tm THE Maratmie Provinces CHINA wilk the Iracli of a \'vya.M,l„„„rl,y„Voya,i,fim, anion to Slirmluiij J back W.H.MEUHVRS'l- ^'*JCt'""" CHINA; ITS STATE AND PROSPECTS, WITH ESPECIAL REFERENCE TO THE SPREAD OF THE GOSPEL; CONTAINING ALLUSIONS TO THE ANTiaUITY, EXTENT, POPULATION, CIVILIZATION, LITERATURE, AND RELIGION OF THE CHINESE. BY W. H. MEDHURST, Of the Lomlon Missionary Society. BOSTON: PUBLISHED BY CROCKER & BREWSTER, 47, Washington Street. Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1838, BY CROCKER & BREWSTER, In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of Massachusetts. DS 709 ^6 c INTRODUCTION. The writer of the present volume was sent out by the London Missionary Society, in 1816, to labor for the benefit of China. The fundamental principle of this Institution is, that " its design is not to send Presbyterianism, Indepen- dency, Episcopacy, or any other form of church order or government, about which there may be a difference of opinion among serious Christians, but the glorious Gos- pel of the blessed God, to the heathen ; leaving it to the minds of the persons whom God may call into the fellow- ship of his Son from among them, to assume for them- selves such form of church government, as to them shall appear most agreeable to the word of God. " In conformity with this principle, no question was ever asked, or direction given to the author, as to his personal views of church government; or what form of ecclesiastical polity he should adopt, in the event of his labors being successful abroad. After residing at Ma- lacca and Penang for several years, he settled in Batavia, where he collected a congregation, and built a chapel, for the worship of Almighty God. In conducting the IV INTRODUCTION. services of the sanctuary, he invited and obtained the as- sistance of Gospel ministers from various communions ; and when a church was formed, the members who joined it, drew up and signed a constitution ; in which, after stating their belief in the Inspired Oracles, as the only sure ground of faith and practice, they acknowledged the standards of the English, Scotch, and Dutch Reformed Churches, as exhibiting those views of Christian doc- trine, which they considered the most in accordance with the revealed will of God. Based on this broad principle, the society of Christians thus collected together, though originally of different communions, consented to lay aside their denominational prejudices, and unite on the safe ground of our common Christianity; while Episcopalian, Presbyterian, Baptist, and Independent ministers alter- nated with each other in the performance of religious services, and the celebration of the holy sacraments. The native church connected with the mission has been established on the same principle. Should the author, and his esteemed coadjutors, ever succeed in introducing Christianity extensively into China, they purpose spending their utmost energies in spreading the simple Gospel through that important empire, without wasting themselves in dissensions on non-essential points, which have so long and unhappily divided the Christian world. It is on this ground alone, that they can confidently look for the blessing of the great head of the church, and claim the countenance and co-operation of Christians of every name. So great is the work, and so feeble the energies that can be brought to bear on it, that we have no time "to fall out by the way ;" and it is a pleasing feature of the protestant mis- sion to China, that hitherto the agents of various socie- ties, the members of different communions and the repre^ INTRODUCTION. V sentatives of distant hemispheres, have consented to merge their national and denominational prejudices, and to join heart and hand in making known the great doc- trine of justification by faith, to the sceptical and super- stitious Chinese. May brotherly love continue ; and may one strenuous and persevering effort be made, till the millions of China be brought under the influence of Christianity ! But it is necessary that the author should give some account of the origin and nature of the following work. Having been called upon in the year 1816, to undertake a journey along the north-east coast of China, in order to ascertain whether or not that country was open to the Gospel ; and having kept a record of passing events, he contemplated on his return, the publication of a journal, with some brief remarks on the situation of foreigners in Canton, and the state of the native Christian community there. In the course of his tour through England, how- ever, to plead the cause of missions, he found it necessary to dilate more at large on the political, moral, and