the Tartars, as may be noticed. 
 But the costumes of both nations, " though amongst 
 the higher classes, as splendid as the most exquisite 
 silks and embroidery can make them, are always ex- 
 tremely modest; and what we choose to call dress, 
 they would regard as little short of absolute nudity, 
 and all close fitting to the form as only displaying what 
 it affects to conceal." 
 
 The Tartar maid, in this case, is about to present a 
 pipe to the Empress, for she and the rest of her sex in- 
 dulge in this luxury, as well as the men, the pipe being 
 used by both sexes upon all occasions. The dress of 
 the maid is the same in fashion as that of her more for- 
 tunate countrywomen, though of course not as splen- 
 did. 
 
 When a female is raised to the rank of Empress, the 
 Emperor announces the event to mother earth, to his 
 ancestors, and the ancient sages, and after many mi- 
 nute observances, she is invested with the high dignity 
 of the mother of the country. But notwithstanding 
 she is the consort of the "Son of Heaven," her sphere, 
 like that of the rest of her countrywomen, is very lim- 
 ited. The palace walls and gardens of the Harem are 
 the bounds of the world to her, as well as to the Empe- 
 ror's concubines, who arc said to be numerous, and the 
 principal part of her time is passed in trivial amuse- 
 ments within the "pepper chamber."* She is not 
 even allowed the gratification of setting the fashions 
 for her countrywomen; for the style of her own dress 
 
 * "According to the Kii Sz' King Lain," says Dr. Bridgman, "in the times 
 of the Hon dynasty, the walls of the Harem were plastered with pepper, from 
 the notion that its pungent properties would dispel or neutralize all noxious 
 vapors in the room. From this practice, the phrase is now used to denote the 
 apartments of the Empress in the palace." 
 
24 CHINESE MUSEUM CASE II. 
 
 is prescribed by the Board of Rites and Ceremonies at 
 Peking, who are the only setters of fashion in China, 
 regulating the dress of all those connected with the 
 government, and to depart materially from whose ordi- 
 nances would be a dangerous species of eccentricity. 
 
 Once a year, (about November) the Empress ac- 
 companied by her principal ladies, sacrifices at the 
 altar of the inventor of the silk manufacture. This ap- 
 pears to be the only state ceremonial, at which she of- 
 ficiates, and when it is concluded, a quantity of mul- 
 berry leaves are collected by herself and ladies, to 
 nourish the imperial depot of silk worms. The pro- 
 cesses of heating the cocoons in water, winding oft' the 
 filament, and some others are gone through with dur- 
 ing the ceremony, which is intended to encourage the 
 people in the cultivation of the mulberry and rearing 
 of silk worms for the production of silk, the principal 
 part of the manufacture of which devolves upon fe- 
 males. 
 
 It is only when the Empress becomes Empress 
 Mother, that much honor is paid her. Then the Em- 
 peror performs his daily obeisance before her accord- 
 ing to ancient custom and at certain periods of her 
 life, as at fifty, sixty, seventy, &c, particular honors 
 are paid her; especially at the age of sixty, which, 
 being the completion of an entire cycle, is regarded as 
 the greatest occasion. On the present Emperor's 
 mother attaining this age, his imperial majesty issued a 
 proclamation announcing to his people the great event 
 and the observances attendant upon it. It is a curious 
 document, and the translation as given in the Chinese 
 Repository, is as follows : 
 
 "The Emperor, who has received from Heaven, in 
 the revolving course of nature, his dominion, hereby 
 publishes a solemn ordinance. 
 
 " Our extensive dominions have enjoyed the utmost 
 
CHINESE MUSEUM CASE II. 25 
 
 prosperity, under the shelter of a glorious and enduring 
 state of felicity. Our exalted race has become most 
 illustrious, under the protection of that honored rela- 
 tive to whom the whole court looks up. To her hap- 
 piness already unalloyed, the highest degree of felicity 
 has been superadded, causing joy and gladness to ev- 
 ery inmate of the six palaces. The grand ceremonies 
 of the occasion shall exceed in splendor the utmost re- 
 quirements of the ancients in regard to the human re- 
 lations, calling forth the gratulation of the whole Em- 
 pire. It is indispensible that the observances of the oc- 
 casion should be of an exceedingly unusual nature, in 
 order that our reverence for our august parent and 
 care for her, may both be equally and gloriously dis- 
 played. 
 
 " Her majesty, the great Empress — benign and dig- 
 nified, universally beneficent, perfectly serene, exten- 
 sively benevolent, composed and placid, thoroughly 
 virtuous, tranquil and self-collected, in favors unbound- 
 ed, who in virtue is the equal of the exalted and expan- 
 sive heavens, and in goodness, of the vast and solid 
 earth — has, within her perfumed palaces, aided the 
 renovating endeavors (of his late majesty) rendering 
 the seasons ever harmonious, and in her maternal court 
 has afforded a bright rule of government, thoroughly 
 disinterested. She has planted for herself a glorious 
 name in all the palace, which she will leave to her 
 descendants ; and has imparted her substantial favors 
 to the Empire, making her tender affection universally 
 conspicuous. Hence genial influences abide within 
 the palace of ' ever-during delight,' and joy and gratu- 
 lation meet together in the halls of 'everlasting spring.' 
 
 " In the first month of the present winter occurs the 
 sixtieth anniversary of her majesty's sacred natal day. 
 At the opening of the happy period, the sun and moon 
 shed their united genial influences on it. When com- 
 
26 CHINESE MUSEUM CASE II. 
 
 mencing anew the sexagenary cycle, the honor thereof 
 adds increase to her felicity. Looking upwards, and 
 beholding her glory, we repeat our gratulation, and 
 announce the event to Heaven, to earth, to our ances- 
 tors, and to the patron gods of the Empire. On the 
 nineteenth day of the tenth moon, in the fifteenth year 
 of Taou Kvvang, we will conduct the princes, the nobles, 
 and all the high officers, both civil and military, into the 
 presence of the great Empress, benign and dignified, 
 universally beneficent, perfectly serene, extensively be- 
 nevolent, composed and placid, thoroughly virtuous, 
 tranquil and self-collected, in favors unbounded ; and 
 we will then present our congratulations on the glad 
 occasion, the anniversary of her natal day. The occa- 
 sion yields a happiness equal to what is enjoyed by 
 goddesses in Heaven; and while announcing it to the 
 gods, and to our people, we will tender to her blessings 
 unbounded. It is the happy recommencement of the 
 glorious revolution of the cycle, the felicity whereof shall 
 continue long as the reign of reason. 
 
 "At the observance of this solemn occasion, exceed- 
 ingly great and special favors shall be shown ; the par- 
 ticulars of which and of the ceremonies to be observed 
 are hereinafter enumerated. 
 
 " First. To the tombs of the successive Emperors 
 and Kings, to the temple of the first great teacher, Con- 
 fucius, to the five lofty mountains, and to the four 
 mighty streams, officers shall be sent to offer sacrifices. 
 Let the rules on the subject be examined and let this be 
 carried into effect. 
 
 " Secondly. All ladies of elevated rank who have 
 attained to the age of sixty years or upwards, from the 
 consorts of the highest princes to the wives of the lowest 
 titular members of the imperial family, from the prin- 
 cesses of the blood to the daughters of the subordinate 
 princess, from the consorts of the Mongol royal chief- 
 
CHINESE MUSEUM CASE II. 27 
 
 tains to the wives of their hereditary nobles, as well as 
 the ladies of the great officers of state both Mantchou 
 and Chinese, shall be presented with tokens of favor. 
 
 " Thirdly. Every officer in the metropolis, both 
 civil and military, of every grade, shall be raised in 
 rank one degree. 
 
 " Fourthly. Every officer, whether at court or in 
 the provinces, who is under promise of promotion to a 
 new office, shall be at once invested with the rank of 
 such new office. 
 
 " Fifthly. In regard to every officer who for error 
 in public matters has been degraded in rank, but re- 
 tained in office, let the appropriate Board, after exami- 
 nation, present a report, requesting that his rank be 
 restored to him. 
 
 " Sixthly. Every military officer of brevet rank shall 
 be advanced to a permanent rank. 
 
 " Seventhly. Every soldier of the eight banners in 
 Peking shall receive a gift of one month's pay and 
 rations. 
 
 " Eighthly. Every Mantchou soldier who, having 
 formerly borne arms, has been permitted, on account 
 of age or sickness, to live at home, shall receive gra- 
 cious tokens of favor. 
 
 " Ninthly. All soldiers of the eight banners, Mant- 
 chou, Chinese, and Mongols, who have attained the 
 ages of seventy, eighty, or ninety years, and all Mon- 
 gols of the inner tribes, or of the Kalkas, who have 
 attained those ages, shall have gifts conferred on them, 
 differing in relation to their several ages. Those who 
 have attained the age of an hundred years, shall, on 
 presenting a statement thereof, receive money to erect 
 an arch. 
 
 " Tenthly. Every one among the military and peo- 
 ple (of China Proper,) who has attained the age of 
 seventy shall be allowed one person to attend on him 
 
28 CHINESE MUSEUM CASE II. 
 
 free of liability to conscription. Every one who has 
 attained the age of eighty shall receive (also) one piece 
 of silk, ten catties of cotton, one stone weight of rice, 
 and ten catties of flesh. Every one who has attained 
 the age of ninety or of a hundred years, shall receive 
 money for the erection of an arch. 
 
 " Eleventhly. Every perfectly filial son or obedient 
 grandson, every remarkably upright husband, or chaste 
 wife, upon proofs being brought forward of real facts, 
 shall have a monument erected with an inscription, in 
 his or her honor. 
 
 " Twelfthly. Of the lower classes of literary gradu- 
 ates, all who have passed good examinations, but with- 
 out attaining degrees, shall be presented with degrees. 
 
 " Thirteenthly. The students of the national college 
 shall have a vacation of one month. 
 
 " Fourteenthly. In every case in which the tombs of 
 the successive emperors and kings, or the temples of 
 the lofty mountains and mighty streams, have fallen 
 into decay, let requests for their repair be sent in. 
 
 " Fifteenthly. Let roads and bridges that are in 
 want of repair, in all the provinces, be repaired by the 
 local officers. 
 
 " In this manner shall her majesty's sanctity and 
 virtue be declared, and become a rule and an example, 
 the praise of which shall be like the sun and moon, and 
 shall be ever increasing. Her kindness shall be diffused 
 abroad and extended to all ; and all shall rejoice with 
 the joys of music and dancing. Let this be proclaimed 
 to the whole Empire, that all may be made to hear and 
 know it." 
 
 Such ornamental pieces of embroidery and writing 
 as the one at the back of this case and that in No. 1 , 
 are called by the Chinese, Shau-Ping, literally Lon- 
 gevity Screens. They are presented to persons who 
 have attained a virtuous old age and are not intended 
 
CHINESE MUSEUM CASE II. 29 
 
 to be used as screens, but are suspended behind the 
 tablets, upon which the names of the venerated de- 
 ceased are inscribed, in the Ancestral halls. This one 
 " is made of fine red satin, 14/4 feet long, by 9>4 feet 
 broad, and is covered with writing and embroidery, the 
 latter in gold thread and floss silk. The writing occu- 
 pies the middle of the sheet, and is symmetrical and 
 elegant in the extreme. A large dragon's head adorns 
 the top, beneath which are three sitting figures, emble- 
 matic of Longevity, Happiness, and Official Emolu- 
 ment ; and on each side are four standing figures rep- 
 resenting the eight genii ; various devices, as tripods, 
 vases, &c, are interspersed among the figures, giving to 
 the whole a pleasing and tasty appearance." There are 
 also two narrow strips hanging down from the top upon 
 which the following seal characters are embroidered, 
 viz: " Shaow-peih-lam-shan." "May your age be like 
 the southern mountains." The translation which fol- 
 lows, was made for the Chinese Repository, by S. 
 Wells Williams, Esq., one of the conductors and pro- 
 prietors of that valuable magazine. The inscription is 
 in form of a letter. 
 
 Note upon the Longevity Honor, respectfully pre- 
 sented with congratulations to her ladyship, Sun-nee 
 Sie, by imperial favor, elevated to be of the seventh 
 rank of dignity on her 70th birthday. 
 
 11 In the year 1802, 1 was in command of the land and 
 sea forces of Fukien province ; this province is conter- 
 minous with Kwangtung. The village Ching belongs 
 to Kwangtung, to the present department of Kiaying, 
 a place which was by the rectitude of the scholar Ching 
 of Nautse, quite renovated, (and named after him.) 
 Although I was in retirement (literally a gourd hung 
 up to dry,) still the parents of the people, (i. e. the au- 
 thorities,) in all that region knew me. A subordinate, 
 then under the magistrate of Kiaying-chau, was the 
 
30 CHINESE MUSEUM CASE II. 
 
 Taping fansz', now the assistant chifu, Sun Siifang, 
 who governed that district ; all men were refreshed by 
 his upright rules, nor was there a dissentient voice. 
 His mother, the lady Sie, was the first and only wife of 
 Sun Siunche, the assistant chifu of Lwan chau, and he 
 (her son) brought her from Chekiang into his office, 
 and assiduously and constantly nourished and took care 
 of her with respectful attention. 
 
 " It was on the lady Sun attaining the anniversary 
 day of her 7th decennium, that all the gentry wished 
 to imitate the custom usual on such occasions of pre- 
 senting a Longevity Token, and requested an explana- 
 tory notice from me, and also that I would direct the 
 libations; at the same time sending for my inspection 
 two longevity discourses made when lords Sz', the 
 graduate, and lord Han, the district magistrate, were 
 sixty years old. 
 
 " It appears that the etiquette in ancient times, in 
 making offerings on birth days, was not to do it always 
 on the day itself, but to choose a convenient time ; in 
 Pin, it was the custom to observe them after the har- 
 vest was got in ; and in the Han dynasty it was on 
 new year's day ; at present, some do it on the birthday, 
 which resembles the ancient practice. Now my own 
 attainments are not at all comparable to those of Lord 
 Sz', and Prince Han, and moreover your laydship's do- 
 mestic regulations are worthy to become a model to in- 
 structed ; may your happiness and age daily increase. 
 Why therefore should any one wait for my echoing 
 praise of such a reputation ? But taking a point which 
 all those in the district of Kiaying who have the least 
 acquaintance with the matter know, viz. that Sun Sii- 
 fang and his brothers, reverentially receive the in- 
 struction of their mother, I will remark upon it. The 
 assistant magistrate (i. e. Sun Siifang,) has thorough 
 and most discriminating talents ; for although his juris- 
 
CHINESE MUSEUM CASE II. 31 
 
 diction is over only a small corner of the department, 
 he does not confine his efforts to his own limited dis- 
 trict, but has become generally distinguished ; he has 
 apprehended villains and cleared the country of rob- 
 bers ; he exhibits his kind regards for the villagers, and 
 consults their wishes ; in all these duties exerting him- 
 self to the utmost. Moreover, when he at any time 
 received the chief magistrate's order to attend to any 
 special business, such as levying fines, arranging schools, 
 &c, he critically discriminated the advantages and the 
 disadvantages in everything, displaying the utmost equi- 
 ty and purity, in order on the one hand to requite the 
 confidence reposed in him by the superior magistrate, 
 and on the other, to show his rectitude to all the inhab- 
 itants. The quiet order of the country was altogether 
 owing to the resolute vigor of the assistant magistrate, 
 extending itself over and benefitting all that region, while 
 during this interval of several years his integrity was 
 unimpeachable, and he was still poor. All this excel- 
 lence was owing to your ladyship's instructions, through 
 which he maintained the magisterial uprightness of his 
 ancestors, and perpetuated the honor of the distinguish- 
 ed officer (his father ;) therefore, when men praised 
 the bravery of the assistant magistrate, there was not 
 one who did not in so doing, laud the virtue of his 
 mother. The young gentleman, his brother, is also 
 now about to receive an appointment to an office ; and 
 when your grandchildren all rise up (to emulate and 
 succeed their parents,) it will be like the flight of the 
 phoenix, or the stateliness of the stork ; your joy will be 
 complete. 
 
 " Your ladyship's nephew, the prefect of Tating fu 
 in Kweichau, a place beyond the far reaching clouds, 
 you have also through the past instructed in the prin- 
 ciples of justice; if you thus remember those who are 
 distant, how will you not care for those near you ! In 
 
32 CHINESE MUSEUM CASE II. 
 
 ancient times, when the mother of Chang Tsihien, went 
 to the palace, his majesty, on account of her age and 
 her happiness, that she had so distinguished a son, hon- 
 ored her with a complimentary letter from his own 
 hand. And too, the Emperor Jintsung remarked, when 
 seeing the prudent government of Tsai Kiunnui, " If 
 such is the son, what must the mother's virtue be !" 
 and he sent her a coronet and a ribbon as a mark of 
 special honor. Your ladyship has now reached the 
 age of three score and ten, and will no doubt soon re- 
 ceive some mark of imperial regard ; so that then the 
 glory of those two matrons will not be alone, for yours 
 will equal theirs; and if the assistant magistrate heartily 
 regards you, and diligently upholds the integrity of his 
 office, we shall soon see him rise to the first grade of 
 rank, and then your subsequent glory will be more con- 
 spicuous. 
 
 " The benignant favor of our Emperor diffuses itself 
 among and blesses the people ; and peace and grandeur 
 of the country and the excellence and purity of the 
 usages are preeminent ; and as your ladyship's health 
 is vigorous, and your sons and grandsons are fortunate, 
 truly your joys are not yet full. I know that the wishes 
 of the people and gentry of the district, in imitating the 
 custom of the Pin country in offering the libation cup 
 of blessing, and in performing the same ceremony of 
 elevating the longevity gifts as they did in the Han 
 dynasty, are by no means fully satisfied, although these 
 are the highest of rites among ceremonial observances; 
 and therefore this which I have written may be regarded 
 as an additional cup offered up on their behalf. 
 
 " Your humble brother, Yen Minghan, by imperial 
 favor a military graduate of the first rank, appointed to 
 the imperial body guard in his majesty's presence, ap- 
 pointed to be ' awe inspiring general,' major-general 
 in command of the forces of Fukien province, and act- 
 
CHINESE MUSEUM CASE II 
 
 33 
 
 ing admiral of the navy there ; formerly general of the 
 troops in the two departments of Changchau and Kien- 
 ning ; in 1789 appointed official examiner at the mili- 
 tary examination in Fukien, and formerly acting general 
 of the troops in Ninghia fu in Kansuh, during the war, 
 raised four steps and recorded ten times, respectfully 
 bows and presents his compliments. Kiaking, 7th year, 
 8th moon, 20th day, (Oct. 1802.) 
 
 " The names and titles of 258 persons are appended, 
 beginning with those highest in office and descending 
 to the lowest, who all subscribed to purchase and pre- 
 sent this to Madame Suse." 
 
 The reader will note in the introductory part of the 
 letter that this old lady had been elevated to the seventh 
 rank of dignity. This mode of bestowing nominal rank 
 is a great inducement to parents to attend to the edu- 
 cation and consequent advancement of their sons, as 
 not only the fortunate literary candidates themselves 
 receive honors, but their parents also, who if dead, have 
 posthumous titles conferred upon them, which are in- 
 scribed upon their tablets, preserved in the Halls of 
 Ancestors, and used in the ceremonies attending the 
 sacrifices to their manes. 
 
34 CHINESE MUSEUM CASE III. 
 
 CASE III. 
 
 Mandarin of the fourth rank. 
 
 Secretary. 
 
 Interpreter. 
 
 Inferior Officer, with whip, 
 do. do. do. bamboo. 
 
 Culprit on his knees. 
 
 Criminal confined in a tub. 
 
 Painting at the back of the case. Table with red cloth 
 in front. 
 
 Large lacquered " Law San" or " State Umbrella." 
 
 Large " Eu-sheen," or " Imperial Fan" carried in pro- 
 cessions to screen distinguished persons from the rays of 
 the sun. 
 
 Painted wood Banner, carried before a person of rank, 
 with his name and titles in gilded characters upon it. 
 
 This case contains a representation of a Chinese 
 court of justice. The judge is seated behind his table 
 with writing implements before him, two metal cases 
 filled with sticks are at one end of the table, and at the 
 other a case done up in yellow grass cloth, contains his 
 official seals, while the small roll on the frame above 
 it, also enclosed in the imperial color, contains his au- 
 thority from the Emperor. This figure is an excellent 
 likeness of a former Kwang-chow-foo of Canton, much 
 beloved by the people. 
 
 On the right of the officer, stands his Secretary, on 
 the left, the interpreter, in front, on one side, a myrmi- 
 don, with whip in hand, has just brought in a prisoner, 
 and opposite, stands his fellow with the dreaded (as 
 well as admired) bamboo in his hands, ready to dis- 
 
CHINESE MUSEUM CASE III. 35 
 
 pense justice with it, according to the orders of his su- 
 perior. 
 
 A criminal, already sentenced, is expiating his of- 
 fence in a tub, his head and hands only being visible. 
 In the rear of the judge is a painting of a large Chinese 
 Unicorn, a tree with a case containing the seals of of- 
 fice suspended upon one of the branches, and a bird 
 descending with a scroll in its beak. The Chinese 
 generally do not appear to understand the meaning of 
 such paintings as this, which are suspended behind 
 their officers in court rooms. But they would seem to 
 be emblematic of the duty of the officers to discharge 
 their trusts faithfully, in order to obtain promotion 
 which is indicated by the case of seals suspended above, 
 and the scroll containing a commission in the mouth of 
 a descending bird. 
 
 A Chinese court room is never graced with a jury 
 box ; the representative of the Emperor is both judge 
 and jury. " The plaintiff, defendant, and witnesses, 
 kneel in front of him, with the instruments of torture 
 placed near them. No counsel is allowed to plead, but 
 the written allegations required, must be prepared by 
 licensed notaries, who may also read them in court. 
 These notaries buy their situations and repay them- 
 selves by the fees upon the documents." The services 
 of an interpreter are necessary in court, as a medium 
 of conversation between the judge and prisoners, the 
 laws of China forbidding persons holding office in their 
 native provinces, or even owning real estate, or con- 
 tracting marriage, in the provinces to which they are 
 appointed ; and notwithstanding the universal use of 
 the same written language throughout the empire, the 
 dialects of the different provinces vary so much as to 
 make the natives of one unintelligible to those of 
 another, without recourse to writing. " The legal mode 
 of torture, in forcing evidence, is to squeeze the ankles 
 or the fingers between three sticks, tied triangularly : 
 
36 CHINESE MUSEUM CASE III. 
 
 the former being applied to male, and the latter to 
 female prisoners. Oaths are never required, nor even 
 admitted, in judicial proceedings ; but very severe pun- 
 ishments are attached to falsehood in evidence." 
 
 " The Chinese have some singular modes of demon- 
 strating their respect and regard on the departure of 
 any public magistrate, whose government has been 
 marked by moderation and justice. A deputation some- 
 times waits upon him with a habit composed of every 
 variety of color, " a coat of many colors," as if made 
 by a general contribution from the people. With this 
 he is solemnly invested, and though of course the gar- 
 ment is not intended to be worn, it is preserved as an 
 honorable relic in the family. On quitting the district, 
 he is accompanied by crowds that follow his chair, or 
 kneel by the wayside, while at intervals on the road are 
 placed tables of provisions and sticks of incense burn- 
 ing. These honors were shown to a late Fooyuen of 
 Canton, a man of a most eccentric, but upright char- 
 acter, who unlike so many others in his situation, 
 would never take anything from the Hong merchants, 
 or others under his authority. He seemed to have a 
 supreme indifference for human grandeur, and at length 
 retired by his own choice and the Emperor's permission 
 into private life, from whence it is said he became a 
 devotee of Budh. On his quitting Canton, " numerous 
 addresses were presented to him, indicating a desire, as 
 expressed in the figurative and poetical language of the 
 Chinese, ' to detain his boots,' in order to prevent his 
 setting out on his journey ;" and this singular custom 
 was observed, in conformity with ancient usage on such 
 rare occasions; when he had accepted the various 
 demostrations of homage and respect from those who 
 had been deputed by the people to wait on him, he 
 proceeded from his residence to the city gates, and, 
 being there arrived, his boots were taken oil', to be 
 
CHINESE MUSEUM CASE III. 37 
 
 preserved, as valued relics, while their place was sup- 
 plied by a new pair. This was repeated more than 
 once as he proceeded on his way, the boots which he 
 had only once drawn on being regarded as precious 
 memorials." 
 
 Punishments in China are of five kinds, each gradu- 
 ated according to the heinousness of the offence. The 
 first is flogging with the bamboo, which is of two sizes 
 and the dimensions of each regulated by law. The 
 smallest is used for petty offences, requiring, according 
 to law, from ten to fifty blows, which to suit the Chinese 
 maxim, " that in enacting laws rigor is necessary and 
 enforcing them leniency," are reduced in practice to 
 from four to twenty, the reduction being placed to the 
 credit of the Emperor and called imperial favor. So 
 summary is the application of the bamboo, that instances 
 often occur of an offender receiving punishment and 
 going free within the hour the offence was committed. 
 The number of blows with the larger bamboo is limited 
 from sixty to one hundred by law, but is reduced in 
 practice to from twenty to forty. Tartars are subjected 
 to the whip, which is not considered as disgraceful as 
 the bamboo. The tallies or slips of wood in the metal 
 cases in front of the magistrate, in this case, are used 
 to indicate the number of blows to be given to the cul- 
 prit, and when thrown upon the floor by the magistrate, 
 are taken up by the attendant and four blows in reality 
 given for each, although nominally, they signify more. 
 
 The second class of punishment, is the Cangue, or 
 wooden collar, worn from one month to three, and 
 varying in weight according to the heinousness of the 
 crime. It is a plank, sufficiently large to hinder the 
 criminal from reaching his head, if his hands are not 
 confined, with holes to fit the neck and wrists, and on 
 it the offence is inscribed. The tub in this case, with 
 a man in it, is a species of Cangue of an uncomfortable 
 
33 CHINESE MUSEUM CASE III. 
 
 kind, as it prevents the free motion of different parts of 
 the body. The Cangue is often a fatal punishment, 
 and the foreigners at Canton were shocked with a hor- 
 rid exibition of it in the fall of 1843. Some wretches 
 taken in the act of setting fire to buildings in the neigh- 
 borhood of the foreign factories, which it was their in- 
 tention to destroy, were put in pairs in large double 
 Cangues and were thus exposed, in several of the great- 
 est thoroughfares near the factories to the gaze of passers 
 by, to be starved to death. To add to their sufferings 
 they were placed within smell of the savory steams 
 arising from numerous travelling cooking establishments 
 in their vicinity. Their own countrymen made no 
 offers of assistance to them, and the efforts of some 
 benevolent foreigners to supply them with food were 
 resisted by the underlings, having the prisoners in 
 charge, who remarked that it would only prolong their 
 sufferings. In this way they perished, one by one, and 
 several were seen with their eyes fixed, in the vacant 
 stare of death, and decay stealing rapidly over their 
 bodies, while a stronger fellow prisoner fastened to them 
 was still lingering out a loathsome existence. In this 
 manner the dead remained in the Cangue until night- 
 fall, when they were inspected by a Mandarin and re- 
 moved for interment. 
 
 The third class of punishment is transportation of the 
 offender to various distances, not exceeding fifty leagues, 
 and for different lengths of time, from his home, accord- 
 ing to the nature of the offence. There is also a scale 
 of punishment with the bamboo, corresponding to the 
 distance and duration of temporary banishment ; for 
 instance, sixty blows correspond to a year, and seventy, 
 to a year and a half, advancing thus ten blows for each 
 half year. 
 
 The fourth class of punishment is exile beyond the 
 Chinese frontier, temporarily, or for life. Criminals 
 
CHINESE MUSEUM CASE III. 39 
 
 are often banished to Ee-ly, the principal seat of Chi- 
 nese rule in Mongol Tartary, and are generally con- 
 demed to military service, or made slaves to the Tar- 
 tars. This is often the fate of the highest officers of 
 the government who happen to displease their master, 
 and several Hong merchants and linguists have been 
 sent there from Canton, but those having wealthy friends 
 find it no hard matter to make their residence in " the 
 cold country" a pleasant one. Transportation, if the 
 criminal is a Tartar, is in some instances commuted for 
 the Cangue, to which a scale of the time to be worn, 
 graduated to different distances, is adapted. 
 
 The three capital punishments, constituting the fifth 
 class, are, strangling, beheading, and a slow and igno- 
 minious death, sometimes termed cutting into ten thou- 
 sand pieces. " In all ordinary cases, the executions 
 throughout the Empire are postponed until the autum- 
 nal assize, when the Emperor confirms the sentences 
 of the provincial officers. But for extraordinary offen- 
 ces, such as robbery attended with murder, arson, rape, 
 breaking into fortifications, violence by banditti of one 
 hundred persons, highway robbery and piracy, the 
 offenders may be beheaded immediately." Strangula- 
 tion (in Chinese Keaou ' the silken twist') is considered 
 the least disgraceful mode of execution, as by it the 
 body is preserved whole for interment ; indeed so great 
 is the solicitude of the Chinese on this point, that many 
 preserve the broken pieces of their finger nails, which 
 they sometimes allow to grow to such inordinate lengths, 
 to be interred with them. The least crime for which 
 strangulation is assigned, is a third theft, and effacing 
 the brands affixed for the former two. It is inflicted 
 upon a heavy, upright wooden cross, by twisting a cord 
 tight around the ankles and staff, then the waist, the 
 wrists, and lastly the neck. Bribes are given to shorten 
 the sufferings by driving a poignard to the heart or 
 
40 CHINESE MUSEUM CASE III. 
 
 twisting the cord first around the neck. Pirates and 
 murderers, in addition to beheading, have their heads 
 exposed in small cages, suspended on poles, in public 
 places. Criminals who undergo this extreme punish- 
 ment are conveyed to the execution ground in baskets, 
 with their names and sentences written on long slips of 
 wood attached to their backs, and are placed upon their 
 knees, facing towards the imperial court at Peking, 
 with heads bowed, in token of submission ; one blow 
 from the sword of the executioner and the head is sev- 
 ered from the body, and the immortal spirit sent " un- 
 annointed and unannealed " into the presence of its 
 Maker. 
 
 Offences against the Emperor being considered the 
 most aggravated, the punishment inflicted is the most 
 cruel and ignominious, and is that of slowly cutting to 
 pieces. Parricide (" which ranks as petit treason,") 
 sacrilege, and some other crimes, are punished in the 
 same way ; but in the first instance not only the traitor 
 (either principal or accessary,) but his innocent family 
 is immolated for his crime ; his sons, even of tender 
 age, are strangled, and the females of his family sold 
 into bondage in provinces far distant from their home, 
 and the law, not to be robbed of its victims even by 
 death, drags those who have been guilty of treason 
 from the grave and inflicts the same indignities upon 
 their inanimate and oftentimes putrid bodies that it de- 
 manded while in life. 
 
 One curious feature in Chinese law is, that substitutes 
 are allowed even for criminals condemned to decapita- 
 tion, and, incredible as it may appear, men are to be 
 found in this populous country to suffer under the hands 
 of the executioner in the place of another for a small 
 competency for their families, and men always stand 
 ready at the courts, the skin on the extremity of whose 
 bodies has long been callous to the bamboo, to become 
 
CHINESE MUSEUM CASE III. 41 
 
 substitutes for those who are able to pay. The price 
 formerly charged, wc have been informed by a native, 
 was one dollar a blow, but competition, it appears, has 
 affected this business as well as others, and the charge 
 is now only half that sum. Our informant further told 
 us that he had seen one man receive in succession, 
 without rising from his position, (face downwards upon 
 the ground,) the punishment due to three. 
 
 Chinese prisons, styled by them Ty-yo, or hell, are 
 very severe, and prolonged imprisonments in them are 
 the most frequent instruments of judicial injustice. 
 11 Women in ordinary cases, enjoy the fortunate ex- 
 emption of being placed, as criminals, in the custody 
 of their nearest relations, who are answerable for them, 
 and in this manner they escape the farther contamina- 
 tion of vice in a prison." Mutual responsibility per- 
 vades the Empire from the highest to the lowest, and 
 serves to keep the ponderous machinery in order. Neigh- 
 borhoods are divided into tens and hundreds, in charge 
 of responsible men selected from amongst them ; these 
 report to the inferior Mandarins, who are amenable to 
 the superior ones, and thus the scale ascends and ends 
 only in the supreme head, the Emperor. To such ex- 
 tent is the patriarchal form of government carried, that 
 " fathers have virtually the powers of life and death 
 over their children ; for, even if they kill them design- 
 edly, they are subject to only the chastisement of the 
 bamboo, and a year's banishment; if struck by them to 
 no punishment at all. The penalty for striking parents, 
 or for cursing them, is death, as among the Hebrews. 
 In practice, it does not appear that this absolute power 
 bestowed on fathers is productive of evil ; the natural 
 feeling being, upon the whole, a sufficient security 
 against its abuse." 
 
