t\\t jf " 
 
 % 
 
 PRINCETON, N. J. 
 
 Purchased by the Hammill Missionary Fund. 
 
 Division 
 
 Section 
 
 DS12.I 
 
 Number. 
 
A 
 
 MODE OF CARRYING GODS IN PROCESSION AT FOO CHOW.— Pa(/e 125. 
 
"china and its people 
 
 A BOOK FOE YOUNG EEADERS. 
 
 BY 
 
 A MISSIONAHY’S WIFE. 
 
 NEW EDITION. 
 
 LONDON : 
 
 JAMES NISBET & CO., 21 BERNEKS STREET. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 PAOK 
 
 CHAPTER I. — THE COUNTRY, . . , . 1 
 
 „ n.— THE EMPEROR AND PEOPLE, . . 16 
 
 „ III. — CHINESE CITIES AND TOWNS, . . 81 
 
 „ IV. — THE OPEN PORTS, * . . .44 
 
 „ V. — APPEARANCE AND DRESS OF THE CHINESE, 60 
 
 „ VI. — CHILD-LIPE IN CHINA, ... 80 
 
 „ VII.— CHINESE SCHOOLS AND LANGUAGE, . 89 
 
 „ VIII. — DOMESTIC HABITS OP THE CHINESE, . 98 
 
 „ IX. — THE USEFUL TREE, .... 112 
 
 „ X— THE RELIGIONS OP OHINA, . . .116 
 
Digitized by the Internet Archive' 
 in 2016 
 
 https://archive.org/details/chinaitspeopleboOOunse 
 
SOTTND, sound the truth abroadj 
 Bear ye the "Word of God 
 
 Through the wide world ; 
 Tell what our Lord has done, 
 Tell how the day is won, 
 
 And from his lofty throne 
 Satan is hurled. 
 
 Far over sea and land, 
 
 (’Tis our Lord’s own commas]'!,) 
 Bear ye His name ; 
 
 Bear it to China’s shore, 
 Regions unknown explore, 
 Enter at every door. 
 
 Silence is shame. 
 
 Speed on the wings ot love,, 
 Jesus, who reigns above, 
 
 Bids us to fly; 
 
 They who EQs message hear 
 Shordd neither doubt nor fear, 
 He win their fciend appear. 
 
 He will be nigh. 
 
WTien on the mighty deep, 
 He will their spirits keep, 
 Stay’d on His word ; 
 When in a foreign land. 
 
 No other friend at hand, 
 Jesus will by them stand, 
 Jesus their Lord. 
 
 Ye who, forsaking all. 
 
 At your loved Master's call. 
 Comforts resign ; 
 
 Soon will your work be done. 
 Soon will the prize be won, 
 Brighter than yonder sun 
 Then shall ve shine. 
 
 Ant — National Anthem. 
 
to 
 
 MY ELDEST NEPHEW, E. fl. 
 
 My dear Boy, — When you wer^ a very Kttle child, 
 before I went to China, you used to come and sit on my 
 knee, and ask me to tell you about the " Sinese,” for you 
 could not speak plainly enough to say Chinese. Now 
 that you are older, and I have been living among this 
 remarkable people, studying their language, and visiting 
 several of their cities, I think it will interest you to read 
 a few chapters about what I have seen in China. So I 
 have written this little book for you and your brothers 
 and sisters, and I hope it will give you pleasure to read 
 it and look at the pictures. 
 
 The Chinese, you know, are not a barbarous people, 
 like the natives of Central Africa or Australia; they are 
 civilised and polite after their fashion, though that is 
 very different from ours. Many things which you are 
 taught to do and think quite proper, they would consider 
 
DEDICATION. 
 
 !V 
 
 very rude ; and many, many things which they do, and 
 their fathers and mothers for ages before them have done 
 and thought polite, are very shocking to us. Indeed, 
 they are quite opposite to us in many of their ways. I 
 will mention a few differences now, and you will find out 
 more as you read on. When an English gentleman goes 
 into a house or church, he takes oiBf his hat ; a Chinese 
 gentleman keeps 'his on. At a funeral, English people 
 wear black clothes; but the Chinese wear white. An 
 English bride is dressed in white; a Chinese bride in 
 scarlet. Our visiting cards are white ; theirs red. Most 
 persons in our country wash their faces in cold water, 
 and their clothes in hot ; but the Chinese use very hot 
 water to wash their faces, and cold water to wash their 
 clothes. We put a candle into a candlestick; they stick 
 the candlestick into the candle. We put our money into 
 a purse; they run a string through theirs. We write 
 and read across the page ; they from the top to the bot- 
 tom, and they begin their books at what we should call 
 the end. 
 
 But the contrast, in some respects, is not laughable, 
 but sad. Instead of churches, where God is worshipped, 
 and prayer offered in the name of Jesus, the Chinese 
 have myriads of temples, in which they bow down to 
 dumb, senseless idols. Among the people of that country, 
 few have even seen the Bible, and fewer still read and 
 value it. But I will tell you more of this by and by. 
 You will wish to know first what kind of country China 
 
DEDICATION. 
 
 V 
 
 is — whether it is hot or cold ; what the inhabitants eat, 
 drink, and wear ; what the boys learn at school ; why it is 
 called China ; and a hundred other things which I will 
 try to make plain to you. 
 
 In writing the names of places in China, I have spelt 
 them in the way I think the prettiest. Will you try to 
 pronounce them correctly ? Remember that “ fu ” (with 
 an accent) is to be called foo, “ li ” and “ si ” are pro- 
 nounced lee and see, “ chau ” as if spelt chow, and “tdng” 
 as if written toong. 
 
 You must not expect to find everything about such a 
 great country in one small book. When you are older, 
 I hope you will read larger works about this interesting 
 nation. Much of what I am going to describe to you I 
 have seen myself; the rest I have gathered from the 
 works of others. I would only add, that I hope you will 
 have as much pleasure in reading my book as I have had 
 in writing it. — Your affectionate 
 
 AUNT HELEN. 
 
CHINA AND ITS PEOPLE. 
 
 CHAPTER L 
 
 THE COUNTRY. 
 
 “ Go, take the wings of morn, 
 
 And fly beyond the utmost sea, 
 
 Thou shalt not feel thyself forlorn. 
 
 Thy God is still with thee ; 
 
 And where His Spirit bids thee dwell. 
 
 There, and there only, thou art well.” 
 
 China, you know, dear children, is on the eastern 
 side of Asia. It is a part of the most extensive 
 empire in the world. Its emperor governs also 
 Manchuria and Mongolia ; yet, though he is or 
 a Manchu family, his dominions are called the 
 Chinese Empire. 
 
2 
 
 CHINA AND irS PEOPLE. 
 
 The name China is derived from a family called 
 “ Tsin,” who were famous in the country for seve- 
 ral centuries, and became emperors about 250 
 years before Christ. 
 
 We call the inhabitants of the country Chinese, 
 but they never call themselves so nor do they 
 speak of their country as the land of Tsin, Chin, 
 or China. They commonly call their country the 
 “middle kingdom,” because they fancy it to be 
 the centre and the best part of the earth. For 
 the same reasons, it is spoken of as the “ flowery ” 
 or “ glorious land,” and the “ inner land.” They 
 also speak of it as “under the sky,” as if there 
 was no country but their own beneath the sky; 
 and “ within the four seas,” as if it was surrounded 
 by water. 
 
 Now, just look at your map. You will see that 
 China proper has Manchuria and Mongolia on the 
 north and west : on the north-east, the gulf of 
 Pecheli, called by the Chinese the North Sea 
 on the east, the Yellow Sea, styled by them the 
 East Sea ; and on the south, the China Sea. 
 Along the coast there are many rocky islands. 
 The largest are Formosa and the Chtisan group, 
 but the most important is the little isle of Hong- 
 Kong, which belongs to Great Britain, 
 
THE COUNTKY. 
 
 3 
 
 China is a very large country, seven times larger 
 than France, and fifteen times as large as England, 
 Scotland, and Ireland put together. The northern 
 part is a great plain, with very few hills upon it, 
 watered by many rivers, canals, and little streams. 
 There are but few large trees ; but there are many 
 widows growing by the water-courses, as well as 
 peach and other fruit-trees. In this plain a great 
 quantity of rice is grown. Wheat, barley, cotton, 
 and beans are also cultivated. It produces also 
 the tea and silk for which China is so celebrated. 
 Along the banks of some of the canals you may 
 see groves of small mulberry trees, which are 
 reared for feeding the silk-worms. In the spring, 
 when the worms creep out of their eggs, the 
 country people strip all the leaves from the trees, 
 put them in baskets, and carry these in little 
 boats to the places where the silk -worms are 
 kept. The beans are chiefly cultivated for mak- 
 ing oil, which is used for cooking, and in lamps. 
 Cotton grows on the same ground as the beans 
 after they are gathered. The cotton-plant is a 
 low shrub, with a very pretty flower, pale yellow, 
 with a purple eye. After the flower has faded, 
 a pod appears, which bursts open when it is ripe, 
 and you see inside a little ball of snow-white 
 
4 
 
 CHINA AND ITS PEOPLE. 
 
 cotton, covering the seeds. This cotton is care- 
 fully picked, and dried in the sun, the seeds being 
 
 Woman Weaving Cloth. 
 
 separated from it by a wooden wheel. It is after- 
 wards spun into thread, and woven into cloth, by 
 the country women. 
 
 Rice will only grow in water, so the Chinese 
 have invented many contrivances for watering 
 their fields. In the comer of each field, by the 
 
THE COUNTRY. 
 
 5 
 
 side of some canal or tank, there is a water-wheel. 
 Some of these are worked by men, with their 
 hands or feet, and others by a patient ox, walking 
 round and round, and turning the wheel which 
 raises the water. The Chinese are kind to dumb 
 animals, and you may often see a tree planted 
 beside the wheel, that the hard-working animal 
 and the boy who is driving it may have shade. 
 Between the rice fields there are no beautiful 
 hedge-rows with trees in them as at home ; they 
 are divided by banks of earth, which serve as 
 pathways through the fields, and prevent the 
 water from flowing from one into another. The 
 rice is not sown all over the field, but in a small 
 patch of rich mud in one corner. When it is 
 about four inches high, it is transplanted into the 
 field. Before this is done, the field is covered 
 with water, and harrowed ; the harrow is drawn 
 by a large animal called a water bufialo, which 
 tramples the earth and water together with its 
 heavy feet. A man then takes a basketful of the 
 little rice plants and sticks them into the mud, 
 six in one hole, so the muddy brown field becomes 
 green in a few hours. Does not this remind you 
 of the verse, Isaiah xxxii. 20, “ Blessed are ye 
 that sow beside all waters, that send forth thither 
 
6 
 
 CHINA AND ITS PEOPLE. 
 
 the feet of the ox and the ass j” and of Ecclesiastes 
 xi. 1 , “ Cast thy bread upon the waters, and thou 
 shalt find it after many days ? ” The great plain 
 looks very beautiful in the spring when the rice is 
 green, and in the autumn when it is yellow and 
 fit to be cut, with a flood of golden sunshine over 
 all. There are swarms of industrious people living 
 in this part of China, more than in any other 
 part of the world of the same size. 
 
 South of the river Yang-tsz, which you will find 
 on your map, there are many hills, some covered 
 with vegetation and others quite bare and rocky. 
 In the valleys rice grows, and on the low hills tea 
 and many kinds of vegetables. Some of the hill- 
 sides have ledges or terraces of earth made upon 
 them by the ingenious people, and on these, too, 
 rice is cultivated. You will like to hear how the 
 tea grows : — It is a low shrub about as high as a 
 gooseberry bush ; the leaves are picked from it four 
 times a-year after it is three years old. Many 
 people who have a small piece of ground raise a 
 few tea plants, and pick and dry the leaves either 
 for sale or use. They roll up the leaves carefuUy 
 and dry them, partly in the sun, and partly in an 
 iron pan over a charcoal or wood fire. This roll- 
 ing and dr 3 ung is a very tedious affair. They then 
 
THE COUNTEY. 
 
 7 
 
 pack them in boxes and carry them down to the 
 sea-ports, to send them to all parts of the world. 
 Men walk hundreds of miles with two boxes of 
 
 tea slung over their shoulders. See how much 
 trouble people must take before we can have a 
 cup of tea ! 
 
 Some of the hills in this part of China are 
 covered with trees ; from these timber is obtained 
 
8 
 
 CHINA AND ITS PEOPLE. 
 
 to supply other districts. There is a beautiful 
 tree called the banyan in this hilly portion of the 
 country ; it grows to a very large size. It is not 
 quite like the Indian banyan tree, of which you 
 have perhaps read. That sends down from its 
 branches roots, which grow as large as the trunks 
 of trees, so that the great spreading head of the 
 tree has many stems instead of one. The Chinese 
 banyan also sends down roots, and they look very 
 curious, seldom reaching the ground, but hanging 
 like ropes from the large branches. I will tell 
 you, by and by, about the bamboo, the most use- 
 ful tree in China. 
 
 Now, look again on your map at the western 
 part of China ; it is very mountainous. 
 
 There are two principal chains, called the “ Sih 
 ling,” or “Snowy Mountains,” and the “Yun 
 ling,” or “ Cloudy Mountains.” Their names will 
 explain that they are so high as to be covered at 
 the tops with snow ; and some of them are above 
 the clouds. Copper, iron, lead, a little gold, and 
 large quantities of silver, are brought from these 
 mountains ; there is also abundance of coal. But 
 the Chinese do not know how to work mines 
 properly, so that they do not make as good use 
 as they might of these gifts of Nature. The pro- 
 
THE COUNTRY. 
 
 9 
 
 vince of Yiin-nan, south of the Cloudy Mountains, 
 is very rich in metals. Amongst the mountains in 
 the south-west dwell a few tribes of wild people, 
 called by the Chinese “ Miau-tsz,” or “ sons of 
 the soil.” They have never been subdued by the 
 Tartars, and are governed by their own chiefs. 
 Some of them are fierce and warlike ; but as they 
 quarrel amongst themselves, they have little power 
 to disturb their more peaceful neighbours. 
 
 The largest river in China is the “Yang-tsz- 
 Kiang,” or “ Child of the ocean,” {“ Kiang” means 
 river.) It is 3000 miles long, and has a very 
 winding course. Many others flow into it ; some 
 of its tributaries are very large. Being of great 
 breadth and depth, it is very useful ; large ships 
 can sail up it for five hundred miles. Near the 
 sea there are many sandbanks beneath its waters, 
 which render the navigation dangerous. The 
 yellow, muddy colour of the Yang-tsz, and the 
 general flatness of its banks, prevent us from 
 thinking it beautiful ; but who would not rather 
 be for use than for ornament ? There is a smaller 
 river, called the Min, which passes through the 
 province of Fuh-kien, which is beautiful, and 
 useful too. It winds along most picturesquely, 
 among lofty hills. 
 
10 
 
 CHINA AND ITS PEOPLE. 
 
 And now may I mention just one more with- 
 out wearying you — the Yellow Kiver, which was 
 formerly next to the Yang-tsz ? It used to over- 
 flow its banks, and do so much mischief that it 
 was called “ China’s sorrow but a large part is 
 now dried up. At the present time, there are 
 populous villages and fruitful flelds in the bed 
 where it once flowed. 
 
 You have heard of the Great "Wall, which runs 
 aU along the north of China, over hills and through 
 valleys. It was built by a Chinese emperor, of 
 the Tsin family, about 220 years before Christ ; 
 so, you see, it is more than 2000 years old. It is 
 an immense bank of earth and stone, faced with 
 stone or brick, varying from flfteen to thirty feet 
 in height, and about twenty-flve feet wide at the 
 base, and at the top it is about flfteen feet. The 
 wall is much stronger in some parts than in others. 
 It was built to keep the Tartar tribes from making 
 incursions on the Chinese, and was of use for some 
 time, though it did not prevent them from con- 
 quering the country at last. In some places there 
 are brick towers near to defend it ; it has also 
 many gates or passes, guarded by soldiers. It is 
 called by the Chinese the “ten thousand miles 
 wall.” 
 
THE COUNTEY 
 
 11 
 
 There is another great work in the north of 
 China, a canal 650 miles long, called by foreigners 
 the grand canal,” but by the natives the “ river 
 of floodgates.” For a great part of its course the 
 banks are faced with stone, and for a long distance 
 the water in the canal is higher than the surround- 
 ing country, so that if it were to break through the 
 banks which keep it in, the whole district would 
 be flooded, and several large cities would be 
 destroyed. The grand canal flows from near 
 Peking to Hang-chau in the province of Cheh- 
 kiang ; some parts of it are very straight ; and 
 when you are travelling on it in a boat the bank? 
 look very pretty, with their groves of mulberry 
 trees. Here and there is an old red temple, under 
 the shade of a camphor or tallow tree. There are 
 a great many cities and villages on the banks of 
 this stream, large bridges over it, and plenty of 
 ships and boats upon it. This district has but 
 few roads ; all goods are conveyed by water, and 
 people usually travel in boats, which you would 
 find more pleasant than carriages on dusty roads. 
 It is certainly slow compared with the railway, 
 but you can make yourself quite at home in the 
 nice little barges, and a spring or autumn sail is 
 very, very pleasant. Here is a picture of a post- 
 
12 
 
 CHINA AND ITS PEOPLE. 
 
 boat, rowed by one man with both hands and 
 feet ; ft goes very quickly, but is too small to be 
 
 A Ningpo Post-boat. 
 
 comfortable for passengers. On these streams you 
 may often see a boat, with a number of large birds 
 sitting in a row at the prow ; they are cormorants 
 trained to catch fish for their masters. Large 
 flocks of ducks are also seen swimming about; 
 they are sometimes taken to the rice fields to 
 devour the slugs. 
 
 The summer is very hot all over China ; it is 
 seldom safe for us to go out without an umbrella 
 if the sun is shining. We can understand how 
 the sun “ beat upon the head of Jonah that he 
 fainted.” That promise, “ The sun shall not smite 
 
THE COUNTKY. 
 