spirit- ual condition of the Chinese; and to relate in order the efforts that have been made for their evangelization. These statements having been listened to with some interest, and awakened a sympathy on behalf of China, the thought suggested itself, that possibly, the feeling thus created might be extended and perpetuated by a publication, embracing the general state of China; and its STATE and prospects, with especial reference to the DIFFUSION of the Gospel. The most important feature in the condition of that country is its population ; about which so many different opinions have been held, and for the benefit of which Christian missionaries so ardently long and labor. The question of amount, therefore, is discussed, and the sug- 1* VI INTRODUCTION. gestion thrown out, that probably the highest census given of the Cliinese people is the right one. Their civilization and political state, next demand attention; and some references are made to their singular language, and the state of education among them. As we contem- plate the introduction of a new religion into the country, it is natural to inquire, what are their present views of divine and eternal things ; and to shew the defects of their own systems, as a prelude to the recommendation of another. Before treating on the recent efforts of protest- ants to evangelize China, it was thought necessary to allude to the previous exertions of other missionaries ; and therefore the devoted, self-denying, and persevering labors of Syrian, Nestorian, and catholic Christians, are briefly enumerated. The missions to Canton, the Straits, and Batavia, are then severally described ; and the at- tempts to carry the Gospel by means of Scriptures and tracts, along the coast of China, are delineated. This review is concluded by appeals for more agents, and in- creased facilities for the vigorous prosecution of the work ; as it is only when we use the appointed means, that we can consistently look for the Divine blessing on our labors. The short time that could be spared for preparing this work for publication, must necessarily have occasioned many defects, in point of style and arrangement. Sent forth when very young on this important mission, occu- pied during his whole stay abroad in studying foreign and difficult languages, and accustomed to write and speak for the benefit of the Mahoraedans and heathens, it can hardly be expected that the author should be skilled in European composition. Public engagemeuts, for the first year after his return to England, called him inces- santly from liome : and it was only during the retirement INTRODUCTION. VU of the last winter, that he has had the least opportunity for arranging his thoughts on the subject now discussed. Being about to quit his native country during the present summer, to revisit the scene of his former labors, it was necessary that he should begin to print, almost as soon as he began to write, in order to have the book published before his departure. He must cast himself, therefore, on the indulgence of the public, hoping that the circum- stances under which the information contained in this volume has been collected and communicated, will be a sufficient apology for the many omissions, and incongrui- ties, which may appear. The critic will perhaps survey with a lenient eye, the productions of the foreign mission- ary, who by his residence abroad, in regions where the human mind has been long stationary, has not been able to keep pace with the improving spirit of the age. Any observations, however, on his matter or manner, made in kindness and candor, will be thankfully received, and should the work reach a second edition, be carefully im- proved upon. Some discrepancy may appear between the diffusive- ness of the first few chapters, and the conciseness of other parts of the work; but it is honestly confessed, that finding the matter grow upon his hands, the author was obliged to condense before he had reached the middle of the volume, and to leave out many interesting particulars, regarding his own travels in the Malayan archipelago, in order to introduce what had more especial reference to the evangelization of China. Some difference of style will also appear between the descriptive and narrative parts of the publication ; but it was thought better to give the views and impressions of the moment, than to abridge them of their interests, by presenting them in a more labored style. VUl INTRODUCTION. As it is, with all its imperfections, the author commits his production to the candor of the benevolent reader, and the blessing of Almighty God; hoping that this fee- ble attempt will be instrumental in awakening an interest on behalf