 Notwithstanding the severity of some of the laws of 
 China, Mr. Ellis, who is quoted by Davis from Sir 
 
42 CHINESE MUSEUM CASE III. 
 
 George Staunton, as one " whose acquaintance with 
 Persia, India and China, rendered him a peculiarly 
 competent judge, pronounces China superior to the 
 other countries of Asia, both in the arts of government, 
 and the general aspect of society ; and adds that the 
 laws are more generally known, and more equally ad- 
 ministered ; and that those examples of oppression, ac- 
 companied with the infliction of barbarous punishment, 
 which offend the eye and distress the feelings of the 
 most hurried traveller in other Asiatic countries, are 
 scarcely to be met with in China," and Davis justly 
 remarks, " that a country cannot, upon the whole, be 
 very ill-governed, whose subjects write in the style of 
 Tien-kee-she" a Chinese, as follows ; " I felicitate my- 
 self that I was born in China; it constantly occurs to 
 me, what if I had been born beyond the sea, in some 
 remote part of the earth, where the cold freezes, or the 
 heat scorches ; where the people are clothed with the 
 leaves of plants, eat wood, dwell in the wilderness, lie 
 in holes of the earth, are far removed from the convert- 
 ing maxims of the ancient Kings, and are ignorant of 
 the domestic relations. Though born as one of the 
 generation of men, I should not have been different 
 from a beast. But how happily 1 have been born in 
 China ! I have a house to live in, have drink and food, 
 and commodious furniture. 1 have clothing and caps, 
 and infinite blessings. Truly the highest felicity is 
 mine." 
 
CHINESE MUSEUM CASE IV. 43 
 
 CASE IV. 
 
 Teacher seated at his table. 
 Pupil reciting his lesson. 
 Priest of Fo or Budha seated. 
 
 do. the Taou sect standing. 
 Paintings of Gods, Sages and Worthies suspended at the 
 
 back of the case. 
 Chinese Tomb. 
 
 do. Coffin. 
 Mourning Dress. 
 Pair of Mourning Lanterns. 
 
 Here are to be seen the teachers of the three most 
 prominent religions of the Chinese. The first is a dis- 
 ciple of Koong-foo-tsze, or Confucius (as his name has 
 been latinized by the Jesuits,) who is worshiped as a 
 god in China, and whose system of ethics is the favor- 
 ite religion of the better classes of the people and con- 
 stitutes the principal part of their education. 
 
 The young lad in front of the table, is reciting his 
 lesson in Chinese fashion, with his back to the teacher. 
 On the table are the works studied by young persons, 
 writing apparatus, and the rod, that universal persua- 
 der throughout the world, and most direct mode of ap- 
 pealing to the feelings of the young. 
 
 The Priest of Budha, whose tonsure extends to the 
 whole head, is seated in his chair, with a rosary in one 
 hand, and small whisk brush in the other, in a state of 
 mental abstraction, awaiting his absorption into nonen- 
 tity, which his creed teaches him is the summit of hap- 
 piness; far above Heaven. This figure is an excellent 
 
44 CHINESE MUSEUM CASE IV. 
 
 likeness of a former Abbot, of the celebrated Honam 
 Jos house, who was much venerated by the Padries of 
 the establishment. 
 
 The Priest of Taou, or Laou-keun and Laou-tsze (the 
 old infant) as the founder of this sect was called, be- 
 cause born with white hair, differs but little in his garb 
 from the devotee to Budha, he has the same rosary and 
 wisk brush, but is distinguished from him by his queue, 
 or tail, and from his countrymen in the manner ot 
 doing up this curious appendage, with a skewer and in 
 a small wooden cup. 
 
 The brushes in the hands of both these priests are 
 necessary in the cells of the temples, where they re- 
 side, which arc badly ventilated, and in summer swarm 
 with musquitoes, against whose insinuating advances, 
 not even Budhistic absorption is proof. 
 
 The paintings of gods on the wall are a few of the 
 immense number to be seen, set up in peculiar frames, 
 in the hongs and large stores in the cities. The paint- 
 ings of sages and worthies are of a style much esteemed 
 by the Chinese. 
 
 Confucianism is the principal or State religion of 
 China and that patronized by those who make any pre- 
 tensions to learning. The stability of the patriarchal 
 form of government in China, notwithstanding the 
 many revolutions which have taken place, is undoubt- 
 edly owing to the strong hold which the moral maxims 
 of the sage Koong-foo-tsze has upon the minds of the 
 people. His system of eihics, formed several centu- 
 ries before the Christian era, are rather of a political 
 than religious cast, and Dr. Morrison observes, " a 
 family is the prototype of his nation or empire, and he 
 lays at the bottom of his system, not the visionary no- 
 tions of independence and equality, but principles of 
 dependence and subordination, as of children to pa- 
 rents, the younger to the elder, and so on. These 
 
CHINESE MUSEUM CASE IV. 45 
 
 principles are perpetually inculcated in the Confucian 
 writings, as well as embodied in solemn ceremonials, 
 and in apparently trivial forms of mere etiquette. It is 
 probably this feature of his doctrines, that has made 
 him such a favorite with all the governments of China 
 for many centuries past and down to this day. These 
 principles and these forms are early instilled into young 
 minds, and form the basis of their moral sentiments ; 
 the elucidation and enforcement of these principles and 
 forms are the business of students, who aspire to be 
 magistrates, or statesmen, and of the wealthy, who de- 
 sire nominal rank in the country; and it is in all likeli- 
 hood, owing chiefly to the influence of these princi- 
 ples on the national mind and conscience, that China 
 holds together the largest associated population in the 
 world." 
 
 It is striking, to witness the veneration paid to 
 Koong-foo-tsze at the present day, notwithstanding a 
 period of 2,300 years has passed away, since his death. 
 His title " the most holy teacher of ancient times," was 
 given to him during the Ming dynasty, and is contin- 
 ued by the Tartars, who now sit upon the throne. 
 There are 1,560 temples in the empire, dedicated to 
 his memory, and the government annually sacrifices to 
 his manes, 6 bullocks, 27,000 pigs, 5,800 sheep, 2,800 
 deer, and 27,000 rabbits, making a total of 62,606 vic- 
 tims, in addition to which, 27,600 pieces of silk are of- 
 fered at the same time. At the sacrifices at Peking, 
 the Emperor himself does him homage, and the magis- 
 trates and all the learned throughout other parts of the 
 land ; and in all the school rooms in this vast empire, 
 his name, inscribed on tablets, is hung up, to which, 
 the scholars pay their daily respects after saluting the 
 teacher, and before which, they burn incense morning 
 and evening. Such are some of the honors paid to 
 this ancient sage, who, undoubtedly, has influenced a 
 
46 CHINESE MUSEUM CASE IV. 
 
 larger portion of the whole human race than any other 
 pagan philosopher. 
 
 Some of the moral maxims and advice contained 
 in the works of Koong-foo-tsze, are most excellent. 
 " There are three things," said he, " to beware of 
 through life. When a man is young, let him beware 
 of his appetites; when middle aged, of his passions; 
 and, when old, of covetousness especially." And upon 
 being asked if any one word would answer as a guide 
 for a person's actions during life, he replied " will not 
 the word Shoo serve ?" and explained its meaning by, 
 " do unto others as you would they should do unto 
 you." He said little about a future state of existence, 
 and when questioned by one of his disciples upon the 
 subject, recalled his attention to material things by re- 
 plying, " not knowing the state of the living, how can 
 you know the state of the dead ?" and his universal 
 maxim was, " Respect the gods, but keep them at a 
 distance." 
 
 Owing to the number who annually try their fortunes 
 at the literary examinations and fail to attain degrees, 
 teachers are plenty, and although respected according 
 to their attainments, their pay is generally small ; not 
 ordinarily exceeding ten or fifteen dollars per month in 
 the common schools, but in private establishments it is 
 much more. In the high schools, or colleges, the num- 
 ber of pupils sometimes rises to hundreds ; in the com- 
 mon schools it varies from ten to forty. The pupils 
 assemble at sunrise and remain till ten o'clock, when an 
 hour is allowed for breakfast, after which their studies 
 are resumed and continue till four or five o'clock ; they 
 are then dismissed, generally, to reassemble at early 
 lamp-lighting to pore over their books again until nine 
 o'clock. The master occupies an elevated seat and 
 the boys set facing him at separate tables ; there are no 
 classes, each pupil reciting his lesson separately; all 
 
CHINESE MUSEUM CASE IV. 47 
 
 study aloud to enable the master to discover when they 
 are engaged with their lessons, and raising their voices 
 to a high key make a noise which can be heard in the 
 streets for some distance. " Severity," observes a 
 writer in the Chinese Repository, " is highly esteemed 
 by parents, who seem to feel only that their boys will 
 not receive their full due ; and punishments are often 
 and severely inflicted. Neglect in arriving punctually 
 at school, or in acquiring his lesson in a given time, 
 together with any kind of misbehavior, renders the pu- 
 pil liable to punishment, by reproof, chastisement, or 
 expulsion." 
 
 Budhism, which took its rise in India several centuries 
 prior to the appearance of Koong-foo-tsze and Laou- 
 Keun in China, was at one time the prevailing religion 
 of that country, but a fierce persecution which took 
 place during the sixth century of our era, nearly exter- 
 minated or expelled its followers from Hindostan. It 
 was introduced into China in A. D. 65 or 66, during 
 the reign of Ming-ty, an Emperor of the Han dynasty, 
 who, says Davis, " considering a certain saying of Con- 
 fucius to be prophetic of some saint to be discovered in 
 the west, sent emissaries to seek him out. On reaching 
 India they discovered the sect of the Budhists, and 
 brought back some of them with their idols and books 
 to China." 
 
 The Budhists believe in a future state of existence 
 and in the metempsycosis or transmigration of souls as 
 a reward to the virtuous and punishment to the guilty. 
 The paradise of Budha, as described in one of their 
 works quoted by Medhurst, " is of yellow gold. Its 
 gardens and palaces are all adorned with gems. It is 
 encircled with rows of trees, and borders of network. 
 There are lovely birds of sparkling plumage and ex- 
 quisite notes. The great God, O-lo nan, the goddess 
 of mercy, the unnumbered Budhas, the host of demi- 
 
48 CHINESE MUSEUM CASE IV. 
 
 gods, and the sages of Heaven and earth, will all be 
 assembled in that sacred spot. But in that kingdom 
 there are no women, for the women who will live in 
 that country are first changed into men. The inhabit- 
 ants are produced from the lotus flower, and have pure 
 and fragrant bodies, fair and well formed countenances, 
 with hearts full of wisdom, and without vexation. They 
 dress not, and yet are not cold; they dress, and are not 
 made hot. They eat not, and are not hungry ; they 
 eat, and yet never know satiety. They are without 
 pain and sickness, and never become old. Enjoying 
 themselves at ease, they follow Budha, gaily frisking 
 about without trouble. The felicity of that kingdom 
 may be justly considered superlative, and the age of its 
 inhabitants without measure. This is the paradise of 
 the west, and the way to obtain it, is the most simple 
 imaginable 5 depending on one sentence, O-me-to-Fuh 
 (Amidah Budha;) yet the world will not take the trouble 
 to seek this good so easily attained ; but put on their 
 iron boots, and go in quest of another road." Such is 
 the Heaven of Budha, and such the way to obtain it. 
 But if their paradise is an inviting one, their hell is the 
 abode of unspeakable misery; for the unfortunate beings 
 who are condemned to the infernal regions are there 
 torn in pieces, thrown upon hills of knives or into boil- 
 ing cauldrons, sawn asunder, fastened to pillars of red 
 hot brass, and otherwise tormented according to their 
 crimes, until transformed into some of the six grades of 
 metempsycosis again revisit the earth to do penance. 
 " One of the most favorite doctrines of Budha is, 
 that all things originated in nothing, and will revert to 
 nothing again. Hence annihilation is the summit of 
 bliss ; and nirupan, nirvana, or nonentity, the grand 
 and ultimate anticipation of all. Contemplation and 
 abstractness of mind, with a gradual obliteration of 
 all sense and feeling, are considered the nearest ap- 
 
CHINESE MUSEUM CASE IV. 49 
 
 proaches to bliss, attainable on earth ; and the devotees 
 of this system aim and effect to have no joys or sor- 
 rows, hopes or fears, sense or emotion, either of body 
 or mind; living without looking, speaking, hearing, 
 smelling, or feeling; yea, without eating, and without 
 breathing, until they approach to that enviable state of 
 perfection, annihilation. Budha is nothing, and to es- 
 cape the various transmigrations, to rise above the hap- 
 piness of Heaven, and to be absorbed into Budha, is to 
 be amalgamated into nothing. Those who have at- 
 tained the greatest nearness to this abstraction, are con- 
 sidered the most holy ; and if they can manage to sus- 
 tain life, without appearing to live, they are denomi- 
 nated present Budhas, and worshipped accordingly. 
 The world-renouncing priest, with vacant stare and 
 emaciated look, not deigning to regard anything in 
 Heaven or on earth, receives divine honors from the 
 wondering bystanders, who think him something more 
 than mortal, because fast approaching to nonentity." 
 
 Budhism appears to be the most popular religion 
 of the middle and lower classes, by whom it is chiefly 
 supported. Its priests are principally from the latter, 
 and are sometimes fugitives from justice, who, to es- 
 cape the sword of the executioner, shave their heads, 
 disguise themselves in the garb of priests, and retiring 
 to the cells attached to the Budhist temples, elude the 
 search of the Mandarins. But their ranks are princi- 
 pally filled with young men who grow up among them, 
 being placed in the temples in childhood by their pa- 
 rents, who consult a fortune teller upon the birth of a 
 son, to ascertain his destiny, and being informed by one 
 of these oracles, that unless consecrated to Budha the 
 child will die young, consider it useless to contend 
 against fate, and act accordingly. Brought up in idle- 
 ness, without any incentive to exertion, they live prin- 
 cipally by begging, their knowledge seldom extends 
 
50 CHINESE MUSEUM CASE IV. 
 
 beyond reading their prayers without understanding 
 them, and many of those who can afford it are opium 
 smokers. 
 
 Many of the ceremonies of the Budhist religion are 
 similar to those of the Roman Catholics, as was noticed 
 by the early Jesuits, who visited China to convert her 
 to Christianity. They shave the head, practice celib- 
 acy, profess poverty, and live in secluded abodes ; they 
 use the rosary, candles, incense, holy water, bells, im- 
 ages and relics, in their worship ; they believe in pur- 
 gatory, with the possibility of praying souls out of its 
 fires, their prayers are offered up in a strange language, 
 their altar pieces are similar ; and the very titles of 
 their intercessors, such as ' goddess of mercy,' ' holy 
 mother,' and ' queen of Heaven,' with the image of a 
 virgin, having a child in her arms, holding a cross, are 
 the same. 
 
 This religion has at times been encouraged, and at 
 others, its devotees have been persecuted by the gov- 
 ernment. At present, it appears to be left to its own 
 resources by those in authority, except in Thibet, where 
 the Emperor finds it politic in governing the Tartar 
 hordes to respect the religion of the Lamas, which if 
 not Budhism, is closely allied to it. 
 
 The religion of Taou, or sect of Rationalists was 
 founded by Laou-kean, or Laou-tsze a contemporary of 
 Confucius, but the Taou or Reason itself, is said to be 
 uncreated and to have existed from eternity, and its 
 founder to have been an incarnation of it. The doc- 
 tors of Eternal Reason speak of and explain it in a 
 truly transcendental strain. They say — 
 
 " What is there superior to heaven, and from which 
 heaven and earth sprang ? nay, what is there superior 
 to space and which moves in space ? The great Taou 
 is the parent of space, and space is the parent of heaven 
 and earth ; and heaven and earth produced men and 
 things. 
 
CHINESE MUSEUM CASE IV. 51 
 
 "The venerable prince (Taou) arose prior to the 
 great original, standing at the commencement of the 
 mighty wonderful, and floating in the ocean of deep 
 obscurity. He is spontaneous and self-existing, pro- 
 duced before the beginning of emptiness, commencing 
 prior to uncaused existences, pervading all heaven and 
 earth, whose beginning and end no years can circum- 
 scribe. 
 
 " Before heaven and earth were divided, ere the great 
 principles of nature were distinguished, amid the ocean 
 of vast obscurity and universal stillness, there was a 
 spontaneous concretion, out of which came a thousand 
 million particles of primary matter, which produced 
 ' emptiness.' Then, after nine hundred and ninety- 
 nine billions of Kalpas* had passed away, the thousand 
 million particles of primary matter again concreted, 
 and produced ' space :' after another period of equal 
 length, the particles of primary matter again concreted, 
 and produced ' chaos.' After chaos was settled, heaven 
 and earth divided, and human beings were born." 
 
 " The votaries of this sect talk a great deal about 
 virtue, and profess to promote it by abstraction from 
 the world, and the repression of desire. They affect 
 to despise wealth, fame and posterity ; urging, that at 
 death all these distinctions and advantages terminate, 
 and the labor bestowed upon them is thrown away." 
 
 According to their principles, as expressed in the 
 story of Chuang-tsze, the principal disciple of Laou- 
 keun, " riches, and the advantages which they bring, 
 are but a short and agreeable dream ; honors and rep- 
 utation resemble a brilliant cloud, which soon vanishes. 
 The affection of those united by blood and other ties is 
 commonly but a vain appearance ; the most tender 
 friendships may convert themselves into the bitterest 
 strifes. Let us not wear a yoke because it is of gold ; 
 nor bear the burden of chains because they consist of 
 
 * A Kalpa is a Hindoo term for time denoting about one thousand ages. 
 
52 CHINESE MUSEUM CASE IV. 
 
 jewels. Let us purify our minds, moderate our desires, 
 and detach ourselves from worldly affection ; let us 
 above all things preserve ourselves in a state of liberty 
 and joy, which is independent of others." 
 
 Much of their attention is taken up with the study of 
 Alchymy ; and they fancy that by the transmutation of 
 metals, and the combination of various elements, they 
 can produce the philosopher's stone, and the elixir of 
 immortality. Some of them affect to have discovered 
 an antidote against death ; and when the powerful in- 
 gredients of this angelic potion sometimes produce the 
 very effect which they wish to avoid, they say that the 
 victims of their experiments are only gone to ramble 
 among the genii, and enjoy that immortality above, 
 which is not to be found below. Several of the Chinese 
 Emperors, deceived by the fair promises of some of 
 these alchymists, have taken the draught, and paid the 
 penalty. One of them, having procured the elixir at an 
 immense expense, ordered it to be brought before him ; 
 when one of his officers courageously drank off the 
 full contents of the cup, in its way from the com- 
 pounder to the throne ; the enraged autocrat ordered 
 the offender to be put to death ; but he coolly replied, 
 that all their efforts to terminate his existence would be 
 vain; as, having drunk the elixir, his immortality was 
 secure, or, the whole system was founded in error. 
 This opened the Emperor's eyes, the minister was par- 
 doned, and the pretender driven from court. 
 
 The followers of Taou, like the Anthenians of old, are 
 " in all things too superstitious," while the Confucians 
 have scarcely determined whether spirits exist or not, 
 the advocates of eternal reason profess to have constant 
 intercourse with, and control over the demons of the 
 invisible world. Chang-Teen-sze, the principal of the 
 Taeu sect, in China, who, like the Lama of Thibet, is 
 supposed to be immortal, or rather whose place is sup- 
 
CHINESE MUSEUM CASE IV. 53 
 
 plied by a successor as soon as the old one dies, as- 
 sumes an authority over Hades. He appoints and re- 
 moves the deities of various districts, just as the Em- 
 peror does his officers ; and no tutelary divinity can be 
 worshipped, or is supposed capable of protecting his 
 votaries, until the warrant goes forth under the hand 
 and seal of this demon ruler, authorising him to exer- 
 cise his functions in a given region. 
 
 From the power which this individual is supposed to 
 possess, his handwriting is considered efficacious in ex- 
 pelling all noxious influences; and charms written by 
 him are sold at a high price to those afraid of ghostly 
 visits or unlucky accidents. In the absence of these 
 autographs from the prince of the devils, each priest of 
 Taou issues amulets, and large sums of money are 
 realized by the disposal of small scraps of yellow paper, 
 with enigmatical characters upon them. Having in- 
 duced the belief, that this year's imps are not to be 
 terrified by last year's charms, they are particularly 
 busy every new year, in writing out fresh amulets for 
 the people ; who would not rest securely in their hab- 
 itations, unless fully assured that the devil was kept 
 away by these infallible preventatives. 
 
 Death is with them peculiarly unclean ; and when- 
 ever it occurs, brings a number of evil influences into 
 the dwelling, which are only to be expelled by the sac- 
 rifices and prayers of the priest of Taou. This is what 
 they call cleansing the house ; and, as it is attended 
 with some expense, many prefer turning lodgers and 
 strangers in dying circumstances, out of doors, rather 
 than have the house haunted with ghosts for years 
 afterwards. 
 
 As it is necessary to purify houses, so it is important 
 to preserve districts from contagion ; and with this 
 view public sacrifices are offered, to which the inhabit- 
 ants generally subscribe. One of these solemnities is 
 
54 CHINESE MUSEUM CASE IV. 
 
 celebrated on the third day of the third moon, when the 
 votaries of Taou go barefoot over ignited charcoal, by 
 which they fancy that they triumph over the demons 
 they dread, and please the gods they adore. On the 
 anniversary of the birth of the " high emperor of the 
 sombre heavens," they assemble together before the 
 temple of this imaginary being, and having made a 
 great fire, about fifteen or twenty feet in diameter, they 
 go over it barefoot, preceded by the priests and bearing 
 the goods in their arms. The previous ceremonies con- 
 sist of the chanting of prayers, the ringing of bells, the 
 sprinkling of holy water, the blowing of horns, and the 
 brandishing of swords, with which they strike the fire 
 in order to subdue the demon, and then dash through 
 the devouring element. Much earnestness is manifest- 
 ed by those who officiate on these occasions ; and they 
 firmly believe, that if they possess a sincere mind, they 
 will not be injured by the fire: but alas ! their hearts 
 must be very bad, as both priests and people get miser- 
 ably burnt on these occasions. 
 
 The Taou sect worship a variety of idols, some of 
 which are imaginary incarnations of eternal reason ; 
 and others rulers of the invisible world, or presiding 
 divinities of various districts. Among the rest are " the 
 three pure ones," who are first in dignity ; the " pearly 
 emperor and supreme ruler," the " most honorable in 
 Heaven ; the god of the north, the god of fire, with 
 lares, and penates, genii and inferior divinities without 
 number."* This is by far the least popular of the three 
 principal religions. 
 
 In addition to the denominations already mentioned, 
 there are also Jews, Mohamedans and Christians, in 
 China. The former have a synagogue at Kae-fang-foo, 
 the capital of the province of Honan, and are said to 
 have entered the country 200 years before Christ, of 
 
 Medhurst. 
 
CHINESE MUSEUM CASE IV. 55 
 
 whom, when visited by Pere Gozani in 1707, they were 
 ignorant. They are called by the Chinese Tiao-Kin- 
 Kiao (the sect that extracts the sinew.) 
 
 The Mahomedans are a more numerous sect. They 
 first entered China during the seventh century, and are 
 now to be met with in all parts of the country, where 
 they enjoy the same privileges as the rest of the Empe- 
 ror's subjects, and are fully admitted to government 
 offices. They are said to number as many as 3,000 in 
 the city of Canton, where they have a Mosque, which 
 with its lofty pagoda, or minaret, is a conspicuous ob- 
 ject in a view of the city from the river. Unlike their 
 Chinese brethren they disclaim idolatry. 
 
 Christianity, according to the researches of the 
 learned, was early introduced into China ; and Asse- 
 mannus affirms that Thomas, the apostle, having done 
 much for the establishment of the Christian faith in 
 India passed over to a country on the east, called 
 China, where he preached the Gospel, and founded a 
 church in the city of Cambulu (Peking :) after which 
 he returned to Malabar. 
 
 The next intimation of the introduction of Christian- 
 ity into China, is given in the famous marble tablet, 
 which was dug up at Se-gnan-foo in the year 1625. 
 The inscription, in Chinese and Syriac, describes the 
 principal doctrines of the Gospel, and commences by 
 stating the existence of the living and true God, the 
 creation of the world, the fall of man, and the mission 
 of Jesus Christ. It further states, that in A. D. 636, a 
 Nestorian Christian teacher came from Ta-tsin, (the 
 Chinese name for Arabia and India) to China ; and 
 that the Emperor, after examining his doctrines, author- 
 ized the preaching of Christianity among the people. 
 A fac simile of this tablet is to be seen in the library of 
 the Vatican at Rome. 
 
 The Nestorians, according to Moshiem, penetrated 
 
56 CHINESE MUSEUM CASE IV. 
 
 into China about the end of the seventh century, and 
 established several churches. In the time of Genghis- 
 Khan, they were scattered over Tartary where they 
 nourished till the beginning of the fifteenth century, 
 when they were probably nearly exterminated by the 
 celebrated Tartar conquerer, Timur or Tamerlane, a 
 staunch Mahomedan and sworn enemy to all Infidels, 
 whose head was adorned with twenty-seven crowns, the 
 spoils of conquered kings ; and who aspired to the do- 
 minion of the world. 
 
 The Roman Catholics first entered China in the latter 
 part of the thirteenth century, and during the next hun- 
 dred years had a fine opportunity of propagating their 
 religion, but quarrelling with the Nestorians, it is sup- 
 posed they made but few converts, and were persecuted 
 and expelled in common with the latter by the Mahom- 
 edans. 
 
 The empire appears to have been neglected by the 
 Christian world, from this period until the middle of 
 the sixteenth century, when the Jesuits first made their 
 appearance. Our limits will not admit of a detailed 
 history of their success. From that period to the pres- 
 ent they have at times been in high favor at court, 
 counting their converts by hundreds of thousands, some 
 of them, the powerful of the land, and even members of 
 the imperial family, and at others, they have been per- 
 secuted unto death. These persecutions were brought 
 upon them in some instances by the Budhists and Taou- 
 ists, and in others, by their own zeal bringing them in 
 contact with the doctrines of the deified Koong-foo- 
 tsze ; but the expulsion of the Catholics from the inte- 
 rior of the empire is mainly attributable to disputes 
 arising amongst the different orders of Jesuits, Domin- 
 icians, &c. They are still prohibited from entering 
 the Celestial Empire, or disseminating their doctrines 
 amongst the Chinese, and in 1820, a French mission- 
 
CHINESE MUSEUM CASE IV. 57 
 
 ary was strangled in the province of Hoopih, by order 
 of the government. Notwithstanding the risk they run 
 they continue to labor secretly for the maintenance of 
 the Romish religion in China, and have missionaries 
 and Catholic communities in many of the provinces, 
 and even in Peking they are said to number 26,000 
 members under the care of two French priests. Among 
 the Catholic missionaries, many have proved themselves 
 men of great zeal, splendid talents, and finished schol- 
 ars, and have rendered the Empire good service as 
 astronomers and engineers. 
 
 The first Protestant missionary to China, was Dr. 
 Morrison, who was sent out by the London Missionary 
 Society, and arrived in China in 1807, where he re- 
 mained till his death. He succeeded in translating the 
 scriptures into Chinese, wrote several minor works on 
 the language, and formed a copious Chinese and En- 
 glish dictionary. The English and American Mission- 
 aries, who have gone out since, have added to the 
 foundation commenced by Morrison, and the works of 
 Medhurst, Bridgman, Williams, and others, are valua- 
 ble aids to the student. We believe that thus far, no 
 Protestant missionary has penetrated into the interior ; 
 but confined as they are to the borders of the Empire, 
 they have been diligent in founding schools, hospitals, 
 and printing presses, and in publishing and dissemi- 
 nating the gospel and tracts among its myriads of idol- 
 aters. Their works are sent into the interior by every 
 opportunity, and in this respect, the hospitals are of 
 great assistance, as many of the patients, hearing of the 
 wonderful cures performed by Dr. Parker, at Canton, 
 and the medical missionaries at other places, come from 
 a great distance for relief, and the wants of the soul and 
 body are administered to at the same time 
 
 The coffin seen here, which may seem to the visitor 
 to be very large, is one rather under the ordinary size. 
 
58 CHINESE MUSEUM CASE IV. 
 
 Some of them are made of immense slabs of sandal, or 
 other foreign odoriferous wood, and cost large sums. 
 It is said that Houqua's coffin cost one thousand dol- 
 lars, and that it is not unusual for the rich to pay this 
 price. In these large boxes, made air tight with chu- 
 nam and varnished inside and out, the remains of the 
 wealthy are often kept above ground many years, 
 awaiting the decision of the geomancers, concerning 
 the fortunate day and place of interment, which is sup- 
 posed to have a great influence upon the future for- 
 tunes of the family. Water and white ants are the two 
 tilings principally to be avoided in the selection of a 
 place of burial ; and as the Chinese do not allow inter- 
 ments in cities and villages, the burial grounds gener- 
 ally occupies barren hills, which are covered with tombs 
 similar to the one seen here. All of them are in the 
 exact form of the Greek />, (omega) and, as Davis re- 
 marks, if taken in the sense of" the end," it is an odd 
 accidental coincidence. To perform " the rites at the 
 hills" is synonymous with " the tombs in Chinese," so 
 universally are elevated spots of ground, selected for 
 cemeteries. 
 
 According to the Chinese Repository, u when a 
 Chinese is at the point of death, his friends put a piece 
 of silver to his mouth, and carefully cover his nose and 
 ears, superstitious practises calculated to aggravate his 
 disease and hasten his death. Scarcely is he dead, 
 when they make a hole in the top of the house, in or- 
 der to allow the spirits which have escaped from his 
 body, greater facility of exit, and then hasten to bring 
 the priests to commence their prayers. When they 
 come, they at first set up the tablet of the departed 
 soul by the side of the coffin, at the foot of which is a 
 table loaded with meat, lamps, and perfumes. All those 
 who come to condole with the mourners, and to assist 
 at the funeral, enter the hall where the corpse is placed 
 
CHINESE MUSEUM CASE IV. 59 
 
 and prostrate themselves before the table. Out of the 
 house, suspended upon bamboos, numerous burning 
 papers upon which figures are traced, are seen flutter- 
 ing in the breeze. While the priests are reciting their 
 prayers, (which is generally during several days,) beating 
 time as they say them, none of the viands are eaten. 
 The priests from time to time, call upon all to weep, 
 and thereupon relatives and visitors approach the 
 corpse, and nothing is heard but sobs and groans. 
 Amid these preliminaries to the funeral repast, if a new 
 comer arrives, and proceeds to weep over the corpse, 
 all the rest must join with him. Meantime, the priests, 
 by force of their prayers make a breach in the nether 
 world, for the escape of the departed spirit. It always 
 goes there on leaving the body, and they know in what 
 part of Tartarus it is detained, and what it suffers. 
 The soul, when once out of hell, has to pass over a 
 bridge, built across a river of blood, filled with ser- 
 pents, and other venomous creatures. This passage is 
 dangerous, because that upon the bridge there are dev- 
 ils lying in wait to throw it into the accursed stream. 
 But at length the soul passes over, and the priests give 
 it a letter of recommendation to one of the ministers of 
 Budha, who will procure it a reception into the west- 
 ern heavens. According to the doctrine of the priests, 
 every man has three souls; the first comes to live in 
 the body in some of the forms of transmigration ; the 
 second goes to Hades; and the third resides in the tab- 
 let, which has been prepared for it." 
 
 On the expiration of twenty-one days the funeral 
 procession generally takes place, the tablet being con- 
 veyed in a gilded sedan, or pavilion, with incense and 
 offerings before it, and accompanied by music resem- 
 bling the Scottish bag-pipe, with the continual repeti- 
 tion of three successive strokes on a sort of drum. 
 The relations of both sexes follow, clad in such suits of 
 
60 CHINESE MUSEUM CASE IV. 
 
 coarse, brown grass cloth, and strips of the same mate- 
 rial, as are seen in this case. The coffin is carried by 
 four men, or oftener by eight on account of its weight, 
 and is preceded by one or two who go before the pro- 
 cession, and throw pieces of paper in the road, to pur- 
 chase a free passage for the corpse, for fear that it 
 should be stopped by spirits. When they reach the place 
 of sepulture, which has been inspected and pronounced 
 good, they bury the dead under a discharge of rockets 
 and crackers. " After the interment, the tablet of the 
 deceased is brought back in procession, and, if the 
 family be rich, it is placed in the hall of ancestors ; if 
 poor in some part of the house, with incense before it." 
 In any case a feast is made in memory and honor of the 
 deceased, at which everybody is admitted, and if the 
 family are in easy circumstances, it is a good windfall 
 to the poor of the neighborhood who all assemble on 
 the occasion. " The original and strict period of 
 mourning (according to the ritual) is three years for a 
 parent, but this is commonly reduced in practice to 
 thrice nine, or twenty-seven months, during which an 
 officer of the highest rank must retire to his house, 
 unless under a particular dispensation from the Empe- 
 ror. The full period of three years must elapse before 
 children can marry subsequent to the death of their 
 parents. During the period of mourning, the orna- 
 mental ball, denoting rank, is taken from the cap, as 
 well as the tuft of crimson silk which falls over the 
 latter. As the Chinese shave their heads, the neglect 
 and desolation of mourning are indicated by letting the 
 hair grow ; for the same reason that some nations, who 
 wear their hair long, shave it during that period. On 
 the death of the Emperor, the same observances are 
 kept, by his hundreds of millions of subjects, as on the 
 death of the parents of each individual ; the whole Em- 
 pire remains unshaven for the space of one hundred 
 
CHINESE MUSEUM CASE V. 61 
 
 days, while the period of mourning apparel lasts longer 
 and all officers of government take the ball and crimson 
 silk from their caps. 
 
 CASE V. 
 
 Chinaman smoking opium. 
 Lady ; wife of the former. 
 Female attendant with tea. 
 Couch, tables, chairs, tea poys, book case, &c, made of 
 bamboo. Paintings on the ivall. Lanterns suspended 
 from the ceiling. Door screen embroidered with gold. 
 
 The room in which these figures are placed is en- 
 closed with a species of bamboo work, of a light and 
 tasty fashion, much admired by the Chinese, who con- 
 struct entire houses in this manner to ornament their 
 grounds, and as cool retreats to retire to in the heat of 
 summer. The furniture is made entirely of bamboo, as 
 well as the frames of the lanterns, and serve to exhibit 
 some of the innumerable uses to which this plant is ap- 
 plied in China, and the ingenuity and taste displayed in 
 its manufacture. 
 