 13 
 
 thee by day,” (Ps. cxxi. 6,) has a deeper meaning 
 there than at home, for exposure to the sun some- 
 times produces fearful pain in the head, and even 
 madness ; this is called “ sun-stroke.” There also 
 we can appreciate those expressions used to describe 
 our Saviour, a shadow from the heat,” and “ the 
 shadow of a great rock in a weary land.” In the 
 south the weather is quite mild, even at Christmas. 
 When some snow fell at Canton a few years ago, 
 the people did not know what it was ; they called 
 it “ falling cotton,” and tried to keep it, not know- 
 ing that it would melt in their hands. In the 
 north the winters are exceedingly cold ; snow is 
 common, and the winds very keen and cutting. 
 A-t Shanghai there is often very thick ice in places 
 exposed to the north wind, but it is melted before 
 noon if the sun shines out, for at all seasons the 
 sun has more power in China than in England. 
 The great change from intense heat to severe cold 
 is owing to a wind called the monsoon, which 
 blows from the south or south-west during the 
 summer, and in winter from the north or north- 
 east, straight from the frozen plains of Siberia. 
 At the time the monsoon changes, in September 
 and October, there are often very violent storms, 
 called typhoons, from the Chinese words *‘tai 
 
14 
 
 CHINA ANtJ ITS PEOPLE. 
 
 foong ” — great wind. Cliina is generally a damp 
 country ; there is more rain there in the year than 
 in England ; this is one reason why it is not so 
 healthy a climate as our own. 
 
 I will give you a list of the eighteen pro- 
 vinces into which the country is divided, with a 
 translation of their names, that you may under- 
 stand their meaning when you see them on the 
 map : — 
 
 EIGHTEEN PROVINCES. 
 
 Four to the North — 
 
 Chih-li, or Peh-chi-li, means 
 
 Shan-tung, 
 
 Slian-si, 
 
 Ho-nan, 
 
 Five to the East— 
 
 Kiang-su, 
 
 NTgan-hwiii, 
 
 Kiang-si, 
 
 Clieh-kiang, 
 
 Fuk-kien, 
 
 Two in the Centre — 
 
 Hu-nan, 
 
 Hli-peh, 
 
 Direct rule,” so called 
 because the emperor re- 
 sides there. 
 
 “ East of the mountains ” 
 
 “West of the mountains.” 
 
 “South of the river,” that 
 is, of the Yellow River. 
 
 ( the first syllable of the 
 J names of its chief cities ; 
 1 Kiang-ma^-lxx and Su~ 
 i. chan-fu. 
 
 the two cities, Ngan-king- 
 fu, and Hwui-chau-fu. 
 (“ West of the river,” that 
 ( is, the river Yang-tsz. 
 
 ( “Cheh river,” or “crooked 
 ( river.” 
 
 “ Happily established.” 
 
 “South of the lakes 
 
 “North of the lakes;” 
 (that is, north and south 
 of the Tong-ting lake. ) 
 
 from 
 
THE COUNTHY. 
 
 
 Four to the South — 
 
 Kwong-tung, means 
 
 Kwong-si, ,, 
 
 Yun-nan, ,, 
 
 Kwei-chau, ,, 
 
 Three to the West — 
 
 Shan-si, ,, 
 
 Kan-suh, „ 
 
 Sz’-chuen, „ 
 
 ‘ Broad east.” 
 
 “ Broad west.” 
 “Cloud-south,” south of 
 the Cloudy Mountains. 
 
 “ Noble region.” 
 
 “ Western passes.” 
 
 “ Voluntary reverence.” 
 “ Four streams.” 
 
16 
 
 CHINA AND ITS PEOPLE. 
 
 CHAPTER IL 
 
 THE EMPEROR AND PEOPLE, 
 
 “ A kingdom is a nest of families, and a family a small 
 kingdom. 
 
 And the government of whole or part differeth 
 nothing but in extent.” 
 
 The broad provinces of which I have been telling 
 you are very thickly peopled. The towns and 
 cities are numerous, and there are many large 
 villages, little hamlets, and solitary farm-houses. 
 It is not uncommon for an old grandfather and 
 grandmother, with their sons and daughters-in-law, 
 and their little grand-chUdren, to live together. 
 They have separate apartments, but they eat at 
 the same table, and work on the same land, divid- 
 ing their earnings amongst them. Thus those who 
 are weak and aged, or too young to work, are sup- 
 ported by the strong and able, while all depend on 
 the head of the family, to whom they look up with 
 great respect. They not only honour him while 
 he is alive, but, as I shall teU you presently, after 
 
THE EMPEROE AND PEOPLE. 
 
 17 
 
 he is dead. Every head of a house is expected to 
 have a list of the inmates written on a board, to 
 shew to an officer, who comes round from time to 
 time. This board is called the “ door-tablet,” 
 because the officer examines it at the door, without 
 going into the house. From these tablets, the 
 number of people in each town and province is 
 reckoned, and thus a census taken of the whole 
 empire. This was done in 1859, and by it we 
 learn that there are 400,000,000 (four hundred 
 millions) of people in China. This is a greater 
 number than you or I can understand. It is 
 twenty-five times as many as there are in England 
 and Wales, or sixteen times as many as in Great 
 Britain and Ireland. There are very few large 
 animals in China, and scarcely any pasture except- 
 ing on the hills, where sheep and goats may be 
 seen. The dogs and cats are often yellow. Near 
 towns there is no wild animal larger than a wild 
 cat, but in less frequented districts wild boars are 
 said to be found. Not many years ago a tiger 
 was killed among the hills near Amoy. Every 
 foot of land on which anything will grow is culti- 
 vated by the careful Chinamen, to produce grain 
 and vegetables for this immense population. The 
 Chinese farmer spares no pains to make his ground 
 
18 
 
 CHINA AND ITS PEOPLE. 
 
 productive. Those men who work at trades to 
 are industrious, though not energetic ; they will 
 keep on for a long time toiling patiently, but they 
 do not accomplish nearly as much in a day as an 
 
 A Blacksmith. 
 
 English workman would. They are remarkable 
 for their curiosity. If two strangers meet, they 
 ask each other such questions as these : “ What is 
 your honourable name and youi venerable age 1 ** 
 
THE EMPEROR AND PEOPLE. 
 
 19 
 
 “ What is the illustrious place of your birth ? ” 
 It is polite in reply to say, “My poor name,” 
 “ The mean place of my birth,” &c. People who 
 meet you in the street will often ask, “ Where 
 are you going ? ” but it is not necessary to satisfy 
 their curiosity ; you can answer, “ I am going to- 
 wards the north, south, east, or west,” as the case 
 may be. The Chinese are also proud and self- 
 satisfied. In speaking of themselves, they use words 
 which appear humble, but it is only an affectation 
 of humility. They think themselves wiser than 
 other nations, and do not wish to improve. This 
 is because they are ignorant of better ways than 
 their own. Then too they are very fond of money, 
 and will try to get more than is due for their work, 
 if they can, though they know it is wrong to cheat. 
 In the north the people are quiet and peaceable, 
 cheerful and pleasant to speak to ; they are more 
 turbulent in the south, and in some parts gloomy 
 and morose. WTien Chinamen quarrel, they make 
 a great noise, and often call each other bad names, 
 but they seldom fight or strike, as is the case 
 among some nations ; and you scarcely ever see a 
 tipsy man in the country. They are very perse- 
 vering, and wiU sometimes spend two or three 
 years on one piece of work without getting tired 
 
20 
 
 CHINA AND ITS PEOPLE 
 
 of it. If they were not patient and persevering, 
 they could not carve and embroider so neatly as 
 they do. 
 
 There is one strange thing about the Chinese — 
 they do not improve ; they are nearly the same 
 now as they were 2000 years ago. How much 
 other nations have changed since the time of 
 Daniel or Esther ! yet the Chinese have scarcely 
 altered at all ! Just let me give you one instance. 
 You know that when printing was first discovered 
 in Europe, the letters were cut out on a wooden 
 block, and this was inked and pressed on paper, 
 to take off the impression. Now the letters are 
 made of metal, and are separate, so that they can 
 be used to print a great many things, which is 
 much more convenient than to have each page 
 cut out on a block of wood. The Chinese knew 
 how to print from a block of wood five or six 
 hundred years before the art was known in 
 Europe, and so they print still. They invented 
 the art centuries before we knew of it ; but they 
 have never improved upon it, but still go on in 
 the old fashion. 
 
 I am sorry to tell you that the Chinese cannot 
 be believed in much that they say ; but you 
 know they are heathens, and how can we expect 
 
THE EMPEROR AND PEOPLE. 
 
 21 
 
 them to speak the truth, when so many people in 
 a Christian land do not? They are too often 
 hard-hearted and neglectful of the sick and poor ; 
 but they have not heard from their childhood the 
 “sweet story” of Him who went about doing 
 good. Now look for a moment on the bright 
 side. They are peaceable, industrious, polite, and 
 respectful to their parents and elders. 
 
 The Chinese are governed by an emperor, who 
 is not a native of the country, but is of a Manchu 
 family. This dynasty has reigned in China for 
 more than two hundred years. They are de- 
 scended from a Manchu or Tartar chief, who 
 conquered a great part of the country in the 
 reign of our King Charles I., and began to reign 
 at Peking in 1644. This emperor, whose name 
 was Shunchi, called his family the “great pure 
 dynasty,” because they intended to administer 
 “pure justice” to the people. Since his time 
 the country has been called the “ Ta-tsing-koh,” 
 (“great pure kingdom.”) The Chinese did not 
 wish the Manchu chief to reign over them, and 
 struggled hard against the invader, so that it was 
 a very long time before he could subdue the 
 whole empire. When he had done so, he ordered 
 all the men to shave the front part of their heads, 
 
 0 
 
22 
 
 CHINA AND ITS PEOPLE. 
 
 according to the custom of his own race ; but 
 though he made them alike in appearance, he 
 could not make the Chinese resemble the warlike 
 Tartars in character. In most of the large cities, 
 
 An Officer of High Rank. 
 
 a part is walled off for the Manchus to live in, 
 and a general of their people resides among them 
 to prevent the Chinese from rebelling against the 
 emperor. The two nations live quietly together ; 
 but they do not like each other much, and they 
 
THE EMPEROR AND PEOPLE. 
 
 23 
 
 ire forbidden to intermarry. The Manchus are 
 more energetic than the Chinese, but not nearly 
 so industrious and persevering. They are not 
 permitted to engage in trade, so the shopkeepers 
 in their quarter of the city are all Chinese. 
 
 Wlien the Manchu emperor conquered China, 
 though he made many new laws, he was too wise 
 to change all the old ones, to which the people 
 were accustomed. Some of these dated back for 
 two thousand years. The books which the 
 Chinese think the most valuable in the world 
 are the writings of Confucius and Mencius, and 
 as these teach people to obey their kings, the 
 emperor does all he can to encourage the study 
 of them. Every year there are examinations in 
 the towns, at which hundreds and thousands of 
 students attend. They are not questioned as to 
 what they know, but are shut up in little cells, 
 without any books, and have to write a paper 
 about something contained in the works of their 
 sages, to shew that they have studied them care- 
 fully, and that they are able to write their own 
 language well. If they make a mistake in writing 
 a single character, their papers are not even looked 
 at. If a man can pass the first examination, he 
 studies again to try and pass a second, which is 
 
24 
 
 CHINA AND ITS PEOPLE. 
 
 held at the chief city of the province in which he 
 lives. On passing this, he works again for the 
 third and highest examination, which is held at 
 Peking. If he can pass this, the emperor will pro- 
 oably give him employment. Many hundreds of 
 students endeavour to pass the first examination 
 without success ; they try over and over again, some- 
 times till their hair is grey. Eich men often give 
 the examiners money to let them pass ; but if it is 
 found out, it is considered very disgraceful It 
 does not matter what rank a man is, if he will 
 study, he may become one of the emperor’s 
 officers. Some of the highest men in China 
 have risen from a low grade. The emperor is 
 very highly respected and venerated by his sub- 
 jects; they call him the “august sovereign,” the 
 “ son of heaven.” When he writes of himself, he 
 calls himself the “ solitary man,” or the “ sohtary 
 prince,” because he thinks himself so much greater 
 than all other potentates, that he is quite alone 
 in the world. He is considered by his people 
 “ like the sun in the heavens, giving blessings to 
 the whole universe.” When they approach his 
 throne, they kneel three times, and knock their 
 heads nine times on the floor ; and when they 
 address him they say, “ May you live ten thousand 
 

 THE EMPEROE AND PEOPLE. 25 
 
 years, ten thousand years, ten thousand years !” 
 Is not this like the Persians in the days of Daniel 
 and Nehemiah, who used to exclaim, “Let the 
 king live for ever,” Neh. ii. 3 ; Dan. vi. 31 ? The 
 Chinese not only kneel to their monarch, but 
 to everything belonging to him. If he sends 
 an order to a distant part of the empire, it is 
 placed in a sedan-chair, and reverenced as if it 
 were the sovereign himself. No one is allowed 
 to wear the same colour as the emperor and his 
 family. He is dressed in a yellow robe, em- 
 broidered with a dragon, the emblem of China. 
 His face is called the dragon’s face ; his throne, 
 the dragon’s throne; and on his books, papers, 
 and, indeed, everything belonging to him, is 
 marked a dragon with five claws. His palaces 
 have strange names ; that in which he gives 
 entertainments at Peking, is called the “ tranquil 
 palace of heaven.” He has many wives, but only 
 one is called Empress, and she rules over the 
 others. Her house is called “ the palace of 
 earth’s repose and she is herself styled, “ heaven’s 
 consort.” 
 
 The emperor is a priest as wed as a ruler. 
 Once a-year he goes to an altar outside the walls 
 of Peking, and there worships heaven. He is 
 
26 
 
 CHINA AND ITS PEOPLE. 
 
 ignorant of the true God, but he believes there 
 is one supreme being, and to him he prays in his 
 darkness, presenting him with offerings of tea and 
 silk. He is expected to set an example to his 
 subjects of everything he wishes them to do ; 
 so in the spring of each year he takes his great 
 officers with him to another altar, and there, after 
 worshipping an ancient emperor, who is said to 
 have taught the people to cultivate the ground, 
 he ploughs a furrow with his own hand. The 
 empress presents her offerings at the temple of a 
 woman named Yuen-fi, who is believed to have 
 first discovered silk ; she winds a little silk her- 
 self, to encourage other women to be industrious. 
 
 I must not omit a touching instance of that 
 filial reverence which marks the Chinese. Aw- 
 fully supreme as their emperor appears in their 
 eyes, there is yet one in the empire to whom he 
 must kneel and bow as others do to him, and that 
 one is his mother. She is considered the most 
 important lady in the court. It was thus among 
 the ancient Persians ; the queen mentioned in 
 Dan. V. 10, 11, was probably the mother, not 
 the wife, of Belshazzar. The emperor of China 
 can appoint any one he pleases to succeed him on 
 the throne. He does not generally choose his 
 
THE EMPEROR AND PEOPLE. 
 
 27 
 
 eldest son. When the Emperor Kien-lung was 
 asked to appoint his successor, he wisely said that 
 when he died the name would be found in a cer- 
 tain place, but he would not mention him then, 
 lest he should be flattered by persons who might 
 wish to gain his favour before he mounted the 
 throne. 
 
 There are at Peking some ofiicers called censors, 
 whose duty it is to overlook all the other officials 
 in the country. They may even reprove the em- 
 peror. For example, the Emperor Kia-king was 
 in the habit of taking too much wine ; one of the 
 censors wrote to him and told him that it de- 
 graded him in the eyes of his people, and made 
 him unfit for his duties. The monarch was very 
 angry ; he sent for the man whom he suspected, 
 asked him if he wrote that paper, and what pun- 
 ishment he thought he merited. The censor con- 
 fessed, and said he deserved to be quartered. The 
 emperor told him to choose some other death ; so 
 he said, “ Let me be beheaded.” A third time he 
 was commanded to choose, and he said, “ Let me 
 be strangled.” He was then ordered to go away, 
 and the next day the emperor made him governor 
 of Hi, a very distant province of the empire. 
 This proved that he respected him as an honest, 
 
28 
 
 CHINA AND ITS PEOPLE. 
 
 faithful officer, but did not wish him to be near 
 enough to tell him of his faults. 
 
 It is the duty of these censors to write a history 
 of the emperor while he is living, but their master 
 is not allowed to see it, lest they should be afraid 
 to give a true account of his actions. One Chinese 
 emperor caused all books of history to be burned, 
 hoping to be considered the first and greatest 
 sovereign of the land. He has certainly caused 
 himself to be remembered, though not to be re- 
 spected, for he is spoken of to this day as “ the 
 emperor who burned the books.” 
 
 On ascending the throne, it is customary for an 
 emperor to take a new name. That of the present 
 sovereign of China (1862) is Chi- siang, which may 
 be translated ‘‘good fortune.” He is a young 
 child ; the empress and his own mother are called 
 "egents, but the power is chiefly in the hands of 
 Prince Kung, his uncle. The late emperor, who 
 died in 1861, had only reigned ten years. His 
 name was Hien-fung, “ all-abundant ; ” he was 
 the fourth son of Tau-kwong, “ the glory of rea- 
 son.” Poor Hien-fung’s reign was full of troubles. 
 The English and French captured his capital, 
 Peking, in 1860, and he was obliged to flee into 
 Manchuria, where he remained untH his death. 
 
THE EMPEKOK AND PEOPLE. 
 
 29 
 
 But in his own empire he had a worse enemy than 
 any foreign foe. There have been for many years 
 some among the Chinese who have wished to be 
 ruled by a native prince, instead of by a Manchu , 
 and a very large body of insurgents has arisen, 
 who have taken possession of some of the richest 
 provinces in the land. Their leader is a man 
 named Hung-siu-tsuien. He styles himself the 
 “ heavenly king,” and his family the “ Tai-ping- 
 d2:au,” or “ great peaceful dynasty.” He has 
 chosen Hanking, the ancient capital of China, to 
 be his chief city. Under him there are eight 
 other chiefs or kings ; they either hold places 
 which he has conquered, or lead armies to conquer 
 more. The heavenly king professes that he is sent 
 by the true God, about whom he has learnt some- 
 thing, to clear the land from idols and Tartars. 
 When his soldiers take a city, they pull down the 
 temples, throw the idols on the ground, and finish 
 by breaking them or cutting off their noses. They 
 overrun the country, drive out the inhabitants of 
 the walled cities, and' are very cruel to those who 
 resist them. The poor, wretched people do not 
 know what to do. They do not mind who rules 
 them, so that they may live in peace and till their 
 ground; but they are equally afraid of the soldiers 
 
30 
 
 CHINA AND ITS PEOPLE. 
 
 of the heavenly king and of the emperor It is a 
 time of sad, sad affliction for China. 
 
 The heavenly king has the Bible, and reads it, 
 professing to believe that it is the word of God ; 
 but he has many wrong notions. He thinks that 
 he has had visions and has been up to heaven, 
 and he has written a book about what he saw and 
 heard there, which he considers equal to the Bible. 
 Until very recently, he seemed friendly to foreign- 
 ers, and invited Christian teachers to settle in his 
 dominions ; but he does not wish to be better 
 instructed himself, for he thinks he must know 
 better than those who have not been to heaven. 
 He wears a yellow robe like the emperor, and is 
 addressed in the same way. He commands his 
 followers not to shave their heads ; from this 
 cause they are called “ long-haired men.” He 
 observes the Sabbath-day, it is said, and forbids 
 his people to worship idols ; but I fear he does 
 not himself know that the Lord Jesus Christ is 
 “ the Way, the Truth, and the Life,” and that 
 “no man cometh unto the Father but by Him.” 
 Civil war is very terrible ; and we must feel for 
 the poor Chinese, and pray that God will be 
 pleased to bring good out of this evil. 
 