of China, and in promoting the spread of the Gospel in that populous and interesting empire. In conclusion, the author would gratefully acknowledge the assistance kindly afforded him by the Rev. Drs. Reed and Burder, of Hackney; while he would state the obli- gation he is under to the following works, which he has consulted in the course of his labors; viz., Sadler's Law of Population, Milne's Retrospect, the Chinese Gleaner and Repository, Morrison's Dictionary, and View of China for Philological Purposes, Du Halde's History of China, and the Reports and Chronicles of the London Missionary Society, Hackney, May 1, 1838. CONTENTS. CHAPTER I. CHRONOLOGY AND EXTENT. Page. The Evangelization of Ciiina contemplated — General scope of the subject — Antiquity of China — partly fabulous — not credited by Chinese writers — The traditionary period — The ante and postdilu- vian ages — The historical period — The seven years famine — The Chinese Sampson — The magnetic needle — Confucius — Laou Tsze — The burning of the Books — The building of the wall — Subse- quent dynasties — The cycle — Sketch of Chinese Chronology — The dominions of China— Original possessions small— Territories en- larged — The annexation of Tartary 14 CHAPTER n. PROBABLE POPULATION. The question of population interesting to the Philosopher, the Politi- cian, the Merchant, and the Christian — The possibility and proba- bility of a large population, argued from the fertility of the soil — the extcnsiveness of the cultivation — The paucity of the roads — The manner of disposing of the dead — The encouragement given to agriculture — The industry of the inhabitants — The Skill of the hus- bandman — The economy in food, dress, and dwellings, — con- trasted with the scarcity of provisions — and want of feeling — Emi- gration with its difficulties — Bounty on the importation of rice — In- fanticide — its prevalence — Foundling hospitals — Conclusion . . 29 CHAPTER HI. CENSUS OF THE POPULATION. Testimony of the catholic missionaries — and Chinese authorities — 'J'he law of the census and the way of taking it — The reason for so doing — its credibility — the diflercnt accounts reconciled — increase X CONTENTS. Page. accounted for — increase sketched — Amiot's estimate — Grosier's Morrison's — and Sir G. Staunton's — comparison of the whole — whicli most to be depended on— tiie discrepancies of some — the most credible census— The revenue of China — and its light pres- sure on the people .......... 49 CHAPTER IV. REFLECTIONS ON THE POPULATION. Their overwhelming- numbers — Their sinful condition — the work of Evangelizing them ditficult — dependence on Divine aid — The dif- fusive character of the Gospel — Encouragement drawn from the uniformity of their government, language, morals, and sentiment Their extending population — only checked by Europeans — and the introduction of opium — The effect of opium smoking — its rapid in- crease — Chinese laws against it — Memorial of a mandarin — Ex- tent of Smuggling — Appeal to the opium merchant — and the East India Company — Demoralizing effect of the drug — Remonstrance to the government of Great Britain 67 CHAPTER V. THE CIVILIZATION OF CHINA. Comparative civilization — Soliloquy of a Chinese — Native politeness —displayed in conversation — and daily intercourse — Genius of the Chinese — Discovery of the compass — The art of printing — The in- vention of Gunpowder — The sciences — Astronomy — Botany- Med- icine — Surgery — the Arts — Painting — Engraving — Manufacture of silk — Porcelain — Paper — Lackered ware — Metals — Conclusion . 87 CHAPTER VI. GOVERNMENT AND LAWS. The empire united — The government based on parental authority— The emperor supreme — The ministers of state — The tribunals — of civil office — of revenue — of rites — of war — of punishments — of pub- lic works — The ccnsorate — The national institute — The laws of China — their character — Civil laws— -Fiscal regulations — Ritual enactments — Military arrangements — Criminal code — Directions about National improvements — Imperial palace — The forbidden en- closure — The gardens and pavilions — The northern city — the southern 106 CHAPTER VII. LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE. Origin of language — Hieroglyphics — Phonetic characters — Chinese mode of recording events— Six classes of Characters— Number of CONTENTS. XI Page. Symbols — reducible to few elements — Modes of writing — Question about Egyptian origin — Porcelain bottle — Inscription explained — Date ascertained — Chinese classics — Authorizea Commentaries — Esteemed works — Heterodox productions — Oral Language — Mon- osyllabic mode of spelling — initials and finals — variety of tones- collocation of phrases— Chinese Grammar — Figures of speech- Poetry — Literary examinations — Honorary degrees — A^illage in- spection — First-^second — third — and fourth examinations— Effort necessary — Advantages and disadvantages of the system . . 