 The male figure here represents a person in easy 
 circumstances, who is somewhat advanced in this slavish 
 habit, reclining upon a couch with the pipe to his mouth ; 
 and a tray, containing the prepared opium in a small 
 porcelain box, the opium lamp with its peculiar glass 
 shade, and the small implements necessary to apply the 
 opium to the pipe and to clean the latter when requi- 
 site. The posture in which this figure is seen is that in 
 which all opium smokers indulge, and the pipe from its 
 peculiar construction is confined entirely to opium 
 
62 CHINESE MUSEUM CASE V. 
 
 smoking. A person never having seen this instrument 
 used would be puzzled to know how to apply the opium ; 
 it is as follows : — a quantity of the prepared opium, 
 (which looks like very thick molasses) about the size of 
 a small pea, is taken upon the point of a steel instru- 
 ment and held over the flame of a lamp, where it is 
 kept turning during a few seconds, it is then applied to 
 the small aperture in the top of the large earthern bowl 
 of the pipe to which it attaches itself and the point of 
 the instrument, after being pushed into the hole and 
 turned round to detach it from the opium, is drawn out. 
 It is now ready for smoking, and the person pressing 
 the end of the thick stem of the pipe against the par- 
 tially opened lips, and holding the opium on the bowl 
 over the light, inspires deeply ; the smoke passes into 
 the lungs and being retained as long as the person can 
 hold his breath comfortably, is respired in a dense white 
 cloud through the nostrils. After a few whirls a new 
 supply of opium is necessary. 
 
 The wife of the opium smoker is here seated near 
 him upon the couch with the tobacco pipe in her hand, 
 and is about taking a cup of tea. Some of the daugh- 
 ters of Han are said to be addicted to the use of opium 
 as well as the sons ; but the proportion of the former to 
 the latter is probably as that of females with us who 
 drink ardent spirits compared to the males. 
 
 The female servant in this case varies but little from 
 those in the cases already described. 
 
 The bamboo (Bambusa arundinacca) is indigenous 
 in all the southern countries of Asia, in the greater 
 part of China, and in the West Indies. By long culti- 
 vation and care, it has become sufficiently hardy to 
 grow as far north as Peking, which is in nearly the 
 same parallel with New York. The bamboo is called 
 by the Chinese " Cfuih" and the long period during 
 which they have cultivated it, and the desire to pro- 
 
CHINESE MUSEUM CASE V. 63 
 
 cure new and singular kinds for the gardens of the 
 wealthy, have produced many varieties. A Chinese 
 botanist, in treating on this plant, observed in the be- 
 ginning of his book, that he could not undertake so 
 much as to name all the varieties, and would therefore 
 confine himself to a consideration of sixty-three of the 
 principal ! 
 
 11 The usual height of the bamboo is between 40 and 
 50 feet, but they sometimes reach 60 or 70. The 
 diameter varies from that of a pipe stem to seven and 
 eight inches. The color of the outside is not always 
 yellow, but has been made to vary into chestnut, black, 
 &:c. The black bamboo is a favorite in the parterres 
 and gardens of the rich. The process by which the 
 color has been changed, from its natural yellow to a 
 black, is unknown, except in China. 
 
 " The bamboo is so useful to the Chinese and their 
 partiality for it is so great, that it may justly be called 
 their national plant. The many purposes to which 
 they apply it are truly surprising. They press it into 
 use on the water and on the land. In literature and 
 confectionary ; as well as in navigation and clothing, 
 ti s useful plant is found necessary. Its services are 
 required in building the house and clothing its inmates; 
 and it is indispensable in the school-room and the police 
 office. To the agriculturist, the carpenter, and the 
 seaman, this plant serves many useful purposes. The 
 young and tender shoots of the bamboo are used as a 
 vegetable for the table in different ways ; if cut as soon 
 as they appear above the ground, they are almost as 
 tender and delicate as asparagus. They are white and 
 palatable, and when in this state are used as pickles, 
 as greens, as a sweetmeat, and as a medicine. The 
 fondness for these young shoots is so general, that they 
 are made articles of commerce, and are sent to the 
 capital and all parts of the empire. They often form a 
 
64 CHINESE MUSEUM CASE V. 
 
 part in the feasts of the rich, they constitute an im- 
 portant article of diet for the priests, and all classes use 
 the pickle as a relish with rice and other vegetable 
 dishes. 
 
 " The manufacture of paper consumes great quanti- 
 ties of this plant, but the paper made from it is unfit for 
 writing upon with a pen and is of a yellow color. 
 
 " The roots of the bamboo are employed by the 
 Chinese in making grotesque imnges ; the gnarled and 
 crooked pieces, are wrought, with the aid of a little 
 fancy, into the shapes of men, animals, &c. The di- 
 visions of the joints being taken out, the tube forms 
 excellent water pipes, defended from injury if laid under 
 ground, by the hard exterior. Those which are very 
 straight have been used for astronomical instruments. 
 Vessels for holding water, buckets and measures of ca- 
 pacity, are made of those joints which are of sufficient 
 diameter. A large hollow piece is tied to the backs of 
 children living in boats, which buoys them up till aid 
 arrives, if they chance to fall overboard. The light- 
 ness of the bamboo compared with its length and di- 
 ameter, fits it admirably for tracking poles, for sup- 
 porters of the mat sails of the Chinese, for roofs, and 
 for poles on which to carry burdens. A frame of four 
 bamboos is made, which the Chinese sailors use as a 
 life preserver at sea. 
 
 u The manufacture of chairs, stools, tables and boxes 
 from the bamboo gives employment to many laborers. 
 Fences are usually constructed of it, and the minor 
 uses of the poles are almost innumerable. Mats of dif- 
 ferent degrees of fineness are manufactured from the 
 long internodes. A cheap covering for boats, houses 
 and sheds is made of the wide slips of this plant. Hopes 
 are also made from the small twigs, but they are not 
 adapted to long use. The simple instruments of the 
 farmer are made from the bamboo and the leaves are 
 
CHINESE MUSEUM CASE V . 65 
 
 used to thatch the houses of the poor, manure the soil, 
 line the chests of tea and by sewing them together in 
 one direction, a rain cloak is made, oft' which the water 
 runs as from a roof. Hats and umbrellas are made of 
 bamboo to a great amount. Lampwicks are made of 
 the pith of the young plants, which are, however, ill 
 adapted to that use. The handles of the writing pen- 
 cils, arrows, pikes and spears, and also scaffolds and 
 baskets are formed of different parts. In ancient times, 
 before the discovery of paper, the large bamboos were 
 split and flattened by means of water and heat, and the 
 sides attached to each other by wires ; in this state, 
 they were used instead of scrolls and books. The cuti- 
 cle is of sufficient hardness to produce fire by friction. 
 Much skill and taste is shown in its manufacture into 
 fans, which are an indispensable article to every Chi- 
 nese ; and the work sometimes bestowed upon a single 
 one is sufficient to give employment to a laborer for 
 weeks. The tubes of tobacco pipes are almost univer- 
 sally made of the bamboo ; as are also a great portion 
 of the walking canes which are exported to western 
 countries. Finally, the bamboo is used by the govern- 
 ment of China as one of the most efficient means of 
 maintaining order and enforcing obedience. It is ap- 
 plied to the backs of offenders in cases of small delin- 
 quency, and different sizes of the plants are adapted to 
 the several grades of crime." 
 
 According to the Chinese Repository, " the use of 
 opium can be traced to an earlier date than that of 
 alcohol, which has been known as an intoxicating drink 
 for upwards of nine hundred years. The Grecians ap- 
 pear to have been acquainted with the soporific powers 
 of opium ; and as a medicine it has been employed for 
 many centuries by all civilized countries. It was in- 
 troduced into the Materia Medica, more than two hun- 
 dred years before the Christian era." 
 
66 CHINESE MUSEUM CASEV. 
 
 The operation of opium upon the constitution, greatly 
 depends, like that of alcohol, upon the quantity and 
 frequency of its being administered ; the age, tempera- 
 ment, and habits of the individual, and the climate of 
 the country in which he resides. Men of strong consti- 
 tutions using the drug in moderation, like a similar class 
 amongst us who indulge in strong drink may enjoy 
 health and attain a good old age, but the number of 
 such cases in the aggregate is small, and amongst the 
 mass, when the excitement obtained by the use of a 
 little begins to diminish, the dose is imperceptibly in- 
 creased until the victims, to whose comfort it has be- 
 come essential, finding their resolutions too weak to 
 overcome the habit, shut their eyes to the future, and 
 stifling their bitter reflections with the opium pipe, 
 rush headlong to deeper misery and eventual destruc- 
 tion. 
 
 " A disposition to smoke this fascinating drug com- 
 mences frequently in early life, particularly when the 
 person has friends addicted to the practice. He is in- 
 duced, at the onset, to try it from curiosity or persua- 
 sion, or because it is fashionable. At first he smokes 
 very seldom, and perhaps not more than two or three 
 pipes at a time. Gradually, either from a false taste 
 being acquired, or a desire for a renewal of the pleas- 
 ure it imparts, the pipe becomes a more frequent com- 
 panion, and generally in the course of a year or two it 
 is in daily use. The quantity of extract at first smoked 
 may be about five or six grains, which is equal to three 
 or four pipes. Very soon this is increased to twelve 
 grains a day, six at night and six in the morning. By 
 and by it is increased to eighteen ; and from that to 
 twenty-five and thirty; and if circumstances permit, 
 and the appetite for it is strong, it is gradually increased 
 to from sixty to one hundred and twenty grains, which 
 is about the average amount; for though the greater 
 
CHINESE MUSEUM CASE V. 67 
 
 number use less, many cases have been known of from 
 two hundred to four hundred and sixty grains being 
 smoked daily." 
 
 A more seductive luxury than opium cannot exist. 
 It does not intoxicate, as is generally supposed, raising 
 the animal spirits to a high pitch, like fermented liquors, 
 for a short time, and then leaving the individual in a 
 proportionably depressed state ; but on the contrary, it 
 is asserted by Chinese smokers, supported by the con- 
 fessions of De Quincy, the English opium eater, and » 
 others, that its effects never approach intoxication, that 
 it calms the feelings, and imparts a sense of inexpres- 
 sible, quiet enjoyment, which is kept up for hours, and 
 to renew which, and not to escape from a depressed 
 stage, which never follows its pleasant effects, the pipe 
 is appealed to again. Its narcotic properties begin to 
 appear as soon as the others diminish, and after passing 
 the hours of the night in quiet slumber, accompanied 
 by the most delightful dreams, the person rises in the 
 morning as refreshed and vigorous as if no opium had 
 been used. These are its effects for several years, 
 during which the habit becomes fixed and the dose is 
 increased, in proportion as its effect upon the system 
 diminishes, until a reaction gradually takes place. The 
 enjoyment, which has been on the decrease for some 
 time, now ceases entirely, the whole system has become 
 deranged, the members of the body refuse to perform 
 their functions without the aid of opium, and the poor 
 victim finds himself too late, a slave to the drug, which 
 he is now obliged to use to escape the most terrible and 
 indescribable tortures both of body and mind. 
 
 The late Emperor, Keaking, early perceived the 
 danger to which his subjects were exposed, and in 
 1796 interdicted the introduction of opium by a law, 
 making those found guilty of smuggling and selling it 
 liable to banishment and death, and the smokers subject 
 
68 CHINESE MUSEUM CASE V. 
 
 to the bamboo and cangue. This law, as amended by 
 Taou-Kwang, was made still more rigorous, and Man- 
 darins and their subordinates infringing it, were decreed 
 to suffer one degree more severely than private indi- 
 viduals. 
 
 But all the efforts of the Emperor to stop the progress 
 of the drug were unavailing against the enormous bribes 
 the smugglers could afford to pay ; and the profits of 
 the trade were known to be so great, that the fast sail- 
 , ing boats, kept filled with men and arms by the govern- 
 ment, for the suppression of the traffic, were used in 
 many instances by the Mandarins having charge of 
 them as a means of monopolizing it. 
 
 The Emperor, exasperated on finding himself foiled 
 in his laudable endeavors to stop the growing evil, and 
 determined to leave no means untried to arrest it. sent 
 Lin, an officer in whom he could confide, to Canton, 
 invested with extraordinary powers to carry out his 
 measures. He arrived in Canton, in March, 1839, and 
 by stopping all trade, and threatening, and forcibly de- 
 taining the foreigners residing at Canton, together with 
 the British superintendent of trade, Capt. Elliot, who 
 went up there to get his countrymen released, he 
 compelled the surrender of all the opium then in port, 
 amounting to 20,283 chests, which he destroyed at the 
 Bogue (mouth of Canton river,) in June, according to 
 the Emperor's orders. 
 
 After the delivery of the opium, the foreigners were 
 obliged to give a bond not to engage in the opium 
 trade in future, sixteen of their number were banished, 
 by an edict, from the Celestial Empire ; the opium 
 vessels were ordered to leave the Chinese waters, and 
 the regular traders to enter the port or leave also. The 
 opium trade being continued on the coast, the English 
 felt insecure, and refusing to enter the port as required, 
 Lin, by a course of severe measures, undertook to drive 
 
CHINESE MUSEUM CASE V. 69 
 
 them from his master's dominions. This brought on the 
 war, during which the Son of Heaven issued repeated 
 orders for " the extermination of the rebellious Eng- 
 lish ;" for rebellious tributaries they were considered 
 by the Chinese, having sent tribute (as the presents of 
 Lords MacCartney and Amherst were called) to the 
 Imperial Court. But "the rebellious English" were 
 not much alarmed, and collecting a force upon the 
 coast of China, they destroyed or dispersed the redoubt- 
 able army and navy of the Emperor wherever they met 
 them. In fact the Chinese appear at first to have been 
 entirely unprepared, except at the south, to show any 
 effectual resistance to the attack of Europeans, and the 
 whole of their defences seem to have been incapable of 
 arresting the progress of a mere handful of British 
 soldiers. 
 
 For about three years they measured their strength, 
 without avail, against European arms and discipline, 
 and several times, when the English humanely consent- 
 ed to treat, the Chinese, who, it afterwards appeared, 
 only wished to gain time, violated their agreements ; 
 until, becoming wearied with the bad faith of the Chi- 
 nese high officers, the English took the City of Canton, 
 (which was immediately ransomed for $6,000,000 and 
 some other considerations,) and sending an expedition 
 to the north took several important cities on the coast, 
 entered the Yang-tsz-kiang (Child of the Ocean) took 
 Shanghai, and proceeding up the river to the city of 
 Chinkiang took possession of that place and blockaded 
 the Imperial Canal. Continuing onwards, they soon 
 appeared before the walls of Nanking, the ancient cap- 
 ital of the Empire, and were ready to attack that city 
 when the imperial commissioners, Keying and Ilipu 
 sued for peace, and after several friendly conferences 
 with the English plenipotentiary, Sir Henry Pottinger, 
 a treaty of peace was formally signed on the 29th of 
 
70 CHINESE MUSEUM CASE VI. 
 
 August, 1842, by which the Chinese agreed to pay 
 $21,000,000 indemnity, for the expenses of the English 
 during the war, to open the ports of Slanghai, Ningpo, 
 Fuchau, and Amoy, to all nations, and to cede the 
 island of Hong Kong to great Britain 
 
 Thus was the war between China and Great Britain 
 ended, which began by the determined means pursued 
 by the Emperor to put a stop to the opium trade in his 
 dominions. The result has proved that he is powerless 
 in this respect ; and since the English government vir- 
 tually refuse to put an end to the evil, by continuing 
 the growth of opium in their East India possessions for 
 the China market, the cure can only be effected by 
 some great moral action amongst the Chinese people 
 similar to that of the temperance cause in our own 
 country and others 
 
 CASE VI. 
 
 Chinese Singing Case; such as are seen in the business 
 streets of the cities during the season of thanksgiving 
 to the gods of the elements, iveallh, &-c.,for their pro- 
 tection and assistance during the previous year. The 
 figures, $*c, on the pannels are all beautifully made of 
 various colored silk crapes, worked in relief 
 
 In the autumn of every year, the shopkeepers in each 
 of the streets of Canton, subscribe according to their 
 means to illuminate and otherwise adorn their respec- 
 tive streets, as a means of propitiating the gods and 
 thanking them for protecting their houses and prop- 
 erty from the ravages of the elements and prospering 
 their business during the preceding year. Interspersed 
 
CHINESE MUSEUM CASE VII. 71 
 
 among glass chandeliers, which are suspended overhead 
 in the centre of the streets, are groups of small figures 
 representing scenes in Chinese plays, and at intervals 
 are hollow pyramids, resting upon the houses on each 
 side of the way, their interiors covered with thin look- 
 ing glass and foils of various colors, which reflect the 
 light from hundreds of tapers suspended within, and 
 present to the spectators below, a gorgeous and daz- 
 zling appearance. Here and there along the sides of 
 the streets, cases like the one seen here, are fitted 
 up in the entrances to crossways, in vacant places, or 
 shops, in which musicians and singers contribute their 
 part to the entertainment. These illuminations are 
 kept up during several nights in a street, according to 
 the amount subscribed by the residents, and are then 
 transferred to another. 
 
 CASE VII. 
 
 Merchant. 
 
 Parsee purchaser, in the peculiar dress of his countrymen. 
 
 Clerk. 
 
 Coolie, setting the table. 
 
 Beggar soliciting charitr. 
 
 This case is a facsimile of a handsome mercantile 
 establishment in the city of Canton, where such large 
 and beautiful frames, as the one over the shelves at 
 the back of the case, paintings of Jos', incense vessels, 
 &x., are only seen in the large stores and hongs ; but 
 the shrine to the god of wealth at the door and some 
 representation of a deity inside are met with in the 
 smallest establishments. 
 
 The merchant seated beh'.nd his counter with his 
 
72 CHINESE MUSEUM CASE VII. 
 
 " Soong-poon" or counting board beside him, entering 
 the orders given by the Parsee; the clerk about taking 
 down a piece of goods pointed out by the purchaser ; 
 the coolie preparing a meal in the front part of the 
 store, as is customary in Chinese shops ; and the beg- 
 gar at the door in the act of beating a small gong to 
 call attention to his needy situation, completes a scene, 
 many counterparts of which, are daily met with at 
 Canton. 
 
 The Chinese are good merchants. They are sys- 
 tematic, obliging to customers, and indefatigable in the 
 pursuit of money. The word of the large dealers is 
 entirely to be depended upon, and the Hong merchants 
 are noted for their honor in mercantile transactions. 
 So much cannot be said of the generality of small 
 traders, with whom foreigners come in contact, who 
 are as great rogues as can be found anywhere, and 
 most of them will ask four or five times as much for 
 an article as they expect to get, and by their well 
 feigned surprise if an attempt is made to beat them 
 down often impose upon strangers. The English lan- 
 guage is most barbarously used in China, and conver- 
 sations like the following daily take place in old and 
 new China streets, which are near the factories, or 
 foreign residences, and are filled with small shops which 
 depend upon foreigners for support. A person saun- 
 tering along one of these thoroughfares, is accosted by 
 some shopkeeper on the lookout, with " chin chin! wan- 
 chy some litteij chow chow ting to-day ?" If an undecided 
 answer is given, this question is followed by, " walk in 
 take dies gentlemen." At the same time receding into 
 the shop ; where, if he is followed, he continues: "jus 
 now wat ting wanchy?" The person, if he understands 
 the language, perhaps answers, " no sabby true. Can 
 see, can sabby," and begins looking about. While 
 he is doing this, the shopkeeper is not idle. " You 
 
CHINESE MUSEUM CASE VII. 73 
 
 missy wat name ?" " My name is Jones." " Au ! Missy 
 Yones! My tinkey you lib Missy Wetmau house. 1 '' " No ! 
 I live Suey hong number two." " Au! you lib Missy 
 Faults house. My sobby he vclly ploppcr ; Missy Fauks 
 my number one good fiend, hab gib my ple-enty pidgeon. 
 My tinkey you Olo Canton Missy Yones." "Yes: have 
 come Canton side one time before." " Juts noio hub got 
 noos?" " No. What's the price of this fan ?" "Au! 
 dat hab number one Nankin ting ; two dollar plum cashy 
 hab true price." " I'll give you half a dollar." "Half 
 dollar! Hy-yah! how can? Maskee one dollar hqf." 
 " No. I won't give you but half a dollar." "Hy-yah! 
 numbar one ting hqf dollar ! no ca-an ! maskee one dol- 
 lar." " No. Half dollar." "Jus-now-no-can-Ketchy 
 any-plofit ! Maskee ! hab litty pidgeon, hqf dollar can 
 do: no ye ivanchy chesamanf hab got numbar one." 
 " No. Here take pay for the fan out of this dollar." 
 "Hy-yah! dis hab Kow chin! mus loosy too muchy, no 
 got chop dolla f" " No. S'pose no can take that, can 
 keep the fan." "Maskee! bumby spose ivanchy Ketchy 
 cargo pidgeon, my chin chinny you too muchy take care 
 my." And the universal chin chin accompanies the de- 
 parture of the visitor. 
 
 The Spanish or Portuguese word "sa-be," or the 
 French " savez," is used instead of the English words 
 know and understand ; and maskee, for no matter, or I 
 don't care. Pidgeon, is the common Chinese pronun- 
 ciation of business ; but those who try to speak cor- 
 rectly call it pidgeoness. " Hy-yah," is the Chinese ex- 
 clamation of surprise, and chin chin, means good morn- 
 ing, how do you do ? thank you, &c. The other words 
 will probably be recognized. The Chinese have a 
 whimsical preference for some Spanish dollars over 
 others. They divide them into old head, new head, and 
 Kowchin, dollars. The first bear the head of Carolus, 
 with the stamp of some particular mint and always com- 
 
74 CHINESE MUSEUM CASE VII. 
 
 mand a premium, while new head?, (just like the others 
 except the mint stamps,) and Kowchin, (those bearing 
 the head of Ferdinand,) together with North and South 
 American dollars are at a considerable discount. 
 
 The Parsees are those descendants of the ancient 
 Guebers or worshippers of fire, who, driven out of Persia 
 on account of their religion, by the usurper Caliph 
 Omar, sought refuge in Hindostan. After the English 
 obtained possession of Bombay, many Parsees came to 
 that place, and thence went to Calcutta, Madras, China, 
 &c. The religion of the Parsees is called Muzdyesne, 
 or Yezdaprust, meaning worshiper of God. By for- 
 eigners it has been contracted and called Magi. They 
 worship one supreme being, whom they call the eter- 
 nal spirit, or Yerd. The sun, moon, and planets they 
 believe to be peopled with rational beings, acknowledge 
 light as the primitive cause of good, darkness as that of 
 evil, and worship fire, (as it is said,) from which they 
 have received their name. But they themselves say, 
 that they do not worship fire, but only find in it an 
 image of the incomprehensible God, on which account 
 they offer up their prayers before a fire, and maintain 
 one uninterruptedly burning on holy places, which their 
 prophet Zoroaster (so called by the Greeks, meaning 
 the living star,) they say, kindled thousands of years 
 ago. Their religion requires them to say their prayers 
 five times a day. They do not allow other sects to 
 join them and are strict in their observances. If any 
 culinary vessel be touched by one of another caste, it 
 must be thrice washed to purify it ; and if it chance to 
 be a mineral substance it can never again be consid- 
 ered pure. Their laws do not admit of polygamy and 
 are peculiar in the disposal of the dead, who are not 
 buried but exposed, in large buildings made for the 
 purpose without roofs, to be devoured by vultures and 
 other ravenous birds. The number of the followers of 
 Zoroaster in Persia is supposed to be 200,000. The 
 
CHINESE MUSEUM CASE VII. 75 
 
 number in India is about 50,000. Almost all those re- 
 siding under the British government are merchants, or 
 servants of merchants. There are no tailofs, barbers, 
 &c, among them, and they are dependent upon others 
 for the production of almost all the necessaries of life. 
 The few in China are principally natives of Bombay, 
 and like most of the other foreigners, look forward to 
 the accumulation of a competency to return home with. 
 
 Chinese merchants live in their stores and visit their 
 families, who reside in a private part of the town, daily 
 or weekly as business will admit. They generally eat but 
 two meals a day. One about 10, A. M., and the other 
 about 5, P. M. At each of which it is calculated one 
 person eats about two thirds of a pound of rice, but as 
 there is a little variety upon the table, consisting of 
 cakes and sweetmeats, the two meals cost the same as 
 the three eaten by mechanics; that is ten cents per diem 
 for each individual. The table, dishes, &c, which the 
 coolie is setting out, are such as are commonly used. It 
 will probably be noticed, that there is nothing upon the 
 table resembling knives and forks. These are not 
 used by the Chinese at table. The little sticks, at the 
 sides of the bowls, called chop sticks, are used instead, 
 and the facility with which they shovel rice into their 
 mouths, and fish small pieces of meat, &c, out of their 
 stews with them, is truly astonishing. 
 
 The number of beggars at Macao and Canton, and 
 their pitiable condition, arrests the attention of every 
 new comer. It is said that they congregate at these 
 places from all parts of the country, and that at Canton 
 the number of the most wretched class exceeds 5,000. 
 The blind are very numerous and generally go about in 
 parties. They enter a store wherever they hear the 
 voice of a purchaser and set up such a horrid noise 
 with their small gongs, bamboos, and mournful singing 
 that the shopkeepers are generally glad to give them 
 the customary sum of one cash to get rid of them and 
 
76 CHINESE MUSEUM CASE VIII. 
 
 the vermin with which they are covered. Cutaneous 
 affections are very common amongst the Chinese, who 
 appear to be ignorant of the efficacy in such cases of 
 sulphur, and other simple remedies. But the most pit- 
 iable objects are those afflicted with leprosy, which the 
 Chinese consider incurable and contagious, and a per- 
 son found to have it is immediately deserted by his 
 friends and relations. This disease appears to be con- 
 fined to the southwestern provinces, and is supposed to 
 be owing to the humidity of the atmosphere. In Can- 
 ton there is a government lazar house, appropriated to 
 lepers, and in addition a part of the city is appropriated 
 to them, but the poorest are allowed to roam about the 
 streets to the great annoyance of shopkeepers and 
 passers by, from whom they solicit alms. 
 
 CASE VIII. 
 
 Lady, ivife of a wealthy Chinaman. 
 
 Young lady, friend of the former, preparing to smoke. 
 
 Handmaid playing upon the "Pei-pa," a species of guitar. 
 
 Maidservant lighting the young ladifs pipe. 
 
 Small boy, son of the first lady. 
 
 do. younger son of the first lady. 
 
 A large and beautiful Screen made of paintings on glass ; 
 chairs and tables made of king wood with variegated 
 marble tops, superbly embroidered door screen, vase 
 containing a peacock feather fan of 2,00 eyes, fruit up- 
 on the table, scrolls on the ivall, lanterns suspended 
 from the ceiling, &c. &c. 
 
 This case, or rather room, is a perfect facsimile of 
 an apartment in a wealthy Chinaman's dwelling. The 
 
CHINESE MUSEUM CASE VIII. 77 
 
 richly carved, painted and gilded work, of which it is 
 formed, together with the furniture within are in pecu- 
 liar Chinese taste, and entirely the productions of the 
 Celestial Empire. 
 
 Here the visitor is introduced into a Chinaman's 
 sanctum sanctorum ; the female apartments, where 
 Asiatic jealousy will not allow his most intimate friends 
 to enter; nay, the door is even closed against his own 
 father, and undutiful sons sometimes flee to the " fra- 
 grant apartments" for protection against the wrath of 
 an offended parent. 
 
 The mother is playing with her children, the eldest 
 of whom is threatening to throw a lichi at the visitor, 
 whilst the youngest is trying to get a peach, held, inad- 
 vertently by the mother, too high for his little hands to 
 reach. This is one of the most life-like scenes in the 
 collection. The countenance of the principal figure 
 bears the indescribable expression of a mother strongly 
 impressed upon it, and the children with their little 
 heads shaved, leaving only two small tufts of hair done 
 up in a fanciful manner on each side, are also true to 
 the life ; they are both boys, which are the pride of a 
 Chinaman's heart, for they will perpetuate the family 
 name, may become great men in their native land to 
 reflect honor on their parents, either alive or dead, and 
 after they have passed away, will sacrifice to their 
 manes and those of their ancestors. 
 
 The young lady is preparing to smoke a Chinese 
 hookah ; she is dressed in pink and green, (the colors 
 peculiar to ladies,) her hair is decked with flowers, of 
 which the Chinese are very fond, " the golden lilies" 
 peep out from beneath her dress, and on the whole she 
 is a fair specimen of a Chinese beauty, who, as they 
 poetically express it, has " cheeks red as the almond 
 flower, mouth like the peach's bloom, waist slender as 
 the willow leaf, eyes bright as autumnal ripples, and 
 
78 CHINESE MUSEUM CASE VIII. 
 
 footsteps like the flowers of the water lily." Although 
 about to indulge in a luxury which would not be con- 
 sidered much of an attraction with us, she is doing 
 nothing contrary to the usages of her country where 
 both sexes contract the habit of smoking, with pipes 
 of various construction, when quite young. The only 
 segars they have are small paper ones, which are not 
 much used by the better classes. Snuff appears to be 
 monopolized by the men, and one of the indispensable 
 articles suspended at the waist of a gentleman is a snuff 
 bottle, some of which, elaborately carved from " yu " 
 or jade stone, cost several hundred dollars apiece. The 
 snuff is taken out of the bottle with a small spoon at- 
 tached to the stopper, laid upon the back of the left 
 hand thumb, and conveyed by it to the olfactories. 
 
 The female, with feet of the natural size, playing 
 upon the "pei-pa" or guitar, is a handmaid, some of 
 whom are children of the poorer classes, and others, 
 those who are in infancy left by their unnatural 
 parents to perish in the streets if unnoticed by the 
 passers by, but if of good personal appearance, are 
 taken up by those making it a business, taught numer- 
 ous accomplishments, such as embroidery, music and 
 painting, and when old enough, sold as handmaids or 
 personal attendants to the wealthy. 
 
 The servant maid, attending upon the young lady, is 
 dressed in clothes suitable to her class, which, while 
 not expensive, are at the same time neat and service- 
 able, but her hair is cut and left to hang down in the 
 unbecoming manner of all young girls, not of marriage- 
 able age in China. 
 
 The large glass screen, upon the long table, is one 
 of the finest specimens of Chinese painting on glass, 
 and will bear the closest inspection. The painting rep- 
 resents the branches of a numerous family, paying their 
 annual respects to the oldest surviving members. This 
 
CHINESE MUSEUM CASE VIII. 79 
 
 is an ancient custom with the Chinese, and is observed 
 by the Emperor, who, upon these occasions, performs 
 the " Kotow" (kneels and knocks his head upon the 
 ground) before his mother. 
 
 The furniture of this apartment, which is rich and 
 massive, is arranged in Chinese style ; the sides of the 
 room being occupied with rows of heavy arm chairs 
 and tea poys, which are not intended to be moved 
 about the apartment as ours are Several of the chairs 
 have landscape marble inserted in the backs, having 
 trees and birds upon it. The finest specimens of this 
 kind are rare and expensive, as only the natural colors 
 of the stone are used. They are made by taking a 
 slab of white marble having dark veins below the sur- 
 face, and with much labor, rubbing down the exterior 
 until spots appear where they are wanted, to form such 
 rude representations of natural objects as the stone 
 admits of. 
 
 The universal use of tobacco renders the " tom-to's" 
 or spittoons seen in a Chinese room in such profusion 
 necessary, and in the construction and ornamenting of 
 these, considerable taste is displayed as the visitor will 
 observe. 
 
 The embroidered hanging door screens, in this and 
 the bamboo case are of rare beauty, and such as are 
 seldom seen, even in China, where these articles are 
 used in the interior of dwellings instead of doors. The 
 peacock feather fan in the vase is an article of orna- 
 ment and is not intended for use, and the fruits upon 
 the table are such as are commonly seen in the markets 
 at Canton, consisting of oranges, lichis, pomegranates, 
 " sam leen," &c. The scrolls on the wall are a kind 
 of ornament much prized by the Chinese. They are 
 generally choice extracts of moral sentences from the 
 works of the* ancient sages made by some esteemed 
 friend. Those selected by old persons are valued the 
 highest. 
 
80 CHINESE MUSEUM CASE VIII. 
 
 The lanterns suspended from the ceiling tn this room 
 arc very unique. They are made of stained horn and 
 represent lions and birds. 
 
 The Chinese law does not admit of polygamy, as is 
 erroneously supposed by many, although it does of 
 concubinage. " A Chinese can have but one ' Tsy' or 
 wife, properly so called, who is distinguished by a title, 
 espoused with numerous ceremonies, and chosen from 
 a rank of life totally different from his ' Tsii' or hand- 
 maids, of whom he may have as many as he pleases, 
 and though the offspring of the latter possess many of 
 the rights of legitimacy (ranking however after the 
 children of the wife) this circumstance makes but little 
 difference as to the truth of the position. In fact the 
 wife is of equal rank with the husband by birth, is es- 
 poused with regular marriage ceremonies, possessing 
 moreover, certain legal rights, such as they are ; while 
 the handmaid is bought for money and received into 
 the house nearly like any other domestic." The ' Tsy' 
 and the ' Tsii' stand to each other in very much the 
 same relation as the Sarah and Hagar of the Old Tes- 
 tament. 
 