CHINESE CITIES AND TOWNS, 
 
 31 
 
 CHAPTER UL 
 
 C7HINESE CITIES AND TOWNS. 
 
 • Sunk are thy powers, in shapeless ruin all, 
 
 And the long “^ass o’ertops the mouldering wall, 
 
 While, trembling, shrinking, from the spoiler’s hand, 
 Far, far away thy children leave the land.” 
 
 You can scarcely imagine the difference there is 
 between a Chinese and an English city ! At home 
 you see broad roads for horses, and convenient 
 pavements for foot-passengers, tall houses, and 
 handsome churches ; shop windows with large 
 panes of glass in the business streets, and private 
 houses with their neat windows, pretty curtains 
 and blinds. At night you see all brilliantly 
 lighted with gas ! Nearly every child in England 
 has seen the long rows of lamps in the streets, 
 admired the glittering shops, and sat snugly by 
 the warm fireside ! But you wiQ find as you read 
 this chapter that there are no such things in 
 
32 
 
 CHINA AND ITS PEOPLE. 
 
 Chinese towns. There the streets are generally 
 narrow and the houses low, without any glass 
 windows, curtains, blinds, white door-steps, or red 
 chimneys ! Inside there are no coal fires or bril- 
 liant gas-lights, and the streets in the evening are 
 dark and still. Still there is one point of resem- 
 blance ; they are aU day long full of busy people, 
 hurrying to and fro, or working in their shops or 
 houses. There is no horse-road in Chinese streets. 
 Horses are seldom employed, all burdens being 
 carried by men called coolies, who put a long bam- 
 boo over their shoulders, and suspend half their 
 goods at each end, trotting along and shouting 
 
 for people to get out of the way. If the load is 
 too heavy for one man, two carry it, each taking 
 
CHINESE CITIES AND TOWNS. 
 
 33 
 
 an end of the bamboo, and hanging the weight in 
 the middle. 
 
 Sometimes as many as twenty men may be 
 seen tugging away at something very large, like a 
 number of little ants carrying booty to their nest. 
 It is curious to hear the noise they make at these 
 times — “ ha ! ho ! he ! ho !” they shout at the top 
 of their voices, that they may all lift together. 
 
 Are there no horses, cabs, or omnibuses ? and do 
 the people never ride 1 you ask. I wiU tell you. 
 In Peking, the capital, and other large cities in 
 the north of China, there are very rough carriages, 
 drawn by horses, mules, and donkeys, and you 
 may there see dromedaries in the streets carrying 
 burdens. Elsewhere you will seldom meet a horse, 
 and never one harnessed to a cart or carriage. At 
 Hang-chau bullock-carts are used by the river- 
 side at low water. Some great and rich men ride 
 on horseback for pleasure, but the universal mode 
 of land-travelling is in a sedan chair carried by 
 coolies ; there is a long pole on each side of it, the 
 ends of which rest on the men’s shoulders. It is 
 very hard work in summer you may imagine, yet 
 men who are accustomed to it will carry a long dis- 
 tance. In the hilly districts people use a moun- 
 tain chair ; a piece of board is suspended between 
 
34 
 
 CHINA ANH ITS PEOPLE. 
 
 the poles for them to sit on, another slip hangs 
 by longer strings for them to put their feet upon, 
 
 Sedan Chair. 
 
 and a stick placed across the poles serves as a 
 ,back. Two is the usual number of bearers, but 
 mandarins have four, or even eight. It is said 
 that the emperor is borne by sixteen men, eight 
 behind and eight in front. 
 
 The streets are generally paved with large 
 stones, but this does not prevent them from get- 
 ting very dirty, as there are not proper drains to 
 carry away the water when it rains. 
 
 Most Chinese towns are built in low, damp 
 places, by the side of some river, with small canals 
 running through them. If there is a nice hill, 
 within the city, there are seldom any houses on it. 
 
MANDARIN, IN CHAIR OF STATE. 
 
CHINESE CITIES AND TOWNS. 
 
 35 
 
 as the people would not like the trouble of carry- 
 ing water up the steep ascent, and prefer living 
 near a stream. 
 
 Round each city or town there is a high wall, 
 with an embankment of earth on the inside. Near 
 the top there is a paved walk all round the wall, 
 intended for soldiers when they are defending the 
 city from enemies, and in the parapet there are 
 many loop-holes for cannon. It is very pleasant 
 to walk round the walls ; from them you can obtain 
 an excellent view both of the city and the sur- 
 rounding country. There is but little smoke over 
 a Chinese city. The atmosphere is often so clear 
 that you can distinguish objects at a great distance. 
 In some places there are cannon always on the 
 walls, the miserable huts of the soldiers being built 
 close to them. Heaps of balls lie near. But the 
 guns are generally rusty, and the military, who 
 pass much of their time in sleeping and gamb- 
 ling, are both ragged and dirty. In the walls are 
 gates, which are closed at sunset, and near each is 
 a guard-house with a few soldiers in it. All day 
 long a stream of busy people is passing in and out ; 
 men carr3dng chairs, bearers of burdens, and others 
 selling various wares. Ladies never go out except 
 in covered sedans ; none but the poorest women 
 
 D 
 
36 
 
 CHINA AND ITS PEOPLE, 
 
 walk in the streets. Just under thti gateway you 
 may sometimes see a man wearing a wooden collar 
 as a punishment. Poor fellow, he cannot feed 
 
 Man w-eariug Collar. 
 
 himself or wash his face, but he stands there and 
 begs. His friends come at night, take him home, 
 and give him something to eat. There are often 
 as many houses in the suburbs outside the wall 
 as in the city. In Peking there are some very 
 broad streets, but they are so crowded with people 
 
CHINESE CITIES AND TOWNS. 
 
 37 
 
 selling different things that there is only a narrow 
 passage along the middle clear enough to walk in. 
 Outside the north gate at Shanghai it was much 
 the same, the ground being spread over with little 
 stalls, men telling fortunes, or preparing letters for 
 those who cannot write themselves. You might 
 see all kinds of things for sale, eatables, old glass 
 bottles, boxes and knives, fruit and vegetables. 
 There are many beggars here in the cold weather, 
 some of them miserable objects, kneeling on the 
 ground, and chanting in a low voice a petition for 
 a little money. 
 
 As you look down from the wall on a Chinese 
 town, very few high buildings meet your eye. The 
 dwelling-houses are not allowed to be as high as 
 the temples ; they have never more than two 
 stories, often only one. The tiles are of a dull 
 dark colour. Those on the temples are sometimes 
 gaily painted ; and those buildings have often red 
 or yellow walls — so that you may always know 
 one by its size and brightness. Before them is an 
 open space, the resort of boys and children at play. 
 The shops have no glass in their windows, but are 
 quite open to the street; and in them the people 
 do most of the work of their trades, because it is 
 lighter there than in the back-rooms of their 
 
38 
 
 CHINA AND ITS PEOPLE. 
 
 small houses. You will meet with many shops of 
 the same kind in one street. For example, as you 
 go down one, you pass several furniture shops, 
 grocers abound in another, clothiers in a third. 
 Some streets will look gay with new or second- 
 hand clothes, hanging for sale on each side of the 
 window j in others your ears will tell you that men 
 are working in metal ; and a little further on you 
 will see and smell that the shops are fuU of fish. 
 In the city of Fuh-chau I noticed one part of a 
 street where shop after shop rang with the ham- 
 mering of the copper-kettle makers ; lower down 
 combs were being made in every house ; while lower 
 down stiU, every one seemed busy stretching skins 
 over a wooden frame to make drums. You may 
 see as you go along the street tailors sewing clothes, 
 shoemakers making shoes, one man carving coffins, 
 another painting them red, and a third varnishing, 
 besides a great many other trades which I have 
 not time to mention. There are long red or black 
 boards with gilt characters upon them, hanging by 
 the shop-doors ; they generally tell what is for sale 
 within, but sometimes have mottoes on them ; 
 “ Not two prices,” is very common. There is gene- 
 rally a counter by the shop window, so that people 
 can stand in the street and buy ; and there is some- 
 
CHINESE CITIES AND TOWNS. 
 
 39 
 
 times a step for them to stand on, outside the 
 window, with a carved wooden railing, to keep 
 passers-by from running against them, while they 
 are making their purchases. Some of the shops 
 are very large. There is a name over the door ; 
 you must read it from right to left. It is not the 
 master’s name, but a title by which the shop is 
 known, such as “Mutual Peace,” “Obedient Profit,” 
 “ Great Harmony.” Some of the city gates are 
 called by the points of the compass. When more 
 than four, they have sometimes strange names. 
 At Ningpo there are the Salt Gate, and the Spiritual 
 Bridge Gate, so named from a bridge of boats just 
 outside of it. At Canton there are the “ Bamboo 
 Wicket,” “ Eternal Best,” and “ Five Genii” gates. 
 The names of the streets are not written on the 
 houses, but on gates at each end. 
 
 I will now tell you about some of the chief cities 
 in China. Peking, or Peh-king, the northern 
 capital, is situated on a sandy plain in the prO' 
 vince of Chih-li, about twelve miles from Pei-ho, 
 or “ north river.” The city is in two parts, each 
 surrounded by a high wall ; in the northern part 
 the Tartars live, in the southern the Chinese 
 In the midst of the Tartar city, there is another 
 high wall, enclosing a large space, covered by the 
 
40 
 
 CHINA AND ITS PEOPLE. 
 
 emperor’s palace, the buildings belonging to it, 
 and the fine gardens. This is called the “ forbidden 
 city,” because few people may enter it. 
 
 There are no hills in Peking, so an artificial 
 mountain has been made, 150 feet high, from the 
 top of which the whole city can be seen. There 
 is also a park inside the wall, which is said to be 
 very beautiful. 
 
 The Chinese have boasted much of their capital, 
 and if no one had seen it, we should think it by 
 far the grandest city in China ; but when the Eng- 
 lish and French entered it in 1860, they found it 
 just as dirty as the others, and very much like 
 them in every respect. Peking has only been the 
 metropolis of China since 1411 ; before that time 
 Nanking, or “ southern capital,” on the Yang-tsz- 
 kiang, was the seat of government. It is now the 
 chief city of the insurgents, and is called by them 
 Tien-king, or the “ heavenly capital.” 
 
 Nanking is in the province of Kiang-su. It 
 was once very, very large, and had better build- 
 ings than most Chinese cities, but it is now almost 
 ruined. Inside the wall you may see wide spaces 
 with no houses upon them ; the shops are shut up, 
 and the people forbidden to trade. In Nanking, 
 contrary to custom, many well-dressed women are 
 
CHINESE CITIES AND TOWNS. 
 
 41 
 
 seen walking, or riding on horses, asses, or mules, 
 in the same way that English ladies rode before 
 side saddles were invented. Once there was a 
 fine pagoda here, called the Porcelain Tower, be- 
 cause its walls were covered with gaily-coloured 
 China tiles. It was built about four hundred and 
 fifty years ago by an emperor, in remembrance of 
 his mother. You have seen a picture of a pagoda; 
 it is a tall tower ; that at Nanking was nine 
 stories high. The corners of the roof of each 
 story turn up, and bells are hung from them. 
 They are sometimes built of stone, and then they 
 last for centuries ; but the brick ones, which are 
 more common, do not long remain perfect, the 
 outside ornaments being of wood soon fall off, 
 leaving the tower a ruin. Mrs E. C. Judson’s 
 pretty lines — 
 
 “ On the pagoda spire 
 The bells are swinging. 
 
 Their little golden circlet in a flutter, 
 
 With tales the wooing winds have dared to utter, 
 Till all are ringing. 
 
 As if a choir 
 
 Of golden -nested birds in heaven were singing” — 
 
 cannot be said truly of all Chinese pagodas, for 
 the bells are sometimes of sohd wood, and will 
 not ring. Some of the pagodas have idols in 
 
42 
 
 CHINA AND ITS PEOPLE. 
 
 them, and that is the reason the Porcelain Tower 
 was destroyed when Nanking was taken by the 
 “ heavenly king.” 
 
 Other great cities have suffered much in the 
 civil war. The Chinese have a saying that 
 “ heaven is above, and Su-chau and Hang-chau 
 below ; ” the meaning is, that these cities might 
 be compared with heaven — Su-chau on account of 
 its riches, Hang-chau for the extreme beauty of 
 its situation. The word “fu” after the name of 
 a Chinese city shews that it is large and popu- 
 lous, for all places are divided into classes accord- 
 ing to the number of people they contain, and the 
 first-class cities are called “fu.” Su-chau-fu was 
 one of the largest of these ; it was crowded with 
 industrious people ; thousands were employed in 
 silk-weaving and embroidering, and thousands 
 more in carving wood and ivory, in making the 
 finest paper, ink, and fans. Some of the mer- 
 chants of Su-chau were very rich, and their houses 
 unusually handsome ; but two years ago it was 
 taken by the Tai-pings, and it is now full of ruins. 
 Its busy people have either taken flight or been 
 compelled to become soldiers, and it is little more 
 than a barrack for the troops of the insurgents. 
 Of Hang-chau, too, it is painful to speak, for it 
 
'-'Viv 
 
CHINESE SHOP. 
 
CHINESE CITIES AND TOWNS. 
 
 43 
 
 has shared the same fate. Three years ago, when 
 we were there, it was in all its glory. The fine 
 hills inside the lofty walls were covered with grass 
 and noble trees, shading large temples, to whic-h 
 on festival days thousands used to throng, while 
 from the outspread city at our feet rose a hum of 
 life and industry never to be forgotten. It would 
 have bewildered you to look over this enormous 
 mass of houses and try to guess the number of 
 the people. The shops were gay with all kinds of 
 costly goods ; the streets full of busy passengers. 
 But all is changed. Hang-chau has been captured 
 by the “heavenly king’s” army, and is now a 
 desert. Thousands have been slain, or, what is 
 still more terrible, have killed themselves, to avoid 
 falling into the hands of the enemy, and the in- 
 habitants of the country for miles round have fled 
 in terror. We are not sorry that the idols are 
 cast down and destroyed, but it grieves us to think 
 that the poor people have not the true religion in 
 the place of their false one, and that, now their 
 hearts are sad, they do not know the gracious God 
 who says, “ Call upon me in the day of trouble ; I 
 will deliver thee; and thou shalt glorify me;” or 
 the loving Saviour who in’^dtes the weary and 
 heavy-laden to come to Him for rest. 
 
44 
 
 CmNA AND ITS PEOPLE. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 THE OPEN PORTS. 
 
 “ There seems in yon city’s motion 
 Yet a mightier truth for me ; 
 
 ’Tis the sound of life’s great ocean, 
 
 ’Tis the tides of the human sea ” 
 
 Twenty years ago very few foreigners had been 
 in China, and none were allowed to build houses 
 and live comfortably there. Only a few ships 
 went every year to Canton to trade ; and the Eng- 
 lish merchants who lived outside that city were 
 almost prisoners in the factory, as their place of 
 residence was called. There was only a small 
 space of ground in which they could walk about, 
 and their Chinese neighbours were so fierce, and 
 hated all foreigners so much, that it was quite 
 dangerous to go into the surrounding country. 
 But in 1844 the Emperor of China made a treaty 
 with the English, by which he agreed to allow 
 foreigners to live and trade in five of the sea-port 
 
THE OPEN PORTS. 
 
 45 
 
 towns, and gave up the little island of Hong- Kong 
 to be an English settlement The five ports thus 
 opened were Shanghai, Ningpo, Fuh-chau, Amoy, 
 and Canton. In each of these there are now many 
 English and American merchants and missionaries, 
 and a few from other lands. After the last war 
 with China the emperor gave permission for 
 foreign ships to trade also with Swatow, Tung- 
 chow, and Neu-chwong in Tartary, as well as Han- 
 kow and other cities on the river Yang-tsz. By 
 the new treaty foreigners may travel all over the 
 country with a passport signed by the consul of 
 their nation. This is to keep out improper cha- 
 racters j if any one asked for a passport, the con- 
 sul would take care to know what sort of person 
 he was before he granted him permission to go 
 into the country. 
 
 Hong-Kong is a very beautiful little island ; on 
 it there is a high mountain, called Victoria Peak. 
 The houses built by British merchants are large 
 and handsome, and among them are many graceful 
 trees. The English settlement is called Victoria, 
 from our Queen. It has a good harbour, with 
 many ships in it, a neat cathedral, and several 
 other good buildings, and it makes a very pretty 
 picture from the sea. The name of the island 
 
46 
 
 CHINA AND ITS PEOPLE. 
 
 means “ fragrant streams.” A very large number 
 of natives live here, and there are good streets of 
 their houses and shops. The coast opposite to 
 Hong-Kong is called Kow-loong : a part of it was 
 ceded to the English in 1860, after the peace of 
 Peking. 
 
 If you pass Hong-Kong, and sail inland up the 
 Pearl River towards Canton, you will pass the town 
 of Macao, (pronounced Macow.) The emperor of 
 China permitted the Portuguese to build this town, 
 more than three hundred years ago, as a reward 
 for their helping his people against pirates, who 
 are still very strong and numerous on some parts 
 of the coast. Macao stands on the south part of 
 an island. A wall was built across the island by 
 the Chinese, and a few soldiers placed to guard it, 
 for fear the foreigners should try to gain more 
 than had been given them. 
 
 Sailing on up the river, you come to Canton ; 
 but very large ships must stop about twelve miles 
 below, at a place called Whampoa, the “ yellow 
 anchorage,” for the water is not deep enough for 
 them to go quite up to the city. It is about a 
 hundred miles from Hong-Kong to Canton, though 
 it looks such a very little way on the map. The 
 river is very broad, and there are many large 
 islands in it. Canton is a very large city, said to 
 
THE OPEN PORTS. 
 