126 CHAPTER VHL THE RELIGIONS OF CHINA. Three systems of Religion — Confucius — his life — moral and political opinions — Notions about Heaven — and the Supreme — His theory of the universe — The two powers of nature — The diagrams — Scheme of metaphysics — Material Trinity — Ideas of spiritual be- ings — of the future world — and of human nature — The religion of Taou — Eternal reason — Incarnations of it — Philosopher's stone — Ghosts and channs — Treading on fire — Demoniacal possessions — Magic arts — Religion of Buddha — History of its founder — Entrance into China — Buddhist temples — Meditation on Buddha — Repetition of his name — Absorption of a blacksmith — Form of prayer — Com- passion to animals — Feeding hungry ghosts — Paper money — and nouses — Scrambling for holy food — Doctrine of annihilation — despised by the Confucians-^Resemblance to the Catholics — Re- view of the three systems 152 CHAPTER IX. CATHOLIC MISSIONS IN CHINA. The Gospel designed for the world^Early diffusion in India and China — Ancient intercourse — The marble tablet — its contents — its authenticity — Efforts of the Nestorians — and of the Catholics — Mis- sion of Xavier — Arrival of Ricci — his journey to the capital — his success — Christian mandarin — his daughter Candida — Death of Ricci — Arrival of Schaal — Illustrious converts — Arrival of Verbi- est — Persecutions — Revival— Cannon cast by the missionaries- Patronage of the French king — Death of Verbicst — New persecu- tions — again allayed — Disputes among the missionaries — Papal Bulls — Romish Legates — Failure of negotiations — Expulsion of the missionaries — New efforts — present stale — number of converts — • Mode of operations — Character of the Catholic missionaries — and their adherents — Conclusion o « . 182 CHAPTER X. PROTESTANT MISSION TO CANTON. Mission projected— Want of information — Morrison appointed — sails for Canton — Mode of livinpr there — Pious breathings — Extreme Xil CONTENTS. Page. caution — MarriaffC and appointment — religious services — Printing commenced — Aclverse edict — Arrival of Milne — Voyage to Java — New Testament completed — Baptism of a Convert — Genesis printed — Removal of Milne — Embassy to Peking — Old Testament completed— character of the translation — Dictionary finished — Mor- rison visits England — Presented to the king — Reception by the So- ciety — Returns to China — Labors of Afah — his letter — Baptism of Teen Ching — Agan^ — and Choo Tsing — Death of Morrison — Per- secutions of Afah — Proclamation of the magistrate — Afah's account — Conclusion 206 CHAPTER XI. MISSION TO CANTON, CONTINUED. Situation of foreigners in Canton — Surveillance of the Hong-mer- chants — and Compradores — Confinement — and insult — Restrictions on mission.aries — Study of the native language prohibited — Difficul- ties of printing native books — Mode of obviating them — State of Macao — How far open to missionary operations — Inquiry after na- tive Converts — The literary graduate — Tlic printers — The family of Afah — Agang and his son — Edict of the emperor — Commission of incjuiry — Us fate — Missionaries not involved — Need of caution^ Little interest in behalf of Canton — Recommendations . . .230 CHAPTER XH. THE MISSION TO MALACCA. Resolutions regarding Malacca — Occupation of the station by Mr. Milne — Baptism of Afah — his experience — arrival of the author and other brethren — Schools — Tracts — and Translations — Anglo-Chi- nese college — Various labors — Rescue of a Malay family — Death of Milne — Morrison visits Malacca — Arrival of Kidd — Visit of the Deputation — Death of Collie — Baptism of a Malay slave — and a Chinese youth — Tomlin's superintendence — Arrival of Evans — Fresh baptisms — Dyer joins the mission — ]Morc encouragement^ Twenty individuals baptised— Ten more added — their experience Mission to Penang — Station at James Town — Labors of Dyer — Mission to Singapore — Joined by the American missionaries . 2-t9 CHAPTER XHL MISSION TO BATAVIA. First throe missionaries — Suppers labors — Slater's misfortunes — The author's arrival — .Schools — Printing — and other exertions — Chris- tian village — Conversations with heathen — Malay Judge — Napo- leon's picture — Visit of the Deputation — Desultory labors — Tract against the missionary — Journey to Soerabaya — The Tanggar Moimtains — Japanese books — Chinese preaching — Ironical argu- ments — Communication of the Gospel — Work on Chronology — Javanese types — Journey to Paliang — Tringano^Klintan — Pata- CONTENTS. XIU Page, ni — and Songora — Voyage to Ponliaiiak — State of Borneo — Chi- nese under convictions — anutiior incensed — Visit to Bali — Erec- tion of the Chapel — Preaching to convicts — Accessions to the Church — BajDtism of soldiers — Covenant with the Dyaks — Bap- tism of a Chinese ,,........ 