 If a person has sons by his wife it is considered de- 
 rogatory to take a handmaid, but if he has not, it is of 
 course allowable, and some of the Chinese have many. 
 Pwan-tin-qua, a Mandarin, well known to foreigners at 
 Canton, has thirteen, and a former linguist at the same 
 place had nineteen. According to Mr. Lay, " the 
 dwelling together of wife and concubine, under the 
 same roof, does not produce that unhappiness that our 
 feelings might teach us to imagine. The sole pro- 
 prietorship of a husband's attachments does not enter 
 into the calculations of the former, so that she yields to 
 the obtrusion of a rival without repining ; and the lat- 
 ter is content to find herself in a circle much above her 
 birth and parentage. When Chinese ladies are ap- 
 
CHINESE MUSEUM CASE VIII. 81 
 
 pealed to, they allege that there is nothing objection- 
 able in the practice. Wife and concubine mix together 
 without any symptoms of jealousy and contend that 
 neither one nor the other has any right to complain, so 
 long as the husband is impartial and loves them both 
 alike. 
 
 At home or abroad, in holiday robes or in plain 
 clothing, the heart of a Chinese female seems to be at 
 all times ready to overflow with mirth and good hu- 
 mor. Ill usage or misfortune may make her sad for a 
 while, but the smallest efforts to soothe or amuse on 
 the part of one whom she values, drives away all her 
 heaviness. Confucian philosophy has done its best to 
 unfit a Chinese for the possession of such an heritage, 
 by assigning to woman nothing but the privilege of 
 drudging for her lord. Those well chosen terms of es- 
 teem and preference with which we are wont to ad- 
 dress females, and the countless variety of polite offices 
 which we perform as matters of course, find no place 
 either in the written or unwritten laws of Chinese so- 
 ciety. Native poetry and romance descant upon the 
 accomplishments of the lover and the charms of his 
 mistress, and in beautiful terms and imagery eulogize 
 the bliss of chaste and well requited love. But these 
 sentiments seem to be confined to the poet, whose im- 
 agination guided by the promptings of his heart, and 
 the refinement of his understanding, portrays what 
 ought to be, but what seldom happens. It is hard to 
 conceive how a man can behold the object of his best 
 affections, and exhibit no desire to show her any marks 
 of regard, especially when his heart has been softened 
 by education, and no external circumstance interferes 
 with the display of his feelings. Whenever the light of 
 heaven-born Christianity shall dawn upon this people, 
 and begin to dissipate the mists of a diabolical system 
 of ethics, which has so long brooded over the land, one 
 
82 CHINESE MUSEUM CASE VIII. 
 
 of the first evidences of its presence will be a restora- 
 tion of fair woman to all her rights and privileges ; she 
 will then be regarded as she ought to be, " the glory 
 of the man," and a Chinese will then behold a paradise 
 yielding flowers to embellish his feasts, to adorn the 
 friendly board, to refine, ennoble and rejoice his own 
 heart." 
 
 " The birth of a female is a matter of grief in China. 
 The father and mother, who had ardently hoped in the 
 unborn babe, to embrace a son, feel disappointed at 
 the sight of a wretched daughter. Many vows and of- 
 ferings are made before their idols, in order to propi- 
 tiate their favor and secure the birth of a son. The 
 mercy of the compassionate Kwanyin especially, is im- 
 plored to obtain this precious gift ; but after they have 
 spent large sums of money in this pious work, the in- 
 exorable goddess fills the house with mourning at the 
 birth of a daughter. " Anciently," says Pan-Hwnypan 
 (a Chinese authoress,) the female infant was thrown 
 upon sonle old rags by the side of the mother's bed, and 
 for three days was scarcely spoken or thought of. At 
 the end of that time it was carried to a temple by the 
 father, accompanied by attendants with bricks and tiles 
 in their hands." " The bricks and tiles," says Pan- 
 Ilwuypan in her comment on these facts, " signify the 
 contempt and suffering which are to be her compan- 
 ions and her portion. Bricks are of no use except to 
 form enclosures, and to be trodden under foot ; and 
 tiles are useless except when they are exposed to the 
 injuries of the air." At the present day as well as an- 
 ciently, the female infant is not unfrequently an object 
 of disgust to its parents, and of contempt to all the in- 
 mates of the family." If a Chinese is asked how many 
 children he has, he gives the number of sons; the 
 daughters stand as cyphers in the list of his blessings. 
 " Infanticide of females is not unknown among the 
 
CHINESE MUSEUM CASE VIII. 83 
 
 Chinese, and they are far from regarding this crime 
 with the horror it deserves. " It is only a female," is 
 the answer generally given when they are reproved for 
 it." 
 
 The daughters of the wealthy receive something of 
 an education, those of the middling and poorer classes 
 generally none at all. 
 
 " The mistress of a family, among the ailluent, has 
 four waiting maids ; the older ones to take care of her 
 clothes, and to attend on her when eating ; the younger 
 ones to follow her when she goes out, to hand her tea 
 and tobacco, to fan her, &c. These waiting maids are 
 not unfrequently slaves, whom she has purchased for 
 herself. Besides these she hires several housemaids ; 
 (as) one to dress her hair, one to cook her food, one to 
 wash her clothes, aud one to follow her when she goes 
 abroad. 
 
 The master of the family usually has four personal 
 servants; two grown men, who wait upon him at 
 meals, take care of his clothes, and attend to all such 
 matters ; and two younger persons, to follow him when 
 he goes abroad, to carry his pipe, to fan him, and to 
 present his cards. He has also four domestics ; the 
 older carry water, and go to the bazaars; the younger 
 sweep the floors, light the lamps, and wipe the chairs 
 and tables." 
 
84 CHINESE MUSEUM CASE IX 
 
 CASE IX. 
 
 Itinerant barber exercising his avocation. 
 
 Person being shaved. 
 
 Fortune teller, with table, &c. 
 
 Street doctor and medicines, 
 do. broker with counter, &c. 
 
 Large map of China at the back of the case, made by the 
 Chinese, from the surveys of the early Jesuit missiona- 
 ries. The disproportionate size of the rivers, which 
 the visitor will undoubtedly notice, is a fault common 
 to all Chinese maps. There are also a number of 
 bamboo hats, ivorn by the lower classes, on the wall. 
 
 " The number of itinerant workmen of one kind or 
 another, which line the sides of the streets, or occupy 
 the areas before public buildings in Chinese towns, is a 
 remarkable feature. Fruiterers, pastrymen, cook-stalls, 
 venders of gimcracks, and wayside shopkeepers, are 
 found in other countries as well as China ; but to see a 
 traveling blacksmith or tinker, an itinerant glass mender, 
 a peripatetic umbrella mender, a locomotive seal cutter, 
 an ambulatory barber, a migratory banker, a perigrina- 
 tory apothecary, or a walking shoemaker and cobbler, 
 one must travel thitherwards. These moveable estab- 
 lishments, together with fortune tellers, herb sellers, 
 chiromancers, &c, pretty well fill up the space, so that 
 one often sees both sides of the street in Canton liter- 
 ally lined with the stalls or tools of persons selling or 
 making something to eat or to wear." 
 
 As the Chinese shave the head as well as the beard 
 every ten or twelve days, barbers constitute a numerous 
 
CHINESE MUSEUM CASE IX. 85 
 
 class in their communities. The greater part are itin- 
 erant, and with the chest of drawers, which answers for 
 customers to sit upon as well as to contain their tonso- 
 rial apparatus, and a water vessel over a small furnace, 
 slung on a pole carried on the shoulder, they traverse 
 the streets, making known their presence by occasion- 
 ally twanging their call, which somewhat resembles the 
 pitch pipe used by singers. Their common appellation 
 is Ti-tow-le, meaning shave-head-old-man. 
 
 There are 7,300 barbers in the city of Canton, every 
 one of whom has been obliged to obtain a license be- 
 fore commencing the trade, and all of whom, like the 
 other mechanics, form a community whose business is 
 regulated by laws made amongst themselves. They 
 use no soap in shaving, merely wetting the head and 
 face with warm water before applying the razor, which, 
 from its short, clumsy blade, appears better suited to 
 opening oysters than shaving, but which nevertheless 
 answers the purpose intended very well. 
 
 The barber's whole apparatus is near him, and his 
 razor and other small implements are seen in one of 
 the open drawers of the case and in his hands. In 
 addition to shaving, some of them exercise the function 
 of shampooing, and practice cleaning the eye and ear, 
 oftentimes to the manifest injury of the former, to dis- 
 eases of which, the Chinese are particularly subject. 
 A person is here seen undergoing the ear-cleaning oper- 
 ation, and the effect produced by the tickling sensa- 
 tion in the ear is faithfully delineated upon his counte- 
 nance. The barber's remuneration is generally twenty 
 or thirty cash, but no regular charge is made, the 
 amount being left entirely to the generosity of his cus- 
 tomers. As in other countries, the barber is the repos- 
 itory of local information, and his success is usually 
 proportioned to his powers of making himself agreeable 
 to his customers. 
 
86 CHINESE MUSEUM CASE IX. 
 
 The Chinese of all classes are very superstitious, and 
 fortune tellers consequently abound amongst them, who, 
 for a trifling consideration, by consulting the stars, the 
 lines on the hand, or by shaking several bamboo slips, 
 with characters written on them, from a case full, will 
 predict with confidence, the destiny of an individual. 
 Our fortune teller uses the latter method which is the 
 most common, and his advertisement informs the public 
 of his abilities and charge for the different information 
 furnished, whether it be to foretel the fortunes of some 
 new born babe, the future fate of some hitherto luckless 
 wight, a lucky day for a marriage or funeral, or the 
 proper location for a house or tomb. This class pre- 
 tend to few secrets ; by taking the characters from the 
 slips thrown out and combining them upon the writing 
 board according to rules for the different information 
 wanted, they form sentences which are explained by 
 referring to a book, and frequent appeals are usually 
 made to the crowd around as to the correctness of the 
 mode of proceeding in obtaining the explanations. 
 There are sometimes ten or a dozen of these wise men 
 to be seen in the street on the west side of the American 
 factories at Canton, in the space of a few hundred feet, 
 and generally some of them are Budhist and Taouist 
 priests. 
 
 The street doctor is another ambulatory genius met 
 with in China, and in Old China street (the one just 
 mentioned,) they generally surpass in numbers the for- 
 tune tellers. A person can hardly pass through this 
 thoroughfare without seeing some of them exhibiting 
 their skill in dressing a sore, pulling teeth, or prescrib- 
 ing for some of the ills of the body. Some are sur- 
 rounded with roots and herbs, some have long strings 
 of teeth, which they have extracted, in front of them, 
 and others, like our Esculapius, have their medicines 
 exposed in small jars for sale, with printed advertise- 
 
CHINESE MUSEUM CASE IX. 87 
 
 ments of their virtues and directions for use. Occa- 
 sionally one may be seen with some large bones, or 
 thick skin, such as that of the rhinoceros and elephant, 
 disposing of them in small pieces to the passers by, who 
 suppose them to possess eminent strengthening proper- 
 ties. One of this last mentioned class of Chinese M. D.'s 
 might be seen at the entrance of the American grounds, 
 in the latter part of 1844, with the skeleton of an 
 ourang-outang, which he was disposing of in the man- 
 ner spoken of, and as an evidence of the virtues of the 
 medicine, an unhappy looking chicken stood upon one 
 leg, beside the skeleton, with a duck's foot and leg 
 bandaged on to the other. 
 
 In addition to the street doctors there are some who 
 have acquired sufficient experience and reputation in 
 their profession to find plenty of employment among 
 the wealthy, and are consequently not obliged to resort 
 to the thoroughfares for support. As dissection is never 
 practised, they have very imperfect ideas of anatomy, 
 and as an evidence of their ignorance of the circulation 
 of the blood, they distinguish twenty-four different and 
 distinct pulsations in the body, and twenty-four differ- 
 ent diseases at each of three pulses on each arm. They 
 also seem to be ignorant of the existence of muscles 
 and nerves, and, as an instance of their ignorance of 
 the latter, Dr. Parker, the American medical missionary 
 at Canton, imformed us, that a Mandarin, whom he had 
 treated for tic doloreux, was previously under the hands 
 of a native physician, who told him that the acute pain 
 arising from this nervous affection was caused by the 
 movement of a worm, existing in the flesh, which he 
 endeavored to kill, but the worm changed his position 
 so rapidly, that he eluded all his endeavors. Another 
 physician, who practised in Old China street, the doctor 
 said he had seen cutting off the edge of the gum around 
 an aching tooth, and exhibiting it to his satisfied patient, 
 
88 CHINESE MUSEUM CASE IX. 
 
 who was eased for the time by the counter irritation, 
 informed him it was the worm which had caused all his 
 pain. When a Chinese physician is unsuccessful, he 
 retires with the adage, " that there is medicine for 
 sickness but none for fate." As there are no medical 
 schools in China, the only way for a person wishing to 
 become a physician is to seek for some celebrated prac- 
 titioner and become his pupil. 
 
 Notwithstanding the low state of medical science in 
 China, which, in its connection with astrology, closely 
 resembles the practice of the healing art in Europe, 
 less than two centuries since, the Chinese appear to 
 enjoy as good health and as many attain old age as in 
 other countries. 
 
 Comparatively little appears to be known by foreign- 
 ers regarding the bulk of- medicines used by the Chi- 
 nese, although it is known that they have several similar 
 preparations of mercury and other minerals to those in 
 use with us, and that the former are administered in 
 the same classes of diseases. They also have some 
 similar vegetable medicines to ours, but ginseng, which 
 once sold for eight times its weight in silver, stands 
 with them at the head of all remedies. 
 
 The street broker is a more stationary being than the 
 others spoken of above, but his stand is seen at every 
 turn. For a small per centage he is ready to exchange 
 pieces of silver or to buy and sell the only national coin 
 called by the Chinese, Tchen, and by foreigners, cash, 
 which is an alloy of copper and zinc principally, and of 
 which 1,000 are intended to equal in value a tael, or 
 Chinese ounce of silver (about $1%) but 1,200 and 
 more are sometimes given in exchange for a dollar. 
 On the introduction of Spanish dollars in commerce, 
 they were at first found to be so convenient, that the 
 coinage of dollars in imitation was for a time allowed ; 
 but though these commenced at a higher rate than the 
 
CHINESE MUSEUM CASE IX. 89 
 
 foreign dollars, they soon sank greatly below the stand- 
 ard, while the foreign coin preserved its wonted degree 
 of purity. The manufacture of imitation dollars, being 
 now prohibited, is still carried on to a considerable 
 extent at some places on the coast, and at the north 
 the opium traders occasionally receive dollars with Chi- 
 nese and Mantchou characters and devices upon them, 
 purporting to be issued by the present Emperor. The 
 Spanish dollars imported at Canton soon become 
 punched into such a state, with the private marks of 
 all those through whose hands they pass, as to be sale- 
 able only by weight. The fraudulent even introduce 
 bits of lead into the punch-holes, and none but freshly 
 imported dollars can ever be received without a very 
 strict examination, called shroffing, in going through 
 which process the jingling of coin may be heard in the 
 foreign residences throughout all hours of the day. 
 Small payments, if not made in copper coin, are effect- 
 ed by exchanging bits of silver, whose weight is ascer- 
 tained by such small ivory balances as that seen in the 
 hands of the broker in this case, and with which all 
 persons provide themselves. The payments to govern- 
 ment not made in kind, are in silver of a prescribed 
 rate of fineness, which the officers charged with the 
 collection of the revenue, generally deposite in some of 
 the private banking establishments, called rtgan po, 
 (money shops,) selected for the purpose, who, for a per 
 centage, refine the silver until it contains only two per 
 cent, alloy, and cast it into ingots of one and ten taels 
 weight called Sysee, upon which the name of the banker 
 and date of refining is stamped to prevent fraud on the 
 part of the refiner. There are no chartered or privi- 
 leged banking companies, but the private banks receive 
 deposites from individuals either on interest not exceed- 
 ing twelve per cent, on drawable at will without inter- 
 est. The legal rate of interest is three per cent, per 
 
90 CHINESE MUSEUM CASE IX. 
 
 month and thirty per cent, per annum ; but this of 
 course is very seldom reached, except in pawning and 
 other such short loans. All compound interest is un- 
 lawful, and whatever number of years may have elapsed, 
 the government does not enforce any claim for interest 
 accumulated above the amount of the principal, or in 
 the Chinese phrase, " the offspring must not be greater 
 than the mother." The ordinary rate of interest at 
 Canton is from twelve to fifteen per cent, per annum. 
 
 According to the Memoirs sur le Chinois, the motive 
 of the government in legalizing such a high rate of in- 
 terest, is partly to facilitate loans, and partly to discour- 
 age luxury and prodigality by hastening the ruin of such 
 as borrow merely to spend. 
 
 Some of the former dynasties of China made use of 
 paper money, which probably had its origin there, and 
 was first announced to Europe as existing in China, by 
 Marco Polo, the celebrated Venetian traveller, who vis- 
 ited the Empire in the thirteenth century. According 
 to the investigations of Klaproth, paper money as a sub- 
 stitute for metals, without being guarantied by any sort 
 of mortgage or security, was first introduced during the 
 tenth century, although something of the kind existed 
 long previous, in the promissory notes or bonds of the 
 government given to traders to the capital, and all 
 moneyed persons, in exchange for their cash, which they 
 were allowed to deposit in the imperial treasury. These 
 notes were eagerly sought after for purposes of trade, 
 and probably gave rise to the issue of those, on a differ- 
 ent system, which rapidly depreciated, and notwith- 
 standing the efforts of the government to sustain the 
 credit of this paper money, at different times, caused 
 much distress to the country, and the Mongols were 
 driven out of China after a reign of less than a century, 
 through its abuse. The Ming Emperors, who succeed- 
 ed, were not only unable to abolish the paper in circula- 
 
CHINESE MUSEUM CASE X. 91 
 
 tion, but compelled to issue new notes. Every attempt 
 was made by compulsive measures, to restore the paper 
 currency to a better condition, and some of the taxes 
 were allowed to be paid with it ; but every exertion 
 was fruitless, and the notes went out of circulation ; at 
 least, history makes no mention of them later than the 
 year 1455. The Mantchous, who succeeded the Ming 
 Emperors, and are now masters of China, have never 
 attempted to introduce a paper currency, for they are 
 happily ignorant of the European policy, which declares 
 that the more a nation is in debt, the more it is rich and 
 flourishing. 
 
 CASE X. 
 
 Military Mandarin of the sixth grade. 
 
 Archer. 
 
 Soldier with matchlock, 
 do. ivith spear, 
 do. with painted rattan shield. 
 
 Militia-man or policeman, with whip and lantern. 
 
 Military weapons on the wcdl. 
 
 Large black velvet " Law -San," or " State Umbrella" 
 embroidered with gold ; used to hold over the head of 
 the Emperor to protect him from the sun, and carried 
 as a banner in processions of State. 
 
 Richly embroidered satifi " Law-San." 
 
 Two do. "T'soy-Kays" or "Banners " which 
 
 are carried in processions upon a horizontal staff be- 
 tween two persons, one preceding the other. 
 
 The Mandarin in this case is equivalent to our lieu- 
 tenant. He is dressed in the summer costume, with a 
 fan (the Chinaman's constant companion in warm 
 
92 CHINESE MUSEUM CASE X. 
 
 weather,) in one hand, and a tobacco pipe in the other. 
 The chair in which he sits is the kind used by military 
 officers of the Celestial Empire when inspecting their 
 troops, and is made to shut up for convenience in 
 transporting it. The change from the winter to the 
 summer dress, and vice versa, is simultaneous through- 
 out a province. On the commencement of the hot or 
 cold weather, the first person in each province, as the 
 tsoong-to or viceroy, assumes his summer or winter 
 cap, which is noticed in the official gazette, or court 
 circular, and is the signal for every man under his gov- 
 ernment to make the same change. If a superior offi- 
 cer to the viceroy happens to pass through the province 
 at the time, his change of dress sets the example. 
 
 The archer represents one of the most esteemed 
 and effective branches of the Chinese military. Their 
 dress is the handsomest and most expensive, and their 
 weapon is considered by the Chinese, and no doubt is, 
 superior to their rude and ill-constructed matchlocks. 
 The skilful use of the bow and arrow, like fencing 
 amongst western nations, is considered an elegant ac- 
 complishment for gentlemen, and the bow and arrow 
 constitute the principal arms of the cavalry, who are 
 said to be very expert in using them, rarely missing the 
 target while their horses are in rapid motion. The 
 bow is made of elastic wood and horn, strongly bound 
 and cemented together, and strung with a hard twisted 
 cord of silk. The strength of the bow is estimated by 
 the weight required to bend it ; varying from eighty to 
 one hundred pounds. The longest exceed six feet and 
 six inches. The arrows, for practice, are made of 
 bamboo with horn heads pierced with holes, which 
 make a whistling noise in passing through the air ; the 
 other extremities are feathered. The arrows used in 
 war are made similarly to the others, except that the 
 heads are of iron or steel, and the shafts stronger. In 
 
CHINESE MUSEUM CASEX. 93 
 
 using the bow and arrow, the Chinese wear a strong, 
 heavy ring, of agate, or jade stone, upon the right hand 
 thumb, with which they draw the string. 
 
 The soldier with a matchlock is dressed in the uni- 
 form of his corps, which is plain and serviceable like 
 that of the principal part of the Chinese military. The 
 matchlock in his hands is one of those used at Canton 
 during the difficulties with the English a few years 
 since, and is a fair specimen of this species of Chinese 
 fire arms. His cartridge-box, it will be observed, is in 
 an exposed position in front of his person and many 
 fatal accidents happened during the war, by pieces of 
 the ignited match, with which the guns are touched ofT", 
 falling amongst and firing the cartridges ; and in one of 
 the engagements at the north an English officer lost an 
 arm in attempting to take a prisoner whose cartridge- 
 box exploded at the moment and killed him. 
 
 The soldier with sword and shield is defending him- 
 self against his antagonist who is armed with a spear. 
 His shield is made of rattan, turned spirally around a 
 centre, and on it is painted the face of a hideous mon- 
 ster, the object of which, is to strike terror to the hearts 
 of the enemy. Such weak devices as this were used 
 by the Chinese, in their last attempt to subdue the 
 " rebellious English," several of which were exceedingly 
 ridiculous. At some of the battles the brave Tartar 
 soldiers advanced to meet the foe with their faces 
 painted like clowns at a circus, and throwing somersets 
 as they came on, to terrify the " barbarians." Several 
 were shot upon the wing (as the English soldiers called 
 it) as they performed their gyrations in the air. This 
 mode of attack is only paralleled by some of the other 
 stratagems which the Chinese soldiers were directed, 
 by their commanding officers, to put in practice. One 
 of the latter recommended his men to use their endeav- 
 ors to throw the enemy upon the ground as soon as 
 
94 CHINESE MUSEUM CASE X. 
 
 possible, for being once down, an Englishman, from the 
 tightness of his breeches, was unable to rise without 
 assistance, and would consequently be entirely at their 
 mercy. 
 
 The sw,ords used by the Chinese are generally made 
 of iron, and like the matchlocks are of little use. The 
 spearman's weapon, of which there are a number of 
 different forms upon the wall, is a more effective in- 
 strument, and in the hands of disciplined troops would 
 be as serviceable as the bayonet in charging an enemy. 
 
 The sixth figure in this case is one of the militia who 
 are principally used as a local police, and as such, this 
 one has a lantern in one hand, with the Mandarin's 
 name, to whose corps he belongs, upon it, and in the 
 other hand a whip which is used to disperse small riot- 
 ous assemblages in the streets, and to clear the road 
 before the great man, his master. His dress is that of 
 the Chinese militia, his upper garment having the char- 
 acter ' yung ' (brave) inscribed upon the back as well 
 as front, which was considered by the English, who 
 had frequent opportunities of seeing it in the former 
 position, as rather contradicting this quiet and modest 
 assertion. 
 
 In addition to the spears of various kinds upon the 
 wall, there are two bows ; one with a case, and the 
 other without, and two pair of double swords ; one pair 
 with a tortoise shell, and the other a leather sheath. On 
 a stand below is a jinjall, or long heavy gun on a pivot, 
 which has three moveable chambers, in which the pow- 
 der and ball are put, and which serve to replace each 
 other as often as the gun is discharged. These have 
 been used for a long time by the Chinese, and in prin- 
 ciple are the same as some of our late invented fire- 
 arms but coarsely made. Being constructed of thick 
 wrought iron, and very strong, there is little danger of 
 their bursting, and when well served, in close engage- 
 
CHINESE MUSEUM CASE X. 95 
 
 ments, are effective weapons of offence or defence. 
 Most of the large boats and junks are armed with jin- 
 jalls, in which the Chinese have confidence, and which 
 are undoubtedly superior to Chinese cannon, which are 
 cast hollow, not bored out as ours are, or even reamed, 
 and no attention being paid to the quality of the metal, 
 they often burst and destroy those whom they were in- 
 tended to defend. 
 
 Near the policeman is a long matchlock or sporting 
 gun, and near that is a small gun which stands upright, 
 with its wooden cover on one side. Sets of three of 
 these guns are placed at each of the gates of Chinese 
 cities and are fired as salutes whenever a Mandarin 
 passes in or out. They sometimes serve rogues, who 
 are pillaging in a body outside the walls, a good turn, 
 by giving them timely notice of the approach of officers. 
 
 According to the latest authorities the Chinese army 
 is divided into four divisions, according to the number 
 of nations which compose the Empire. 
 
 The first division consists of 67,800 Mantchoos di- 
 vided into 678 companies. 
 
 The second division is composed of Mongols who 
 entered China with the Mantchoos at the time of the 
 conquest, and comprises a body of 21,000 men formed 
 into 21 1 companies. 
 
 The third division is composed of Chinese who joined 
 the Mantchoos towards the end of the reign of the last 
 Chinese dynasty. This division includes the field artil- 
 lery of four hundred cannon, and consists of 27,000 
 men divided into 270 companies. These three divis- 
 ions forming a total of about 116,000 men, constitute 
 the Tartar regular army, the greater part of which is 
 cavalry, and which is ranged under eight standards, 
 distinguished by the colors, yellow, white, red, and blue, 
 and each of these bordered by one of the others. 
 
 The green flag distinguishes the Chinese troops, who 
 
96 CHINESE MUSEUM CASE X. 
 
 constitute the fourth division, which contains in the 
 aggregate about 625,000 men. These are the militia 
 spread throughout the provinces, most of whom do little 
 or no military duty, but having proved themselves 
 strong, able bodied men, by lifting the weights pre- 
 scribed by law, are recruited and become liable to be 
 called upon to serve at any time, but the mass of them 
 receive their pay of a few dollars a year and continue 
 at their occupations. 
 
 In addition to these four divisions amounting to nearly 
 740,000 men, there is an irregular light Mongol cavalry 
 which is said by Timkouski to resemble the Russian 
 Cossacks of the Don, Oural, &c, who pay no taxes but 
 do military service on the frontiers instead. This body 
 of Mongols is estimated by some persons, at 500,000 
 men, but it is impossible to ascertain this with any de- 
 gree of exactness. 
 
 The Chinese military officers, like the civil, are di- 
 vided into nine ranks distinguished by the same balls 
 upon their caps, but the first rank of military officers 
 only claim right of precedence with the fourth rank of 
 civilians. As Davis correctly remarks ; " It may be 
 considered as one proof of social advancement on the 
 part of the Chinese, that the civil authority is generally 
 superior to the military, and that letters always rank 
 above arms, in spite even of the manner in which the 
 Tartars obtained the Empire. In this respect China 
 may be said to have subdued her conquerors." "A 
 military Mandarin of the highest grade may be often 
 seen on foot, when a civil officer of middling rank 
 would be considered as degraded unless in a sedan with 
 four bearers ; the others are not allowed chairs but may 
 ride." 
 
 " The highest military rank is that of a tsleang-Keun, 
 or Tartar general, one of whom has charge of the regu- 
 lar troops in Canton province ; this post can never be 
 
CHINESE MUSEUM CASEX. 97 
 
 filled by a Chinese, but secondary commands may. 
 Below these are subordinate officers, promoted in regu- 
 lar order from the lowest grade, according to their 
 physical strength, and their skill in shooting with the 
 bow, combined with the activity and zeal which they 
 may occasionally display in cases of civil commotion or 
 revolt. One very singular feature we must not forget 
 to notice, in regard to the military officers of China. 
 They are all subject to corporal punishment, and very 
 often experience it, together with the punishment of 
 the cangue. This parental allotment of a certain quan- 
 tum of flagellation and personal exposure, is occasion- 
 ally the fate of the highest officers, and, upon the whole, 
 must be regarded as a very odd way of improving their 
 military character. It must be observed, however, that 
 enterprising courage is not considered as a merit in 
 Chinese tactics. They have a maxim, that ' rash and 
 arrogant soldiers must be defeated.' The qualities of 
 a good general are enumerated as follows by the Chi- 
 nese. ■ The covetous he appoints to guard his treasure ; 
 the uncorrupt to dispense his rewards; the benevolent 
 to accept submission ; the discriminating and astute to 
 be envoys ; the scheming to divine the enemy's plans; 
 the timid to guard the gate; the brave to force the 
 enemy ; the strong to seize an important pass ; the 
 alert to gain intelligence ; the deaf to keep a lookout ; 
 and the blind to listen. As a good carpenter throws 
 away no blocks, so a good general has no men unem- 
 ployed. Each is selected according to his capacity; 
 but favor, (it is added,) and interest, and secret influ- 
 ence subvert the order of things, sending the blind to 
 look out, and the deaf "to listen.' " 
 
 Notwithstanding the reputation the Chinese have ac- 
 quired of being great cowards, a reputation which the 
 mass perhaps deserve, according to the general accep- 
 tation of the term, the English officers bear witness that 
 
98 
 
 CHINESE MUSEUM CASE X. 
 
 there arc some brave men amongst them. At the tak- 
 ing of the city of Amoy by the British, in August, 
 1841. a Chinese officer was observed to cut his throat 
 in a battery as the foreigners entered it, and another 
 walked into tbe sea and drowned himself in the coolest 
 manner possible. Other instances were noticed at 
 Chinhae, upon the defence of which the rich city of 
 Ningpoo depended for preservation, which, with the lat- 
 ter, fell into the hands of the British in October of the 
 same year. The Chinese troops at this place, although 
 broken and dispersed, refused to lay down their arms, 
 preferring death to surrender, and many officers com- 
 mitted suicide ; thus showing that discipline was all that 
 was wanting to make sood soldiers of them. The 
 cowardice of the mass is probably owing to the long 
 peace the Empire has enjoyed, to their naturally amia- 
 ble dispositions, and the state of subjection they are 
 kept in during their lives destroying all confidence in 
 their own powers. But that they are naturally cowards 
 we do not believe, having seen the class of persons who 
 would probably be the first to run before a body of 
 soldiers, submit to the most painful operations of the 
 surgeon's knife without flinching in the least, or even 
 uttering a groan. 
 
 The Chinese believe the gall-bladder to be the seat 
 of courage, and the heart the tenement of the mind ; 
 that the latter turns pale like the face, when a person 
 is under the influence of fear, and that rice steeped in 
 the gall-bladder of a human being and eaten will make 
 brave men of cowards. 
 
CHINESE MUSEUM CASE XI. 
 
 99 
 
 CASE XI . 
 
 Man ploughing^ with a buffalo attached to the plough. 
 
 Man ivith a rush cape on and a hoe in his hand. 
 
 Man beating out paddy (unhulled rice.) 
 
 Man whitening rice. 
 
 Coolie carrying two boxes of tea. 
 
 Chain pump for irrigating rice fields. 
 
 Machine for hulling paddy. 
 
 Model of a tvinnowing mill. 
 
 Large size bellows used by blacksmiths. 
 
 Stone rice mill* 
 
 Ropes made of bamboo, rattan, and coir or husk of the 
 cocoa nut. 
 
 At the back of the case are some of the implements used 
 in husbandry, a variety of bamboo baskets, fyc, and 
 specimens of the common cotton and grass cloths man- 
 ufactured by the Chinese. 
 
 The Chinese husbandman and his implements, as 
 seen here, are probably the same as they were ages 
 ago. The plough is said to be the counterpart of that 
 used by the ancient Hebrews, and strongly resembles 
 those found among the Arabs or Syrians. As in other 
 countries, this implement is synonymous with hus- 
 bandry, a farmer being called Kung-teen-jin, " a man 
 who ploughs the fields." The . buffalo is used almost 
 entirely in the southern provinces for ploughing the rice 
 fields to which he is peculiarly adapted, being a hardy- 
 animal, living on coarse food, and his nature leading 
 him to prefer wet, muddy shallows, where he may often 
 be seen wallowing like a hog with nothing but his 
 
100 CHINESE MUSEUM — CASE XI. 
 
 head above water. From this propensity he receives 
 his Chinese name of " Shiiey-neiv," " water-ox." 
 
 The rush cape worn by the second figure is also used 
 by fishermen and others in rainy weather, and the "CTia," 
 or hoe in his hand is the most common utensil in Chi- 
 nese husbandry. A considerable part of the turning 
 over the soil is done with it instead of the plough, and 
 by practice the Chinaman has learned to apply it to 
 almost as many uses as there are separate instruments 
 in other countries. 
 
 Next to thrashing with the flail, the mode of beating 
 the paddy from the straw exhibited here is the most 
 common. The tub and other apparatus is carried to 
 the field, and the grain as fast as cut is brought to it 
 and the paddy beat out immediately. By this method 
 the straw is injured very little, and serves for making 
 brooms, rain cloaks, mats, &c. Animals are also some- 
 times used in treading out grain. All the principal 
 farms have thrashing grounds, made of hard earth or 
 chunam, and almost every village has a public one for 
 the accommodation of small farmers. 
 
 The paddy is deprived of its husk, and whitened 
 either by the trip hammer and mortar, at which the 
 fourth figure is at work, or the circular machine seen at 
 the back of the case made of pieces of bamboo set on 
 end in a frame, and fastened with chunam, a cement 
 made of lime and oil. 
 