 47 
 
 be the fourth in the empire. It has a high wall 
 round it ; but there are as many houses and 
 people outside the wall as within it. The dwell- 
 ings are built quite close to the wall on both sides. 
 The river at this part is crowded with boats and 
 junks, as the Chinese ships are called. Thousands 
 of families live in small boats called “ tankia,” or 
 “ egg-houses.” They are descended from the wild 
 tribes of Miau-tsz, whom I mentioned to you in 
 the first chapter ; they have been settled in this 
 part of China for many years. Both men and 
 women row the boats ; the latter wear a gay 
 handkerchief round their heads. The little child- 
 ren have a hollow gourd tied round their waists, 
 to keep them from sinking if they fall into the 
 water. The gourd is a very large kind of fruit, 
 which becomes quite hard when it is dried, and 
 will float in water, and thus keep up anything 
 that is tied to it. The boats are flat-bottomed, 
 and have a cover something like the tilt of a 
 waggon, made of matting. In the day this cover 
 is only over the middle of the boats, but at night 
 it roofs them in completely. There are some boats 
 ■ beautifully painted ; they are called “flower boats,” 
 and are often hired out for pleasure-parties. When 
 the family living in a boat wish to clean it, they 
 float it on shore, take out all their things, scrub it 
 
48 
 
 CHINA AND ITS PEOPLE. 
 
 all over, and turn it up to dry ; in a few hours it 
 is ready for them to get in and float off again. 
 There are many large passenger-boats going up 
 and down the river at Canton; they are some- 
 times crowded with people. Inside the walls 
 there are two pagodas, and many dark, dirty 
 temples. Pretty matting for floors, elegant crape 
 
 ilandarin, or OflQcer, from Canton Painting. 
 
 shawls, silks, and gauzes are made at Canton, 
 which is also famous for its paintings on rice- 
 
THE Of»EN PORTS. 
 
 49 
 
 paper, and its carvings on ivory and the sweet- 
 scented sandalwood. Its merchants are very rich. 
 Missionaries have laboured in Canton and Hong- 
 Kong for many years, and there are some Chris- 
 tian Chinese in both places, though they are few 
 indeed, compared with their heathen neighbours. 
 
 If you sail northward up the coast of China, 
 you will come to the port of Amoy, and I am sure 
 you will greatly admire the bold rocks and high 
 hills round the harbour. Amoy is on an island. 
 It is much smaller than Canton, but it has a great 
 trade, because it is so conveniently situated ; ships 
 have not to go up a long river, but can get to the 
 city at once. It is not like any of the other ports ; 
 the deep sea roUs up close to the houses, and you 
 can enjoy the treat of sitting in a veranda and 
 looking down into the beautiful w^ater. It is very 
 delightful, too, on a summer evening, to step into 
 a little boat with a nice awning to it, and sail or 
 be rowed about among the grand rocks. Some 
 of them are quite black, and look like gigantic 
 elephants in the blue waves. There are noble 
 banyan-trees to be seen here, but very few gardens 
 or cultivated fields. Amoy is the healthiest of the 
 ports, because of the refreshing sea-breeze. It has, 
 too, the blessing of the largest number of Christian 
 
50 
 
 CHINA AND ITS PEOPLE. 
 
 natives ; in the town and the neighbouring villages 
 they amount to more than six hundred. May they 
 increase a hundredfold ! 
 
 As you travel on through the Strait of Formosa 
 up the coast towards Fuh-chau, the “happy city,” 
 you pass many other islands. These are infested 
 with pirates, and a ship must be well armed to 
 venture to anchor there, for the sea-robbers have 
 large junks provided with formidable guns. They 
 do not often attack foreign vessels, but content 
 themselves vdth robbing the richly-laden junks 
 which come up the coast from Singapore and the 
 Indian islands, freighted with spices, fragrant 
 gums, gold and silver thread, pearls, and ivory. 
 Among these islands is the mouth of the river 
 ^lin, up which we must sail to get to Fuh-chau, 
 the “ happy city.” On each side are lofty hiUs, 
 some bare and rocky, and some covered with 
 terraces, on which rice and vegetables are culti- 
 vated. At one point the stream is very narrow, 
 and a Chmese fort stands on a hill on each side, 
 supplied with cannon, to keep enemies out of the 
 river. AU large ships must stop at Pagoda 
 Island, for the river divides there, and is only 
 navigable for small craft up to the city. So we 
 change to a large flat-bottomed boat, rowed by 
 
THE OPEN PORTS. 
 
 51 
 
 fourteen men or more. The stream is strong and 
 rapid, and the rowers shout and sing very loudly 
 to keep time. Very beautiful are the banks of 
 this river. There are red temples and white 
 cottages, with curious carved roofs, peeping out 
 from beneath the overshadowing banyan-trees, 
 stern dark rocks rising like a wall from the water’s 
 edge, and green hills covered with terraced rice 
 grounds, watered by many a pretty little cascade, 
 which comes tumbling down the mountains be 
 hind. In about two hours we come to the Eng- 
 lish settlement at Nantai, the southern suburb of 
 the city of Fuh-chau. There are crowds of 
 Chinese dwellings on both sides of the river, and 
 a small island in the middle is quite covered with 
 them. This islet is joined to the banks by a long 
 flat bridge. On one side are forty large stone 
 piers, with great slabs of stone resting upon them, 
 and on the other side nine. The foreign houses 
 are mostly built on the south side of the river, on 
 a low green hill, adorned with groves of fir-trees 
 and many Chinese tombs. The river is alive with 
 boats hurrying about, and there is a great noise 
 made by the sailors of the Canton and Chin-chew 
 junks, the boatmen, and coolies carrying goods. 
 Having crossed the bridge, we must proceed up 
 
52 
 
 CHINA AND ITS PEOPLE. 
 
 a street, three miles long, to the city gate. It is 
 full of busy, noisy people. Now and then you 
 can peep between the houses, and see green rice- 
 fields or shady trees. About half way there is 
 a very large roof over the road; under it there 
 are many seats and little tables, at which men are 
 drinking tea. This is called the “Ta ting” or 
 “ great rest-house.” The coolies are glad to set 
 down their burdens here for a few minutes. They 
 can have a cup of hot tea, which they drink very 
 weak, for about half a farthing. Their money is 
 called cash ; about twenty pieces are equal in 
 value to one of our pennies. The coin is copper, 
 in shape round, with a square hole in the middle, 
 through which they ran a string, and thread it 
 like beads. It is very heavy. They have no 
 other coin; but they use silver by weight, like 
 Abraham, Gen. xxiii. 16. Now we go on to the 
 south gate of the city. The wall is high, and has 
 battlements at the top. The gates are double, 
 one within the other, and the space between them 
 is enclosed by walls. Over the gates are guard- 
 houses, or places for watchmen to look out. In 
 front of one of these is an English clock. 
 
 There are three beautiful hills inside the walls.' 
 One of them, the North Hill, has a very large 
 
THE OPEN PORTS. 
 
 53 
 
 guardhouse upon it ; inside is an immense hall, 
 with many columns of black wood to support 
 the roof ; but there are no soldiers in it. When 
 
 A Soldier 
 
 we were there, it was inhabited by one old 
 woman ! This hill is covered with grass and 
 orchards. 
 
 The “ Black-stone Hill” is the highest within the 
 city. It is ornamented with temples and magnifi- 
 
54 
 
 CHINA AND ITS PEOPLE. 
 
 cent banyan-trees. Though it is very steep, crowds 
 go up on festival days to see plays acted in the 
 temple courts. Before there were any English 
 houses at Nantai, a large temple near the top of 
 this hill was given to the British consul for a 
 residence. The priests themselves helped to take 
 the idols out of the building. The view from this 
 house is very extensive and beautiful, especially 
 when bathed in the radiance of a summer sunset 
 From the houses at that hour you may see little 
 curls of thin blue smoke arismg ; — the fires are 
 just lighted to prepare the evening meal. Be- 
 yond the immense city there are broad rice-fields, 
 with little groups of houses nestling under the 
 great trees. Further off are low hills, partly 
 wooded, and, still further, lofty mountains. There 
 are two pagodas in the city : one is called the 
 White Tower, and is almost a ruin ; the other, 
 being made of stone, is tolerably perfect. Here, 
 too, there are some curious hot springs ; one of 
 them bubbles up in the middle of a stream, and 
 there is a wall round it to prevent the hot water 
 from mixing with the cold. Close by is a bath- 
 house, to which coolies carry the water. It is 
 hotter than you would like to put your hand into. 
 
 Missionaries at Fuh-chau have met with much 
 
THE OPEN PORTS. 
 
 55 
 
 opposition from the pride of its learned men, and 
 their jealousy of foreigners. Yet even here there 
 are some native Christians, and several schools 
 for boys and girls. Fuh-chau is the chief city of 
 the province of Foh-kien. It has another name — 
 the “city of banyans.” Amoy and Swatow are 
 in the same province. There is a road from Fuh- 
 chau over the hills to Ningpo ; you can trace it 
 for a long distance from the wall of the city. 
 The people going to and fro, carrying goods, look 
 just like ants ; they are as numerous and as busy. 
 
 Ningpo, or “ peaceful wave ” city, is not nearly 
 so large as Fuh-chau, but had better houses and 
 shops before it was taken by the “ heavenly king,” 
 the end of last year. It is a very pleasant place, 
 about twelve miles from the sea, with a pretty 
 country round it, and hills not far off. The river 
 “ Cheh,” at Ningpo, has salt water. On two sides 
 of Ningpo there are no houses outside the walls, 
 but pleasant walks instead. One is on the bank 
 of the river, the other by the side of a broad 
 canal. There are many graves both within the 
 city and on the opposite bank of the river ; they 
 are like little brick houses, painted white or blue ; 
 sometimes the coffin is only put on the ground, 
 and thatched over with straw. Ningpo has not 
 
56 
 
 CHINA AND ITS PEOPLE. 
 
 SO great a trade as the other ports ; there are but 
 few foreign merchants the^e. It had been almost 
 deserted before the insurgents took possession of 
 it. Those of the people who remained were either 
 compelled to join them, or sent away. There were 
 many Christians at Ningpo ; do you not feel sorry 
 that they are turned out of their homes? May 
 they think the more of their home in heaven ! If 
 you go from Ningpo by sea, you notice a great 
 many ice-houses on the banks of the river. They 
 have very thick walls, so that the ice which is put 
 into them in the winter does not melt before the 
 summer. The Chinese use it to preserve their 
 fish. At the mouth of the river is the town of 
 Chinhai ; it has a steep hill just behind it, with 
 a temple on the top, like an old castle. To get 
 to Shanghai you must go up the river Yang-tsz 
 for ninety miles, then turn into the river Woo- 
 sung, make your way along for fourteen mile" 
 more, and you will see a handsome town of foreign 
 houses, just where this river is joined by the 
 Wong-pu. The houses are large, and have broad 
 verandas. The river is full of ships, and hun- 
 dreds of little covered boats, called “san-pans,” 
 are dashing about (sculled by one oar at the stern) 
 in all directions. To the right is the American 
 
THE OPEN PORTS. 
 
 57 
 
 settlement, with its pretty mission church; then 
 the English houses, with Trinity Church tower 
 just appearing above their roofs ; and a broad 
 road, called the bund, crowded with people of 
 many nations, just in front of them. Here you 
 may see the turban of the Sikh beside the high 
 
 Slianghai Water-carrier. 
 
 cap of the Parsee, the dark Manilla man and the 
 fair European, as weU as the various costumes 
 of China— Cantonese with tight sleeves and black 
 
58 
 
 CHINA AND ITS PEOPLE. 
 
 garments, the Foh-kien sailor with a kerchief round 
 his brows, the wealthy merchant robed in silks 
 and furs, and the half-naked coolie. It is an 
 animated scene. To the left is the French bund. 
 Further on still is the native city, which is smaller 
 than Ningpo, and not nearly so well built, but 
 we can see by the number of junks that its trade 
 is very great. Shanghai is a very dirty place, 
 and the country round is flat and marshy, but 
 the natives are cheerful and pleasant, generally 
 friendly to foreigners, and glad to welcome them 
 to their homes. In passing through the streets 
 you would wonder to see the number of shops 
 where eatables are sold. Here a great many of 
 the people buy their food ready dressed, or else 
 take their meals at them instead of cooking at 
 home. Shanghai has increased much in popula- 
 tion since the rebels have taken other cities. 
 Thousands have fled there for refuge. Hundreds 
 of houces have been built on the English settle- 
 ments, and the city is full of people. The 
 French and English soldiers are going to protect 
 them. There are nearly two hundred Christians 
 in Shanghai, and a large missionary boarding- 
 school for boys. Before the American war there 
 were others, but they have been closed for want 
 
THE OPEN PORTS. 
 
 59 
 
 of funds. There are also some girls^ schools. 
 The nearest hills to Shanghai are thirty miles off ; 
 they are nine in number, and rise like islands 
 from the rice plain. Most of them are covered 
 with graves, and on each there is a temple, or 
 pagoda, with dirty, shabby idols inside. When 
 we were there, we asked the priests how the idols 
 could help them if they could not keep their own 
 faces clean ? They laughed, and said, they could 
 not tell. 
 
 Besides the ports of which I have been telling 
 you, the large cities on the Yang-tsz-kiang are 
 open to foreigners. Of these the three most im- 
 portant are Chin-kiang, Kiu-kiang, and Han-kow. 
 The last is very far up the river, and is a very 
 great collection of houses — three cities close to- 
 gether. In Han-kow the Word of God has never 
 been taught before this year ; but the seed-time 
 has now begun there. All these places are likely 
 to be disturbed by the civil war. Some of them 
 have been taken by the rebels, and re-captured 
 by the imperialists. Will you try to remember 
 something about these few cities in great China ? 
 I could tell you of many more, but I fear to 
 weary you. 
 
60 
 
 CHINA AND ITS PEOPLE. 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 APPEAEANCE AND DRESS OP THE CHINESP* 
 
 “Not by the tinted cheek 
 That fades away so fast, 
 
 But by the colour of the soul, 
 
 We shall be judged at last. 
 
 And God, the Judge, will look at me 
 With anger in His eyes. 
 
 If I my brother’s darker brow 
 Should ever dare despise.’ 
 
 God ‘ hath made of one blood all nations of men.” 
 
 Would it not look strange if everybody in Eng- 
 land had eyes and hair of the same colour? Yet 
 this is the case in China ; men, women, and little 
 children have jet black eyes and hair, and they 
 are proud of it too, and call themselves the “ black- 
 haired” race. Their faces are generally broad 
 and rather flat, with smaU eyes, and no bridge to 
 their noses. They do not think blue-eyed people 
 can see so well as they can, and they do not 
 admire large eyes. The Chinese are, as a rule, 
 
APPEARANCE AND DRESS OF THE CHINESE. 61 
 
 shorter than the English, though there are fine 
 tall men to be seen in the north. They admire 
 corpulence in a man, but prefer seeing a woman 
 slender. Their hands and feet are generally small, 
 and very well shaped. The ladies allow their 
 nails to grow to a great length ; gentlemen 
 generally cut only the nails of the right hand, to 
 shew that they have no hard work to do. 
 
 Most of the Chinese are of a yellowish-brown 
 colour, some of them of a much darker shade 
 than others. Women who live in cities, and are 
 seldom in the open air, are pale and sallow ; while 
 those who live in the country, and work out of 
 doors, are very brown. It is the same with men ; 
 teachers and shopkeepers are nearly white, while 
 some of the boatmen, and coolies who carry 
 burdens in the streets, are almost black. The 
 Chinese are generally mild and quiet-looking, 
 with little animation in their countenances j when 
 young they are often very good-looking, but as 
 they become older they grow very plain. Men 
 have aU the hair shaved off the front part of their 
 heads ; that on the back is drawn tightly together, 
 and formed into a queue, to which they add plaited 
 silk or braid, and sometimes false hair, to make it 
 longer, as it is considered elegant for it to reach 
 
62 
 
 CHINA AND ITS PEOPLE. 
 
 down to the ankles. When they are newly shaven 
 they look clean and neat ; but even gentlemen are 
 not shaved oftener than once in eight or ten days, 
 and by the end of that time they present a slightly 
 shaggy appearance. Wlien they wish to increase 
 the size of their braid, they allow the hair to grow 
 in a line across the top of their head, and, until 
 it is long enough to plait in with the rest, it has 
 a very peculiar effect, standing up like a stiff 
 fringe of bristles. It would be a grievous offence 
 to rob a Chinaman of his tail ; thieves are some- 
 times punished in that way. Labourers and sailors 
 while at work bind their plaits round their heads, 
 or tie it up. In summer few men wear caps or 
 hats ; they shade their bare heads by holding an 
 open fan over them. Country-people, who are 
 exposed to the sun all day while working in the 
 fields, and labourers carrying burdens, wear a 
 broad hat of coarsely-plaited bamboo ; mandarins 
 a conical cap of the same material, very finely 
 plaited, and covered by a red silk or horse-hair 
 tassel, hanging from the top. In spring and 
 autumn the usual head-dress is a closely-fitting 
 skuU-cap, of black or blue figured silk, lined with 
 red, with a border of black satin, and a red, yellow, 
 or blue silk button on the top ; in the winter the 
 
APPEARANCE AND DRESS OF THE CHINESE. 63 
 
 cap is thicker, the border of velvet, and the 
 button on the top larger ; felt hats are worn in 
 
 A Militaiy Officer, 
 
 very cold weather ; and for paying visits, a hat of 
 ceremony, with a broad brim of black velvet 
 turned up all round, a scarlet silk tassel falling 
 over the crown, and a button on the top. The 
 rank of a mandarin is known by the colour of the 
 button on the top of his hat ; and as every educated 
 man may, by studying and passing examinations, 
 
64 
 
 CHINA AND ITS PEOPLE. 
 
 possibly become a mandarin some day, reading 
 men often have a screw on the top of then- 
 hats, ready to receive the button, if it should 
 please his Majesty the Emperor to bestow it upon 
 them, many of them retaining it all their lives. 
 The Chinese women dress their hair very neatly ; 
 though coarse, it is glossy and abundant; they 
 often increase it with false hair. Unmarried 
 women have a lock on each side, braided be- 
 hind their ears. All married women wear it 
 brushed off the forehead, and fastened up into 
 a large knot on the back of the head, with a flat 
 silver or mother-of-pearl pin placed lengthwise, and 
 a shorter one across the knot. There is a. great 
 variety in the way of forming this knot in diffe- 
 rent parts of China. In Shanghai it is oval, with 
 a scarlet cord bound round the hair in the centre 
 of it, for three or four inches, which contrasts 
 very prettily with the black hair. The women of 
 Ningpo fasten two large appendages like wings 
 under their back hair ; these wings are made of 
 hair stiffened and spread out in a curious manner, 
 and are not worn at all times. At Hang-chau, 
 the hair is extended behind, like the back of a 
 Grecian helmet. In Fuh-chau, the country women, 
 whose feet are not bound, like to adorn their heads 
 
APPEARANCE AND DRESS OF THE CHINESE. 65 
 
 with gay flowers, either natural or artificial. They 
 dress their hair very high behind, and insert at 
 
 A Fuh-chau Field- woman. 
 
 the top a silver or pewter horn which bends over 
 their head ; long pins, like skewers, are placed on 
 each side, either with large heads, or with flowers 
 fastened to them. In sunny weather, these women 
 shade themselves with a large, round, flat, straw 
 hat, with a hole in the centre instead of a crown. 
 