266 CHAPTER XIV. VOVAGES UP THE COAST OF CHINA. Summary of missionary attempts in the Colonies — Desire to benefit the mother country — GutzlatiPs voyages — Different views — Anxiety for more information — Author's arrival in Canton — Discussion re- garding opium vessels — Reasons for not embarking in them — as disreputaljle — inconvenient, and involving the missionary in diffi- culty — The propriety of hiring a vessel, or purchasing a missionary ship— Offer of the Huron — Preparations for departure . . . 291 CHAPTER XV. NARRATIVE OF THE VOYAGE. Embarkation — Apprehension of a storm — Water-spouts — Chinese ideas of them — Voyage up the Yellow Sea — Arrival at Shan-tung and VVei-hae — First landing — Visit of the Mandarins on board — Second lauding — Difficulties in the v/a>' — Discussions on the beach — Adjournment to the temple — Excursion to the interior — Amica- ble conlcrence — Eagerness for books — Ramble over the island of Lew-kung-taou — Visit to a peaceable village — Second day's opera- lions — A burial ground — Description of the villages — and state of the countrj- — Curiosity of the people — Quiet distribution of books — Anxiety for more — Attention to preaching — second visit of the mandarins on board — Summary 307 CHAPTER XVI. PROCEEDINGS AT KE-SAN-SO. Providential deliverance — Evcnis on landing — Suspicions of the peo- ple — Arrival at the town — Eagerness for books — Dispute with an officer — A temple and a stage — Permission to purchase provisions — Tour through ihe villages — Objections of a Confucian — Hospi- tality of a peasant — Rapid distribution of books — A Chinese fort — Excursion to an adjoining bay — Exhibition of an armed force — In- vitation of the mandarins — Second visit to the town — anxiety to see the strangers — Discussion about ceremonies — Introduction to the principal mandarins — Eticjuelte observed — Questions jjroposed^ Objections to our enterprise — Advice of the General — Discussion about presents — Conversation on politics — Magisterial dignity and meanness — Presents received and return made — Disturbances on board 327 B XIT CONTENTS. CHAPTER XVII. PROCEEDINGS ON THE SOUTH OF SHAN-TUNG. Page. Voyage round the promontory — Landing at Tsing-hae — State of the town and defences — Interviews with the people — and mandarins — Excursion through the villages — Simplicity of the natives — Calm- ness of the women — Voyage prosecuted — A second landing — An- noying interferences — Suspicions of the inhabitants — Solitary jour- ney — Interesting group of villagers — V^arious adventures — A new harbor discovered — Visit to Nan-liung — Inquiries and alarms — A Chinese fort described — Geological formation — Disposition of the natives — and reception of the missionaries — Dress and habits of the men — Appearance of the women — their dwellings — Temples and cemeteries — Productions of the soil — Domestic animals — State of the people — Reflections 349 CHAPTER XVIII. PROCEEDINGS IN KEANG-SOO PROVINCE. Voyage to the southward— Arrival at Woo-sung — Appearance of the country — Reception on shore — Journey to Shaiig-hae — Inter- view with the officers — Books distributed — Arrival of the chief magistrate — Refusal to stand before him — Discussion about cere- monies — Reasons for decision — Attempt to enter the city — Un- pleasantness at parting — Operations among the junks — Remarks on Woo-sung — and its inhabitants — Arrival of a general — Description of the military — and fortifications — Visit of ons mandarin — Cun- ningness of another — Unsuccessful voyage — Pleasant tour — The people eager for books — and the soldiers for gain — Diliiculties and disa])pointmcnts ........ 3G5 CHAPTER XIX. OCCURRENCES IN CHE-KEANG AND FUH-KEEN. Departure from Keang-soo — and arrival at Kin-tang — Visit of war- boats — Operations on shore — Perishing boy — Procecdinors at Choo- san — Eagerness for books — Coffins scattered about — 'Voyage to Poo-too — Picturesque appearance of the island — its consecration to idolatry— Descriptions of the temples — Character of the priests — Conversation with naval officers — Liberal views of a mandarin Providential escape — Airival at Nan-yih — Appearance of the wo- men — The town of Tung-san — Free distribuiion — Disorderlv con- duct of a mandarin — and subsequent alarm — Surpiise of the people —Return . . . 