 Our coolie represents a numerous body in China 
 where nearly everything is carried by them. At the 
 north, carts with low plank wheels, and wheelbarrows, 
 are sometimes seen ; but at the south there are many 
 who never even heard of such things, and at Hong- 
 Kong an anecdote is told which illustrates their igno- 
 ranee of such machines, as well as their attachment to 
 " old custom." In making some of the roads along the 
 side of the mountain where the town of Victoria is 
 
CHINESE MUSEUM CASE XI. 101 
 
 located, the superintendent thought the work would be 
 expedited by using wheelbarrows, and accordingly pro- 
 cured some which were put into the hands of the coolies 
 without any instructions about the manner of using 
 them, it being taken for granted they knew how ; but 
 much to the amusement of the foreigners, who hap- 
 pened to be looking on at the time, the Chinamen, 
 after filling the barrows, with which they seemed 
 pleased, slung them with a rope upon the bamboos, as 
 they were wont to do their baskets, and in pairs, with 
 the barrows between them, trudged off to the edge of 
 the bank with their loads; and it was sometime, and 
 not without much trouble, that they were induced to 
 use them properly. The Chinese coolies are probably 
 as muscular a body of men as can be found in the 
 world, although their food is principally rice. Their 
 pace is always a kind of half run, and they may be often 
 seen moving along with loads of one or two hundred 
 pounds apiece at the rate of four or five miles an hour. 
 Farmers and coolies wages do not usually exceed three 
 or four cents a day and boarded, and many do not get 
 as much. 
 
 The farming implements and machines in this case 
 are the principal ones used by the Chinese. The fan- 
 ning-mill is sometimes used to clean tea as well as 
 grain, which is more commonly separated from the 
 chafY by being let fall, from such large bamboo trays as 
 are here seen, in a current of air. The fanning-mill is 
 said, by Davis, to have originated in China, where it is 
 made like this model, with several spouts to separate 
 the grains of different gravities as well as to clean it 
 from the chaff. The chain pump is of various dimen- 
 sions ; this is a small one. It is only calculated for 
 raising water to small heights and is generally worked 
 by hand with a crank, or by the feet with treddles, on 
 the shaft, which, being turned, draws the boards up the 
 
102 CHINESE MUSEUM CASE XI. 
 
 trough in succession, and the water in front of them. 
 The suction pump is unknown in China, and the force 
 pump, which was introduced by Europeans, is but little 
 used. 
 
 The common cloths in this case are manufactured 
 cheaply, and retailed at a low price, and the partiality 
 of the Chinese for their own productions, leads them to 
 make use of these in preference to foreign goods; 
 some of which are much better and equally as cheap. 
 
 As agriculturists, the Chinese have generally been 
 overrated by authors, as it is said by competent judges 
 that they do not equal the English. They are better gar- 
 deners than farmers, and in that art certainly do excel. 
 Their terrace cultivation has been much exaggerated 
 by those writers who affirm that nearly all the hills are 
 terraced to the very summits, when in fact but very few 
 are, as is testified to by Davis and other members of 
 European embassies who have visited the interior, and 
 nearly every person, visiting China, is disappointed at 
 seeing the large number of barren hills between the 
 ocean and Canton, a distance of seventy-five or eighty 
 miles, where it was expected a perfect garden would be 
 found. Other parts of the Empire are said to present 
 a similar spectacle, and Peking, the capital, is situated 
 upon a sandy, arid plain, incapable of sustaining vege- 
 tation. Those hills only are terraced, where the soil 
 warrants a good return for the labor expended, and 
 where a plentiful supply of water can be conveniently 
 obtained. Agriculture in China holds a rank second 
 only to literature, and to perpetuate the remembrance 
 of those times when princes themselves were cultivators 
 of the soil, the Emperors of China, accompanied by the 
 chief officers and princes of the blood, repair at the 
 proper time, in the spring of each year, to the temple 
 of the inventor of agriculture at Peking, the grounds 
 about which are enclosed by a high wall, to till the 
 
CHINESE MUSEUM CASE XI. 103 
 
 ground and offer sacrifice to Heaven. The part of the 
 field tilled by the Emperor is covered with a kind of 
 tent made of mats, and after he has ploughed for about 
 half an hour he ascends a neighboring eminence whence 
 he examines the work of the princes, ministers and 
 Mandarins, who, guided by the most experienced culti- 
 vators, plough in the open air. All are dressed like 
 farmers, and while they are at work the musicians of 
 the court sing hymns composed in ancient times in 
 honor of agriculture. The ploughs are drawn by oxen 
 which are never used on any other occasion. There 
 are also granaries destined for the produce, part of 
 which is used for seed upon future occasions and part 
 to make cakes for the sacrifice to Heaven. 
 
 Rice, the principal production of China, may be 
 called the staff of life in that populous country, and 
 Gutzlaff remarks, that a native of the southern prov- 
 inces will not admit he has made a meal, unless he has 
 eaten a sufficient quantity of rice, and some Chinese 
 once inquiring of him whether the western barbarians 
 ate rice, and finding him slow to answer them, exclaim- 
 ed : " Oh ! the sterile regions of the barbarians, which 
 produce not the necessaries of life. Strange that the 
 inhabitants have not long ago died of hunger !" Some 
 idea may be formed of the enormous consumption of 
 this article, when it is stated that a ship load of 12,000 
 piculs of 133! 3 pounds each, or more than a million and 
 a half of pounds of rice, does not equal the amount 
 consumed in the city of Canton in a single day. At 
 the south, two crops of rice and one of vegetables are 
 raised upon the same spot of ground in a year, and as 
 might be expected in a country where the ground is 
 urged to the utmost, all kinds of manure arc in demand. 
 Decayed animal and vegetable matter, sweepings of 
 streets, the mud from ditches, burnt bones and lime, 
 and even barbers' shavings, which are not inconsidera- 
 
104 CHINESE MUSEUM CASE XI. 
 
 ble, as millions of heads are shaved every ten days, are 
 industriously gathered and sold ; but the collections 
 from sinks and other animal manure is esteemed the 
 highest, and mixed with loamy earth, and dried in small 
 masses in the sun, it forms a considerable article of 
 commerce. In towns and on rivers the whole atmos- 
 phere seems at times to be impregnated with the odor 
 left by passing scavengers, who pay little attention to 
 the olfactory nerves of less interested persons. Every 
 farm is furnished with a cistern in which the manure is 
 dissolved and kept until required for use. It is not 
 mixed with the soil, but universally applied to the plant 
 itself in a liquid state, and most seeds are steeped in it 
 previous to being sown. 
 
 What few diminutive horses and cows the Chinese 
 have, are pastured on waste land incapable of cultiva- 
 tion. They have no good land to spare for animals, 
 all is needed for the support of man. In consequence 
 of this very few can afford to eat animal food, and 
 Davis says that there is no people in the world who eat 
 so little meat or so much fish and vegetables as the 
 Chinese. The tax on land is part in kind and part in 
 money, but the sum is small, and reduced considerably 
 or remitted altogether in case of destructive drought or 
 inundation. The farms are generally small and with- 
 out fences, being usually divided by ditches, but the low 
 wet lands where rice is cultivated, are divided by nar- 
 row embankments which are used as walks and means 
 of communication between villages. No wide roads 
 are seen at the south, or indeed needed, as wheel car- 
 riages are not used. 
 
 In addition to the chain pump for irrigating their 
 fields, the Chinese have several other simple machines 
 for the same purpose. The principal of these is a 
 wheel, sometimes forty feet in diameter, which, with 
 the exception of the shaft and supports, is made entirely 
 
CHINESE MUSEUM CASE XI. 105 
 
 of bamboo. The paddles are of basket work, and some 
 bamboo tubes open at one end, and fastened on to the 
 circumference of the wheel, tangent to, or diagonally 
 across it, take up the water from the stream, (in which 
 the wheel is placed, and turned by the current striking 
 the paddles,) and carrying it to the top of the wheel, 
 discharge it into a gutter which conveys it to the place 
 required. It is calculated that some of these wheels 
 raise upwards of three hundred tons of water to the 
 height of forty feet in twenty-four hours. 
 
 The mills used by the Chinese for making flour are 
 made of two stones, (usually a hard granite) with the 
 faces grooved like our mill stones, and the top one 
 turning round an iron pin fastened into the lower one. 
 The hopper is fastened to the upper stone over a small 
 hole a little one side of the centre. Most of these mills 
 are small and turned by a single person ; but the public 
 ones are usually turned by buffaloes, a few only by water 
 power. In the two first mentioned, the upper stones 
 are turned by levers fastened to them, and in the buf- 
 falo mills the animals (one to each run of stones) walk 
 around in circles twelve feet in diameter, seven or eight 
 times a minute. Four buffaloes working by turns at 
 one run of stones will grind from three to four hundred 
 pounds of grain per day. In the water power mills the 
 upper stones have sticks fastened into the circumfer- 
 ence which act as cogs, and which are turned by simi- 
 lar sticks fastened into the shaft of the water-wheel. 
 The water-wheels generally used are overshot, and a 
 run of stones turned by one of them usually grinds six 
 or seven hundred pounds of grain in twenty-four hours. 
 These, like the few other machines used by the Chinese, 
 are of the simplest kind, but their tools and agricultural 
 implements appear to be particularly designed to direct 
 labor not to supersede it. If improvements, manifest 
 and simple, are proposed to a Chinese, the proposer is 
 
106 CHINESE MUSEU M C A S E XII. 
 
 immediately referred to ancient custom, and the usage 
 of his fathers, or perhaps to the fear of being squeezed 
 by the Mandarins, and this is an end to all controversy. 
 Educated to reverence antiquity, and to think the 
 usages and productions of the Celestial Empire perfec- 
 tion, the force of custom on the minds of the Chinese 
 is a great bar to their improvement. Experience has 
 shown, that a supply of food can be procured, and a 
 numerous population supported by an adherence to the 
 ancient mode, and a Chinaman is the last person to 
 waste either land or labor in venturesome experiments. 
 
 CASE XII. 
 
 Carpenter, saiving. 
 
 do. planing, with bench and tools complete. 
 
 Travelling blacksmith, tcith his forge, belloivs and other 
 apparatus, mending a cast iron vessel. 
 
 Itinerant Shoemaker, with his kit, at work. 
 
 Over head is a large rush umbrella, such as is seen cov- 
 ering small movable establishments of various kinds in 
 the streets and market-places of Canton. 
 
 In China, the sawyer's, the carpenter's, the joiner's, 
 and the sashmaker's trade are all exercised by the same 
 person. There are no saw-mills, planing machines, or 
 sash factories, and in sauntering about the streets of the 
 cities, at the door of a shop, or new building, may be 
 seen one or two men sawing boards from the logs, and 
 inside other workmen manufacturing them into the 
 different forms for constructing or finishing a house. 
 Their carpenter's tools are few, peculiar, and rudely 
 made ; but the work done with them, although not 
 
CHINESE MUSEUM CASE XII. 107 
 
 equal to that of our mechanics, made with more perfect 
 instruments, is probably much superior to what they 
 could produce with similar ones. The peculiarity of 
 their tools will be immediately noticed by a mechanic ; 
 the handsaw resembles our bucksaw, except that the 
 blade stands at an angle to the frame, the plane, from 
 its diminutive size, looks like a plaything, and is used, 
 as seen in the hands of one of the figures, the chisels 
 and gouges are few and have very short blades, the 
 rough wooden drill-stock, with a bamboo bow and dart- 
 shaped drills, answers instead of gimblets, a bolt and 
 ring serves to draw nails, as the clumsy looking hatchet 
 does to drive them ; the adze, with its wooden head, is 
 a curiosity from the economy of iron evinced in its 
 construction, and, like many other things, the exact op- 
 posite to ours, the line for marking boards, &c. is black 
 instead of white. This marking apparatus is a conve- 
 nient affair ; the line is wound on a spool, fastened in 
 a small box, and turned with a wire crank ; when drawn 
 out it passes through some cotton containing moistened 
 India ink, which is also used with a slip of bamboo for 
 marking as a pencil, a small weight fastened to the end 
 of the line keeps it from being drawn into the box and 
 serves as a plummet. 
 
 A Chinese mechanic knows jiothing about augers, 
 braces and bits, gimblets, drawing knives, spoke shaves, 
 and the host of other tools used with us to save labor 
 and economize time. These are not desideratums to 
 the myriads of China who overcome physical obstacles, 
 like insects, by dint of numbers, but economy of mate- 
 rials is the great object. Their pay will not admit of 
 their spending hundreds of dollars for tools, their chest 
 and all the contents, they can easily carry in one hand 
 to the place where required for use, and if they need a 
 hole larger than can be made with a drill, they have 
 the time to make it with a chisel or gouge. 
 
108 CHINESE MUSEUM CASE XII. 
 
 The traveling blacksmith is engaged in the celebrated 
 operation of ' welding cast iron,'' as it has been incor- 
 rectly called, but which as the observer will notice is 
 nothing more than filling up a crack (made wider for 
 the purpose) in a broken cast iron vessel with drops of 
 the same metal in a melted state which are pressed 
 down on each side with the rolls of cotton cloth which 
 he has in his hands. After filling the fracture in this 
 manner it is rubbed over with clay to stop up any re- 
 maining small holes. 
 
 The blacksmith's tools are more portable than a per- 
 son would expect they could be made; his bellows has no 
 unnecessary machinery or finish about it. It is usually 
 made of the section of a tree bored out and a piston fit- 
 ted to it, which, being moved to and fro, by the handle 
 at one extremity, the air is alternately forced out and 
 drawn in at each end ; thus making the blast nearly, but 
 not quite, continuous. His furnace is small, but large 
 enough for all the work required of him, and with the 
 baskets containing his hammers, scraper, files, and fuel, 
 and when he moves, his forge and bellows, slung at each 
 end of a pole on his shoulder, he trudges about from 
 place to place, seeking employment. Most of the metal 
 work of the Chinese which will admit of it, is finished 
 by scraping instead of filing or polishing. 
 
 The honest shoemaker, who sits beside his brother 
 vulcan, has suspended operations upon the old shoe be- 
 tween his knees, and is looking very wisely through his 
 large spectacles at the cast iron vessel which the knight 
 of the hammer and tongs is repairing. There are 
 4,200 shoemakers in Canton, many of whom belong to 
 the wandering class, and hardly a street can be passed 
 but one of them is seen industriously plying his trade. 
 
 The number of persons engaged in different mechan- 
 ical employments in the city of Canton is estimated at 
 24-6,000, and each of the respective trades form, to a 
 
CHINESE MUSEUM CASE XII. 109 
 
 certain degree, a separate community, and have each 
 their own laws and rules for the regulation of their busi- 
 ness. The wages of journeymen carpenters, black- 
 smiths, and mechanics of that class, are from fifteen to 
 twenty-five cents a day and boarded. Wood carvers 
 get from eighteen to forty cents and found, and ivory 
 carvers from twenty to sixty cents. Mechanics eat three 
 meals a day, viz : at 7, A. M., 1, P. M. and 6, P. M. 
 The food consists principally of rice, with a little fish or 
 pork to season it, and a few greens. Each person will 
 eat on an average a catty (equal to a pound and a third) 
 of rice at a meal, and the daily expense for each indi- 
 vidual's food does not exceed ten cents. All mechanics 
 work from seven in the morning until sundown. 
 
 Such large umbrellas as the one overhead in this case, 
 are generally seen protecting a number of half naked 
 beings, from the rays of the sun, who are gambling for 
 the value of a cash (the tenth part of a cent) in pea nuts, 
 or something of equal worth, and crowding around the 
 board underneath, the lookers on evince as much anxi- 
 ety as if they had an interest in the valuable stake. 
 Some of these establishments remain stationary for a 
 considerable length of time, unless disturbed by the 
 Mandarins, and are enclosed at night with a screen- 
 work of bamboo, which rolls up into a compact form in 
 the day time. 
 
 The lower orders of Chinese are much addicted to 
 gambling, which is a vice chiefly confined to them, and 
 notwithstanding the law to the contrary, in the more re- 
 tired streets of the cities are gambling houses where 
 these wretches congregate. The most common game 
 is that of quadrating cash, which consists in throwing 
 down a handful, or an unknown number of cash, small 
 stones, or bits of crockery and counting them out by 
 fours. This game is called ' cha tanj and the issue de- 
 pends on the remainder bet upon. Ten, twenty, and 
 
110 CHINESE MUSEUM CASE XIII. 
 
 more men are often seen around a table, different mem- 
 bers of the group exhibiting all the passions of the gam- 
 bler — fear, hope, success or disappointment, as they win 
 or lose alternately. 
 
 CASE XIII. 
 
 Tanka boat woman sculling, with an infant on her back. 
 
 do. do. girl rowing. 
 Small boy with float tied to his back, playing. 
 Tanka boat complete. 
 Elegant model of a nine storied pagoda. 
 Baskets and bird cases made of bamboo. 
 Lacquered baskets, &c. much used by the Chinese. 
 Ladies' 1 and gentlemen's dressing cases. 
 
 The first object which meets the eye in visiting 
 China is the barren looking coast ; the next the fishing 
 smacks ; and the next the tanka (egg house) boats who 
 swarm round vessels coming to anchor, the inmates all 
 screeching at once in a jargon difficult to be under- 
 stood by a new comer, but which is soon learned. 
 Every one is dignified with the title of ' Massa Cap'n,' 
 and u My poaty la, My poaty la Massa Cap^n ! My sobby 
 youfacytlue old tim Massa Cap^n /" is generally the 
 burthen of their song. In Macao roads, where ves- 
 sels usually stop before proceeding up to the Canton 
 anchorage, the tanka boats are generally navigated by 
 young girls, in competition with whom the old women 
 meet with poor encouragement. The boat seen in this 
 case was purchased from the family who were using it 
 
CHINESE MUSEUM CASE XIII. Ill 
 
 at the time on the river at Canton, and is of the ordi- 
 nary size seen at Macao, but not quite as large as some 
 of the same class at Whampoa and Canton. At the 
 latter place there are 84,000 registered boats upon the 
 river, most of which are these tanka boats, in which a 
 man, unless a passenger is seldom seen in the day time. 
 The fathers of the families residing in them are gener- 
 ally fishermen, boatmen, or coolies, whose employments 
 calPthem away, and who are obliged to leave their 
 boats and families in charge of the mothers, who in ad- 
 dition to taking care of them often raise some ducks or 
 chickens for sale in small coops hanging over the sterns 
 of the boats. These boats are generally kept much 
 cleaner than Chinese dwellings on land and in common 
 with their other vessels as well as houses, every one has 
 a shrine and Jos, or representation of one, before which 
 ajos stick is kept continually burning, and morning and 
 evening a general chin chinning, (as they call their noisy 
 worship,) consisting of the beating of gongs and burn- 
 ing of paper, takes place to propitiate their idols. The 
 females who live in these boats appear to be out of their 
 element when on land, and by the running pace at 
 which they move seem to be afraid some accident will 
 befall them before reaching their boats. The mode of 
 carrying infants tied on to the back is universal in 
 China, and resembles the same custom amongst our 
 Indians. The larger children generally carry the in- 
 fants, and those not higher than a walking-stick, are 
 often seen with babies strapped on to their backs. 
 Most of the small children have floats made of light 
 wood, or a bottle gourd tied to their backs to keep them 
 from sinking if they fall into the water, which they sel- 
 dom do, although they appear to move about in the 
 most careless manner. It is said that in case they fall 
 overboard, in addition to a ducking, they get flogged, 
 which makes them more careful in future. Chinese 
 
112 CHINESE MUSEUM CASE XIII. 
 
 boats are principally propelled by sculling oars at their 
 sterns, which work on pivots with very little friction and 
 noise. Some of the large passenger boats have four or 
 more large sculls, (each worked by ten or a dozen men,) 
 two placed at the sides of the sterns, and the others at 
 stagings on the sides. When moving at full speed, 
 these boats go as if urged by steam power. The oars 
 or sculls are all made of two pieces, fastened together 
 with rattans. 
 
 This case contains, in addition to the boat, a large 
 and a beautiful model of a nine storied pagoda. These 
 lofty edifices, towering to the skies, constitute one of 
 the beauties of a Chinese landscape. There appears 
 to be some doubt concerning their origin, but the suppo- 
 sition is that they are monuments of Budhism, as many 
 of them have temples dedicated to Budha in their vicin- 
 ity, and some of them contain Budhistic idols. That 
 they are intimately connected with the superstitions of 
 the Chinese, and that they suppose them to exert a sal- 
 utary influence upon the country surrounding them, 
 there can be no doubt, from the tenor of the subscrip- 
 tion papers occasionally circulated by the literati and 
 gentry for their repair. The following is a translation 
 of one issued at Canton, taken from the Chinese Re- 
 pository: — " Fellow-countrymen ! The region of coun- 
 try southeast of the provincial city, on account of its 
 water courses, has an important influence on the for- 
 tunes of the inhabitants. From an examination of old 
 records it appears that the pagoda on Pachow and the 
 adjacent temple, were built in the twenty-fifth year of 
 Wanleih ; and that the pagoda at Cheikang, and the 
 temple there consecrated to the god of letters, were 
 founded in the reign of Teenke ; all these structures 
 have had a most happy influence on every thing around 
 them, causing the number of literati to be very numer- 
 ous, and the productions of the soil most abundant. 
 
CHINESE MUSEUM CASE XIII. 113 
 
 Recently, however, the winds and the rains, driving 
 furiously, have broken down the tops of the pagodas, 
 and laid the temples in ruins, and injured even their 
 foundations. Their appearance now is very unsightly; 
 they ought to be repaired, in order to secure the return 
 of happy and prosperous times. The pagoda on the 
 north of the city, which rises five stories high, and has 
 its walls painted red, a color which is from its very na- 
 ture productive of fire, ought also to be repaired, and 
 painted with some other color. Already we have ob- 
 tained the permission of their excellencies, the governor 
 in council, to proceed with the contemplated repairs, 
 and also recommendatory papers in which they advise 
 the people to assist in accomplishing this work. It be- 
 ing an affair which greatly concerns both our honor and 
 prosperity, we have a right to expect, fellow-country- 
 men, that you will heartily cooperate, joyfully, and 
 promptly contributing, little or much, according to your 
 ability, so that by our united efforts the repairs may be 
 soon undertaken, and the buildings rise again to their 
 former splendor ! Then, according to your deeds of 
 merit, the gods will send prosperity, and your glory and 
 virtue will become great beyond comprehension. A 
 special solicitation." 
 
 Chinese pagodas vary in height and the number of 
 stories, but rank amongst the most durable structures of 
 the country. The most celebrated is the famous por- 
 celain tower at Nanking. This building is nine stories, 
 and rises two hundred feet from the ground. The body 
 is of blue brick, covered with porcelain tiles. 
 
 15 
 
114 CHINESE MUSEUM CASE XIV. 
 
 CASE XIV. 
 
 150 and 151. A pair of the largest size porcelain vases, 
 painted to represent some of the battles fought 
 in ancient times between the Tartars and Chi- 
 nese. These paintings are preferred in China 
 to the more modern styles, and are not fanciful 
 caricatures, as supposed by many. The repre- 
 sentation of similar'scenes is one of the princi- 
 pal attractions of the Chinese stage at the pres- 
 ent day, and the actors dress in the ancient cos- 
 tumes as seen on these and other articles of 
 Chinese porcelain. 
 
 152 and 153. A pair of vases similar to the above, of 
 the next size smaller. 
 
 154 and 155. A pair of porcelain vases of the third size, 
 elegantly painted with single figures. 
 
 156. Finely gilt blue porcelain jar for powdered sugar, 
 called "ping-fa" "chrystal flowers." 
 
 157 and 158. A pair of common flower stands. 
 
 159 and 160. A pair of hexagonal light green porce- 
 lain garden seats, with delicate white raised 
 sprigs and flowers. 
 
 161 and 162. A pair of blue porcelain garden seats with 
 white raised figures. 
 
 163. Beautifully painted porcelain garden seat, hex- 
 agonal form. 
 
 164 and 165. A pair of blue porcelain " tom-tos" or 
 spittoons, with raised white flowers. 
 
 166 and 167. A pair of handsome enameled copper 
 spittoons. 
 
 168 and 169. A pair of fine enameled candlesticks used 
 as part of the furniture of Budhistic Altars. 
 
CHINESE MUSEUM CASE XIV. 115 
 
 170. A large and beautiful enameled copper vase, used 
 
 to burn incense in before the idols of Budha. 
 
 171, 172, 173 and 174. Two pair of small porcelain 
 
 vases. 
 175 and 176. A pair of yellow porcelain cap stands, 
 
 with raised figures of parrots, &c. 
 177 and 178. A pair of antique six-sided porcelain 
 
 vases. 
 179 and 180. A pair of fine painted square porcelain 
 
 vases. 
 181 and 182. A pair of bottle shaped porcelain vases, 
 
 richly painted. 
 183 and 184. A pair of five necked green flower vases. 
 
 These are sometimes used by Chinese archers 
 
 to try their skill in shooting their arrows into 
 
 the different necks. 
 185. Handsome painted porcelain flower vase, with 
 
 raised figure of a lizard encircling the neck. 
 186 and 187. A pair of porcelain cap stands, made in 
 
 imitation of pieces of bamboo tied together. 
 
 188. Two beautiful enameled tea trays. 
 
 189. Enameled Jos vase to hang on the wall beneath 
 
 the painting of an idol. This is made in the 
 form of half an oo-loo or bottle gourd, a Chi- 
 nese emblem of longevity. 
 
 190. A beautiful enameled blue and gilt holy water 
 
 vase, used by the Budhists. 
 
 191. Enameled tea-pot with stationary handle. 
 
 192. Small enameled flower vase. 
 
 193. Three enameled plates of different patterns, and 
 
 one enameled tea-tray. 
 The manufacture of porcelain originated in China, 
 and commenced with the Tang dynasty, A. D. 630. 
 The first furnace on record was in Keang-se, the prov- 
 ince where it is now principally made. In ancient times 
 it was called " imitation gem ware." For the last thou- 
 
116 CHINESE MUSEUM CASE XV. 
 
 sand years the government has paid great attention to 
 the manufacture of porcelain, and some of the Emperors 
 have given large premiums for the best specimens. In 
 point of substance it has never yet been surpassed, al- 
 though the advances made in the science of chemistry, 
 and in the art of painting, by Europeans, has enabled 
 them to excel the Chinese in the coloring and the exe- 
 cution of the paintings. Notwithstanding the perfection 
 to which Europeans have attained in the manufacture 
 of China ware within the comparatively few years since 
 its introduction, they still purchase considerable of the 
 Chinese, and the value still keeps up, especially of the 
 large articles, as an instance«of which it may be stated 
 that such jars as the large ones in this case, cost from 
 two to three hundred dollars a pair, in China, according 
 to the perfection of the shape and the beauty of the 
 painting when taken from the furnace. Some idea may 
 be formed of the extent of the manufacture when it is 
 mentioned that several hundred thousand workmen are 
 employed, and the fires of the furnaces, when seen from 
 a distance at night, are said to resemble a city envelop- 
 ed in flames. 
 
 CASE XV. 
 
 The interior of this case is filled with Chinese musi- 
 cal instruments. On the top are several porcelain vases. 
 
 194. Kara or Kin, "the lute." This is more esteemed 
 than any other musical instrument of the Chi- 
 nese ; partly on account of its antiquity. A 
 native writer says it is called Kam (to prohibit) 
 because " it restrains and checks evil passions, 
 and corrects the human heart." It is made 
 
CHINESE MUSEUM CASE XV. 117 
 
 from the wood of the ivoo-lung or Dyandria 
 cordifolia, its strings are of silk, and it is said 
 to discourse most excellent music, but the diffi- 
 culty of playing upon it is so great, that " every 
 tune that a Chinese learns costs him the labor 
 of several months." 
 
 195. Haijoong-Kok or Wa-Kok. This instrument is 
 
 used in Budhist temples to call the inmates to 
 their evening devotions, and also in the army, 
 as the drum is with us, to mark the morning 
 and evening hours. 
 
 196. Chang. A smaller species of lute than the Kam. 
 
 It has sixteen strings and is generally seen in 
 the hands of blind musicians who use their long 
 finger nails or some substitute as a plectrum. 
 
 197. Pi-pa. The balloon shaped guitar. This is also 
 
 made of the woo-tung wood. The plane upper 
 surface is left without varnish, and is let into 
 the rounded back. The strings are of silk, as 
 were those of the ancient lute used in Europe, 
 and the pi-pa is said by Mr. Lay to correspond 
 exactly to the harp of Pythagoras in the out- 
 line. It is one of the most common accompa- 
 niments to the voice of ballad singers. 
 
 198. Ut-Kam. The full moon guitar. " This is made 
 
 of the Swan-che wood, and has four strings 
 which stand in pairs and are unisons with each 
 other. The table is not coated with varnish, 
 lest it should hurt the sound. Our violins never 
 acquire their purest tones till they have lost the 
 best part of their varnish; would it not be as 
 well to take a leaf out of the Chinaman's book, 
 and bestow all the ornament upon the neck and 
 back, but leave the sounding-board untouched." 
 
 199. Luk-Koo. A call used by pedlars of cloth, &c. 
 
 From morning till night the clicking of the Luk- 
 
118 CHINESE MUSEUM CASE XV. 
 
 koo is heard in the streets of Chinese towns, 
 accompanied by cries of the different kinds of 
 pedlars. 
 
 200. Sam-ecn. Three stringed guitar. " This is made 
 
 of the Swan-che wood, its sounds are low and 
 dull, and it is played as an accompaniment to 
 the pi-pa. The body is covered with the skin 
 of the tan snake, of which the natural vestment 
 is divided by cloudy lines of brown and yellow 
 into compartments. The jerkin of this snake, 
 we see, helps to make melody after its decease, 
 and its liver is much prized by the dealers in 
 medicines." 
 
 201. Ee-een. The two-stringed fiddle. The rebeck 
 
 of the Chinese. Some Ee-eens are made 
 merely of a stick of bamboo passing through a 
 hollow cylinder of the same material, but this 
 one is of rather better construction. " One end 
 of the cylinder is covered with snake skin and 
 the other is left open. The bow is in all its 
 original simplicity being a piece of rattan or 
 bamboo, with its ends drawn towards each 
 other by a small bundle of horse-hair which 
 passes between the strings, and it requires no 
 little practice to keep them clear of one while 
 being drawn over the other, as they are near 
 together. As it is a cheap instrument, it is in 
 the hands of a great many learners, who fill up 
 the vacuity of their leisure moments by grating 
 the strings of this scrannel coagmentation of 
 silk and wood. In better hands, however, its 
 notes though shrill and piercing, are by no 
 means contemptible. It will be seen that this 
 instrument embodies the principle of the violin, 
 which is comparatively a modern instrument, 
 its great powers and capabilities being first 
 
CHINESE' MUSEUM CASE XV. 119 
 
 pointed out by Tartini. The Chinese were in 
 possession of the idea ages ago, but while the 
 Italians labored to give the original draft every 
 perfection it was susceptible of, the eastern 
 Asiatics left theirs to enjoy its primitive sim- 
 plicity." 
 
 202. Tai-Kam. The bass fiddle. This is very much 
 
 like the ee-een, except that the drum is made of 
 cocoa nut shell instead of bamboo, and its 
 notes are gruffer. These two instruments are 
 almost the only ones among the Chinese that 
 are played with a bow. 
 
 203. Taoong-Kam. The wire strung harmonicon. The 
 
 strings are beaten with small slips of bamboo, 
 and in skilful hands emit sweet music. 
 203. Shap-yam. An instrument made of ten small 
 gongs arranged in a frame shaped like a cross. 
 This is carried in marriage processions and used 
 as an accompaniment to other instruments. 
 
 205. Chat-lcok. The clarion. This instrument is made 
 
 of thin copper, and the upper part of the stem 
 slides into the lower to enable the performer to 
 modify the sounds, which are very grave. 
 
 206. Wang-teh. The Chinese flute. " This is made 
 
 of bamboo, bound with silk between the aper- 
 tures to preserve the wood from cracking, and 
 helps doubtless to sweeten the sound. It is 
 with this, as with the guitar and lute, that the 
 Chinese dame cheers and beguiles the lonely 
 and unexciting hours of her seclusion." 
 
 207. Ho-toong. Trombone trumpet. The sounding 
 
 tube of this instrument is capable of being 
 lengthened and shortened at the will of the per- 
 former. Its sounds, like those of our trombone, 
 are not very agreeable alone, but form a proper 
 
120 CHINESE MUSEUM CASE XV. 
 
 relief to the shriller instruments when blown in 
 concert. 
 
 208. Sang. This is a collection of tubes varying in 
 
 length, so as to utter sounds at harmonic inter- 
 vals from each other, thus embodying the prin- 
 ciple of the organ stops, and with the wind 
 chest, into which the tubes are inserted, forms 
 the embryo of that magnificent instrument. 
 Very few of the Chinese of the present day un- 
 derstand the use of this instrument, which was 
 used in ancient times in the performance of re- 
 ligious rites. 
 
 209. Hayoong-lo. Small gong used with other instru- 
 
 ments by bands of music during marriage en- 
 tertainments. 
 
 210. Nam-ling. Small gong suspended in a metalic 
 
 frame, used by Budist priests. 
 211 and 212. Tan-ta, and Tong Koo, Gongs used in 
 
 concert with other instruments. 
 The gong is a favorite instrument with the Chinese. 
 The large ones are heard in their morning and evening 
 devotions, they precede processions of all kinds, and 
 drown all other noises in bands of music. 
 213 and 214. Cymbals. These add to the din kept up 
 
 with gongs in bands of music upon the stage. 
 