66 
 
 CHINA AND ITS PEOPLE. 
 
 and a plaited frill of blue cotton or silk hanging 
 from the edge of the brim, their hair, horn, flowers, 
 and pins being passed through the hole. At 
 Fuh-chau you often see a gaily decorated head 
 with bare feet and legs. A favourite ornament 
 for the head is a small gilt and jewelled bird at 
 the end of a long pin, projecting over the fore- 
 head, and so fastened as to quiver when the lady 
 walks. Flowers are also worn by aU classes, as 
 well as ear-rings and bracelets, of plain or twisted 
 silver or gold. Nothing like a bonnet is worn in 
 China. The only head-dress is a band of silk, 
 velvet, or fur, broad over the forehead, and gradu- 
 ally narrowing to the back of the head, where it 
 is hooked together under the knot of hair. This 
 is very neatly made and lined, and often ornamented 
 in front with three or four real or imitation jewels. 
 Those women who have to walk in the sun, shade 
 themselves with a fan or umbrella; and in the 
 south, they pin a kerchief round their heads in 
 windy weather. In this respect the Chinese 
 fashion is the reverse of ours ; they protect the 
 forehead, we the back of the head. 
 
 The dress of men and women in China is not 
 nearly so different as in western lands. The upper 
 garment is very similar for both, buttoning round 
 
APPEARANCE AND DRESS OF THE CHINESE. 67 
 
 tne neck and down under the right arm, in the 
 same manner. The common colour and material 
 for the pdor is blue or black cotton cloth ; both 
 inner and outer garments are made of this material; 
 indeed, what is the inner garment in winter, is 
 the only one in summer, with the loose trousers 
 which are worn at all seasons, by all classes, both 
 of men and women. 
 
 In winter aU the people are comfortably clothed, 
 wear shoes and stockings, and look decent ; but 
 in summer a great many working men, both in 
 shops and in the open air, have no clothing but 
 their cotton trousers ; and instead of shoes and 
 stockings, the coolies wear straw sandals, like soles 
 of shoes, fastened on by strings between their toes. 
 In their houses, when the weather is hot, many 
 wear a sleeveless upper garment made of grass 
 cloth, a kind of coarse muslin, or network of 
 strung melon seeds. The principal garments for 
 men besides these are a long gown, which reaches 
 to the ankles ; an outer dress called a riding-coat 
 or mo-kwo; and tight leggings worn in cool 
 weather over the loose trousers, like those of the 
 soldier in page 53. These are all made of silk, 
 satin, or crape for the rich ; and in winter, hand- 
 somely lined with fur, or quilted wi+ii cotton or 
 
68 
 
 CHINA AND ITS PEOPLE. 
 
 refuse silk. The trousers are aiso thickly wadded 
 in winter. The long gown has rather close sleevea> 
 
 A Chinese Gentleman. 
 
 sometimes with cuffs of sable, which are turned 
 down over the wearer’s hands when cold ; it is 
 buttoned on the right side of the neck and 
 shoulder, and under the right arm, and has some- 
 times two little buttons behind, about eighteen 
 inches from the lower edge, on which are two 
 
APPEAKANCE AND DREBS OP THE CHINESE. 69 
 
 small loops to fasten it up in dirty weather. 
 Dark or light blue, gray, or purple, are the favourite 
 
 Man walking in a Muddy Road. 
 
 colours for this dress ; green is seldom worn by 
 men ; citron-yellow only by the emperor and 
 some members of the imperial family. 
 
 The Chinese commonly use buttons made of a 
 twist of the same material as the dress, or of brass 
 or pewter, sometimes of more costly substances. 
 
70 
 
 CHINA AND ITS PEOPLE. 
 
 Instead of button-holes they have loops; and 
 their buttons are also sewn on loops instead of on 
 the dress. The mo-kwo is generally of a dark 
 colour, sometimes of woollen cloth, and looks very 
 pretty when lined with soft lambskin or white 
 fur, with the white edge just visible on the out- 
 side ; it has very large sleeves, and is usually but- 
 toned straight down the front. The Chinese are 
 fond of bright colours and strong contrasts in 
 their dress ; you may perhaps see yellow leggings 
 with a blue long gown, and a purple mo-kwo Kned 
 with some light colour. Girdles and collars are 
 only worn in cool weather. The collar is either a 
 straight piece of quilted cloth, hooked round the 
 neck, or more commonly of silk or velvet turned 
 down, and pasted on a very stiff lining ; it is sewn 
 on to something resembling a pair of braces, which 
 either pass under each arm or button down in 
 front, like a lady’s habit-shirt ; these are worn in- 
 side the mo-kwo, but outside the long gown. 
 Mandarins and their wives have a bird or animal 
 embroidered on the breast of their dresses, and a 
 clasp to their girdle, differing according to their 
 rank; they often wear a string of large amber 
 beads round their necks. In the summer every 
 man and woman you meet carries a fan. Even 
 

 APPEARANCE AND DRESS OF THE CHINESE. 71 
 
 the poor labourer sets down his load now and 
 then, to enjoy the luxury of fanning himseK. The 
 fan is used to cool food, and sometimes also 
 
 answers the purpose of a dusting-brush. A China- 
 man suspends many things from his waist which 
 an Englishman would put in his pocket ; if poor, 
 his tobacco-pouch, hint, and steel; if a literary 
 man, his writing materials, fan-case, and spectacles ; 
 if rich, a watch or two in addition, aU in richly 
 
 A Scholar. 
 
72 
 
 CHINA AND ITS PEOPLE. 
 
 embroidered pouches. No man is allowed to carry 
 arms. The sleeve is often used as a pocket ; the 
 handkerchief, a book, or a tailor’s working imple- 
 ments are carried in it ; though another pocket is 
 frequently tied round the waist, and hangs down 
 in front under the long dress — this they use as a 
 purse. Their stockings are not elastic woven 
 coverings like ours, but are shaped like boots, 
 and made of cotton cloth, — single in summer, but 
 lined in winter. In Shanghai they are frequently 
 worn over the trousers, instead of the tight leg- 
 gings ; the garters are then placed just below the 
 knee, and are of smart colours. The common 
 shoes are of cotton cloth or silk, with a very thick 
 sole, turned up at the toe like a boat, and made 
 of layers of paper or rag pasted or stitched to- 
 gether, occasionally with a piece of wood in the 
 heel, or a layer of leather at the bottom. The 
 edge of the sole is carefuUy whitened, and the toe 
 of the shoe either embroidered, trimmed with 
 cut velvet, or finished with two ribs of cloth down 
 the middle. In wet weather leather boots or 
 shoes, with heavy nailed soles, are worn ; for the 
 ordinary shoes would soon be soaked through by 
 the rain. Mandarins wear thick-soled clumsy- 
 looking boots of black satin. The dress of the 
 
APPEARANCE AND DRESS OF THE CHINESE. 73 
 
 Tartars is very much like that of the Chinese ; in 
 Fuh-chau they may be known by having only 
 one rib on the toe of their shoes. Tartar women 
 wear a long gown like the men, but dress their 
 hair like the Chinese women. There is very httle 
 change of fashions in China ; clothes are handed 
 
 A Mandarin’s Wife. 
 
 down from father to son. It is not considered rude 
 to make remarks on the dress of others, nor would 
 
74 
 
 CHINA AND ITS PEOPLE. 
 
 it be a bad compliment to say of a handsome 
 dress, “ I suppose that belonged to your grand- 
 father,” as it would shew that the wearer’s family 
 had been wealthy enough to purchase it. 
 
 The dress of a Chinese woman is modest and 
 becoming, — an upper garment, fitting closely at 
 the neck, and reaching to the knees, loose trouserb, 
 with a border round the ankles, and over these 
 a skirt, open in front, prettily arranged in large 
 plaits over the hips. The sleeves of the dress are 
 generally worn long by ladies, in cold weather 
 quite concealing the hands ; sometimes they are 
 very wide, with splendidly embroidered satiri 
 lining, which is turned back to form a border. 
 
 Poorer women wear shorter sleeves, and in warm 
 weather turn them up in many folds, almost to 
 their elbows. Shanghai women are never seen 
 without the petticoat ; but in Ningpo, and cities 
 farther south, this garment is by no means gene- 
 rally worn, excepting by women of rank, or by 
 others on grand occasions. 
 
 Very few women in the cities have feet of the 
 natural size ; they have had them bound up tightly 
 when they were little children. The Tartar ladies 
 do not follow this bad fashion, neither do the 
 Chinese boat-women, nor those who live in the 
 
APPEAKANCE AND DKESS OF THE CHINESE. 7o 
 
 country, and have to work in the fields ; these all 
 wear shoes like men, or go barefoot. The women 
 
 A Canton Lady. 
 
 with small feet wear little shoes with very high 
 heels, which they fasten on by a strap round the 
 ankle. They generally wear socks instead of stock- 
 ings, and in cold weather short leggings sometimes, 
 warmly wadded. They are so accustomed to their 
 little feet that they step about nimbly on them 
 when they are bandaged, though without their 
 
76 
 
 CHINA AND ITS PEOPLE. 
 
 bandages they can scarcely walk at all. The 
 smallness of their feet makes them sway to and fro 
 as they walk, and this manner of walking is con- 
 sequently much admired by the Chinese, who 
 compare it to the waving of a willow-tree in the 
 wind. In Shanghai, women whose feet have not 
 been bound in childhood often wrap them up in 
 imitation of small feet, and wear high-heeled shoes ; 
 and all Chinese women walk more or less in the 
 same manner as those whose feet are '’■ramped. 
 Chinese poets caU the small feet “ golden lilies,” 
 yet there can be really no beauty in deformity ; 
 let us be thankful that we are allowed to grow 
 freely as God has made us. In some places, as at 
 Fuh-chau, there is a great distinction kept up 
 between the large and small-footed women ; the 
 former generally wear blue or black clothes, the 
 latter frequently light colours. I have mentioned 
 before how differently they dress their hair. 
 
 Chinese ladies wear beautifully embroidered silk, 
 satin, and gauze dresses. Poorer people, who are 
 much more commonly seen, are chiefly dressed in 
 cotton stuffs and grass cloth, yet they too shew 
 some taste in their attire. The skirt is usually of 
 black, blue, or green ; even when made of cotton, 
 it is frequently bordered with black satin. In the 
 
APPEARANCE AND DRESS OP THE CHINESE. 77 
 
 south the women are fond of white for a summer 
 garment, with a border of black satin round the 
 neck and sleeves and down the right side; the 
 contrast is very pretty. In Fuh-chau white is 
 often worn trimmed with pink or blue, perhaps 
 with pink or purple trousers edged with green. A 
 
 A Bride. 
 
 Chinese bride is dressed in a scarlet embroidered 
 robe, and carried to the house of her husband in a 
 red sedan. Here is a picture of one. See what a 
 
78 
 
 CHINA AND ITS PEOPLE. 
 
 strange crown she has on her head ! Her face is 
 almost concealed by strings of pearls and tassels 
 of coloured silk ; and she has on a great many 
 dresses, one over another. A bride’s dress is 
 usually hired for the occasion. White in the 
 head-dress or shoes is a sign of mourning. Women 
 put a white band round their heads ; men braid 
 white sUk instead of black in their queues. 
 
 Almost all clothes are made by tailors, who sew 
 neatly, and cut out economically. The women 
 usually make, their own shoes, on which they 
 expend a great deal of time, embroidering thenj 
 very prettily. I do not think any people could 
 look better than Chinese ladies and gentlemen in 
 their winter garb, with their silk robes, delicate 
 fur, and embroidery ; but I am sorry to say that, 
 as with us in England, some poor beggars can 
 hardly get rags enough to cover them from the 
 cold. 
 
 The predominance of one colour gives a curious 
 appearance to a Chinese crowd. As the ship in 
 which we sailed to China was entering the mouth 
 of a river in the month of April it ran aground, 
 and hundreds of people came out of their houses 
 in a city on the bank to see what was the matter. 
 How strange they looked as we saw them for the 
 
APPEARANCE AND DRESS OF THE CHINESE. 79 
 
 first time standing in lines upon the shore, with 
 their brown faces and blue clothes ! It was the 
 Sabbath-day ; but, alas ! no day of rest dawns 
 on China ! and those crowds, attracted to see the 
 foreign ship, had come from their workshops or 
 their fields I 
 
 
VO 
 
 CHINA AND ITS PEOPLH 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 CHILD-LIFE IN CHINA. 
 
 “ Skins may differ, but affection 
 
 Dwells in white and black the same.” 
 
 If you travel about in China, either in cities 
 crowded with people, or in quiet country villages, 
 you see there, as in England, little children of all 
 ages playing about in the busy streets, sitting in 
 the shops, watching their fathers at work ; or in 
 the bright summer evening, with basin and chop- 
 sticks, eating their little suppers outside some cot- 
 tage door. There, as at home, the little ones are the 
 pets and playthings of their parents ; and you may 
 notice many a father nursing his little son after the 
 day’s work is done, or a mother bending over her 
 babe — not kissing it, as an English mother would 
 do, but smelling its little face, and whispering in 
 loving tones, “ It is very fragrant.” The birth of a 
 baby, especially of a boy, is a time of rejoicing' 
 Its parents send presents of fruit and painted eggs 
 
CHILD-LIFE IN CHINA. 
 
 81 
 
 to their relations, who in return send cakes and 
 fruit to the mother. For several reasons, the 
 Chinese prefer having sons to daughters ; one is, 
 that when the daughters marry they go into an- 
 other family, their parents lose their services, and 
 thus have no return for the expense of bringing 
 them up ; but when sons settle in life, their mother 
 has daughters-in-law to wait on her, and a very 
 important person she always is in her son’s house. 
 Again, sons only can perform for their parents the 
 funeral ceremonies, on which they set a very high 
 value. In some parts of China, sad to say, little 
 girls are sometimes put to death soon after they 
 are born j generally because their parents are so 
 poor that they fear they shall not be able to find 
 food for their little ones, though this is no excuse 
 for such a wicked action. These poor people do 
 not know the true God, or they would not mur- 
 der their little babes, but would trust Him for 
 help to bring them up. Do not think that it is 
 the mother who kills her little one. She often 
 grieves over the deed, though it does not shock 
 her so much because other people do the same. 
 I am glad to tell you that this sad custom does 
 not prevail all over China, but only in some parts 
 where the people are more barbarous than their 
 
 G 
 
82 
 
 CHINA AND ITS PEOPLE. 
 
 neighbours. When a Chinese baby is about a 
 month old, its head is shaved ; and if a boy, its 
 father invites his friends to a feast, and gives the 
 little one its first or “ milk-name.” Girls are gene- 
 rally called by this name until they are married, 
 but boys have a new name given them when they 
 go to school. The “milk-name” generally has 
 some pretty meaning, such as “precious pearl,” 
 “ peaceful one,” “ fragrant rose ; ” sometimes it 
 shews the child’s place in the family, “ elder 
 brother,” “ the eldest,” “ number two,” “ three- 
 precious,” &c. ; sometimes it is contemptuous, 
 because though the father thinks much of his 
 little one, he does not wish to appear to praise 
 it, so he gives it such a name as “little cat,” 
 “ little dog,” or simply “ little one.” The Chinese 
 have a great fear of evil spirits. When a child dies, 
 they sometimes think that an evil spirit has carried 
 it away to vex them; so they give the next child 
 a name which seems to imply that they do not 
 value it, for they fancy the spirit will be less likely 
 to take it away on that account. 
 
 Chinese children are not washed and bathed so 
 much as English children are. For the first year it 
 is thought dangerous to put a baby into water, so it 
 ie only wiped over with a wet cloth. Its age, too, is 
 
> 
 
 MOTHER AND CHILDREN. 
 
CHILD-LIFE IN CHINA 
 
 83 
 
 not reckoned like ours. If born at the end of the 
 year, it is said to be two years old after the next 
 year has begun, because it has lived in part of two 
 years. It is, therefore, called three years old when 
 it is little more than one. Babies, as soon as they 
 can stand, are put to play in a little frame of bam- 
 boo, with a stool in it, something like a carriage 
 without wheels. In winter they are placed in 
 
 Chinese Baby in Straw-Basket. 
 
 a kind of basket, of very thicldy-twisted straw, 
 shaped like an hour-glass, with a hole at the top 
 and one at the bottom. The baby is put in at 
 the top, and under the basket on the floor is 
 placed a pan of heated charcoal to keep its little 
 feet warm. It has rattles to play with, as babies 
 at home have. It is not generally weaned till it 
 
84 
 
 CHINA AND ITS PEOPLE. 
 
 can run about, and is fed with rice, boiled very 
 soft indeed, called “ tsok ” in Shanghai. Its head 
 is often shaved, and its hair, as soon as it is an 
 inch or two long, is braided into a little tail, and 
 tied with a bit of red cord or silk. Sometimes 
 they have two little tails, one on each side of their 
 heads ; sometimes only one, sticking out of a round 
 hole in the top of their caps. A baby^s cap in 
 China is not made of muslin or lace, but is a stiff 
 band of silk or velvet, embroidered with gay colours, 
 adorned with little tinkling bells, and generally with 
 a little gilt image of a bu-sah or idol just in front, 
 which the poor heathen mother thinks a protection 
 to her child. Babies’ clothes, too, are never white. 
 If their parents are poor, they commonly dress them 
 in blue cotton cloth ; but their delight is to clothe 
 them in the gayest silks or satins. Their outer 
 garments are a long petticoat open behind ; outside 
 this a shorter dress, high at the neck, with long 
 sleeves ; and over their shoulders a small cape, 
 often stiff with beautiful needlework, and edged 
 with tiny bells : scarlet, green, or purple are the 
 favourite colours. In the depth of winter, in the 
 north of China, the babies’ clothes are padded so 
 thickly with cotton that they look like little bol- 
 sters ; their sleeves stand out to such a degree that 
 
CHILD-LIFE IN CHINA. 
 
 85 
 
 they cannot bend their little arms. In the sum- 
 mer the young children wear scarcely any clothes 
 — only a piece of cotton cloth covering the front 
 of their bodies, sometimes fastened on by a silver 
 chain round their necks ; and you may often see 
 the little ones with the chain, and nothing else, in 
 the middle of the day, when the weather is very 
 hot. Can you fancy a fat brown baby, with a 
 little tail of jet black hair on the top of its head, 
 and eyes like large black beads, playing about with 
 a little chain on its neck ? or in the winter muffled 
 up in thick wadded clothes, and a dark cap fitting 
 closely to its head, with a round hole at the top 
 for its little braid to pass through ? 
 