339 CHAPTER XX. SUBSEQUENT OCCURRENCES. Restrictive policy of the Chinese — Exclusion of foreigners — Anger at their intrusion — Edict against the Huron — Appeal to the British CONTENTS, XV Page, authorities — Complaints ajainst the English — Disapprobation of our books — Threat of stopping the trade — Late voyage of Gulzlutl"— Tung-san bay — Description of the country and its inhabitants- Barren regions — Extensive valley — Mountain ridge — Deserted vil- lage — Intestine broils — Chinese temple — Fertile spot — Populous cit}- — Ravenous laborers — Character of the mandarins — Tsin-kang district — Eagerness for books — Visit to Amoey — Anxiety for more laborers 405 CHAPTER XXI. CLASS OF LABORERS REQUIRED FOR CHINA. CoiTiparative claims of China — Need of more laborers — for the colo- nies — and the coast — Ofl'ers Invited — Objections met — regarding the climate — and the language — The oral and written mediums — compared with the English — Exhortations to engage — Educational agents needed — Schools for school-masters required — Pious phj'- sicians — Efforts already made — Ophthalmic hospital — More prac- titioners wanted — The probability of their success — Speech of Sir H.Halford — Moral influence of ph3'sicians — deference paid Ihcm — Interesting anecdote — Importance of medicine to missionaries- Inferiority of Chinese practice — Union of the clerical and medical professions — Persons who should offer ..... 423 CHAPTER XXH. DESIDERATA FOR THE CHINESE MISSION. Translation of the Scriptures — Difficulties in the way — Efforts already made — Need of a revision — Opinions of Chinese converts — and European students — Resolution of the Bible and missionary socie- ties — Steps to be taken — Importance of the subject — Chinese print- ing — Moveable types — Mode of jireparation — Necessity of punch- cutling — and casting — Dyer's fount — Parisian type-founding — Va- rious cost of block, stone and metal type printing — with the advan- tages and disadvantages of xylography — Lithography — and typog- raphy — Superiority and importance of the latter — Missionary ship — Concluding appeal 440 ILLUSTRATIONS. PAGE. Map of the Maritime Provinces of China .... Title. Summary Execution 106 Judicial Process ......... ib. Buddhist Priest on a Stage 152 Service in a Chinese Temple ib. Chinese Fort 327 Gu.ird-room witli Soldiers ib. CHINA: ITS STATE AND PROSPECTS. CHAPTER I. CHRONOLOGY AND EXTENT. The evangelization of China contemplated — General scope of the subject— Antiquity of China — Partly fabulous — Not credited by Chinese writers — The traditionary period — The ante and post- diluvian ages — The historical period — The seven years famine— The Chinese Sampson — The magnetic needle — Confucius — Laou Tsze — The burning of tiie books — The building of the wall — Subsequent Dynasties — The Cycle — The dominions of China — Original possessions small — Territories enlarged — The annexation of Tartary. Before entering on the prospects of China with regard to the ultimate diffusion of the Go.', the Chinese write, that "he ruled the peo- ple gently, and abolished oppressions, complying with the predilections of the multitude, so that all parties reverted to him. In his days, the seven years drought occurred; the principal scribe observed, that prayer should be offered up. Ching-tang said, '1 only wish for rain on account of the people. If prayer will avail, I will present it myself!' He then fasted, and cut off his hair and nails, riding in a mourning chariot; and bind- ing white reeds around him, that he might represent a sacrificial animal, he went forth to the wilderness of mulberry-bushes, and invoked, saying, 'Let not the lives of the people be forfeited, on account of the neglect of one individual 1' He then acknowledged his six faults, saying, 'Is it that my government is extravagant? or that the people are not properly attended to? or that my pala- ces are too lofty 1 or that my ministers are too numerous? or that presents are too frequently sent? or that syco- phants abound?' He had scarcely ceased, when the rain fell, to the distance of several thousand furlongs." At the close of this dynasty, B. C. 1153, the tyrant Chow presided over the empire; he is said to have been endowed with supernatural strength, so as to be able to conquer the fiercest beasts, and yet he was deluded and ruined through the f iscinations and extravagances of a wretched woman. It is very remarkable, that the age of this individual should agree so exactly with that assigned, in sacred history, to Sampson. The founders of -the third dynasty are descril)ed as virtuous, patriotic, and brave, extenninatiug the tyrant of the preceding dynasty, and