 215. Seaou-Soo-lo. A small gong used in concert with 
 
 other instruments. 
 
 216. Tong-Koo. The concert drum. 
 
 217. Luk-Koo. A call similar to 199. 
 
 218. FVai-Koo, " flat drum." " This is much used by 
 
 blind singers, who saunter through the streets 
 in the night. These singers are also the tellers 
 of old stories. Many of them are poor female 
 children, early trained to this business, by which 
 they procure support for their parents, some- 
 times, as well as for themselves." 
 
CHINESE MUSEUM CASE XV. 121 
 
 219. Mar-lo. Beggar's gong. 
 
 220 and 221. Heang-lek. "This possesses all the es- 
 sential pnrts of the clarionetexcept the finish and 
 the sweetness of its sound. It is a great favor- 
 ite among the Chinese, who are so charmed 
 with its loud and deafening sounds, they make 
 it the principal on all occasions, either of joy 
 or sorrow. It is heard at funeral processions, 
 it takes a part at marriage entertainments, and 
 leads in the musical companies both at the the- 
 atre and in the temple." 
 
 222. Nam-Sing. Bell used by Budhist priests in their 
 
 worship. Among the instruments of percussion 
 used by the Chinese, the great bell claims the 
 first place, as all other instruments were tuned 
 by this. It was also used in ancient times as the 
 standard of weight and measure. The Chinese 
 bell has no clapper, but is struck with a wooden 
 hammer. It is seen in all the principal temples, 
 hung in a large wooden stand, and is struck 
 upon at vespers, and at other times, when 
 prayers are offered up. The bell is an eastern 
 invention, and was used many centuries before 
 it was known in the west. 
 
 223. Puk-eu, " divining fish." This instrument is used 
 
 in the recitation of prayers, both private and 
 public, by the Budhistic priests, for the purpose 
 of marking time. 
 
 224. Pin-koo. The low drum. This and the pong-koo 
 
 are used together in a chorus, the singers beat- 
 ing them with small bamboo sticks. They give 
 out a peculiar clinking sound, not generally 
 agreeable to the ears of others than Chinese, 
 till use and association, ingredients in taste, have 
 made it so. 
 
122 CHINESE MUSEUM CASE XV. 
 
 225. Tong-heng. This metalic instrument is also used 
 by the Budhist priests, to mark time while chant- 
 ing their prayers. 
 
 " As lovers of pleasure, the Chinese have always had 
 great respect for music, one of its principal promoters; 
 and for tones and rythm, the two essential elements of 
 music and of song, they manifest great fondness. ' In- 
 deed it appears that the ancient sages of China were 
 not only extremely fond of what they esteemed good 
 music, but that they believed it to have a powerful in- 
 fluence over the morals of the people. It is said that 
 Coniucius was so powerfully struck with the music of 
 the great Shun, that for three months after he heard it, 
 he knew not the taste of his food.' Their writings on 
 the subject of music, though hard to be understood, are 
 very numerous ; and they contain records of the art, in 
 the earliest periods of their history, accompanied with 
 drawings and descriptions of their instruments. Many 
 of the most ancient are now disused, and ' according to 
 their own account their music at present is far inferior 
 to what it was in the golden ages of antiquity.' 
 
 11 The rules for writing instrumental music among 
 the Chinese change somewhat according to the instru- 
 ment employed ; thus the lute requires a very different 
 system of notation from the guitar ; and both from the 
 rebeck. In the notation adopted for the lute, 'each 
 note is a cluster of characters ; one denotes the string, 
 another the stud, a third informs you in what manner 
 the fingers of the right hand are to be used, a fourth 
 does the same in reference to the left, a fifth tells the 
 performer in what way he must slide the hand before or 
 after the appropriate sound has been given, and a sixth 
 says, perhaps, that two notes are to be struck at the 
 same time.' On account of this clumsy mode of nota- 
 tion, but few Chinese learn to play the lute scientifi- 
 cally." 
 
CHINESE MUSEUM CASE XVI. 123 
 
 226. Beautiful porcelain vase, with the surface purposely 
 
 cracked in burning. The Chinese affirm that 
 the art of making this kind of ware has been 
 lost for several hundred years. 
 
 227. Light green porcelain vase, with raised white 
 
 figure. 
 
 228. Very ancient surface cracked porcelain vase, dis- 
 
 colored by time. 
 
 CASE XVI. 
 
 229. Large gilt figured envelopes for marriage letters. 
 
 230 " " letter paper " « 
 
 Exchanged by the parents of the bride and 
 groom and sent accompanied by the marriage 
 presents. 
 
 231. Smaller gilt figured marriage envelopes. 
 
 232. " " letter paper for same use as 
 230. 
 
 233. White letter paper, with blue title-page, for com- 
 
 munications and petitions to government offi- 
 cers. 
 
 234. Red letter paper, with dark blue title-page, for 
 
 communications between Mandarins. 
 235 and 236. Figured red letter paper. 
 
 237. Plain red letter paper. 
 
 238. Figured white letter paper. 
 
 239 and 240. Figured and plain mourning letter paper. 
 
 241 and 242. " " envelopes for letters. 
 
 2i3. Mourning envelopes. 
 
 244, 215, and 246. Name strips for envelopes. 
 
 247. Figured fancy colored note paper. 
 
 248 and 249. Plain red and mourning cards. 
 
 250. Small red cards. 
 
124 CHINESE MUSEUM CASE XVI, 
 
 251. Small red envelopes and name strips. 
 
 252. Letter from an officer in the province of Honan, 
 
 to Dr. Parker, the American medical mission- 
 ary, at Canton, stating his case and soliciting 
 his advice. 
 
 253. 254, and 255. Envelope of letter from Wong (2d 
 
 Imperial Commissioner,) to Dr. Parker; the 
 letter, and copy of Keying's despatch to the 
 Emperor, accompanying the treaty with the 
 United States. 
 
 256. Envelope of an official document from the Impe- 
 
 rial Commissioner, Keying, to the Hon. Caleb 
 Cushing, Minister Plenipotentiary from the 
 United States to China. 
 
 257. Envelope of an official document from the Tsoong- 
 
 to of Canton, to Paul S. Forbes, Esq. American 
 Consul at Canton. 
 
 258. Facsimilie of Keying's Tartar signature as affixed 
 
 to the treaty between China and the United 
 States. The first character is the signature, 
 and the second or lower one is the flourish. 
 
 259. The Imperial Commissioner Keying's card. 
 
 260. The card of Wong-gan-toong the second Com- 
 
 missioner. 
 
 261. 262, and 263. The cards of Chow-chan-ling, 
 
 Pwan-sz-shing or Pvvan-tin-qua, and Tung-lin, 
 the Mandarins or high officers attached to Key- 
 ing's suite. It will be noticed that Pwan-tin- 
 qua'scard has a drab colored strip upon it upon 
 which his name is inscribed. He was still in 
 mourning, at the time this card was presented, 
 for his mother who died nearly a year before. 
 The Chinese ritual prescribes the time of mourn- 
 ing for a parent, which is nine months or thrice 
 ninety days, during which time goverment 
 officers retire from office. 
 
CHINESE MUSEUM CASE XVI. 125 
 
 264. Stereotype block for two pages of a Chinese book. 
 
 All the printing is done in China with such 
 blocks as this. They have no movable types ; 
 but the American missionaries at Macao and 
 Hong-Kong are printing books in Chinese with 
 movable types made in France. 
 
 265. Seals for the use of merchants. 
 
 266. Handsome carved blocks for printing labels. 
 
 267. Block for printing invitations to marriage enter- 
 
 tainments. 
 
 268. Stamps used by shopmen. 
 
 269. Canton court circular, containing only the move- 
 
 ments of the various government officers. 
 
 270. Copy of the Peking Gazette, issued at Canton 
 
 every other day. This one contains dates from 
 Peking, eighty days previous (Canton is about 
 as far from Peking as New Orleans is from New 
 York.) There is no freedom of the press in 
 China. The newspapers contain only such in- 
 formation as the government sees fit to have 
 published to suit its own purposes. 
 
 271. Different kinds of theme paper used at the literary 
 
 examinations of candidates for the different de- 
 grees necessary for them to attain before be- 
 coming eligible to office. 
 
 273. Account books of various sizes. 
 
 274. White envelopes with red name strips. 
 
 275. Faint ruled theme paper. 
 
 276. Ruled account paper. 
 
 277. Specimens of handsome characters made by a cel- 
 
 ebrated Canton scribe named Chung-uk-shung. 
 
 278. Characters for children to copy. 
 
 279. Chinese Almanac, for 1844. 
 
 280. " " arranged to resemble 
 a boy leading a buffalo. 
 
126 CHINESE MUSEUM CASE XVII. 
 
 231. Divining book to consult when throwing the bam- 
 boo slips used in Jos houses or temples to as- 
 certain the lucky days for marriages, building 
 houses, &x. 
 
 282. Chinese Arithmetic. 
 
 283 and 284. Ancient characters and their meaning 
 explained. 
 
 285. Picture book used to learn children the names of 
 
 things. 
 
 286. Directions for holding the pencil for different kinds 
 
 of writing. The Chinese are great admirers of 
 caligraphy, and indeed one of the essentials at 
 the literary examination is an elegantly written 
 theme. 
 The manufacture of paper and the art of printing 
 both originated in China, the former being first made 
 by the Chinese, A. D. 95, and the art of manufacturing 
 is transmitted by the Arabs (who learnt it from the Chi- 
 nese) into Spain about the beginning of the 10th cen- 
 tury, and the latter invention, which was first introduced 
 to the notice of the Chinese government about the 
 middle of the 10th century, was first brought to notice 
 in Europe in 1440, and introduced into England in 
 1470. Before the invention of paper the Chinese wrote 
 upon slips of flattened bamboo which they formed into 
 books by fastening them together with wires. 
 
 CASE XVII. 
 
 This case contains a beautiful model of a two story 
 summer house, as seen in the southern provinces of 
 China, with small figures of a lady and gentlemen. 
 There are also a number of flowers made of rice paper 
 and other ornaments for the hair made of feathers in 
 
CHINESE MUSEUM CASE XIX. 127 
 
 imitation of flowers, birds and insects. On the top of 
 this case are several finely painted porcelain vases. 
 
 CASE XVIII. 
 
 Contains a model of a silk store in Canton. Arti- 
 ficial flowers made of silk and rice paper, and a fan 
 made of the feathers of the Argus pheasant. On the 
 top of this case are also several porcelain vases. 
 
 CASE XIX. 
 
 Contains a model of a China ware and curiosity 
 shop in New China street, Canton, an ornamental fan 
 made of Peacocks feathers, and one made of the feath- 
 ers of the Argus Pheasant. There are two pair of ele- 
 gant five necked porcelain flower vases, and a pair of 
 beautifully painted single necked ditto, on the top of 
 this case. 
 
 Chinese stores, like the houses, are ordinarily but one 
 story high, but some of the handsomest are two stories. 
 Nearly all are destitute of yards, and have only a plat- 
 form upon the roof where the fuel is kept for cooking, 
 which is done in the attic. In the cities the ground, in 
 business localities, is covered with stores, and they are 
 universally lighted by sky-lights in the roof, as seen in 
 the models here exhibited. 
 
128 CHINESE MUSEUM CASE XX. 
 
 CASE XX. 
 
 The upper part of this case contains plates of vari- 
 ous patterns made of brass enameled. 
 
 287. Enameled cup with cover. 
 
 288, 289. Small enameledh and spittoons used in bed, 
 
 and carried by the attendants of gentlemen for 
 the use of their masters. 
 
 290. Enameled cream cup, an article made for export. 
 
 as the Chinese do not use cream or milk as a 
 beverage. 
 
 291. Enameled stand for writing pencils and dust brush, 
 
 a part of a gentleman's writing apparatus. 
 
 292. Curious enameled fruit shaped tea pot. The tea 
 
 is put in at the bottom the vessel it having no 
 opening at the top to admit the escape of the 
 aroma of the tea. 
 
 293. Sweetmeat box made of enameled ware. 
 
 294. Vessel for hot Sam-shou, the liquor distilled from 
 
 rice by the Chinese. 
 
 295. Enameled plate used in making offerings of fruits 
 
 and cakes before idols. 
 
 296. Elegant enameled vessel for holding Sam-shou, 
 
 also called Su-hing hot wine, used at entertain- 
 ments. 
 297 to 299. Covered enameled tea cups. 
 
 300. Enameled milk cup. 
 
 301. Enameled plate for same use as 295. 
 
 302 to 304. Set of small enameled incense vessels used 
 upon family altars. 
 
 305. Beautiful small enameled bowl for holy water. 
 
 Used by Budhists. 
 
 306. Enameled sugar bowl. 
 
CHINESE MUSEUM CASE XX. 129 
 
 307. Small enameled catty for fine tea. 
 
 308, 309. Small hand spittoons. 
 310. Same as 307. 
 
 311 to 315. Enameled plates of the ordinary size used 
 at table by the Chinese to contain the relishes 
 of pork, fish, &c, eaten with their rice. Each 
 person is furnished with a bowl for rice and 
 with his chopsticks takes from time to time 
 some of the contents of the plates which are 
 used in common. 
 
 316. Small enameled sugar bowl, 
 
 317. Small enameled saucer of a peculiar and ancient 
 
 form which the Chinese consider lucky. 
 318 to 321. Enameled plates of various patterns. 
 322 to 324. Enameled saucers of various patters. 
 325,326. Similar to 317. 
 327. Similar to 324. 
 328 to 330. Enameled tobacco boxes. Tobacco is only 
 
 used by the Chinese for smoking and snuffing. 
 
 331. Enameled pencil stand with water vessel attached 
 
 to it for mixing India ink. 
 
 332, 333. Enameled pencil rack and stand. 
 
 334. Enameled rice bowl. 
 
 335, 336. Boxes made of enameled ware for betel nut, 
 
 tobacco, &c. 
 337, 338. Enameled tea cups and saucers. 
 339. Small rice bowl curiously enameled. 
 340 to 342. Enameled tea cups and saucers. 
 343, 344. Beautiful blue and gold enameled boxes for 
 
 tobacco. 
 345. Enameled cup for drinking Sam-shou. 
 346 to 351. Beautifully painted porcelain tea cups with 
 
 metallic saucers and covers to prevent the 
 
 escape of the aroma of the tea. 
 352. Mended cup and saucer exhibiting the Chinese 
 
 method of repairing procelain, glass, &c. 
 
130 CHINESE MUSEUM CASE XX. 
 
 353. A set of enameled sweetmeat dishes made to fit a 
 circular tray. 
 
 354 to 357. Enameled cups and saucers of small di- 
 mensions for drinking hot Sam-shou and very 
 fine tea. 
 
 358, 359. Enameled saucers of peculiar forms. 
 
 360. Enameled Chinese spoon. 
 
 361, 362. A pair of elegant porcelain arm supports 
 
 used on large settees. 
 
 363. Porcelain rice bowl within a porcelain hot water 
 
 vessel. 
 
 364. A set of porcelain medicine boxes. 
 
 365. Ancient incense vessel in the form of a Unicorn 
 
 on a stand. The incense is placed in the in- 
 terior and the fumes exhale from the mouth. 
 
 366. Grotesque Chinaware image used as a pillow. 
 367,371. Elegant metallic vessels for containing Sam- 
 shou used at feasts and universally drank hot. 
 
 368 to 370. Curiously shaped metallic cups for drink- 
 ing Sam-shou. 
 369. Metallic lamp stand. 
 
 372. Same as 366. 
 
 373. Same as 365. 
 
 374. 375. Two elegant porcelain tea trays. 
 
 376, 377. A pair of small porcelain flower stands. 
 378, 379. Straight jars, made of porcelain, for holding 
 
 writing pencils. 
 380, 381. A pair of beautiful flower vases of small size. 
 382, 383. Curious formed and painted porcelain vases. 
 384, 385. A pair of handsomely painted flower vases. 
 386, 387. A pair of superb porcelain flower jars, in 
 
 which the leaves of flowers are placed, the 
 
 perfume escaping through the perforations in 
 
 the covers. 
 388. Porcelain image of the Budhist goddess Shing- 
 
 Mo y " Holy Mother," with a child in her arms 
 
CHINESE MUSEUM CASE XX. 131 
 
 holding a sceptre. The attributes of this hea- 
 then goddess strongly resemble those of the 
 Virgin Mary. 
 389, 390. Tea pot and Sam-shou vessel made of blue 
 stone ware. 
 
 391. Beautiful painted porcelain sugar bowl. 
 
 392, 393. Porcelain tea and Sam-shou vessels. 
 
 394 to 396. Set of small porcelain incense vessels. 
 397. Porcelain vessel, the upper part of which is used 
 
 for medicine, and the lower as a spittoon. 
 398 to 401. Porcelain tea pots of different construction. 
 
 402. Small unglazed porcelain vessel for the prepara- 
 
 tion of ginseng. 
 
 403. Wooden case for tea vessel used in stores and 
 
 houses to keep tea warm. 
 
 404. Stone ware sweetmeat jar. 
 
 405. Small tea pot made of red glazed porcelain. 
 
 406. Common hand furnace made of an earthen ves- 
 
 sel, to contain the coals, fitted into a bamboo 
 basket, used by the poorer classes in cold 
 weather. 
 In the north of China houses are heat by flues pas- 
 sing under the tile floors, and couches made of brick 
 are heated in a similar manner, but at the south fires 
 are only used for cooking, the body being kept warm, 
 by putting on additional clothing as cold weather, which 
 is not very severe or of long continuance, approaches. 
 At Canton the mercury seldom falls below the freez- 
 ing point, and it has snowed but once at that place in 
 a great many years. 
 
 407. 408. Fanciful shaped vessel for holding water 
 
 used to grind ink used in writing. 
 
 409. Tea pot made of common ware in the shape of a 
 
 melon. 
 
 410. Blocks made of the root of the bamboo ; used in 
 
 temples to ascertain whether the prayers of 
 
132 CHINESE MUSEUM CASE XX. 
 
 suppliants will be answered favorably or not. 
 The petitioner kneeling before the altar drops 
 the blocks upon the pavement, if one falls with 
 the round side up and the other the flat, it is 
 considered favorable, but if otherwise, the re- 
 verse. 
 
 411. Handsome case containing a tea vessel above and 
 
 a stone ware receptacle for coals below. Every 
 store and house is furnished with something of 
 this kind for the use of the inmates and visitors. 
 The Chinese warm all their drinks, considering 
 cold ones unhealthy. 
 
 412. Curious tea pot made of common ware in the 
 
 form of a pomegranate. 
 
 413. An image of one of the Budhist deities holding 
 
 aloft the mystical diagram made by the ancient 
 Emperor Fuhi. Used to protect houses from 
 evil influences. The Emperor Fuhi or Fohy 
 is considered by some Chinese historians as the 
 founder of the Empire. Before he appeared 
 they say men differed not from brutes, but he 
 civilized them, and after making the eight mys- 
 tical diagrams, of which the Chinese write and 
 talk much but know little, he proceeded to in- 
 vent the written character. The commence- 
 ment of his reign is placed 2852 B. C, and it 
 is in the province of Honan where he built his 
 capital that the Chinese fix the site of that first 
 settlement from whence have sprung all the 
 successive dynasties and all the countless mul- 
 titudes of the black haired people, which dur- 
 ing a period of forty-seven centuries, have rul- 
 ed and cultivated the hills and vallies of the 
 Celestial Empire. 
 
 414. Porcelain medicine jar. 
 
 415. Small tea pot of curious construction for making 
 
CHINESE MUSEUM CASE XXII. 133 
 
 a cup of tea expeditiously by placing a lamp 
 
 underneath. 
 416. Common ware tea vessel for the use of stores and 
 
 houses. 
 On the top of this case are eight elegant porcelain 
 jars of various patterns. 
 
 CASE XXI. 
 
 Contains a model of a canal boat, such as the tea is 
 brought to Canton in ; some artificial fruits, head or- 
 naments made of feathers, and two fans so made that 
 when opened in one direction are whole, but if opened 
 the other appear broken. A large number of these ca- 
 nal boats are always to be seen in the Canton waters. 
 They are excellent cargo boats, and peculiarly adapted 
 to the shallow inland waters and canals, where they are 
 pushed along by the men with bamboo poles, or tracked 
 with ropes. They have peculiar masts, which can be 
 taken down and put up with facility, which enables 
 them to take advantage of the winds in large streams. 
 The top of this case is covered with porcelain vases. 
 
 CASE XXII. 
 
 Contains a model of a Nanking junk, and a num- 
 ber of specimens of artificial fruits. 
 
 The hulls of all junks are shaped very much like a 
 Chinese shoe, but they differ considerably in their upper 
 
134 CHINESE MUSEUM CASE XXII. 
 
 works and embellishments. The Nanking junks are per- 
 haps the handsomest. " The model from which a junk 
 was first derived, is said by the Chinese to have been a 
 monstrous fish ; the fancied resemblance is kept up in 
 the eyes, the mouth and teeth, painted on the bow, a 
 frisking tail in the high stern, &c." Like all other 
 Chinese vessels the junks are without keels, and draw 
 very little water, on which account they fall to lee- 
 ward in head winds, and are obliged, in their trading 
 voyages, to take advantage of the monsoons or periodi- 
 cal winds which, on the coast of China, blow steadily 
 for several months in one direction, and then change 
 and blow in an opposite one. The art of navigation 
 appears to have been on the decline in China for sev- 
 eral centuries, as it is well known that the Chinese once 
 navigated as far as India, while at present their most 
 distant vovages extend no farther than Java, and the 
 Malay islands to the south. They have no instruments 
 for calculating the latitude or longitude, but are guided 
 by the compass between the prominent headlands ; of 
 which, together with the harbors, currents and shoals 
 on the coast, they possess tolerably accurate directories. 
 The sails of all Chinese vessels are made of mats, the 
 ropes and cables of split rattans and coir, or the husk 
 of the cocoa nut, and the anchors of a heavy hard wood, 
 called by the Chinese teih-mo^ "iron wood." The ac- 
 count which Mr. Gutzlaff gives of the manning and dis- 
 cipline of the trading jnnks, in which he made several 
 voyages, explains, in part, the loss of so many at sea. 
 " Besides the principal owner of the cargo, or agent for 
 those who own it, there is the captain or pilot. He sits 
 constantly on the weather side of the vessel, observing 
 the shores and promontories as they are approached, 
 and from habit seldom lies down to sleep. Though he 
 has the nominal command over the sailors, who are the 
 offscourings of the Chinese population, they obey him 
 
CHINESE MUSEUM CASE XXIII. 135 
 
 or not, according to their pleasure, and sometimes scold 
 or brave him like one of their own number. Next to 
 the pilot is the helmsman, who manages the steering 
 and sails. Besides clerks for the cargo, there is a pur- 
 chaser of provisions, and another whose express business 
 it is to attend to the offerings to the gods and goddesses. 
 The crew consists of two classes : the able seamen, who 
 are called Tow-mo, "heads and eyes," and the ordinary 
 seamen called FokVs " comrades." Every one is a 
 shareholder, with the privilege of putting a certain quan- 
 tity of goods on board. The principal object of all 
 is trade, and the working of the junks would seem to 
 be a subordinate point. The crew exercise full con- 
 trol over the vessel, and oppose every measure which 
 they deem injurious to their own interest ; so that the 
 captain and pilot are often obliged to submit to them. 
 In time of danger the men often lose all courage ; and 
 their indecision, with the confusion which attends the 
 absence of discipline, not unfrequently proves the des- 
 truction of the junk." 
 
 On the top of this case are several porcelain vases 
 and two China ware fountains, sometimes used as flower 
 pots, made to represent rocky hill sides, with castles, 
 temples, &c. 
 
 CASE XXIII. 
 
 Contains a model of a Mandarin boat or revenue 
 cutter. 
 
 The Mandarin boats, called by the Chinese " fast 
 crabs," and "scrambling dragons," are intended by the 
 government for the suppression of opium smuggling on 
 the rivers, but are said to be oftener used for smug- 
 
136 CHINESE MUSEUM CASE XXIV. 
 
 gling, or for collecting from smugglers a certain amount 
 for every chest of opium they are allowed to run in, 
 which amount goes into the pockets of the Mandarins 
 having them in charge. 
 
 The top of this case is covered with porcelain vases 
 and China ware fountains similar to those on the pre- 
 vious case. 
 
 CASE XXIV. 
 
 417. Gentlemen's embroidered pockets worn at the 
 
 waist in front under the upper garment. 
 
 418. Gentlemen's embrodered pockets for keys. 
 
 419. Gentlemen's embroidered double pockets for betel 
 
 nut, &c. 
 
 420. Gentlemen's embroidered watch pockets. 
 Those who can afford it usually carry two watches, 
 
 one on each side. A Chinese being asked the reason 
 answered " S'pose one catchy litty sick inside, other can 
 walky." 
 
 421. Embroidered head bands for ladies. 
 
 422. Stamped leather spectacle cases. 
 
 423. Embroidered cases for spectacles. 
 
 424. Large embroidered pocket. 
 
 425. Waist ornaments worn by gentlemen. 
 
 426. Embroidered sashes for ladies. 
 
 427. Gentlemen's embroidered woolen cap worn in 
 
 in cold weather. 
 
 428. Gentlemen's embroidered tobacco pouches, sus- 
 
 suspended at the waist. 
 
 429. Ornamental embroidered scent bags carried by 
 
 gentlemen at the waist. 
 
 430. Silk bandage for small feet. 
 
CHINESE MUSEUM CASE XXV. 137 
 
 431. Embroidered fan cases. These articles form a 
 
 part of the waist ornaments worn by gentlemen 
 who all carry fans. 
 
 432. Embroidered scarlet worsted pockets. 
 
 433. Silk crape breast pieces worn in cold weather. 
 
 434. Embroidered knee pans padded with cotton and 
 
 worn in winter. 
 
 435. Embroidered knee pans for summer wear. 
 
 436. Black silk handkerchief with white figure ; carri- 
 
 ed by bridegrooms. 
 
 437. Printed crape door cover. 
 433. Child's head dress. 
 
 439. Budhist canonical head dress with embroidered 
 
 images of the "precious Budhas" sitting on 
 the flowers of the lotus or sacred water lilly. 
 
 440. Silk garters worn by gentlemen. 
 
 441. 442. Chinese stockings. 
 
 443. Cap worn by Budhist priests on festival days. 
 
 444. Ordinary cap worn by Budhist priests. 
 445 to 447. Children's embroidered caps. 
 
 448. Different kinds of caps worn by gentlemen in 
 
 winter. 
 
 449. Gentlemen's summer caps made of horse hair. 
 
 450. Boy's caps. 
 
 451. Mourning caps. 
 
 452. Felt caps. 
 
 453. Velvet collars worn in winter by gentlemen. 
 
 CASE XXV. 
 
 453. Image of a Chinese sage, carved from a root of 
 
 the bamboo. 
 
 454. Beautiful carved king wood cap stand. 
 
] 38 CHINESE MUSEUM CASE XXV. 
 
 455. Large and elegant bronze incense vase with carv- 
 
 ed wood cover and stand. 
 
 456. Budhist idol carved from the root of the bamboo. 
 
 457. Beautiful carved wood stand and tree with bronze 
 
 images of an old man, a stork and a deer, em- 
 blematic of long life and happiness. 
 
 458. Figure of an elephant and his master handsomely 
 
 carved from a bamboo root. 
 
 459. Fine red lacquered incense vessel in the form of 
 
 an Oo-loo or bottle gourd which is considered 
 by the Chinese an emblem of longevity. 
 
 460. Similar to 454. 
 
 461. Figure of a Chinese sage riding on a deer, carved 
 
 from a bamboo root. 
 
 462. Magic mirror on carved stand. Some of these 
 
 mirrors possess the curious property of reflecting 
 an image on a wall, of the raised figures on the 
 back from the surface. The body of the mirror 
 and the figures are supposed to be made of 
 metals of different reflective powers, and the 
 figures to extend through the mirror to the face, 
 which being polished, renders their outlines 
 invisible to the eye. 
 
 463. Budhist idol, with a Joo-ee or sceptre in his hand, 
 
 riding upon a buffalo. Carved from a bamboo 
 root. 
 
 464. Bronze image of Budha. 
 
 465. Parrot carved from the root of the bamboo. 
 
 466. Vine pattern stand elaborately carved out of king 
 
 wood. 
 
 467. Beautiful leaf pattern bronze holy water vase on a 
 
 finely carved stand. 
 
 468. Elegantly carved cup made from the horn of the 
 
 rhinoceros, on a carved king wood stand. 
 These cups were sent to government officers 
 in ancient times by the Emperors, as marks of 
 
CHINESE MUSEUM 
 
 CASE XXV. 139 
 
 displeasure to be followed by removal from 
 office. 
 
 469. Bronze elephant and figure. 
 
 470. Triple ornamental carved wood stand with varie- 
 
 gated marble tops. 
 
 471. Representation of a hill with temples, devotees, 
 
 &.C, elaborately carved from a bamboo root. 
 
 472. Temple and figures carved in bamboo. 
 
 473. Image of a Budhist Jos or God, beautifully carved 
 
 in a fine yellow wood resembling English box. 
 
 474. Elegant bronze vase of small size, on stand. 
 
 475. Double ornamental stand with marble tops. 
 
 476. Grotesque image carved from a bamboo root. 
 
 477. Bronze incense vessel in the form of a duck on a 
 
 handsome carved stand. The incense is placed 
 within the body, the smoke escaping through 
 the mouth. 
 
 478. Bronze image of Kuan-yim, the goddess of mercy, 
 
 on carved stand. 
 
 479. Double marble top stand, similar to 475. 
 
 480. Temple and figures carved from a bamboo root. 
 
 481. 482. .Machine toys made at Nanking. 
 
 483. Chinese compass. The polarity of the needle 
 
 was probably discovered in China as it is ex- 
 plicitly noticed in a Chinese dictionary finished 
 A. D. 121, and previous to 4l9, it. was mod by 
 them to guide ships. 
 
 484. Similar to 481 and 482. 
 
 485. Large Chinese compass. 
 
 486. Carved stone Jos or idol. 
 
 487. Small tea-pot made of a brown ware, much es- 
 
 teemed by the Chinese, and beautifully painted 
 in enamel. 
 
 488. Sword made of ancient Chinese coin, supposed 
 
 by that superstitious people in b< ui\ < 1] ca- 
 cious in keeping away ghosts and generally 
 
140 CHINESE MUSEUM — CASE XXV. 
 
 suspended at the head of their couches for that 
 purpose. 
 439. Tea-pot similar to 437. 
 
 490. Lacquered letter box. 
 
 491. Compass and sun dial. 
 
 492. Tea-pot made of fine brown ware. 
 
 493. Model of a two storied pagoda carved out of 
 
 stone. 
 
 494. Small brown earthen ware tea-pot. 
 
 495. Compass and perpetual almanac. 
 
 496. Nanking machine toy. 
 
 497. Small clay toy images from Nanking. 
 
 498. Small carved stone image. 
 
 499. Toy buffalo made of clay. 
 
 500. Tea-cups finely carved from cocoa-nut wood and 
 
 lined with metal. 
 
 501. Handsome small brown ware tea-pot. 
 
 502. Small grotesque image carved out of stone. 
 
 503. Beautiful carved stone image. 
 
 50i. Small hexagonal stand carved out -of king wood. 
 
 505, 507, 509. Nanking machine toys of different con- 
 
 struction. These toys contain machinery in- 
 side, and when wound up possess the power of 
 locomotion for a short time. 
 
 506. Small lacquered tobacco-box. 
 
 508. Large brown ware tea-pot handsomely painted. 
 
 510. Chopsticks and knife in a shark skin case. Worn 
 
 by gentlemen suspended at the girdle and used 
 to eat with. 
 
 511. Elaborately carved ivory fan. 
 
 512. Beautifully engraved tortoise shell paper cutter. 
 
 513. 514. Ivory puzzles of different construction. 
 
 515. Small Chinese compass. 
 
 516. Grotesque carved ivory letter stamp. 
 
 517. Ink stone box with the cover ornamented with a 
 
 vine and flowers made of pearl in relief. 
 
CHINESE MUSEUM CASE XXV. 141 
 
 518. Superbly carved sandal wood letter rack. 
 
 519. Chopsticks and knife in a tortoise shell case. 
 
 520. Chastely ornamented feather fan with ivory frame. 
 
 521. 523. Handsomely carved ivory paper cutters. 
 
 522. Engraved tortoise shell se^ar case. 
 
 524. Silver basket with gold and enameled ornaments. 
 
 A most elegant specimen of Chinese fillagree 
 work. 
 
 525. Carved sandal wood case containing a pair of 
 
 chopsticks, knife and toothpick. 
 
 526. Handsome lacquered card case. 
 
 527. Curious tea-pot made of metal and lined with 
 
 earthen ware, the handle and end of the spout 
 being made of jade stone. 
 
 528. Carved ivory counter box. 
 
 529. Stone pencil holder. 
 
 530. Carved cocoa-nut wood tea-cups, with metallic 
 
 linings. 
 
 531. Carved pearl card case. 
 
 532. Round carved ivory counter box. 
 
 533. Handsome carved ivory puzzle and box. 
 
 534. Large ivory basket, most exquisitely carved. 
 
 535. Belt clasp used by government officers. 
 
 536. Carved stone pencil stand. 
 
 537. Hexagonal carved king wood stand of small size. 
 
 538. Engraved tortoise shell covered book containing 
 
 small figures of Chinese, made of silk with 
 painted ivory faces. 
 
 539. Gilt silver arm ring worn by Chinese ladies. 
 
 540. Small handsomely carved stand, made of king 
 
 wood. 
 