 Older children wear little loose cotton trousers 
 in the very hot weather, and frequently an upper 
 garment, without sleeves, of grass cloth or thin 
 gauze. Chinese boys are sent to school when they 
 are about eight years old ; they are then dressed 
 like little men, and wear skull-caps and little stiff 
 velvet collars in the winter. They study a great 
 many hours a-day, beginning soon after it is light 
 in the morning, and not leaving off till five in the 
 evening, excepting the time they are taking their 
 meals. But they do not work hard at their lessons 
 all this time ; they are often listless and sleepy. 
 
86 
 
 CHINA AND ITS PEOPLE. 
 
 It would be much better to let them have a good 
 game of play, and compel them to be diligent for 
 a shorter time, especially while they are little. 
 They have few games such as English children 
 play at, and not many toys. They amuse them- 
 selves with small clay or card figures of animals 
 or men while they are very young ; but when they 
 are at school they strut about in their play-hours 
 like gentlemen, and I am sorry to say they soon 
 learn to gamble with cards, dice, or dominoes, as 
 their elders do. 
 
 When a visitor calls on a Chinese gentleman, 
 if he asks after the sons, they are brought in to 
 see him, and they are taught to kneel down before 
 him and knock their heads on the floor, and after- 
 wards to stand facing the guest at a respectful 
 distance. Great care is taken to teach children 
 the proper forms of politeness to be observed to 
 their friends or elder relations. They are early 
 taken to the temples. I have seen a father teach- 
 ing a babe under two years of age to fold its fat 
 hands, kneel, and bow its head to the ground be- 
 fore the idols. Little girls often study mth their 
 brothers till they are about twelve or fourteen 
 years of age. After that time they are kept with 
 
CHILD-LIFE IN CHINA. 
 
 87 
 
 their mothers or female friends, and never come 
 into the room where their fathers’ visitors are re- 
 ceived. 
 
 Parents often betroth their children, or promise 
 them in marriage, while they are very young ; and 
 sometimes the little girl is taken and brought up 
 by her future mother-in-law, who can educate her 
 as she pleases. 
 
 Girls are taught to make their own shoes, to 
 embroider, play on a kind of guitar, and some- 
 times to read and write, though very few women 
 indeed of the middle classes can read at all. They 
 are shewn how to prepare their food, to spin and 
 weave, but are not trained to be active and in- 
 dustrious. They spend much of their time in 
 dressing and adorning their hair. Poor things ! 
 they have nothing to think about — no interesting 
 books to read — and can never enjoy the conver- 
 sation of friends like English girls, though they 
 are not unhappy, because they know of no better 
 lot. 
 
 The Chinese are glad to have their daughters 
 instructed, and in some of the Christian schools 
 in the open ports girls are taught the Holy Scrip- 
 tures, and many other things, besides their own 
 
88 
 
 CHINA AND ITS PEOPLE. 
 
 duties, and they can learn quite as well as the 
 boys, and grow up very intelligent. We hope 
 they will be useful in teaching their poor country- 
 women and their own little children. 
 
CHINESE SCHOOLS AND LANGUAGE. 
 
 89 
 
 CHAPTER Vil. 
 
 CHINESE SCHOOLS AND LANGUAGE. 
 
 “ And then the whining schoolboy, with his satchel, 
 
 And shining morning face, creeping like snail 
 Unwillingly to school,” 
 
 I TOLD you in the last chapter that boys are sent 
 to school when they are about seven or eight years 
 old. They usually live at home, and go every 
 morning to their teacher, returning at night, some- 
 times taking their breakfast at his house, and some- 
 times going home for it, or having it sent to them. 
 Schools are seldom large — as a rule not more than 
 thirty boys are collected in one, often as few as 
 ten, if the parents can afford to pay the teacher 
 well enough for his services. The school-room is 
 often small and dark, in a noisy street, or in the 
 hot upper story of a house. So Chinese boys have 
 no airy play-grounds, like English children, nor 
 are they often taught at home. Even if their father 
 is a learned man, he seldom instructs his sons, and 
 
90 
 
 CHINA AND ITS PEOPLE. 
 
 few motliers can teach their children to read. In 
 the better school-rooms you see little tables and 
 short forms, with sometimes only two boys to a 
 table. Before each is a pile of neat paper-covered 
 books, a square stone for rubbing their ink, a 
 piece of what we should call Indian ink, a small 
 pot of water, and a little stand for pencils, which 
 are in reality brushes, the hairs being fastened 
 into the end of a slender hoUow bamboo, with am 
 other hollow piece fitting over it to protect it 
 when not in use. The master’s table is larger ; 
 he has similar things upon it, with another stone 
 and pencil for red ink, with which he makes cor- 
 rections on his pupils’ writing and books. There 
 are no holidays given in a Chinese school, except- 
 ing the public festival days, and a short time at 
 the New Year, when all shops are shut, and no- 
 oody works. These must be very welcome, as 
 there are no Sabbaths on which the boys or the 
 master may rest. When a little boy first comes 
 to school, a book called the “ Three-Character 
 Classic” is given him to learn to read, and with 
 it little squares of red paper, each inscribed with 
 a character, which the little boy must con over 
 and over again till he knows it well, and can find 
 it out in the book. These characters are not 
 
CHINESE SCHOOLS AND LANGUAGE. 
 
 91 
 
 letters, but whole words. There is no alphabet 
 in the Chinese language, and therefore no spell- 
 ing, but a distinct sign or character to represent 
 each word. There are about four thousand of 
 
 Chinese Characters. 
 
 these in common use. When the child can recog- 
 nise a few of them, he stands up with other boys 
 and begins to learn the “ San-tsz King,” or “Three- 
 Character Classic,” straight through. This book 
 
92 
 
 OSINA AND ITS PEOPLE. 
 
 derives its name from the words being arranged 
 three in each column. The boys stand round the 
 master’s table with their books open, and he reads 
 a few characters in succession : for instance, “ Jing 
 chi tsu, sing pun shen ; sing siang kin, sih siang 
 yuen,” — then all the children repeat what he has 
 said in a loud voice. This process is repeated till 
 the boys are familiar with the names of all the 
 characters in their lesson, and can pronounce them 
 properly. This done, they return to their own 
 tables, and sitting down, read, or rather chant, 
 over the passage until they can say it perfectly by 
 heart ; and a great noise they make — perhaps 
 twenty boys, not all learning the same words, 
 shouting them out at the top of their voices. 
 When a boy is ready to repeat his lesson, he goes 
 up to the master, presents his book, and stands with 
 his back to him while he is reciting. The language 
 in which the book is written is not exactly that 
 which is spoken, so that the learner cannot under- 
 stand the meaning of his lesson without having it 
 carefully explained to him, and in Chinese schools 
 this is never done the first time a boy learns a book 
 through. He has to commit to memory a string of 
 unmeaning sounds. If he does not know his 
 lesson, he will very likely get a few strokes of 
 
CHINESE SCHOOLS AND LANGUAGE. 
 
 93 
 
 the bamboo or cane which hangs up behind his 
 master’s chair. The whole day is taken up in 
 learning a task by heart, and in writing. No 
 geography or arithmetic, no foreign languages, 
 music, or drawing, are taught at a Chinese school ; 
 very little history, even of China, and none of 
 other countries. A man is thought well-edu- 
 cated, if, after ten years of study, he can read 
 fluently the nine books which are greatly reve- 
 renced by the Chinese, and can repeat a large 
 portion of them, though even then he may be 
 greatly puzzled by a book on medicine, or any 
 subject which he has not studied, as it will con- 
 tain many words which he has never seen before. 
 If a bo/s parents are poor, and he is unable to 
 stay at school beyond a year or two, he only 
 learns the names of some characters, and probably 
 understands the meaning of very few of them, so 
 that he cannot really read at all, though he may 
 appear to do so, by mentioning the names of the 
 words. The Chinese have a great respect for 
 their language, and do not like to see printed or 
 written paper trodden under foot. In some places 
 there are stands for burning old printed paper, in 
 order that it may not be dirtied or treated with 
 disrespect. They are very careful to teach boys 
 
94 
 
 CHINA AND ITS PEOPLE. 
 
 to write as well as they possibly can. The pen 
 or brush is held upright by the thumb, first, and 
 middle fingers ; and when a boy begins to learn, a 
 copy is put underneath his paper, which is very 
 thin, and he marks over it. He is not allowed to 
 write without the copy until he can form the char- 
 acters neatly; then he has a piece of paper under 
 that on which he is writing, wuth red lines, ruled 
 both ways, so as to form little squares, in which 
 he writes the characters, so that they may be ex- 
 actly in a column. The paper, pen, ink, and ink- 
 stone, are called the “ four precious things of th 
 library.” After a boy has learned the Three-Char 
 acter Classic, another book is given him, called 
 the “ Thousand-Character Classic,” which contains 
 just a thousand separate characters, no two of 
 which are alike in form or meaning. When he 
 knows this book, he learns the “ four books” and 
 “ five classics,” which were written by the Chinese 
 sages Confucius and Mencius, both of whom lived 
 before the Christian era. Confucius was born 
 about 549, and Mencius about 400, years before 
 Christ. Both were natives of the province of 
 Shantung ; and it is rather remarkable that both . 
 are said to have lost their fathers while they were 
 very young, and to have been brought up by vdse 
 
CHINESE SCHOOLS AND LANGUAGE. 
 
 95 
 
 and prudent mothers. The mother of Mencius is 
 particularly celebrated. A line in the “Three- 
 Character Classic” is to this effect — “ The mother 
 of Mencius chose her neighbourhood and dwelt.” 
 The allusion may be thus explained : — She took 
 great pains to reside where her little boy would 
 not learn anything bad. At first she lived near 
 a butcher’s shop; but she noticed that her son 
 ran to see the animals killed, and feared that he 
 would grow hard-hearted, so she removed, and 
 took up her abode near a cemetery. There the 
 child saw people coming to bury their Mends, 
 and soon in his play he imitated them. On ob- 
 serving this, she thought he would learn to make 
 fun of what was serious; so she once more changed 
 her abode, and this time went to live in a city, 
 near a school, where her son saw good boys, and 
 learned to be like them. 
 
 Chinese books for children are full of stories 
 of boys who studied hard and became great men, 
 or of sons who were very dutiful and loving to 
 their parents, dwelling much on the happiness 
 they gained by their good conduct. They supply 
 a great deal of good advice to parents and children, 
 masters and servants, husbands and wives, mlers 
 and subjects, teaching them how they should be- 
 
96 
 
 CHINA AND ITS PEOPLE. 
 
 have to each other, furnishing, in some instances, 
 the most minute directions how men should act 
 on various occasions. The works of Confucius are 
 always read with the explanations of Chu-tsz, a 
 philosopher who lived about a.d. 1200. 
 
 You will see, from what I have told you, that 
 it is a very difficult thing to learn to read Chinese, 
 because there is such a very large number of char- 
 acters, and the written language is not exactly the 
 same as that which is spoken. It would be quite 
 unintelligible to the hearer to read aloud a Chinese 
 book ; the characters must be seen to be under- 
 stood, because very many of them are called by 
 the same names. In reading aloud, it is usual to 
 translate the book into the spoken dialect. There 
 is one very good thing about it, the same charac- 
 ters are understood all over the empire, so that a 
 book printed in the south can be read in the 
 north, though men from the north and south 
 would caU the characters by different names, and 
 would not be able to understand each other’s 
 speech. In some places, where missionaries have 
 found the people very ignorant, they have written 
 books for them, with their own characters, in the 
 language they speak, and they can learn to read' 
 these more quickly than their own book language, 
 
CHINESE SCHOOLS AND LANGUAGE. 
 
 97 
 
 though it is despised by learned Chinamen, At 
 Ningpo, many books have been printed with Eng- 
 lish letters, the words being spelt according to 
 the sounds; and the children, and poor people 
 who have not much time, can learn to read these 
 easily, though they could never hope to study 
 books in the Chinese character. Nearly the whole 
 of the New Testament, besides other books, is now 
 given to the Christians at Ningpo in this way ; 
 and it is a pleasant thing to see poor women, who 
 in the eyes of their countrymen are ignorant and 
 despised, reading the Word of life or beautiful 
 hymns in the evening after their work is done. 
 There are, in the Chinese language, very many 
 more books than those I have mentioned, me- 
 moirs and tales, as well as descriptions of different 
 parts of China, and works on astronomy and other 
 subjects. They are all wanting in the knowledge 
 which the Bible alone can give ; but it is a good 
 thing for the people that they teach no positive 
 evil, like many of the Indian native publications. 
 The Chinese books contain some truth, though 
 it is not aU the truth. Let us do what we can to 
 send them God’s Holy Word; that alone can make 
 them a happy people. 
 
98 
 
 CHINA AND ITS PEOPLE, 
 
 CHAPTER vm. 
 
 DOMESTIC HABITS OF THE CHINESE. 
 
 “ Mid pleasures and palaces though we may roam, 
 
 Be it ever so humhle, there ’s no place like home.” 
 
 When a Chinese house is going to be built, the 
 workmen first set up posts of wood, then put beams 
 across, and afterwards fill up the intervening spaces 
 either with bricks or with mud, straw, and stones 
 beaten up together. They next put on the wooden 
 rafters for the roof, and cover them with tiles. If 
 there is an upper story, it is often built entirely 
 of wood, and the rooms are very low. As you 
 look at the outside of a house you see no windows; 
 but if you go in at the door, you will find yourself 
 in a paved court, with houses on three or four 
 sides of it, and the windows all looking into it, 
 instead of into the street or country. In front of 
 the door, either inside or outside, there is a large 
 screen, of brick or wood-work, that people may 
 not see inside when it is opened. You notice 
 
DOMESTIC HABITS OF THE CHINESE. 99 
 
 directly that the windows are not of glass, but of 
 wooden lattice-work, painted red, and either covered 
 inside with white paper, or with tiny panes of 
 thin oyster-shell. These windows admit the light, 
 but you cannot see through them. They open 
 into the room like doors, and there are wooden 
 shutters outside which can be closed when it rains, 
 or the paper would soon spoil. The largest room 
 in the house is opposite the door of the court ; it 
 is called the “ ting,'^ and there the master of the 
 house receives his visitors. The wooden frame of 
 the building can be seen inside the room ; the posts 
 and beams are either carved or painted red and 
 varnished. If the room is very large, there 
 are pillars of red wood, to help to support the 
 roo£ The room has no carpet, but its floor is 
 sometimes covered with neat, pretty matting. It 
 has no fireplace; people wear clothes enough in 
 the winter to keep them warm without fires ; they 
 only use a copper pan of burning charcoal to put 
 their feet on, or to hold in their hands when the 
 weather is very cold. In this room there is a 
 large picture hanging against the waU opposite the 
 door with a table before it. It represents some 
 Chinese gods, and at certain times little sticks of 
 sweet-smeUing incense are burned before it. On 
 
100 
 
 CHINA AND ITS PEOPLE. 
 
 tlie table there are often writing materials, and 
 handsome cups and vases. In front is a couch, 
 which is the seat of honour. From the ceiling 
 hang gay lanterns, adorned with tassels of coloured 
 silk ; and on the walls are drawings, and tablets 
 with sentences from the books written upon them. 
 On both sides of the room are high, straight- 
 backed chairs and small tables, placed alternately 
 two chairs and a table. These chairs are not 
 moved from their places against the wall, when 
 they are used, so that the general effect of a 
 party of visitors is, to our eyes, rather formal. 
 The chairs are by no means comfortable, resem- 
 bling that described by Cowper as used by our 
 forefathers — 
 
 “ Restless was the chair ; the hack erect, 
 Distress’d the weary loins, that felt no ease ; 
 
 The slippery seat betray’d the sliding part 
 That press’d it, and the feet hung dangling down, 
 Anxious in vain to find the distant floor.” 
 
 The tables are very high. They are often prettily 
 carved, or inlaid with different kinds of wood, and 
 well- varnished ; but, even in a gentleman’s house, 
 it is seldom that the furniture looks clean. The . 
 Chinese make very pretty book-cases, with pigeon- 
 hole niches for books. In the bed-rooms there is 
 
DOMESTIC HABITS OP THE CHINESE. 101 
 
 very little furniture, though the lady of the house 
 receives her company there. None but women 
 ever come to see her. The bedsteads are often 
 large and well-carved ; one side stands close to 
 the wall. They have curtains of thin silk, gauze, 
 or grass cloth, to keep off the mosquitoes, which 
 bite very sharply in the summer time. The cur. 
 tains do not hang loosely, but are tucked in undei 
 the bedding. In the day-time they are hooked 
 up in front with a silver or copper hook. There 
 are no feather-beds in China, nor are sheets or 
 blankets in use there. In the summer a piece of 
 matting serves for sleeping on. It is not uncom- 
 fortable, as the bottom of the bedstead is made of 
 a kind of sacking. The bed-clothes are quilts, 
 with cotton inside them ; sometimes they are 
 made of rich silk, but commonly of coloured 
 cotton cloth. In the winter a thin mattress of 
 the same material is used. In the day the bed- 
 clothes are neatly folded up, and put on the bed- 
 stead against the wall. The Chinese like to have 
 a pile of handsome silk quilts ; but we think it 
 much better to have clean sheets and a white 
 counterpane. For the head they have a short 
 square bolster, very hard. In winter it is covered 
 with silk or cloth; in summer, with leather. 
 
102 
 
 CHINA AND ITS PEOPLE. 
 
 matting, or plaited straw. When persons go out 
 to visit their friends or to travel, they take their 
 own bedding with them, so it is only necessary 
 to provide bedsteads for guests. You may often 
 meet a man carrying his bed, rolled up in a 
 bundle ; and the sick are sometimes conveyed 
 about on theirs. This reminds you of the man 
 sick of the palsy to whom the Lord Jesus said, 
 “ Take up thy bed and walk.” 
 
 When the Chinese require many rooms, instead of 
 building a high house, they have several courts one 
 behind another, with a peach tree, or some hand- 
 some flowering shrub, in the centre of the principal 
 one. The kitchen is in one of the back courts. 
 It is generally dirty and smoky, for it has no 
 chimney, the smoke making its way through a 
 hole in the roof. The fire-place is built of brick, 
 like a table. At the top are holes for charcoal 
 fires, and at one side an iron boiler with a wood 
 fire under it. These fires are not kept burning 
 aU day, but are lighted when they are wanted for 
 cooking. To make the fire burn up quickly, the 
 Chinese cook fans it with a palm-leaf fan. In the 
 kitchen is a picture of an idol, called the Eatchen 
 God. He is supposed to watch over the conduct 
 of the whole family. On the last day of the year 
 
DOMESTIC HABITS OP THE CHINESE. 
 