scatt(;ring the wealth and provisions whicli he had accumulated among a starving people. About this time, B. C 1121, foreign ainbassa- 20 CONFUCIUS, dors came, from the modern Cochin-Chin a, to court, presenting a white pheasant to the emperor : on return- ing they missed their way, when the prime minister fur- nished them with a "south-pointing ciiariot," by means of which they reached tlieir own country, after a year's journey. Thus we see that the polarity of the needle was known and applied to useful purposes in China, at that early period. In the twenty-first year of the emperor Ling, of the third dynasty, B. C. 541), Confucius was born, in the state of Loo, now the province of Shan tung. He had a remarkably high forehead, on which account his name was called Kew, or "hill." One of ihe nobles of his native state, when on his death-bed, addressed his pos- terity, saying, "Confucius is a descendant of the sages, and must certainly und(;rstand human nature; when I am deal, let my children repair to him for instruction." When Confucius was in the Chow country, he went to Laon-tsze to inquire about propriety. Laou-tsze said, "a clever merchant conceals his stock, and appears empty; so an advanced scholar puts on the appearance of stupidity." Confucius, addressing his disciples, said, "There is soniething remarkable about Laou-tsze." When he was nearly fifty years of age, the ruler of his native state. Loo, employed him to govern a certain dis- trict : he had not been thus engaged above a year, when the surrounding nobles began to imitate him. His sovereign said, "Had I not better follow your example in the government of the Loo country? ' Confucius replied, "witii such principles you miglit p:icify the \vorld, how much more the Loo country." In a few years Confucius became the prime minister of his sovereign; but seeing his prince carried away with the love of women and music, he resigned his office and tjuitted Loo. At the age of seventy-five, he died. The writings compiled by Confucius and his followers are the most ancient Chinese records that have been handed down to the present time. Some of these are, professedly, collections of earlier documents, and refer to the traditionary period of Yaou and Shun, as well as to the times of Wan Wang, B. C. 1120; but it is more than probable, that some of the odes and speeches, collected by Confucius, were merely AND LAOU-TSZE. 21 traditionary notices, found in the mouths of bards and statesmen, and not documents actually committed to writing before his time. Confucius' history of his own times, commences with the reign of the emperor Ping, B. C. 720, and is as much to be depended on as the recitals of the Greek and Roman historians ; — it not only bears on itself the stamp of credibility, but laid the foundation of all the subsequent historical works which China has produced The well known "Four Books" are written by the followers of Confucius, and contain an account of the sayings and doings of the sage and his immediate disciples, something sioiilar to our Gospels and Acts, or as has been observed, corresponding to Boswell's Life of Johnson. It is very singular, that China should have given birth, at the same time, to two remarkable men, differing essentially in their doctrines and views, each the founder of a system of religion and morals, which has overspread and divided China, from their days to the present time. These individuals have been already referred to, viz. Confucius and Laou-tsze, and their interview with each other recorded. Though they seem to have had respect for each other, yet they do not appear to have combined or coalesced in the plans they laid down for the instruc- tion of posterity. Of Confucius it is said, that he never spoke of the strange and marvellous, and sought to fix men's attention on the duties of the human relations; while the other inculcated a contempt for worldly great- ness and domestic happiness — placing the chief good in mental abstraction, and professing to deal much with the spiritual world. The one erred in being too sceptical, and the other in being too superstitious; yet they have both retained their hold of the mind of China, even to the present day, and it is difficult now to say, which sys- tem is most prevalent throughout the empire. About the same period. Buddhism arose in India; and though it did not immediately spread into the ultra Gan- getic nations, it diffused itself rapidly on its subsequent introduction, and now exerts as great an influence over the minds of the vulgar, as the other two sects do over the learned and the superstitious. 