 541. Ivory puzzle. 
 
 542. Neatly carved ivory letter stamp. 
 
 543. Pearl letter stamp. 
 
 544. Splendidly carved ivory card case. 
 
142 CHINESE MUSEUM CASE XXV. 
 
 545. Finely carved gentlemen's waist ornament made 
 
 of Yu or Jade, a stone highly prized by the 
 Chinese and very costly. 
 
 546. Silver arm ring or bracelet. 
 
 547. An elegant carved tortoise shell card case. 
 
 548. 532. A pair of small handsome king wood stands. 
 
 549. Snuff bottle. 
 
 550. 553. Small lacquered tobacco boxes. 
 
 551. Thumb rin£ worn bv archers. 
 
 55\. Beautiful ivory model of a flower boat, with fig- 
 ures, furniture, &.c. complete. 
 355. Curious ivory letter stamp. 
 
 556. Elegant carved ivory frame with a figure of a lady, 
 
 reclining on a couch carved in ivory and paint- 
 ed on one side, and a looking glass on the other. 
 
 557. Book containing diagrams of puzzles. 
 
 558. Small mirror with back handsomely carved in ivory 
 
 and painted. 
 
 559. Large and finely carved ivory ball, containing six- 
 
 teen other balls inside, curiously carved outof 
 a solid piece of ivory. 
 
 560. Very finely carved ivory case for a snuff bottle. 
 
 561. 562. Small carved ivory balls. 
 
 563. Toy buffalo, made of clay, with boy on his back 
 
 flying a kite. 
 
 564. Grotesque carved ivory letter stamp. 
 
 565. Waist ornament worn by gentlemen. 
 
 566. Small Sam-shou cups made of cocoa nut wood. 
 
 lined with metal. 
 
 567. Small gilt porcelain tea-pot. 
 
 568. Ivory letter stamp, with ball handle, containing 
 
 several concentric spheres within. 
 
 569. Small Nanking clay toys. 
 
 570. Snuff bottle. 
 
 571. Carve I cocoa out wood tea cup.-. 
 
 572. Small brown ware tea pot. 
 
CHINESE M68E0M — CASE XXV. 1 43 
 
 573. Very small clay toys made at Nanking. 
 
 574. Carved bone fan. 
 
 575. Grotesque carved stone paper weight. 
 
 576. Small magic mirror on carved stand. 
 
 577. Chinese spy glass, of little or no use, as they are 
 
 not possessed of science enough to make a good 
 instrument of this kind. 
 
 578. Chinese compass. 
 
 5711 Curious puzzle made of a number of silk strings 
 and ivory cross bars. The bars will slide up 
 and down but the number of strings between 
 the different pairs varies. 
 
 580. Small pocket compass. 
 
 581. 583. Brown earthen ware tea pots. 
 
 582. Curiously carved stone paper weights. 
 
 584. Elegant carved sandal wood card stand supported 
 
 by a grotesque ligure of a frog. 
 
 585. Small carved stand of handsome shape. 
 58t>. Beautiful Japanese carved lacquered box. 
 
 587. Lacquered letter case. 
 
 588. Small curious shaped brown ware tea pot. 
 
 589. Water vessels, part of a Chinese writing apparatus. 
 
 590. Small fancy lacquered box for betel nut, tobac- 
 
 co, &c. 
 
 591. An elegant Joo-ee or sceptre, which according to 
 
 Davis is, in fact, an emblem of amity and good 
 will. It is called Juo-tt. •• as you wish." and is 
 exchanged as a costlv mark of friendship: but 
 that it had a religious origin seems indicated by 
 the sacred flower of the lotus being generally 
 carved on the superior end. 
 
 592. 594, Mandarins' belt clasps. 
 
 593. King wood ornamental stand, in the form of a 
 
 flower. 
 
 595. Carved ivory letter stamp. 
 
 596. Ornamental stand made of king wood 
 
 597. Small fancy lacquered box. 
 
144 CHINESE MUSEUM CASE- XXVI. 
 
 598. Small yellow earthen ware tea pot. 
 
 599, 600. Metallic framed compasses and sundials. 
 601. Small double carved king wood stand. 
 
 In carving small articles out of ivory, tortoise shell, 
 sandal and other woods, stone and bamboo, the Chinese 
 certainly do excel any other nation, and if visitors close- 
 ly examine the articles in this case they will readily 
 perceive that the patient labor bestowed upon some of 
 them must have been immense. 
 
 CASE XXVI. 
 
 602. Chinese compass. 
 
 603. Porcelain flower vessel in the form of an elephant. 
 
 604. Chinese combs of various patterns. 
 
 605 to 607. Three covered cups showing the process 
 of painting porcelain. The first has the out- 
 line drawn in India ink, the second has the 
 colors put on, and the third is finished, the col- 
 ors being burned in. 
 
 608. A set of chopsticks. 
 
 609. Spectacles of different kinds, made of chrystal. 
 
 These are sometimes fastened on by loops pass- 
 ing over the ears and sometimes with strings 
 with little weights at the ends. The large round 
 eye gives the wearer a peculiarly sapient ap- 
 pearance. 
 
 610. Small books containing the prayers recited by the 
 
 Budhist priests, and sold by them as amulets to 
 be carried about the person. 
 
 611. An Oo-loo or bottle gourd, considered an emblem 
 
 of longevity. 
 
 612. Tray and set of porcelain writing implements. 
 
CHINESE MUSEUM CASE XXVI. 145 
 
 613. Dried skin of the porcupine fish, used by the Chi- 
 
 nese as lanterns. 
 
 614. Red porcelain medicine box. 
 
 615. Joo-ee or sceptre, similar to the one in case XXV. 
 
 The ornamental parts are carved out of jade 
 and other precious stones. 
 
 616. Beautiful lacquered paint box, with colors, &c. 
 
 complete. 
 
 617. Large and beautifully painted porcelain punch 
 
 bowl. 
 
 618. Elegant covered porcelain conjee or rice bowl. 
 
 619. Arm rings, belt clasps, hair pin and ear rings. 
 
 620. Beautifully painted fancy shaped porcelain fruit 
 
 dish. 
 
 621. Porcelain rice bowl and hot water vessel. 
 
 622. 623. Fine painted fancy shaped porcelain fruit 
 
 dishes. 
 624, 625. Two large and finely painted porcelain plates 
 
 on stands. 
 626. Different sized compasses. 
 627 to 629. Three elegantly painted porcelain dishes 
 
 of fancy shapes. 
 
 630. Fine porcelain sweetmeat vessels in the form of a 
 
 puzzle. Within the different ones are paintings 
 of birds and flowers upon the prepared leaves 
 of the Ficus religiosa or Banyan tree. 
 
 631. Copper hand furnace used by gentlemen in cold 
 
 weather. 
 
 632. Compasses used on board of junks and other large 
 
 Chinese vessels. 
 
 633. Large compass of different construction. 
 
 634. A beautiful and costly carved red lacquered Jap- 
 
 anese present box presented by Pwan-tin-qua, 
 one of Keying's suite. 
 
 19 
 
146 CHINESE MUSEUM CASE XXVIII. 
 
 635. A number of snuff bottles of different patterns and 
 
 made of different materials. The snuff is taken 
 out with a little spoon attached to the stopple. 
 
 636. Lacquered sweetmeat box. 
 
 637. Beautiful pearl inlaid lacquered cover to 636. 
 
 638. Splendid pearl inlaid lady's dressing case from 
 
 Japan. 
 
 CASE XXVII. 
 
 Contains a model of a Chinese flower boat, some 
 pots of artificial flowers and an argus pheasant feather 
 fan. 
 
 The flower boats are used by the Chinese as hotels 
 are with us, but to a greater extent, in giving dinners. 
 They are also often used by bridal parties and excur- 
 sions of other kinds upon the rivers. At Canton whole 
 streets of these boats are seen, which with their richly 
 carved and gilded fronts present a gorgeous spectacle, 
 especially at night, when they are splendidly lighted 
 with a great variety of lanterns. Many of them are 
 used as drinking and gaming establishments and some 
 for worse purposes. On the top of the case is an ele- 
 gant model of a Chinese summer house and a beautiful 
 specimen of carving in fine wood. 
 
 CASE XXVII I. 
 
 Contains a model of a Hong boat, and some pots of 
 artificial flowers. These boats are so called by foreign- 
 ers, because used by the Hong merchants in going from 
 
CHINESE MUSEUM CASE XXX. 147 
 
 one part of Canton to another, or to and from their 
 country places. They are very pleasant and conve- 
 nient boats for making excursions upon the river with 
 small parties in summer, and have been adopted by 
 several foreign residents at Canton for this purpose. 
 On this and the next case are a number of cases of in- 
 sects, &c. 
 
 CASE XXIX. 
 
 Contains a model of a stone bridge of five arches at 
 Fahti near Canton. 
 
 CASE XXX. 
 
 639, 640. Two beautiful paintings on glass represent- 
 ing scenes in the ancient history of the Empire. 
 
 641. Rosaries made of different materials and worn by 
 
 priests and mandarins. 
 
 642. A metallic vessel with several apartments, one 
 
 above the other, and tea and Sam-shou pots 
 fastened an at the sides. A lamp beneath warms 
 the whole apparatus. 
 
 643. Handsome domestic shrine made of King wood. 
 
 644. 645, 647. Metallic candlesticks and plate to set 
 
 upon on altar before Budhist idols. 
 646. White copper hookah in a case with box for to- 
 bacco and stand for match paper. In these 
 pipes the fumes of the tobacco are made to pass 
 through water or some aromatic liquid, contain- 
 ed in the vessel below. 
 
148 
 
 Chinese museum — case xxx. 
 
 648. Metallic tobacco box and match stand. 
 
 649. White copper hand furnace. 
 
 650. 651. Metallic night lamp and cover. 
 
 652. A beautiful carved stone tablet in an elegant carv- 
 
 ed King wood frame and stand. 
 
 653, 654. Metallic tea and Sam-shou pots. 
 
 655. Handsome reading lamp made of white copper. 
 
 656, 657. Bamboo under shirts worn by gentlemen in 
 
 summer. 
 658. Sword made of old coin and hung up in houses to 
 
 prevent the ingress of ghosts. 
 659 to 663. Figured candles burned in the temples and 
 
 by the wealthy before the representatives of 
 
 the Budhist deities on festivals. 
 
 664. Common candles. The Chinese have been oblig- 
 
 ed to seek a substitute for the fat of animals, 
 owing to their scarcity, in the vegetable king- 
 dom, and this they find in the seed of the croton 
 sebiferum or tallow tree. This seed which is 
 contained in a three lobed berry is surrounded 
 by a white substance not unlike tallow in con- 
 sistence. The vegetable grease is obtained 
 from the seed by grinding, crushing, exposing 
 it to heat and afterwards pressing it. From 
 this substance all their candles are made and as 
 it melts easily the candles are usually coated 
 with wax. They burn rapidly, having a large 
 wick, made of a bamboo stick covered with cot- 
 ton, and give a very bad light, with a great deal 
 of smoke. 
 
 665. A painting on glass representing a thunder storm, 
 
 which the Chinese suppose is caused by the 
 dragon. 
 
 666. Metallic incense vessel to suspend against the wall. 
 667* White copper hookah. 
 
CHINESE MUSEUM CASE XXXI. 149 
 
 668. Carved wood shrine with porcelain image of the 
 
 goddess Kuan-yim. 
 
 669, 670. A pair of beautifully flowered candles used 
 
 at wedding entertainments. 
 
 671. Richly carved and gilt shrine with name of the 
 
 deity inscribed on the tablet below. 
 
 672, 673, 674. Metallic candlesticks and incense vessel. 
 675, 676. Metal Sam-shou pots. 
 
 677. Large and elegant tablet on stand. 
 
 CASE XXXI . 
 
 Contains a model of a duck boat and several lac- 
 quered feather fans. 
 
 The Chinese consume a great many ducks, which 
 they contrive to rear very cheaply in boats made for the 
 purpose. In these the ducks are conveyed from place 
 to place upon the rivers and turned out to seek their 
 own food upon the muddy banks and shoals. Upon a 
 signal being given by the owner, the ducks may be seen 
 hurrying from every direction towards the boats to which 
 they belong, and ascending the inclined planks laid out 
 for the purpose, file off to their own coops. It is said 
 that the birds are trained to flock to the boats, when 
 the signal is given, by the last one coming in being 
 whipped. 
 
150 CHINESE MUSEUM CASE XXXIV. 
 
 CASES XXXII AND XXXIII. 
 
 The first of these cases contains a model of a stone 
 bridge of three openings in the interior of Honam ; and 
 the second a model of a granite bridge of three arches 
 opposite Canton. 
 
 Chinese bridges, where there is much passing, and 
 the situation admits of it, are always made of the most 
 solid and durable materials, put together in a substan- 
 tial manner. Evidences of their engineering skill in 
 this respect are to be seen in all parts of the empire, and 
 several fine bridges are spoken of in Staunton's account 
 of Lord Macartney's embassy to China. One of nine- 
 ty-one arches, thrown across an arm of a lake between 
 Soo-chow and Hang-chow, was passed, and in Keang- 
 nan solid stone bridges of different forms were observed 
 to be thrown over the canal. Some of the arches were 
 semi-circular, others the transverse section of an elipse, 
 and others approached the shape of a horse shoe, the 
 space being widest at the top. From the fact of arches 
 and vaulted work being found in the Great Wall, which 
 was built more than two thousand years ago, it is evident 
 that the Chinese must have understood the construction 
 and properties of the arch long before the Greeks and 
 Romans, whose original and most ancient edifices con- 
 sisted of columns connected by straight architraves, of 
 bulk sufficient to support the incumbent pressure of 
 solid masonry. 
 
 CASE XXXIV. 
 
 Contains a beautiful model of a Mandarin's couch, 
 with the appurtenances complete. On the top is a 
 model of the Whampoa pagoda. 
 
CHINESE MUSEUM CASE XXXV. 151 
 
 The bedsteads used by the wealthy Chinese, of which 
 our model is a fair specimen, are massive and tasty 
 pieces of furniture, and cost large sums. In summer 
 nothing but a mat is used upon them ; and in winter a 
 thin quilt stuffed with raw silk. The luxury of feather 
 beds, hair mattrasses, and other western inventions, ap- 
 pear to be unknown to the Celestials. The bed cover- 
 ing is made of silk, and always handsome; its arrange- 
 ment at the back will be noticed in the model. A pil- 
 low made of bamboo or rattan usually answers to rest 
 the head upon. 
 
 The model of a pagoda on this case is a representa- 
 tion of the pagoda of Pepa-chow, known to foreigners 
 as the " Whampoa pagoda." It is one of the land 
 marks used by vessels coming up the river. It stands 
 on a slight elevation of ground, is about 170 feet high, 
 and was built in 1598. It was originally called Fowtu, 
 (Budha,) and also " the pagoda of the sea monsters," 
 and has a small court dedicated to the god of the north, 
 and a temple consecrated to the monsters of the deep. 
 
 CASE XXXV. 
 
 678. Large cakes of ink with gilt figures of the dragon 
 
 upon them. 
 
 679. Rolls of ink used in stores. 
 
 680. Common writing pencils of different sizes. 
 
 681. A case of fine writing pencils. 
 
 682. Fine ink of different manufacture. 
 
 683. Large and small pencils for writing the different 
 
 styles of characters. 
 
 684. Similar to 680. 
 
 685. Brushes used by lantern manufacturers. 
 
152 CHINESE MUSEUM CASE XXXV. 
 
 686. Ink stones. 
 
 687. A pair of children's grass slippers. 
 
 688. Shoes for large sized compressed feet. 
 
 689. do. do. small feet. 
 
 690. Paints used by the Chinese ladies upon their faces, 
 
 which they cover so completely with white as 
 to hide their complexions entirely. The lips 
 only are touched with red. 
 
 691. Shoes for small footed ladies. 
 
 692. Clay models of a pair of the golden lilies, one ban- 
 
 daged and the other naked. 
 
 693. False hair worn by ladies. 
 
 694. Pair of children's grass slippers. 
 
 695. Thick leather soled shoes worn in wet weather by 
 
 women with large feet. 
 
 696. Boys satin shoes with fancy soles. 
 
 697. 698. Children's embroidered shoes. 
 
 699. Heavy shoes for children, with felt soles. 
 
 700. Beautifully embroidered shoes of various patterns 
 
 for ladies with large feet. 
 
 701. Embossed blue satin shoes for gentlemen. 
 
 702. Gentlemen's cloth shoes with felt soles. 
 
 703. do. dark grass shoes. 
 
 704. Grass slippers. 
 
 705. Mandarin's satin boots. 
 
 706. Grass slippers lined with cotton. 
 
 707. Similar to 702. 
 
 708. Children's leather shoes; worn by the poorer 
 
 classes. 
 
 709. Yellow grass shoes for gentlemen. 
 
 710. Mourning shoes. 
 
 711. Heavy wood soled shoes worn in rainy weather. 
 
 712. Satin shoes with thick leather soles for wet weather. 
 
 713. Military boots. 
 
 714. Overshoes for ladies with small feet. 
 
 715. Clogs worn by coolies. 
 
CHINESE MUSEUM CASE XXXVI. 153 
 
 716. Leather boots for ladies with small feet. 
 
 717. Children's shoes. 
 
 As the Chinese have very little leather besides pig 
 skin which is very porous, they are obliged to make the 
 soles of their boots and shoes waterproof with some 
 other material to keep out water. For this purpose 
 they use wood, felt, and paper. 
 
 CASE XXX VI. 
 
 Contains a model of the principal building attached 
 to the celebrated Budhist temple at Honam, commonly 
 called the Honam Jos house, with idols, &c, complete. 
 On the top of the case is a model of a two storied sum- 
 mer house in the south of China completely furnished. 
 
 The ground occupied by the temple at Honam, which 
 is the largest and best endowed religious establishment 
 in the southern part of the Empire, was originally a pri- 
 vate garden, but several hundred years ago, a priest 
 named Cheyue, built up an establishment, which he 
 called " the temple often thousand autumns," and dedi- 
 cated it to Budha. It remained an obscure place until 
 within 200 years ; when the Emperor Kanghe's son in 
 law, who acquired the title of " King of the subjugated 
 South," by completely bringing the province of Can- 
 ton under his father's sway, took up his head quarters 
 in the temple of Honam. Being a blood-thirsty man, 
 and casting his eyes upon Ah-tsze, a fat, happy priest, 
 whose good condition he thought could not be the 
 effect of vegetable diet, and that he was consequently a 
 hypocrite, he drew his sword to kill him ; but his arm 
 suddenly stiffened, and he was stopped from his purpose. 
 That night a divine person appeared to him in a dream, 
 
154 CHINESE MUSEUM CASE XXXVI. 
 
 and assured him that Ah-tsze was a holy man, adding, 
 " you must not unjustly kill him." Next morning the 
 king presented himself hefore Ah-tsze, confessed his 
 crime, and his arm was immediately restored. He then 
 did oheisance to the priest, and took him for his tutor 
 and guide, and morning and evening the king waited 
 on the priest as his servant. Through the intervention 
 of Ah-tsze the inhabitants of the surrounding country 
 were rescued from extermination, and by their gratitude 
 and the munificence of the king and his Tartar officers 
 the temple was raised to its present magnificence. 
 
 Its buildings, which are chiefly of brick, are numer- 
 ous, and occupy with the gardens belonging to the 
 temple, six or eight acres. These grounds are sur- 
 rounded by a high wall. After entering the first gate 
 and passing through a long court-yard, the centre of 
 which is occupied by a handsome wide granite walk, 
 kept very clean, and shaded by rows of large trees on 
 each side, you come to the second, called the hill gate, 
 over winch Ifae-cluccwg, the name of the temple, is 
 written in large characters. Here, as you stand in the 
 gateway, you see two colossal figures, twenty or twenty- 
 five feet in height, — images of deified warriors, sta- 
 tioned one on your right and the other on your left, in 
 threatening attitudes, to guard day and night the en- 
 trance to the inner courts. Passing further on, through 
 another court, you enter " the palace of the four great 
 celestial Kings," images of ancient heroes, of colossal 
 dimensions, like the former. Still advancing, a broad 
 granite pathway, like the two former, conducts you up 
 to the principal building, of which our model is a repre- 
 sentation. I'pon a carved and gilded tablet, in front, 
 is inscribed the characters Tae Hoong Paou Teen, 
 li The Great Powerful Precious Palace." Procid, O 
 procul este profani. You are now in the presence of 
 the trial of Budha — Suit Paou Fuh, the three precious 
 
CHINESE MUSEUM CASE X XXVI. 1 55 
 
 Budhas. Three stately images, more than twentv feet 
 in height, in a sitting posture, covered frith burnished 
 
 gold, and representing the past, the present, and to 
 come. On the right sits Kico-Kttt Fu/t. whose reign is 
 alreadv past In the centre is llai-isae Fuh. who now 
 Feigns over the world. And on the left is H't-lae Fuh, 
 the Budha whose reign is vet to come. In front of 
 these arc altars, upon which the incense vessels and 
 offerings to the gods are placed. Eighteen other gilded 
 idols of smaller size deck the sides ol the hall, and bells, 
 urns, iSssic. are scattered about. 
 
 The building, in which these images are placed, is 
 about 100 feet square, and standing in the midst of the 
 vast hall, at twilight, surrounded by the colossal but 
 senseless and silent idols, who receive the largest share 
 of the worship due from the sons and daughters of 
 Adam to their creator, a feeling of awe gradually steals 
 over the mind, akin to that felt on visiting the splendid 
 edifices dedicated to religious purposes in other coun- 
 tries. But here it is soon dispelled by the monotonous 
 chanting of the priests, performing their vespers in the 
 Pali language, of the meaning of which they themselves 
 are generally ignorant. 
 
 "Beyond this building are other halls, filled with 
 images, and on the right side is a long line of apart- 
 ments, some of which are formed into narrow cells for 
 the priests, and others into stalls and pens for pigs, 
 fowls, ^ic which are brought to the temple bv devout 
 devotees, when they come to make or pay vows to the 
 beimrs who inhabit the temple. On the left side there 
 is another set of apartments, a pavilion for Kwan-foo- 
 tsze. a military demigod : a hall for the reception of 
 visitors : a treasury : a retreat for Te-tsean^-uans- the 
 King of Hades: the chief priest's room: a dining hall, 
 ami a kitchen. Beyond these, there is a spacious gar- 
 den, at the extremity of which there is a mausoleum, 
 
156 CHINESE MUSEUM CASE XXXVI. 
 
 wherein the ashes of the burnt priests are once a year 
 deposited ; also a furnace for burning their dead bodies, 
 and a little cell in which the jars containing their ashes 
 are kept, till the annual season for opening the mauso- 
 leum returns. There are likewise, tombs for the bod- 
 ies of those who leave money for their burial. There 
 are about 175 priests in the temple, who are supported 
 in part by property belonging to the establishment, and 
 partly by their own private resources. Only a very few 
 of them are well educated." 
 
 The summer or country houses, of which the models 
 seen in this collection, are fair specimens, are gener- 
 ally built of wood and set upon brick or stone pillars in 
 the midst of sheets of water, which are covered with 
 the nelumbium, or water lily. Some of these country 
 seats, occupying a few acres only, diversified by artifi- 
 cial hills, clumps of rocks and trees, small islands and 
 buildings of different sizes and construction, joined to- 
 gether by tasty bridges, are arranged in such a per- 
 spective manner as to give them the appearance of ex- 
 tensive grounds. Families do not ordinarily reside at 
 these places, but short excursions are made to them in 
 summer, and entertainments are given to friends in 
 them, in which theatrical performances generally form 
 a part, and a private theatre is therefore attached to 
 the principal building for this purpose. The Chinese 
 being great epicures, some of these entertainments are 
 very costly, and the tables are covered with a profusion 
 of dishes, filled with extravagant and far-fetched dain- 
 ties. The order of the courses varies, but they usually 
 begin as ours end, with fruits, cakes and sweetmeats, 
 and end as ours begin, with soup, or more commonly 
 with plain boiled rice. The number ot courses is 
 sometimes very great ; ten, twenty, thirty and upwards 
 are not unusual. One course is not entirely removed 
 to give place to another, but the dishes are being con- 
 
CHINESE MUSEUM CASE XXXVI. 157 
 
 tinually changed. The food consists principally of 
 stews, in which the meat is cut up into small pieces 
 previous to cooking, in order to accommodate it to the 
 chopsticks, and a Chinese dinner would be nothing 
 without stews made of birds' nests, sharks' fins, deers' 
 sinews, bircho-de-mer, or sea slugs, and many other 
 such dishes, used and appreciated only by the Chinese, 
 and all of which, to the uneducated and barbarous taste 
 of a native of the western world, possess a similarly in- 
 sipid or repulsive flavor. Sam-shou, a liquor distilled 
 from rice, is served hot, and the host and guests amuse 
 themselves with the game of tsuey-moey, or some other. 
 The game is played by two persons facing each other 
 and simultaneously throwing out their hands and open- 
 ing some of their fingers, at the same time expressing 
 the number of fingers held out by both. If one guesses 
 correctly, and the other does not, the looser is obliged 
 to drink a cup of sam-shou. This is a favorite game 
 with all classes, and Davis says, is precisely the same 
 as the game of Morra, common among the lower orders 
 of Italy at the present day, and derived by them from 
 the Roman sport of " Micare digilis" of which Cicero 
 remarked, that " you must have great faith in the 
 honesty of any man with whom you played in the 
 dark." After the entertainment, if theatricals are in- 
 troduced, one of the actors steps forward and presents 
 a list of plays to the principal guest for his selection, 
 any of which the company can perform at a moment's 
 notice. 
 
 The dwelling houses of the Chinese present a blank 
 wall to the street, and in this respect as well as in their 
 ordinary plan, are said to bear a curious resemblance 
 to the remains of the Roman habitations, disinterred 
 from the scoriae and ashes of Pompeii. " They con- 
 sist usually of a single story, divided into several apart- 
 ments, lighted only by windows looking into the inter- 
 
158 CHINESE MUSEUM CASE XXXVII. 
 
 nal court yard. The principal room next to the en- 
 trance, serves to receive visitors as well as for eating: 
 and within are the more private apartments, the door- 
 ways of which are screened by pendant curtains of silk 
 or cotton. At the north, the apartments are furnished 
 with brick .work couches, with furnaces below to warm 
 them during the winter." 
 
 The houses are generally raised a few steps above 
 the ground and are generally built of blue brick super- 
 ficially pointed. " Those of consequence are entered 
 by a triple gateway, consisting of one large folding 
 door in the centre, and of a smaller one on either side. 
 These last serve for ordinary occasions, while the first 
 is thrown open for the reception of distinguished guests. 
 Large lanterns of a cylindrical shape are hung at the 
 sides, on which are inscribed the name and titles of the 
 inhabitant of the mansion, so as to be read either by day, 
 or at night when the lanterns are lighted." Just within 
 the gates is the covered court, where the sedan chairs 
 stand, surrounded by red varnished label boards, hav- 
 ing inscribed in gilt characters, the full titles of any per- 
 son of rank and consequence. 
 
 CASE XXXVII. 
 
 This case is placed between II. and III. and con- 
 tains a model of a Sing-Song, or Chinese theatre, with 
 actors performing. 
 
 The Chinese, although fond of theatricals, have no 
 stationary theatres except at Peking, but companies of 
 actors are continually traveling through the provinces 
 performing wherever the inhabitants can raise a suffi- 
 cient amount by subscription to rumunerate them. 
 
CHINESE MUSEUM CASE XXXVII. 159 
 
 Bamboos and mats are to be had everywhere, and in a 
 few hours, with these, and rattans to fasten them to- 
 gether, the Chinese will construct a large building. 
 The theatres arc generally erected in some of the 
 squares or open places in front of the temples and are 
 free to all passers by, as they arc left entirely open in 
 front. Women are never seen on the Chinese stage, 
 their parts being performed admirably by young boys 
 educated for the purpose. Many of their plays are 
 founded on the ancient history of the Empire and rep- 
 resent the wars between the different states or petty 
 kingdoms. In these plays the dresses are very splendid. 
 As they use little or no shifting scenery, a great deal is 
 left to the imagination. An actor comes in with a whip 
 in his hand and throws up his left leg when there is no 
 doubt he is on horseback. Striding up and down the 
 stage several times, he stops and informs the audience 
 that he has arrived at some distant place, which they 
 are in duty bound to believe. If he hesitates in his rapid 
 pace during his journey and treads a few steps cautiously 
 and with an oscillating motion of the body, and then 
 stoops down and begins pulling at an imaginary oar, 
 the spectators must suppose him exposed to the dan- 
 gers of navigation. These defects with the ludicrously 
 painted faces of the actors representing Tartar generals 
 and the horrid din kept up with gongs and an instru- 
 ment which has been aptly compared in its notes to a 
 cracked penny trumpet, renders all their historical plays 
 farces in the eyes of foreigners. The plays begin about 
 the middle of the day and last until late at night, usually 
 ending with tumbling and other feats of agility and 
 strength. 
 
160 CHINESE MUSEUM CASE XXXIX. 
 
 CASE XXXVII I. 
 
 Between Cases III. and IV. contains a small model 
 of a tanka boat. 
 
 CASE XXXIX. 
 
 Between Cases IV. and V. 
 
 718. Mats made of cocoa-nut husks. 
 
 719. Brushes " " " used by painters. 
 
 720. Barbers' brushes. 
 
 721. Gentlemen's leather pockets. 
 
 722. Tinder cases. 
 
 723. Small opium pillow. 
 
 724. Pocket ink-stand. 
 
 725. Moustache combs. 
 
 726. Tortoise shell and bamboo instruments, used by 
 
 ladies to fasten up the hair. 
 
 727. Brushes used by ladies to clean their combs. 
 
 728. Tinman's soldering irons, made of iron. 
 
 729. Small tinman's shears. 
 
 730. Tinman's hammers. 
 
 731. Funnel made of tin. 
 
 732. Tailor's shears. 
 
 733. Ladies' scissors. 
 
 734. Snuffers. 
 
 735. Shoe brushes. 
 
 736. " Soong-poon" counting-board universally used by 
 
 the Chinese in calculating sums. 
 
CHINESE MUSEUM CASE XL. 161 
 
 737. Chinese padlocks of curious construction. 
 
 738. Small pillow made of rattan. 
 
 739. Pillow made of lacquered pig skin. 
 
 740. Leather travelling pillow. 
 
 741. Chinese nails and screws made entirely by hand. 
 
 CASE XL. 
 
 Between Cases IX. and X. 
 
 742. Large Jos stick burned in incense vessels before 
 
 idols. 
 
 743. Jos stick made of the raspings of sandal wood, 
 
 which when burned gives out a fragrant odor. 
 
 744. 745. Sandal wood Jos stick in different fancy 
 
 packages. 
 
 746. Common Jos stick used in stores and houses as 
 
 incense. Before clocks were introduced into 
 China, Jos stick, graduated to measure time, 
 and clepsydra's were the instruments by which 
 the Chinese kept the time of day. Each 
 period of a day and night together is divided 
 by them into twelve parts called chee, which 
 begin at eleven o'clock at night according to 
 our reckoning. 
 
 747. Brick tea used in China as a medicine, and in 
 
 some parts of Tartary, according to Timkowski, 
 like money, as a medium of exchange. 
 
 748. Chinese match paper for lighting pipes. It takes 
 
 fire readily, and is inflamed when required by 
 a slight puff. 
 
 749. 750. Cakes of tea used as a medicine. 
 
 751. Ring Jos stick used in houses and stores to pre- 
 serve a fire to light pipes by. Jos stick receives 
 
162 CHINESE MUSEUM CASE XL. 
 
 its name from the principal use made of it, as 
 it is kept continually burning as incense before 
 the Jos or idols in the temples, houses and ves- 
 sels of the Chinese. 
 
 752. Betel nut as taken from the tree. 
 
 753. " with the shuck taken off. 
 
 754. Second quality of betel nut. 
 
 755. Betel nut cut in thin slices for chewing. 
 
 756. Honan betel nut chewed without pepper leaves. 
 This nut is in fact the areca nut, the fruit of a slen- 
 der palm, not above six inches in diameter and about 
 30 feet high. 
 
 The betel pepper is the vine from which the leaf is 
 obtained, and for which it is alone cultivated. The 
 flavor of the leaf is very peculiar, being between a her- 
 baceous and an aromatic taste, and is a little pungent. 
 It is cultivated throughout the south of China. The 
 preparation of the betel nut for use is very simple. The 
 thin slices are merely wrapped in the raw fresh pepper 
 leaves with enough quick-lime to give them a flavor. 
 
 The habit of chewing this preparation has extended 
 from the islands, where the plant is found, to the con- 
 tinent of Asia, and it is now used from the Red sea to 
 the Pacific Ocean. All classes of people among the 
 islanders, male and female, are in the habit of chewing 
 it. " It sweetens the breath," so say those who use it, 
 " rectifies and strengthens the stomach, and preserves 
 the teeth;" it also gives the teeth, lips, and gums a 
 dark red color, which is esteemed a mark of beauty in 
 proportion to its darkness. There is less objection 
 against its use than that of tobacco ; its narcotic prop- 
 erties are not so great, and the taste is more pleasant. 
 Persons of rank carry it prepared for use in splendid 
 cases, suspended from their girdles. Poor people are 
 contented with cases of any kind, provided they con- 
 tain the substance itself. Among some of the inhabit- 
 
CHINESE MUSEUM CASE XL. 163 
 
 ants of the Indian Archipelago, to refuse, on meeting a 
 friend, to accept the betel-nut is regarded as an offence, 
 and satisfaction is demanded. So interwoven into their 
 ideas has the practice become, that figures of beauty 
 are taken from it, and a face is not accounted beautiful, 
 unless the mouth be stained of a dirty red round the 
 outside of the lips. 
 