 103 
 
 he is put into a paper sedan chair, and burned; and 
 the people believe that he then goes up to heaven 
 to give an account of their conduct, and that he 
 comes down again at the New Year, when they 
 
 God of the Kitchen. 
 
 hang up a clean, new picture of him. They do 
 not know that “ the eyes of the Lord are in every 
 place beholding the evil and the good.” 
 
 If there is a garden to the Chinese house, it is 
 not an open space, with a lawn, and pretty, neat 
 
104 
 
 CHINA AND ITS PEOPLE. 
 
 beds of flowers, as in England ; it contains rows 
 of large pots or jars with flowering plants or shrubs 
 in them placed on each side of the paths, and rock 
 work with small trees on it, and pools full of water- 
 lilies, and gold and silver fish. Sometimes the 
 stones in the path are formed into patterns, so that 
 people may be amused by looking at them, and 
 think the garden larger than it really is. These 
 pleasure-grounds would be very pleasant were 
 they not, as a rule, so very dirty. 
 
 There are many lovely flowers in China, both 
 cultivated and growing wild on the Mils, and the 
 people are fond of having a few pots if they are 
 too poor to have a garden of their own. They 
 like to have flowers painted on their fans and 
 lanterns ; and the women embroider them on 
 their shoes, and wear them in their hair. 
 
 A lantern is hung outside the street-door at 
 night, with the name of the master of the house 
 painted on it in red characters. The CMnese do 
 not go out much in the evening ; they retire to 
 bed early and rise betimes, transacting their busi- 
 ness in the morning. If they are in the streets' 
 after dark, they are compelled by law to carry a 
 lantern ; without it they may be taken for tMeves 
 or rebels. It is made of varnished paper or silk 
 
DOMESTIC HABITS OF THE CHINESE. 105 
 
 m a frame of bamboo, and carried at the end of a 
 slender stick ; inside is a spike, on which they put 
 a candle, made from the berries of the tallow tree. 
 This tree has purplish leaves ; the seeds in its 
 berries are coated with a white pulp containing 
 wax. When the berries are boiled and squeezed, 
 the wax floats on the top of the water. The candle- 
 wick is a slip of rush. You may see bunches of 
 short red wax-candles hanging from the ceiling of 
 the shops ; white ones are only used at funeral 
 ceremonies or at ancestral worship. In the houses 
 of the poor, a little saucer of oil is used instead of 
 a candle, because it is cheaper ; a slip of the rush 
 pith is put into it and lighted ; this is called the 
 “ heart ” of the lamp. The saucer stands on a little 
 bamboo frame or a china pillar. Candlesticks 
 have a spike at the top to stick into the candle, 
 instead of a hole to receive it. 
 
 At meals the Chinese do not use a table-cloth, 
 knives and forks, plates and dishes, as we do, nor 
 do they often sit round one table; men and 
 women seldom eat together. The meat, before it 
 is served, is cut into small pieces. It is brought 
 to table in little basins filled with gravy. They 
 pick it up very cleverly with a pair of sticks 
 about nine inches long, which they hold between 
 
106 
 
 CHINA AND ITS PEOPLE. 
 
 the fingers of the right hand. Each person has 
 a basin of rice, which he shovels into his mouth 
 with the chop-sticks, even the most refined gentle- 
 man making a great noise in the operation. The 
 chop-sticks are made of bamboo, ebony, or ivory, 
 sometimes tipped with silver. Gentlemen often 
 carry a pair for their own use. Spoons made of 
 china are used to take up the sauces, and some- 
 times a long two-pronged silver fork, very much 
 like a hair-pin. 
 
 The Chinese have generally two substantial 
 meals a-day, one in the morning, and the other at 
 sunset; a slighter repast is taken at noon. Eice 
 is the chief article of food, with vegetables of many 
 kinds — beans, peas, onions, cabbage, carrots, tur- 
 nips, the root of the water-lily, and various green 
 leaves. Pork is the favourite meat. Fowls and 
 ducks are plentiful ; the latter are hatched in boats 
 or houses by the heat of a fire. Frogs are called 
 “ field fowls ” and are eaten ; land-crabs too, and 
 fish of every kind, are in great request. At Can- 
 ton, one kind of dog, fed on rice, is considered 
 good for food ; so, too, are kittens ; but rats and 
 mice are not offered for sale, as you may see in 
 some old pictures, though the Chinese may have 
 eaten them in times of scarcity. The bird’s-nest 
 
DOMESTIC HABITS OF THE CHINESE. 107 
 
 soup of which you have heard is made from the 
 nest of the esculent swallow j it is like jelly when 
 boiled. The nests are brought from the islands 
 •of the Indian archipelago, and are a luxury too 
 expensive for the common people. Sea-slugs, 
 sharks’ fins, and other delicacies, are brought from 
 the same islands. We do not relish Chinese food, 
 because it is dressed with oil, which is often rancid. 
 Eggs, too, they keep until they have a fiavour, 
 which would make us think them unfit for food. 
 There are many cakes of different sorts, but few ol 
 them suit an English palate ; they have generally 
 a flavour of oil or paint. On the other hand, the 
 Chinese do not like beef, butter, or cheese ; nor 
 do they take mffk, though the Manchus use it. 
 Rich people have many dishes at each meal, but 
 usually a great quantity of rice is eaten, and with 
 it a very little fish, meat, or vegetables. They 
 sometimes drink with their meals native wine or 
 spirit distilled from rice ; it is always taken warm 
 in small china cups. 
 
 Their chief beverage, however, is weak tea, 
 without sugar or milk. In every city or village 
 you see numerous tea shops ; the hum of voices 
 from within proves that the customers meet there 
 to gossip as well as to refresh themselves. How 
 
108 
 
 CHINA AND ITS PEOPLE. 
 
 much better that they should go there to drink 
 than to a place where wine is sold ! There are 
 wine shops, too, in the streets, but they are com- 
 paratively deserted. The Chinese often smoke, 
 even women may be seen with a pipe, and men 
 generally carry a tobacco pouch. Some of the 
 Chinese smoke opium, which is very injurious to 
 them. They do not often use it in their own 
 houses, but at the shops where it is sold. After 
 smoking, they become sleepy, and lie down ; on 
 awakening they feel refreshed for a short time, 
 but soon want to resume their pipe. If thej^ 
 continue this practice, it makes them thin and 
 pale, they cannot eat, and are unable to work, 
 and soon spend all their money on this baneful 
 drug. They become such slaves to the habit 
 that they will part with everything they possess 
 to obtain the means for this indulgence. It is 
 very sad that English ships should take opium to 
 China ; and sad too, that the poppy plant, from 
 which it is made, should be cultivated in India, 
 which belongs to our good Queen, for it does 
 great mischief to thousands of our poor feUow- 
 creatures. 
 
 The Chinese, old as well as young, are very 
 fond of flying kites for amusement. They are 
 
DOMESTIC HABITS OF THE CHINESE. 109 
 
 made in every variety of fanciful shape, resembling 
 birds, fishes, or reptiles, sometimes even little 
 children. Some kites are musical too. One of 
 the prettiest is like a centipede, a creature with a 
 great many legs ; it looks very curious, wriggling 
 about in the wind. 
 
 The most joyful time to these people is the New 
 Year. Before its commencement all the houses, 
 boats, and furniture are carefully scrubbed and 
 washed, both inside and out. They are then 
 ornamented with prayers, written on red paper, 
 and pasted in various places. The prayers are 
 such as these : “ May the five blessings descend 
 on this house !” “ May peace and happiness attend 
 us !” or if it be a shop, “ May rich customers enter 
 this door!” On New-Year’s eve people balance 
 their accounts, and pay all their debts ; if a 
 creditor does not obtain his money on that day, 
 he must wait three or four months before it is 
 proper for him to ask for it. It is the custom to 
 make presents about the end of the year, and the 
 streets are fuU of people running to and fro, buy- 
 ing gifts, or taking them to their friends. You 
 may often see two coolies carrying a small table 
 turned upside down, piled with roasted meat, 
 cakes, and other nice things. Many persons make 
 
110 
 
 CHINA AND ITS PEOPLE. 
 
 offerings at the temples at this time, set up large 
 red candles to burn before their idols, and present 
 them with gay gilt paper or tinsel flowers. They 
 also let off great quantities of fireworks. 
 
 On New-Year’s Day all shops are shut, and 
 people remain quietly at home with their families, 
 congratulating each other, and listening to their 
 peculiar music, which has been described as like 
 half-a-dozen Scotch pipers playing no tune in 
 particular, but each trying to drown the noise of 
 the other. It is quite pleasant to walk about 
 the city on that day ; it is like a Sabbath ; but 
 the quietness does not last long, for on the two 
 following days, though the shops are still closed, 
 the streets are thronged with gaily-dressed men 
 of all classes, carrying bundles of red papers in 
 their hands, and going to visit aU their friends 
 for the purpose of wishing them joy. They some- 
 times write three good wishes on the red visiting 
 cards with their names ; these wishes are, “ May 
 you have children, rank, and long life ! ” 
 
 At the first full moon of the year there is 
 another holiday, the feast of lanterns, where every 
 one hangs in his hall, or outside his house, the 
 gayest lanterns he can afford to buy. I once 
 saw a very pretty procession of lanterns ; it repre- 
 
DOMESTIC HABITS OF THE CHINESE. Ill 
 
 sented a large dragon, with a long serpent-like 
 body, with lights inside each joint. It was car- 
 ried by a number of men, and preceded by music, 
 gongs, and fireworks. It advanced along the 
 banks of a canal, in front of a village, across a 
 bridge at the end of it, then by the opposite bank 
 to a second bridge at the other extremity. It 
 continued winding round and round for hours, 
 and looked very pretty in the dark night, as we 
 watched it from a boat in the middle of the 
 stream. Even little children have illuminated 
 toys at the feast of lanterns. The boys make 
 fish, rabbits, &c., of silver paper, and set them on 
 wheels, putting a small taper inside. 
 
 T 
 
112 
 
 CHINA AND ITS PEOPLK 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 THE USEFUL TEEE. 
 
 “ Come on ! yet pause ! behold us now 
 Beneath the bamboo’s arched bough.” 
 
 There are many trees in China both beautiful 
 and useful ; of some of them I have already told 
 you. The tea-shrub yields leaves for a refreshing 
 drink ; the tallow-tree affords material for candles ; 
 from the camphor-tree is made camphor ; another 
 tree produces the slimyjuice with which the Chinese 
 varnish their furniture and boxes so neatly ; and 
 many others are useful for shade, and produce fruit 
 while alive, or good timber when they are cut 
 down. But the bamboo is the most useful of all, 
 and very graceful and beautiful too. It has a 
 taU, straight trunk, sometimes smaller round than 
 a child’s arm, and sometimes larger than a man^s 
 body. There are no branches on the lower pari 
 of the trunk, but near the top are slender boughs^ 
 witl} long narrow leaves of a delicate green colour, 
 
THE USEFT7L TREE. 
 
 U3 
 
 looking like feathers waving in the wind. Bam- 
 boos generally grow in groves, a great many to- 
 gether j some of the hills are almost covered with 
 them. I am sure you will say there must be a 
 great number of these trees, when I tell you for 
 how many purposes they are used. The long 
 leaves are sewn to a cord, to make cloaks which 
 are worn by country people in rainy weather ; they 
 are also used to thatch houses. The slender 
 branches and the trunk are hollow, with joints or 
 divisions like a stalk of grass ; they are remark- 
 ably strong, and very tough and phable, so that 
 they can be twisted into many shapes without 
 breaking. Of the trunks, chairs, couches, ladders, 
 cupboards, footstools, wardrobes, and boxes, are 
 made ; some of them very rough, and others ex- 
 tremely neat and pretty. The whole trunks are used 
 as poles for scaffolds, and for many other purposes ; 
 coolies carry their burdens with them, and they 
 form good handles for spears, brooms, umbrellas, 
 fans, rakes, and lanterns; they are serviceable, 
 too, for curtain rods and the joists of houses. By 
 cutting just below the joints, buckets are made of 
 large trunks, and cups of small ones. These cups 
 are used to measure liquids, and are sometimes 
 neatly carved outside, for pen-stands or match- 
 
114 
 
 CHINA AND ITS PEOPLE. 
 
 holders. By putting a red-hot iron rod into the 
 hollow trunk, the divisions can be burnt away, 
 and a perfect tube made, which can be used for a 
 water pipe or a drain. The boatman converts 
 this tree into many uses ; his sail has ribs of bam- 
 boo to strengthen it, and is often made of matting 
 of plaited strips of bamboo, a material which also 
 forms a cover for his boat, while a trunk of the 
 tree is the handle of his boat-hook. The fence 
 round a garden is generally of interlaced strips of 
 ■jambo'^, with posts of the same wood driven into 
 the ground to keep it firm. Houses for fowds, 
 ducks, or dogs, are also made of it, and plastered 
 with mud. Hats are woven of it, some very 
 coarse, and others delicately fine, and baskets 
 without number, for every possible use, and of 
 every degree of neatness. And it has many uses 
 besides : its shavings are picked to stuff cushions, 
 mattresses, or pillows, and soaked to make paper ; 
 of the slender branches the handles of pens are 
 formed, and the ribs of umbrellas. 
 
 It is also the chief instrument of punishment 
 in China, thieves and other offenders being gene- 
 rally whipped with a bamboo ; then it supplies the 
 schoolmaster with his rod. The frame of a sedan 
 chair, the cushions inside it, and the poles by 
 
THE USEFUL TEEE. 
 
 115 
 
 •^hich it is carried, are all made of bamboo. In 
 the Komish Cathedral at Shanghai, there is a fine 
 organ, with barrels made entirely of the hollow 
 trunks of this wonderful tree. I think you will 
 say it affords everything but food ; but I have to 
 tell you that in the spring, young shoots grow up 
 out of the ground, and are cut off, and boiled as a 
 vegetable, and when quite fresh are very crisp and 
 good to eat. You cannot look round a house in 
 China without seeing something made from the 
 bamboo, and in the north its graceful form adorns 
 almost every landscape. 
 
116 
 
 CHINA AND ITS PEOPLB. 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 THE RELIGIONS OF CHINA 
 
 ‘ Brother ! in the darksome gloaming 
 Blinded men are groping on ; 
 
 Far away from Heaven roaming, 
 
 Stumbling on an awful doom ; 
 
 Dare we leave them thus to perish 
 In the night ? 
 
 While the Lord of glory liveth, 
 
 While He to the blinded giveth 
 Everlasting light ! ” 
 
 “ Behold ! these shall come from far ; and, lo ! these 
 from the north, and from the west, and these from the land 
 of Sinim.” 
 
 In this vast empire there are very few persons 
 who know and serve the ‘‘only true God,” and 
 believe on Jesus Christ whom He has sent. 
 
 There are three different religions followed by 
 the myriads of people in China. Although these 
 three are opposed to each other in many respects, 
 yet a man may belong to all the three at the same 
 time. If he do not get help from one, he wiH 
 
THE RELIGIONS OF CHINA. 
 
 117 
 
 often turn to another; and if this fail him, he will 
 try the third. The reason of this is that they are 
 all untrue, and therefore cannot satisfy the soul. 
 Not one of them can tell the man how his sins 
 may be forgiven and his soul saved. The great 
 mass of the people are worshippers of Buddha or 
 Fuh, whose temples are very numerous, not only 
 in China, but also in Japan, Siam, Burmah, Cey- 
 lon, and Tartary. In China they are often built 
 on the hill-tops, far above any dwellings ; and very 
 early in the morning many people may be seen 
 wending their way up to them to burn incense 
 before the idols. At the door, or painted on the 
 temple wall near the door, are large and hideous 
 figures, called the guardians of the temple. These 
 are to frighten away bad men and evil spirits. 
 Opposite the door, inside, is an image called the 
 laughing Buddha, seated cross-legged in a shrine, 
 with little sticks of incense burning before it. In 
 a haU behind this, also facing the entrance, are 
 three gigantic figures of gilded wood, each seated 
 on a lotus flower, representing the “ San-pau-fuh,” 
 or “three precious Buddhas.” They have gene- 
 rally Indian faces, and look mild and thoughtful. 
 Sometimes there is a beautifully-carved screen in 
 front of the images, with an opening before each face. 
 
115 
 
 CHINA AND ITS PEOPLE. 
 
 This makes them look grand and mysterious, and 
 the poor worshippers feel very much awed when 
 
 The Three Precious Bhddhas. 
 
 they are in the presence of the “great goda” Little 
 children are sometimes afraid to go near them. There 
 are a great many Buddhist priests in China. They 
 shave their heads completely, and wear a long 
 yellow or ash-coloured robe, folded over in front, 
 without any buttons. They do not marry, and 
 profess to eat no animal food, because they think 
 it wicked to take the life of any creature. They 
 believe that after death the soul of a man goes 
 into another body, and so he either becomes a 
 
THE RELIGIONS OP CHINA. 
 
 119 
 
 man again or else some animal ; therefore they do 
 not like to kill any living thing, for fear the soul 
 
 of some of their friends should be in it. They 
 hope that after they have lived a great many lives, 
 they shall enter a state of existence in which they 
 shall not be conscious of anything, and shall never 
 change again. They say that change and suffer- 
 ing are in every condition of life, excepting the 
 happy state in which men become unconscious 
 
120 
 
 china and its people. 
 
 Buddha was the son of an Indian king, who died 
 about 950 years before the birth of Christ. The 
 priests teach that he retains his consciousness in 
 order to help men, but that he is just ready to 
 sink into that state which they think so desirable. 
 Buddhism was introduced into China about 63 
 years after Christ. The emperor had heard that 
 there was a wise man in the west, and he sent am- 
 bassadors to bring books and teachers of the new 
 *-eligion to China. These ambassadors only went 
 as far westward as India, and brought back with 
 them the priests and an image of Buddha. What 
 a blessing it would have been for poor China if 
 the messengers had gone as far as Judea, and 
 brought back the knowledge of the Lord Jesus ! 
 A- large number of Buddhist priests often live to- 
 gether in a monastery. Their worship consists in 
 chanting prayers, ringing beUs, beating drums 
 and gongs, and burning incense. Some of them 
 rise many times in the night to worship. The 
 monasteries are the chief inns in China, and we 
 have been often aroused from sleep by the hollow 
 sound of a wooden drum, or the tolling of the 
 great bell, and listened to the low voices of the 
 poor priests chanting their prayers in a language 
 which they do not understand. The monks spend 
 
THE KELIGTONS OF CHINA. 
 