 757. Medicine put up in boxes with advertisements in 
 
 the form of the Oo-loo. An emblem of lon- 
 gevity. 
 
 758, 759. Chinese smoking tobacco. 
 
 760. Chinese paper segars. 
 
 Tobacco is not chewed by the Chinese but is smoked 
 by all classes, both boys and girls learning the use of 
 the pipe from their earliest childhood. The tobacco 
 plant is commonly said by the people to have been in- 
 troduced by the present dynasty, it is so mild as to be 
 rather insipid to persons accustomed to Manila or Ha- 
 vanna tobacco, though the species is identical. Large 
 manufactories of it are established in Canton, some of 
 them four stories high (an unusual elevation for a house 
 in China) where all the processes of preparation are to 
 be seen. Paper segars are the only kind made by the 
 Chinese and are called by the Spanish segarhilo's, or 
 little segars ; an expert workman will make 1500 in a 
 day. A Chinese would as soon think of going without 
 his tea and rice, as without his pipe, and in cases of 
 emergency, he even puts a sigarhilo or two behind his 
 ear, to have one at hand. 
 
 761. Chinese gunpowder. This is another invention 
 
 of the Chinese who used it to make fire works 
 long before it appeared in Europe, but probably 
 did not use it with fire arms until afterwards. 
 Their proportions of materials are nearly like 
 ours but their powder is poor stuff because 
 badly made. 
 
164 CHINESE MUSEUM CASE XLI. 
 
 762. Clay balls for breath guns. 
 
 763. Iron shot, used as a matter of economy by Chinese 
 
 sportsmen. 
 
 CASE XLI. 
 
 Between Cases X and XI. 
 
 764. Chinese olives. 
 
 765. Chinese green peas. 
 
 766. White Nanking peas. 
 
 767. Red rice. 
 
 768. Black Nanking peas. 
 
 769. 770. Melon seeds ; used by the Chinese while 
 
 drinking Sam-shou. The skilful extraction of 
 the meat of these seeds constitutes one of the 
 accomplishments of a Chinese gentlemen. 
 
 771. Keen-leen; the seeds of the Lien-fa or water lily 
 
 from Fokien. The leaves and flowers of this 
 plant cover the immense marshes in the interior 
 of China and present a rich and beautiful ap- 
 pearance. It is often raised for mere orna- 
 ment in capacious earthen ware or porcelain 
 tubs, containing gold fish, but upon the lakes 
 and marshes it is cultivated for its seeds and 
 root, both of which are articles of food much 
 esteemed by the Chinese. The roots are sliced 
 and eaten as fruit, being white, juicy, and of a 
 sweetish and refreshing taste ; the seeds are 
 eaten with Sam-shou. 
 
 772, 773. White and black sesamum. This grain is 
 
 cultivated principally for the oil obtained from 
 it ; it is also used to put in cakes and is some- 
 times boiled and eaten like rice. 
 
CHINESE MUSEUM CASE XLI. 165 
 
 774. Chinese sugar candy. 
 
 775. Chinese white sugar. 
 
 776. Chinese brown sugar. 
 
 " From all the notices that can be obtained from an- 
 cient history, it is very probable that China was the 
 first country in which the sugar cane was cultivated. 
 Its native country is the southern part of the continent 
 of Asia, and its properties have been well known by 
 the inhabitants for many ages. Among the Chinese the 
 cultivation of it is carried to an extent sufficient to sup- 
 ply their own wants, and also to form an article of ex- 
 port. The varieties of the cane are several, but the 
 only one cultivated is the same as that which grows in 
 the West Indies." The process of manufacturing it is 
 simple and laborious ; the machinery is coarse, and the 
 labor performed mostly by human strength. The best 
 sugar made by the Chinese is the sugar candy, pulver- 
 ised in large stone mortars and called ping-fa ' chrystal 
 flowers,' the superior quality of which is as white as 
 snow. 
 
 777. Long-gans. " Dragon's eyes :" so called from 
 
 their resemblance to the ball of the eye : a fa- 
 vorite fruit with the Chinese, but not suited to 
 the palate of " barbarians." 
 
 778. 179. First and second qualities of deers 1 sinews. 
 
 780. Good and inferior qualities of bicho-de-mar or 
 
 tripang. 
 
 781. Prepared birds-nests of two qualities. 
 
 782. Edible birds-nests, in the state in which they are 
 
 imported into China. 
 
 783. Dried salted shrimps. 
 
 784. Dried fish maws. 
 
 785. 787. Second and first qualities of prepared sharks' 
 
 fins. 
 
 786. Vermicelli, made and extensively used by the Chi- 
 
 nese in soups, of which they are fond and make 
 a great variety. 
 
166 CHINESE MUSEUM CASE XLI. 
 
 "A considerable proportion of the food of the Chi- 
 nese consists of fruit, which is both cheap and abun- 
 dant. Fruit stalls line the sides of the streets, and bas- 
 kets full fill the doorways of shops. The variety is not 
 so great as in western countries, where exotic fruits 
 are added to the indigenous, nor is the flavor of Chi- 
 nese fruits, as a whole, equal to that of lands where 
 skill and science have combined to improve the produc- 
 tions of nature." In addition to the fruits already 
 enumerated, apples, pears, grapes, peaches, appricots, 
 quinces, and dates, grow in the northern and middle 
 parts of the empire, and oranges, limes, pumelos, citron, 
 custard apples, plantains, pine apples, pomegranates, 
 jack fruit, guavas, whampes, and mangoes, are amongst 
 the fruits found in the South. " The peach is one of 
 the best fruits found in China, though it is not usually 
 allowed to attain its full maturity on the tree, the prac- 
 tice of picking fruits before they are ripe being very 
 common in China, and is often the chief reason of their 
 insipidity which is noticed by most all writers. Pears 
 often grow to a large size, but their flavor, as well as 
 that of the apple, is far inferior to the same fruits else- 
 where, which is accounted for by the ignorance of Chi- 
 nese gardeners of the methods of improving the quality 
 of fruit by grafting and careful cultivation." 
 
 " Chinese agriculturists excel in the cultivation of 
 kitchen herbs and vegetables, of which they raise a 
 great variety and an abundant supply. Their forte lies 
 in this branch of gardening , and in the amount of veg- 
 etables produced from a single acre probably no people 
 exceed them. By constant manuring, transplanting, 
 and forcing, three, four, and even five crops of vegeta- 
 bles are obtained from the same bed in a twelve month. 
 They are very fond of onions, garlic, and all other edi- 
 ble alliaceous plants, of which they consume large quan- 
 tities, so much so, in some instances, as to taint their 
 
CHINESE MUSEUM CASE XLI. 167 
 
 persons with the odor." But the favorite and most 
 common vegetable used by them is the pe-tsae or pak- 
 tsoy, 'white greens,' so called from the leafstalks being 
 blanched. It is a species of brassica resembling lettuce ; 
 is produced principally at the north, and from thence 
 conveyed, either in the fresh state or salted, to all parts 
 of the country. They are said to preserve it fresh, 
 either by planting in wet sand, or by burying it deep in 
 the ground ; and it is a popular remark, that the nine 
 gates of Peking are blockaded during the autumnal 
 season with the vehicles bringing in the pe-tsae. The 
 amount of this vegetable consumed is second only to 
 rice, of the enormous consumption of which some idea 
 has been given in the preceding pages. 
 
 The article of birds' nests, which owes its celebrity 
 only to the whimsical luxury of the Chinese, is brought 
 principally from Java and Sumatra, though it is found 
 on most of the rocky islets of the Indian Archipelago 
 The nest is the habitation of a small swallow, named 
 (from the circumstance of its having an edible dwelling) 
 Hirundo esculenta. They are found in caves and are 
 composed of a mucilaginous substance, which has never 
 yet been analysed with sufficient accuracy to show its 
 constituents. Those that are dry, white, and clean, are 
 the most valuable. They are packed in bundles, with 
 split rattans run through them to preserve their shape. 
 
 The quality of the nests varies according to the situ- 
 ation and extent of the caves, and the time at which 
 they are taken. If procured before the young are 
 fledged, the nests are of the best kind ; if they contain 
 eggs only, they are still valuable ; but if the young are 
 in the nests or have left them, the whole are then nearly 
 worthless, being dark colored, streaked with blood, and 
 intermixed with feathers and dirt. The nests are pro- 
 curable twice every year ; the best are found in deep, 
 damp caves, which if not injured will continue to pro- 
 
168 CHINESE MUSEUM CASE XLI. 
 
 duce indefinitely. It was once thought that the caves 
 near the sea coast were the most productive ; but some 
 of the most profitable yet found, are situated fifty miles 
 in the interior. This fact seems to be against the opin- 
 ion of some, that the nests are composed of the spawn 
 of fish or of bicho de mar. 
 
 The method of procuring these nests somewhat re- 
 sembles that of catching birds on the Orkney isles. 
 Some of the caves are so precipitous, that no one, but 
 those accustomed to the employment from their youth, 
 can obtain the nests, " being only approachable," says 
 Crawford, " by a perpendicular descent of many hun- 
 dred feet, by ladders of bamboo and rattan, over a sea 
 rolling violently against the rocks. When the mouth of 
 the cave is attained, the perilous task of taking the nests 
 must often be performed by torch-light, by penetrating 
 into recesses of the rock, where the slightest slip would 
 be instantly fatal to the adventurers, who see nothing 
 below them but the turbulent surf making its way into 
 the chasms of the rock." 
 
 After they are obtained, they are separated from 
 feathers and dirt, are carefully dried and packed, and 
 are then ready for the consumer. The sale of birds' 
 nests is a monopoly with all the governments in whose 
 dominions they are found. The Chinese are the only 
 people who purchase them for their own use, and in 
 China they command extravagant prices ; the best, or 
 white kind often being worth $1800 per pecul of 133 
 pounds. The labor bestowed to render it fit for the ta- 
 ble is enormous ; every feather, stick or impurity of any 
 kind is carefully removed ; and then after undergoing 
 many washings and preparations, it is stewed into a soft, 
 mucilaginous jelly. When prepared for cooking, the 
 best quality sells at the rate of $50 a catty (IK lb.) or 
 $5000 per pecul. The most part of the best kind is 
 sent to Peking for the use of the court. It appears that 
 
CHINESE MUSEUM CASE XLI. 169 
 
 this curious dish is only an article of expensive luxury 
 among the Chinese ; the Japanese do not use it at all, 
 and how the former people acquired the habit of using 
 it is only less singular than their persevering in it. 
 They consider the birds' nest as a great stimulant and 
 tonic, but its best quality, perhaps, is its being perfectly 
 harmless. 
 
 The slug (Holothurion) called Bicho de mar, as its 
 name imports, is a product of the sea, and resembles 
 that often seen in damp places on land. It forms one 
 of the important articles of commerce between the 
 islands of the Indian Archipelago and China. It is 
 found on all the islands from New Holland to Sumatra, 
 and also on most of those in the Pacific. It is pro- 
 duced in the greatest abundance on small coral islands, 
 is an ill looking animal, and has but few powers of loco- 
 motion. The ordinary length is seen here, although it 
 is sometimes two feet long. It is taken with the hand 
 by natives, who often dive for it : and after it has been 
 cleansed, dried, and smoked, it is fit for sale. The 
 Chinese use it by itself, or as an ingredient in other 
 dishes, and consume large quantities under the belief 
 that it is an aphrodisiac. When brought to the table it 
 resembles pork rind in color and consistency. The va- 
 rieties into which the Chinese divide it are about thirty, 
 but unless one is well acquainted with the article it is 
 impossible to distinguish them. 
 
 Deers' sinews and sharks' fins, when cooked, are es- 
 teemed by the Chinese for their supposed stimulating 
 and tonic properties. The former are brought from the 
 northern parts of the empire to Canton, and the latter 
 arc sought for from the Indian ocean to the Sandwich 
 islands to supply the Chinese market. The chief sup- 
 ply is from Bombay and the Persian gulf. There ap- 
 pears to be little or no choice as to what species of shark 
 the fins are from, but those of a whitish color are valued 
 
170 CHINESE MUSEUM CASE XLI. 
 
 much higher than the black sort. Sharks and rays of 
 all kinds form a common article of food amongst the 
 Chinese on the coast. 
 
 The stomach of fishes, called fish maws, like the pre- 
 ceding articles, are used as a luxury among the Chi- 
 nese, who consume them for their imagined strengthen- 
 ing and aphrodisiac qualities. They are of a cartilagi- 
 nous nature, and are cured by stretching and drying 
 them in the sun. They are chiefly brought to China 
 in junks from the Indian islands. 
 
 In addition to the stock and other kinds of salt fish, 
 imported in small quantities, the Chinese cure a large 
 amount of the fish and shrimps taken in their own wa- 
 ters by salting and drying them in the sun, and seem 
 particularly to relish the high flavor of those preserved 
 with just enough salt to keep them from becoming ab- 
 solutely putrid. 
 
 Of the immense number of ducks, hatched by arti- 
 ficial heat and raised in boats upon the inland waters, 
 many are split and dried. The gizzards of geese, ducks 
 and other fowls, smoked and dried, and even rats and 
 mice, similarly preserved, are common articles of food 
 amongst the middling and poorer classes. The split 
 ducks, smoked gizzards, and rats and mice are seen ex- 
 posed for sale in stalls, or carried about the streets on 
 poles, exactly as represented in some geographies. 
 Dogs and cats are eaten by those who can afford to 
 buy other meat, and are seen for sale in baskets in most 
 all the public places in cities; the latter seeming to he 
 aware of their fate by the piteous mewings kept up 
 amongst them, and Chinese dogs are said to have a par- 
 ticular aversion for butchers, in consequence, no doubt, 
 of the violation of those personal exemptions and privi- 
 leges which the canine race are allowed to enjoy almost 
 everywhere else. Dogs indeed arc enumerated as a 
 regular article of food in one of their ancient books, 
 
CHINESE MUSEUM CASE XL I. 171 
 
 and among the rich, a wild cat, previously prepared by 
 feeding, is reckoned a delicacy. An amusing anecdote 
 is told of a foreigner who in dining with a wealthy Chi- 
 nese took quite a fancy to one of the dishes upon the 
 table, of which he ate considerable, supposing it to be 
 duck, but to satisfy himself on this point beckoned one 
 of the servants to approach, and pointing at the dish, 
 in an enquiring tone, imitating the quacking of that 
 fowl ; when much to his discomfort the servant shook 
 his head and answered with a bow- wow- wow, thus in- 
 forming him he had been eating dog's-meat. 
 
 If the rich should appear to be fantastic in the selec- 
 tion of their diet, the poor are no less indiscriminate in 
 the supply of theirs; frogs, toads, water snakes, lizards, 
 and bats are purchased by the latter, and among in- 
 sects the locust, grasshopper, and silkworm are eaten. 
 The two former are sometimes cooked by being roast- 
 ed alive, and are esteemed a delicate repast ; the latter 
 is taken after the insect has wound off the cocoon of 
 silk and cooked by baking. By some epicures the 
 larvae of the sphinx-moth, as well as a grub which is 
 bred in the sugar-cane, are much relished. 
 
 As might be expected from the economical habits of 
 the people, that great save-all, the pig, is universally 
 reared about cottages, and its flesh is by far the com- 
 monest meat : a maxim of the Chinese is, " that a schol- 
 ar does not quit his books, nor the poor man his pigs." 
 Oil is used by the Chinese in cooking, as butter is with 
 us, and is usually that extracted from ground or pea 
 nuts, although the oil extracted from the ricinus, which 
 yields the castor oil of medicine, and other kinds are 
 frequently used ; but the ricinus oil as used by them in 
 its fresh state, and with some peculiar preparation, has 
 neither the strong detergent properties, nor the detest- 
 able taste, by which this oil is known with us. 
 
172 CHINESE MUSEUM. 
 
 Lanterns, Paintings, frc. 
 
 Among the great number of lanterns suspended over 
 head, will be particularly noticed the large and splen- 
 didly embroidered one, hung from the centre piece of 
 the fresco work. This is about ten feet high, and is 
 altogether a gorgeous affair, the frame being beautifully 
 carved and gilt, the panels richly embroidered, and there 
 are several hundred silk tassels pendant from different 
 parts of it. Such lanterns as this are not intended to be 
 lighted, and are used only in processions of Mandarins, 
 and to decorate the temples when they visit them, as 
 required by the ritual, to offer sacrifices and do homage 
 to the ancient sages and emperors. The dragon lantern 
 will also be noticed ; this, with the fish and bird lanterns 
 hanging in different parts of the room, and also those 
 made of gauze are carried in the yearly dragon proces- 
 sions to propitiate that fabled monster. Amongst the 
 others are two very large ones, made of horn, with silk 
 tassels around them, two large carved king wood framed 
 ones, with beautiful painted silk panels, and four beau- 
 tiful ones with small paper figures, capable of motion 
 when the lanterns are lighted. 
 
 Among the pictures which cover the wall at the end, 
 near the entrance, and of which there are between four 
 and five hundred in oil and water colors, are two large 
 and beautiful paintings of the city of Canton and Ho- 
 nam opposite Canton, portraits of Samqua, Houqua, 
 and Linchung, three of the Hong merchants, dressed in 
 their official robes, which they purchased the privilege 
 of wearing. Houqua was generally well known for his 
 riches ; he died about two years since, and left about 
 fifteen millions of dollars, after paying an immense 
 amount to the government during the troubles with the 
 English. The portrait on the left of Linchung is one 
 of a Chinaman, called Boston Jack, who is well known 
 
CHINESE MUSEUM. 173 
 
 to all persons who have visited China as he furnishes 
 the ships with provisions. Below Linchung and Jack 
 is a set of twelve paintings in oil colors, representing 
 the life of a successful Chinaman from his birth to his 
 death. Beneath these are twelve paintings, showing 
 the growing of rice, and on the right of these, on the 
 other side of the room, are twelve more, representing 
 the culture, curing and packing of tea. Over the beau- 
 tiful paintings of flowers, &c. are four frames with six 
 rice paintings in each ; the two on the left showing a 
 funeral procession, and the two on the right a marriage 
 procession. Over the large paintings are two portraits 
 of Chinese beauties. 
 
 Besides those mentioned are an immense number of 
 Chinese views, paintings of birds, punishments, vessels, 
 fishes, shells, insects, &c. &c. The scroll paintings 
 hung between the windows over the large cases on the 
 west side of the room represent some of the Budhist 
 deities, sitting in judgment upon the souls of mortals, 
 while below are seen the guilty suffering the most horrid 
 punishments, such as being boiled in cauldrons of mol- 
 ten lead, sawn asunder, thrown on beds of spikes, &.c. 
 Those on the opposite side of the room are representa- 
 tions of some of the Budhist deities. All the paintings 
 in the Museum are the work of Chinese artists, and for 
 execution and finish speak for themselves. 
 
 General Remarks upon the early intercourse with China, 
 her present commerce with foreign nations, her govern- 
 ment, frc. 
 
 China being situated on the eastern border of Asia, 
 appears to have been so far removed from other great 
 
174 CHINESE MUSEUM. 
 
 nations of Antiquity, that little was known by them 
 concerning it, and the notices to be found in their his- 
 tories concerning its existence, are kw and uncertain. 
 During the first century of our era, under the reign of 
 the celebrated Han dynasty, the Emperor Mingty, des- 
 patched messengers to India, who brought back the re- 
 ligion of Budha ; and Hoty, a succeeding Emperor, sent 
 an envoy to seek some intercourse with the western 
 world, who is said to have reached Arabia. About the 
 middle of the second century, as recorded in Chinese 
 history, people came from India and other western na- 
 tions with tribute, and from that time, foreign trade 
 was carried on at Canton. Under this head of tribute, 
 was probably placed the presents carried by the em- 
 bassy, despatched by the Roman Emperor, Marcus An- 
 tonius, to China, in A. D. 161, to acquaint himself 
 with the country which was reported to produce the 
 beautiful silks supplied to his luxurious countrymen 
 through the medium of India. There is sufficient evi- 
 dence that some Nestorian Christians entered China as 
 early as the middle of the seventh century, but " it is 
 to the Arabs that we owe the first distinct account of 
 China, and of its peculiar institutions and customs. 
 Their far extended conquest brought them to the con- 
 fines of that remote empire; and the enlightenment of 
 science and literature, which they possessed in no small 
 degree during the eighth and ninth centuries, led many 
 individuals among them to explore unknown countries, 
 and to record what they had seen;" Although nearly 
 1,000 years have elapsed since their first accounts were 
 written, there is a remarkable identity between the 
 Chinese, as they are therein described, and the same 
 people as we know them at the present day. 
 
 As the fact may not be familiar to all, that the knowl- 
 edge of the existence of an immensely populous and 
 wealthy empire in the remotest parts of the east had a 
 
CHINESE MUSEUM. 175 
 
 great effect in the discovery of our continent by Colum- 
 bus, a short description of the origin and work of Mar- 
 co Polo, a Venetian, and the first European who gave 
 to the world a history of his travels in those distant re- 
 gions, is here given. 
 
 His father Nicholas, and uncle Matheo Polo first vis- 
 ited the court of Cublai Khan, the sovereign potentate 
 of the Tartars and Emperor of China, who completed 
 the conquest of the Chinese Empire, began by his 
 grandfather, Ghenghis, who overthrew all the indepen- 
 dent powers of Tartary and made himself sole master 
 of Central Asia. Nicholas and Matheo embarked from 
 Venice on a commercial voyage to the east, about the 
 year 1255, and having penetrated to the Court of 
 Cublai, by whom they were received with great dis- 
 tinction, from political motives, it is supposed, were 
 furnished with letters to the Pope, entreating him to 
 send a hundred learned men to instruct the sages of 
 his empire in the knowledge of the Christian faith, and 
 on their departure for Europe were invited to return. 
 They arrived home safely in 1269, and having deliv- 
 ered their letters and received others from the Pope, 
 with presents to the Grand Khan, they set out again 
 for the remote regions of Tartary in 1271, accompa- 
 nied by two learned friars and young Marco, who was 
 born shortly after his father left the first time. The 
 friars becoming alarmed for the safety of their lives in 
 Armenia, where a war was raging, took refuge in a 
 monastery where they remained, and the Polos, after a 
 long journey and suffering many hardships, arrived in 
 the dominions of Cublai, who, hearing of their ap- 
 proach, sent officers to meet them at forty days dis- 
 tance from the court. 
 
 The Venetians resided about seventeen years at the 
 Tartar Court, during which they were treated with 
 great distinction ; and Marco, having acquired the four 
 
176 CHINESE MUSEUM. 
 
 principal languages of the country, was employed by 
 the Khan in missions and services of importance in va- 
 rious parts of his dominions. At length after consid- 
 erable difficulty in obtaining the consent of the Khan, 
 the Polos set out on their return to Venice by sea, 
 being loaded with presents of rich jewels given them by 
 their patron, who made them promise to return to him 
 after they had visited their families. They arrived in 
 Venice in 1295, literally laden with riches, and having 
 heard, on their journey, of the death of their old bene- 
 factor, they considered themselves absolved from their 
 promise to return. Several months after their arrival, 
 in an action between the Genoese and Venetian navies, 
 Marco Polo, who had taken the command of one of the 
 galleys of the latter, advancing first in the line, was 
 taken prisoner and carried to Genoa in irons. Here he 
 was detained in prison, and all offers of ransom reject- 
 ed. Having had his papers and journals sent to him 
 from Venice, he produced his work on China. 
 
 This work is said to have been one of the principal 
 lights used by the Portuguese in the fifteenth century, 
 when the attention of the world was turned towards the 
 remote parts of Asia, and they were attempting to cir- 
 cumnavigate Africa; and from Marco Polo's descrip- 
 tions of the situation of China and the islands on the 
 coast, and the state of geographical knowledge of the 
 day, Columbus was led to believe that by sailing in a 
 westerly direction he should reach the eastern shores of 
 Asia. With this idea, and the supposition that the cir- 
 cumference of the earth was much less that it was af- 
 terwards found to be, he set sail from Spain, and when 
 he arrived among the West India islands, we find him 
 trying to identify the island of Cipango of which Marco 
 Polo gave a splendid description. We afterwards find 
 him seeking in the island of Cuba, which he supposed, 
 from the accounts of the natives, and his own observa- 
 
CHINESE MUSEUM. 177 
 
 tion to be a part of the main land, for the rich city of 
 Cambalu, (Peking,) in the Province of Cathay, the 
 winter residence of the Great Khan, and where, accord- 
 ing to Marco Polo, was to be seen, " in wonderful 
 abundance, the precious stones, the pearls, the silks, 
 and the diverse perfumes of the East." 
 
 " The sumptuous descriptions given by Marco Polo," 
 says Irving, " of countries teeming with wealth, and 
 cities whose very domes and palaces flamed with gold, 
 induced Columbus, who was confident of soon arriving 
 at these countries, to hold forth those promises of imme- 
 diate wealth to the Spanish Sovereigns, which caused 
 much disappointment, and brought upon him the fre- 
 quent reproach of exciting false hopes and indulging in 
 wilful exaggeration." 
 
 " He died," continues Irving, " in ignorance of the 
 real grandeur of his discovery. Until his last breath, 
 he entertained the idea that he had merely opened a 
 new way to the old resorts of opulent commerce, and 
 had discovered some of the wild regions of the east. 
 He supposed Hispaniola to be the ancient Ophir, which 
 had been visited by the ships of Solomon, and that 
 Cuba and Terra Firma were but remote parts of Asia. 
 In all his voyages he was continually seeking after the 
 territories of the Grand Khan, and even after his last 
 expedition, when nearly worn out by age, hardships and 
 infirmities, he offered in a letter to the Spanish mon- 
 archs, written from a bed of sickness, to conduct any 
 missionary to the territories of the Tartar Emperor, 
 who would undertake his conversion." 
 
 The first Europeans who traded directly with China 
 were the Portuguese, who made their appearance at 
 Canton in 1546, not many years after their celebrated 
 navigator, Vasco De Gama, discovered the passage 
 around the Cape of Good Hope. But it was not until 
 about the middle of the 16th century, that they estab- 
 
 23 
 
178 CHINESE MUSEUM. 
 
 lished themselves at Macao, for the use of which place 
 they still pay a ground rent to the Chinese of 500 taels 
 per annum. The only privilege they appear to possess 
 is that of governing themselves ; as the Chinese popu- 
 lation of the town is entirely under the control of the 
 Mandarins. 
 
 The Spaniards soon followed the Portuguese, but 
 they have derived less advantage from an intercourse 
 with China than most other nations, notwithstanding the 
 vast advantage which they possess in the locality of 
 Manila and the Philipine islands, within a few days' sail 
 of China, and approached with equal facility in either 
 monsoon. 
 
 The first attempt made by the English to establish a 
 trade with China, was during the reign of Elizabeth, in 
 1596, but the vessels sent out were wrecked on the out- 
 ward passage, and, owing to the jealousy and misrepre- 
 sentations of the Portuguese, their future attempts, and 
 those of the E. I. C. were unsuccessful until about the 
 beginning of the last century. 
 
 The first American vessel sent out to China, sailed 
 from New York in 1784. She was soon followed by 
 others, and the trade rapidly increased until 1789, when 
 there were more American vessels at Canton than from 
 any other country except Great Britain ; and the Ameri- 
 can trade with China is now much larger than that of any 
 other country except England. The number of ships 
 employed by the latter being more than two hundred, 
 employing a capital of upwards of $20,000,000 while 
 we have about seventy ships in the China trade, and a 
 capital of about $7,000,000. The present total exports 
 from China amounts to about $40,000,000, of which 
 about $15,000,000 worth are teas, over $14,000,000 
 treasure, nearly $6,000,000 raw silks, silk thread, and 
 silk goods ; and the balance is cassia, sugar, sugar can- 
 dy, lacquered ware, ivory articles, matting, fans, &c. 
 
CHINESE MUSEUM. 179 
 
 &c. The imports, amounting to about the same sum 
 consist of the following articles; opium, rice, treasure 
 and pearls ; principally the first, which amounts to up- 
 wards of #20,000,000, ginseng #300,000, raw cotton 
 #6,000,000, cotton manufactures and cotton yarn #4,- 
 000,000, woolen manufactures of all kinds #2,047,000, 
 metals of all kinds #1,500,000, and the balance in other 
 goods, such as betel nut, bicho de mar, birds' nests, &c. 
 
 The goods which we buy from the Chinese are paid 
 for partly in cotton goods, ginseng and lead, but prin- 
 cipally by bills drawn on London bankers, who have 
 agencies in the United States to furnish letters of credit 
 to foreign traders. They loan nothing but their credit, 
 as the bills drawn upon them are made payable far 
 enough in advance for the proceeds of the goods for 
 which they were drawn to meet them. 
 
 The English, in addition to paying (the Chinese) for 
 all the teas, silks, &c. with their cotton, cotton goods, 
 and opium, are annually drawing an immense amount 
 of the precious metals from China, the proceeds of the 
 latter article. 
 
 Formerly, all the business done by China with other 
 nations except Russia, was carried on by the Cohong 
 or body of Hong merchants, of which nearly every one 
 has heard who has heard of China. This body was a 
 monopoly established by the government to conduct the 
 trade with foreigners, and consisted of a few persons, 
 who were allowed to trade singly, although, until 1830, 
 the whole body was liable for all the foreign debts of 
 each individual. Some of the Hong merchants made 
 large fortunes, but they lived in a state of continual un- 
 certainty, as having once become members of the Co- 
 hong, they were seldom allowed to leave it, unless in 
 case of failure, and they were liable to be " squeezed " 
 (as the Chinese call it) at any time, by the Mandarins, 
 who under various pretexts exacted large amounts from 
 
 } 
 
180 CHINESE MUSEUM. 
 
 them. Some one of the body was obliged to become 
 security for the payment of the port charges, duties, and 
 good behavior of every vessel entering the port for trade. 
 This monopoly was abolished by the treaty between 
 China and Great Britain, and the foreign trade made 
 free to all. 
 
 The Chinese have been ridiculed for assuming to be 
 the only civilized nation in the world. This assump- 
 tion is probably owing to their peculiar institutions. 
 They live on the past, we on the future, and conse- 
 quently they are not to be judged by our standard. We 
 have thousands of presses furnishing information of all 
 kinds and from all quarters of the globe, which is dis- 
 tributed with astonishing rapidity to every one. They 
 have no newspapers except those used for government 
 purposes, which have a very limited circulation, and 
 information with them, like light from some distant 
 world, which may have been blotted from existence for 
 years, does not reach the mass of the Chinese until it 
 has ceased to be new to the rest of the world. There 
 was a time, and that not many centuries since, that the 
 Chinese were father advanced in the arts of civilized 
 life than any European nation, and they are still far in 
 advance of the rest of Asia. Is it strange then when 
 they see the greatest European nation seize upon the 
 neighboring country of India and clandestinely flood 
 their shores with a drug which destroys thousands, and is 
 known to be prohibited by their laws, that they should 
 look upon them as barbarians. Is it strange when they 
 formerly saw the governments and merchants of foreign 
 nations belieing each other and perpetually quarreling for 
 the sake of gain that they should look upon them all with 
 suspicion and contempt and call them "Fan-quVs" "for- 
 eign devils !" When foreigners first began trading with 
 the Chinese, every port was open to their commerce, and 
 the trade was free to all ; the country was also open to 
 
CHINESE MUSEUM. 181 
 
 missionaries, and the Catholics converted many thou- 
 sands to their faith and stood high in favor with the 
 government, but the misconduct of the former caused 
 them to be confined in their trade to Canton, and the 
 attempts of the latter to interfere with the government 
 caused them to be excluded from the country. The 
 Chinese have also been denounced for their exclusive- 
 ness ; but who can doubt its being the correct policy of 
 her rulers to ensure the stability of their government. 
 They themselves are foreigners, were invited into the 
 Empire to quell a rebellion, which they did, and then 
 took possession, and they well know the danger they 
 subject themselves to by the visits of strangers. 
 
 In 1812, according to the best Chinese authority, there 
 were in the eighteen provinces of China 360,279,827 
 inhabitants, and 2,167,286 in Tartary, subject to the 
 Chinese government. As they have had no wars of 
 consequence since that time, and the cholera is said to 
 have passed lightly over this nation they must now ex- 
 ceed 400,000,000. The eighteen provinces contain 
 830,719,360 English acres, more than three-fourths of 
 which are under cultivation, and with a climate so vari- 
 ous, that everything they wish lor is produced by them- 
 selves, they need not and care not for foreign com- 
 merce. 
 
 Twenty-seven dynasties, furnishing two hundred and 
 forty-three sovereigns including the present and ex- 
 cluding those considered mythological by the Chinese 
 themselves, have swayed the destinies of China for 
 more than 4,600 years. Well may the Tartar and his 
 subjects be proud of the throne upon which he sits unri- 
 valled as it stands in the annals of the world, and with- 
 out boasting can they point to its antiquity, and that of 
 their laws and customs, founded prior, or at least coeval 
 with the Empire of Babylon, the very site of whose 
 
182 CHINESE MUSEUM. 
 
 greatest city, with its stupendous walls and hundred 
 gates of brass, is now a matter of doubt. 
 
 Other great empires and kingdoms have risen and 
 flourished for a season, but where are they ? Go, seek 
 their history among the pyramids and ruins of splendid 
 edifices, the equals of which the world may never see 
 again. 
 
 The most powerful modern kingdoms of Europe are 
 but of yesterday compared with China. While they 
 count their existence by hundreds, she reckons hers by 
 thousands of years and is now in the enjoyment of a 
 green old age under the administration of laws founded 
 upon the precepts of her sages. 
 
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