 121 
 
 much of their time in repeating over the name of 
 their idol, “ 0-mi-da-fuh,” and in sitting still and 
 trying to think of nothing. One poor man made 
 a vow never to speak to any one again for the 
 whole of his life. He sat all day on a board with 
 his face towards a wall, and muttered his prayers. 
 You can imagine how dull and stupid such a life 
 makes these monks, yet they think they shall gain 
 merit by it, and become happy when they die. 
 They wear a string of beads, as the Romanists 
 do, and drop one every time they say the words, 
 0-mi-da-fuh,” so that they may know how many 
 times they have repeated it. Sometimes they 
 count by filling up a dot on a piece of paper for 
 every hundred times. They afterwards burn the 
 paper, and think that the number of prayers is 
 put down to their account in the other world. Do 
 you remember that Jesus said, “ Use not vain re- 
 petitions as the heathen do ? ” (Matt. vi. 7.) Does 
 not this also remind you of the priests of Baal, 
 who cried from morning till evening, “ 0 Baal, 
 hear usU’ (1 Kings xviii. 26.) The Buddhists 
 beheve that their good and bad actions wiU aU be 
 reckoned up, and that they can in different ways 
 buy merit to make up for their sins. They do not 
 know that sin is in the heart, nor do they look 
 
122 
 
 CHINA AND ITS PEOPLE, 
 
 upon it as an offence against God. The Buddhists 
 have six precepts, some of them so much like the 
 commandments as to make one think they must 
 have been borrowed from them. “ Do not kill ” 
 is one. They think it a great crime to waste 
 crumbs of rice, or to tread on printed or written 
 paper. If a man treads on another’s toe, or runs 
 against him in the street, instead of saying, “ I beg 
 your pardon,” he exclaims, “ I have sinned.” From 
 this you see how low is their notion of what 
 sin really is ! When people suffer much from 
 disease, they often think it is a punishment for 
 their sins in a former life. A mother has been 
 heard to say to her sick babe, “You must have 
 been a very wicked creature when you were alive 
 before.” This often makes people hard-hearted to 
 the sick and suffering, even though they believe 
 they shall gain merit by helping them. 
 
 In some Buddhist temples there is an image of 
 a woman with a child in her arms. She is called 
 Kwan-yin, or the goddess of mercy, though Chinese 
 books say that she is not a' goddess, but a god 
 who appeared in the form of a woman. Pretty 
 little china figures of Kwan-yin are sold, and she 
 is much worshipped by the women. 
 
 The sect of the Tauists was founded by a man 
 
THE RELIGIONS OF CHINA. 
 
 123 
 
 called Lau-tsz, the “ old boy,” or “ Lau-Kiung,” 
 the venerable prince, who lived about the time of 
 Confucius. The Tauist priests are very numer- 
 ous. They may be known in the streets by a blue 
 
 Tauist Priest. 
 
 or slate-coloured robe, like that of the Buddhists 
 in form, but with their hair fastened up at the top 
 of their heads with a pin. These priests marry, 
 and live in their own houses. They pretend to 
 
124 
 
 CHINA AND ITS PEOPLE. 
 
 tell fortunes, and to understand magic. Their 
 advice is asked when the people are going to 
 choose a day for a marriage, or a place to make a 
 grave. They profess also to drive away evil spirits, 
 and to find out the guilty person if anything has 
 been stolen. In their temples there are a great 
 many figures ; that in the centre represents either 
 Lau-Kiung or one of their many gods, while round 
 the room are his attendants or disciples. There 
 is a great man living in the province of Kiang-si 
 who is the head of the Tauist religion. He is be- 
 lieved to be greater than many of the gods whom 
 they worship. When he dies, his son takes his 
 place. The Tauists say that this family is de- 
 scended from their chief god, “ Yuh-wong-shang-ti.” 
 They keep his birthday, and that of some others 
 of their gods, who were, most of them, formerly 
 men, who have had divine honours paid to them 
 since their death. They believe that there are gods 
 of the sea and rivers, and many gods of the stars. 
 One idol is called the “ Ruler of Thunder,” another 
 the “Mother of Lightning.” But the one who 
 has most votaries is the god of riches ! There 
 is a shrine for him in every shop, before which 
 the shopmen bum incense, thinking that they thus 
 increase the profits of their trade. Here is a pio* 
 
THE RELIGIONS OF CHINA. 
 
 125 
 
 ture of two idols carried on boys’ heads, as we 
 saw them at Fuh-chau;*they are supposed to 
 drive sickness away from the people. Some pro- 
 cessions are followed by men dressed in red, with 
 
 Gfod of Riches. 
 
 fetters on their hands. These are persons who 
 have been raised up from sickness during the year. 
 They wear fetters to signify that they will be the 
 slaves or captives of the idol whom they serve. 
 The great God who made them has had compas- 
 
 * See Frontispiece. 
 
126 
 
 CHINA AND ITS PEOPLE. 
 
 sion on them, and healed their disease, and they 
 praise the idols of wood and stone. 
 
 You will ask, “ Do the Chinese really believe 
 that these images can help them ? ” Some of 
 them certainly do, though many only do so be- 
 cause they have never thought about the matter 
 at all. They worship what their fathers did, and 
 sometimes do not care whether it is right or 
 not. 
 
 A Christian missionary once went into a little 
 temple by a river side. While he was looking at 
 the idols, a man came up, and, pointing to a very 
 large one, said, “This is Tong-ngoh-da-ti,” the 
 “ great ruler of the Tong-ngoh.” He added, “There 
 is another image of the same god in the outer court, 
 which is carried about on procession days.” 
 
 “Then,” said the missionary, “there are two 
 distinct images and two distinct shrines; am I 
 to understand that there are two distinct gods 
 dwelling in those shrines, or only one % ” 
 
 “ How this is,” replied the man, “ I don’t ex- 
 actly comprehend.” 
 
 The missionary then rejoined, “ Do you really 
 believe in this Tong-ngoh-da-ti at all ? Do you 
 imagine that a general, who died so many cen- 
 turies ago, and passed away into another world. 
 
THE JiELIGIONS OF CHINA. 
 
 127 
 
 can possibly exercise now any influence here, 
 either for good or evil ? ” 
 
 The man replied, “ When one begins to think, 
 it seems as if it could not be so, and yet how the 
 matter stands we do not know.” 
 
 Then the missionary told him of the only true 
 God, who controls all events, from whom all 
 blessings flow, “ in whom we live, and move, and 
 have our being.” 
 
 Many of the educated Chinese profess not to 
 believe in the idols, but to be followers of their 
 great sage Confucius, or Kung-fu-tsz, as his 
 name is pronounced by them. His doctrines are 
 for this life only. He teaches men to be good 
 subjects to their emperor, wives to obey their 
 husbands, and children to be dutiful to their 
 parents; but he does not teU them their duty 
 to God. He says nothing about the future life ; 
 indeed, he does not clearly teach that the soul 
 will live after the body is dead. 
 
 Confucius says, “We know not life, how can we 
 know death?” He was quite right not to pretend 
 to know ; for without the Word of God we can 
 neither know how to live, nor what will become 
 of us when we die. Before the days of Confucius, 
 the Chinese worshipped idols ; he told them to 
 
 K 
 
128 
 
 CHINA AND ITS PEOPLE. 
 
 “ respect the gods, but keep them at a distance.” 
 He did not pretend to be a god, and the people 
 do not make images of him, though they bow 
 down before a small wooden tablet on which his 
 name is written. 
 
 Confucius taught that parents should be hon- 
 oured, not only while living, but also after they 
 are dead. The best way to honour good parents 
 is to remember their words, and try to act as 
 would have pleased them; but this is not the 
 Chinese way. They have the names of their de- 
 ceased parents and ancestors written in gilt letters 
 on tablets, and keep them in their houses or in 
 an ancestral temple. Before these they bum sweet 
 incense. The people say that men have three 
 spirits — one of which resides at the tomb, another 
 in the tablet, and the third goes to heaven. Once 
 a-year they make a heap of paper clothes, houses, 
 sedan chairs, and imitation money, covered with 
 tin leaf, and set fire to it ; for they think that 
 their departed friends need everything, and that 
 they can supply their wants by burning these 
 things. They also set food before the tablets, and 
 believe that the spirits feed upon it; while for 
 those poor ghosts who have no relations living to 
 care for them, they set tables in the street covered 
 with good things. But the Chinese love of money 
 
THE RELIGIONS OF CHINA. 
 
 129 
 
 shews itself at this feast. They often fill the 
 dishes with earth or stones, and cover the pile 
 with meat, fruit, or cakes, to make a grand show 
 with little cost. 
 
 In the spring is a festival called “ Ts’ing-ming,” 
 “ pure and bright.” Then families meet, visit, and 
 bow down before the spirit supposed to be there. 
 Then, too, they provide them with food and money. 
 You may see poor men and women in the fields 
 carrying quantities of this paper money to the 
 graves of their departed loved ones. Then they 
 dress their idols in gay clothes, and carry them 
 in procession to give money to the poor ghosts 
 who have no friends. We see a long strip of yellow 
 paper, scalloped at both edges, fluttering from every 
 grave, with a stone on it to keep it from blowing 
 away. This represents strings of cash. Is not all 
 this sad, dear children ? These poor heathens know 
 not the sweet Bible words, “ They shall hunger no 
 more, neither thirst any more, neither shall the sun 
 light on them, nor any heat.” But they think that 
 those who have passed away are aU hungry and cold, 
 want houses and money just as they did on earth. 
 
 “ Happy they who trust in Jesus! 
 
 Sweet their portion is and sure.” 
 
 They know that He will take care of them when 
 
130 
 
 CHINA AND ITS PEOPLE. 
 
 they die, and that He is gone to prepare a glorious 
 home for them, where they shall be for ever happy ; 
 while to the poor, poor heathen all the future is 
 dark and sad. Superstition fills their hearts with 
 sorrow, and turns all God’s beautiful gifts into 
 causes of fear. Even the bright rainbow they 
 tliink is the work of an evil spirit, and they be- 
 lieve that if a person points at it, his finger will 
 be made crooked. They do not know that 
 
 “ ’Tis God who thus paints the fair heavenly how, 
 
 And sets it on high, His hless’d mercy to shew ; 
 
 He bids men look on it, and call then to mind 
 His promise so graciously made to mankind.” 
 
 Glad am I to tell you that there is a bright side, 
 just a gleam of sunshine on this dark picture. 
 Even in China there are some true believers in 
 the Lord Jesus Christ ! more than a thousand 
 now living, and many who, we trust, have fallen 
 asleep in Jesus. Chinese parents are often very 
 angry when their sons become Christians. They 
 know that their sons will not worship them when 
 they are dead, and they fear, therefore, that they 
 shall be in want. A poor Christian boy, in a 
 village near Euh-chau, was severely beaten by his 
 mother and elder brother. He bore it meekly; 
 and said only, “ Why do you beat me ? I cannot 
 
THE RELIGIONS OF CHINA. 
 
 131 
 
 turn again. If yon kill me, you wiU only send me 
 the sooner to my Saviour.” Some of these poor 
 people, so lately heathens, shew a simple faith 
 and ready obedience, which is very pleasing. A 
 poor man at Ningpo, who desired to be baptized, 
 was asked how he would be able to keep the Sab- 
 bath ^ He replied, “ It is our Father’s command, 
 and we. His children, must obey it.” He was a 
 servant, and soon lost his place by observing the 
 day of rest ; but God did not let him want. It 
 often causes grief to the missionaries that the 
 Chinese Christians are so slow to tell others about 
 the Saviour they have found. This is partly 
 owing to their apathetic disposition; but the 
 grace of God has made some of them very earnest 
 in trying to bring sinners to Christ. One whom 
 we know very well goes from house to house, and 
 tells of Jesus whenever he can get a hearing. He 
 is often abused and insulted, but he does not seem 
 to mind it. 
 
 Many men from the south of China have emi- 
 grated to Australia, to get work or dig for gold. 
 One of these, a young man, was employed as servant 
 in a family. He could speak English. In the house 
 was a truly Christian lady, who pitied the hea- 
 then man, and taught him &bout Jesus. He be- 
 
133 
 
 CHINA AND ITS PEOPLE. 
 
 lieved, was baptized, and tried to do what be could 
 to teach others. One of his countrymen heard 
 him preach, and was, by God’s blessing, led to 
 love Jesus too. Then these two young men re- 
 solved to return to China to spread the glad 
 tidings in their native land. When we were at 
 Amoy, they were studying the Holy Scriptures 
 with a dear missionary there. We hope by this 
 time they are employed in preaching the gospel. 
 A Chinese preacher once used the following parable 
 to shew the difference between the false systems 
 of his native land and the religion of Jesus Christ. 
 He supposed a poor man to have fallen down into 
 a pit; he struggled about in mud and water, but 
 the sides were so steep he could not get out. In 
 despair, he cried out for help, when a disciple of 
 Confucius, passing by, came and looked down 
 upon him. “ Ah ! my poor friend,” said he, “ I 
 am very sorry to see you there; I hope, if you 
 ever get out, you will take care not to fall in 
 again;” and he went his way. By and by, a 
 priest of Buddha came by, and hearing the cries, 
 also looked down. He said to the poor helpless 
 man, “ If you could raise yourself part of the 
 way, you might get hold of my hand, and perhaps 
 I could pull you out.” But he could not raise 
 
THE RELltJlONS OF CHINA. 
 
 133 
 
 himself a foot; so the priest also passed on. Then 
 a kind face bent over the well while still the poor 
 man cried, “ Oh, save me ! oh, help ! ” “I will,” 
 said a kind voice. “ Do as I bid you ; look up 
 to me.” He did so, and began to rise. “ Look 
 up; keep looking up to me,” said the voice ; and 
 higher and higher he rose, until, rejoicing in the 
 prospect of deliverance, he looked down to see 
 how far he had come, when, to his horror and 
 dismay, down he went to the bottom again. “ Oh, 
 why is this ? Oh, what shall I do he cried out 
 in an agony of distress. ‘‘ You did not do as I 
 bade you,” said the voice ; “ begin again, and look 
 steadily up to me.” 
 
 Thankfully he obeyed again; and ever as h« 
 looked he rose, higher and higher still, until, in 
 a transport of joy, he fell at his deliverer’s feet, 
 entreating to know what he should do to prove 
 his gratitude. “ Keep on doing all your life what 
 you have done just now. Look unto me.” Then 
 the man knew that his deliverance was not of 
 Confucius or Buddha, but of Jesus Christ. Was 
 not this a good illustration ? 
 
 “ None but Jesus 
 Can do helpless sinners good.” 
 
 There are in China many Komanists. In some 
 
134 
 
 CHINA AND ITS PEOPLE. 
 
 cities they have large schools, and orphan houses, 
 and many converts. About a hundred years ago 
 they were favoured on account of their scientific 
 knowledge, but were afterwards persecuted. When 
 the treaty of Peking was made, the French de- 
 manded that all the property which had been 
 taken from them should be restored. They have 
 claimed and received many good buildings. Some 
 of their missionaries are doubtless sincere and de- 
 voted men, and this makes us regret the more that 
 they do not know and teach the Word of God. 
 They usually adopt the native costume, and live 
 among the people. Their converts are mostly very 
 ignorant. They have a picture of the “ Lord of 
 heaven,” as they call our blessed Saviour, to hang 
 up in their houses instead of their former idols. 
 They are permitted to continue the worship of 
 their ancestors, and to work on the Sabbath, so 
 that the change is little more than in name. The 
 Romanists and Protestants in China are distin- 
 guished by the names of “ Tien-tsu-kiau” and 
 “ Yasoo-kiau,” the “religion of the heavenly 
 Lord,” and the “ religion of Jesus.” 
 
 When our two fellow-countrymen, Mr Parkes 
 and Mr Loch, were imprisoned by the emperor of 
 China, and cruelly loaded with chains, some of the 
 
THE RELIGIONS OF CHINA. 
 
 135 
 
 native prisoners in the same gaol were very kind 
 to them. 
 
 Mr Loch writes, Three were appointed to 
 watch and guard me, and at night one always sat 
 at the head of my bed. They helped me by carry- 
 ing my chain, by getting me water to wash my 
 face and hands, and by getting me a seat if I wanted 
 one.” Again, “ I was surprised to see the good 
 feeling that existed between all the prisoners ; 
 they seemed to feel for each other, and I have often 
 seen a man who had a little better food than his 
 neighbour, give him half.” Mr Parkes also states, 
 “ It was only from the prisoners that I obtained 
 sympathy or a hearing.” 
 
 About the same time, a young naval officer was 
 imprisoned with his boat’s crew, in a city towards 
 the south. They were barbarously treated by the 
 Tartar soldiers, often left without food for many 
 hours, and kicked as they lay sick and wounded 
 on the damp straw in their place of imprisonment. 
 Sometimes in the night, the soldiers would come 
 in with an executioner, arouse them from sleep, 
 and make signs that they were going to cut off 
 their heads ; then, after keeping them in suspense 
 for some time, they would let them lie down again. 
 But there was a little ray of Chinese kindness to 
 
136 
 
 CHINA AND ITS PEOPLE, 
 
 brighten this dark sad time. An old Chinese 
 doctor used to come from some distance to dress 
 their wounds, as long as the soldiers permitted 
 him to do so. After thirty days, the prisoners 
 were set free, and the doctor brought his pony 
 for the officer to ride down to the ship. 
 
 It was thought that the old Chinaman was a 
 Christian, for when he visited his patient, he used 
 to point upwards with a cheerful countenance ; and 
 though they understood not each other’s speech, 
 that simple sign was the means, in God^s provi- 
 dence, of keeping hope alive in the heart of the 
 poor suffering captive. “ Trust in your God and 
 Saviour, and all will come right,” was the language 
 of that uplifted finger. 
 
 Now, dear children, shall we be less kind than 
 the heathen ? Their poor souls are starving ; we 
 have the “ bread of life,” the knowledge of the 
 Lord Jesus Christ ; shall we not give it to them, 
 even as they shared their bread with their fellow- 
 prisoners ] They too are slaves to Satan, fast bound 
 in his cruel chains. Through God’s great mercy, 
 some of us are free ; shall we not try to shew them 
 the way to be made free also ? 
 
 “ K the Son shall make you free. 
 
 Then are ye free indeeii” 
 
THE RELIGIONS OP CHINA. 
 
 137 
 
 They are “weak and wounded, sick and sore;” 
 we know the Great Physician. Has He healed 
 you, dear ones ? If so, ask Him to have pity, too, 
 on those who see not their danger, who pray not 
 for themselves. Oh, let us all try to do what we 
 can for poor China ! Let us help to gather in a few 
 poor wanderers there, and look forward joyfuUy to 
 that glorious time, when 
 
 “ Jesus shall have dominion, 
 
 O’er river, sea, and shore — 
 
 Far as the eagle’s pinion 
 Or dove’s light wing can soar.” 
 
 THE END. 
 
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