22 THE BUILDING OF THE WALL. A little more than two hundred years before the CLii&iiaii era, China became suijject to a fourth dynasty, called Tsin, from which Chin, or China, the name by which that country is known in the western world, is probably derived. The ruler of Tsin conceived the insane idea of establishing a dynasty, which should ex- tend from the beginning to the end of time. With this view, he collected and burnt all the records of previous ages, and buried alive four hundred and sixty learned men, wishing to make posterity believe that the dominion of the world commenced with himself, the first universal emperor of China. The object of obliterating all remem- brance of antiquity was, however, defeated by the subse- quent discovery of the books of Confucius, in the wainscot of an old house; and the intention of perpetuating his rule to succeeding generations was also frustrated by the demise of his son, only two years after his own death, by which means the empire passed into other hands, and his dynasty became extinct. Though the writings of Confu- cius were recovered, yet they were much injured, and in many parts, defective ; which has greatly detracted from the integrity, intelligibility, and, in the opinion of some, from the credibility of the whole. During the life-time of this monarch, the famous Chi- nese wall was erected, in order to keep out the Tartars, who then infested the northern frontier. Almost every third man was drafted, throughout the empire, for the accomplishment of this undertaking, and being but poorly supplied with provisions, many of them died in the work. Hence the Chinese call it "The ruin of one generation, and the salvation of thousands." However true the first part of this sentence may be, the latter is not so exactly correct, as the Tartars have several times invaded China, notwithstanding their wall, and are now in possession of the empire. Still it is a stupendous work, .--tretching over fifteen hundred miles of country, crossing hills and rivers, and provided with gates and towers, at certain intervals, so that if well manned and guarded, in a country where artillery is seldom employed, it might still be serviceable in keeping out an enemy, were not the dreaded Tartar hordes now on both sides of the wall, and in possession of the palaces and capital THE CHINESE CYCLE. 23 of the empire. The name of the first ruler of the Tsin dynasty is, however, held in detestation by the Chinese. Since the days of Tsin, a succession of dynasties have swayed the destinies of China : among the most cele- brated of which are Han, Tang, Sung, and Ming, with the two Tartar dynasties Yuen and Tsing. The dynasty Han, lasting from B. C. 205 to A. D. 226, is distin- guished for the military prowess and courage at that time displayed ; henct; the Chinese are still fond of calling themselves sons of Han. After the downfall of this race of kings, six smaller dynasties followed, of whom little remarkable is recorded. During the Tang dynasty, from A. D. 620 to 906, learning vvas extensively culti- vated, and the literary examinations were then first es- tablished. Between the age of Tang and Sung, five smaller dynasties intervened, during which period print- ing was invented by one Fung-taou, A. D. 924; while the practice of binding the feet of women appears to have commenced about the same time. At the close of the Sung dynasty, A. D. 1275, Marco Paulo, the Venetian traveller, visited China. While the Mongolian Tartars had possession of China, the grand canal was dug, which proved of such incalculable service to the empire; and the Yellow River was brought back to its former bed, by which means much land was brought under cultiva- tion, and former inundations prevented. Under the reign of the Ming dynasty, from A. D. 1368 to A. D. 1643, the Portuguese visited China, and settled themselves at Macao. The present Tartar race have possessed the throne one hundred and ninety-four years. To the above brief allusions to the principal events of Chinese history, a regular list of Chinese emperors will be added in the Appendix, with some of the remark- able occurrences of each successive dynasty. This list is made up from the Kang-kcen-e-che, a Chinese his- torical work, and is calculated according to the cycle of sixty years, compared with the eras of the western world, that both the Chinese scholar and the European reader may be alike assisted in refi;rring to it. Some explana- tion of the cycle will be required, for those who wish to consult the list. Tiiis mode of reckoning has been adopted by the Chinese from the commencement of their 24 ORIGIN OF THE CYCLE. monarchy. They ascribe its invention to Hwang-te, who lived in the traditionary period, before the flood of Yaou. The latter is said to have commenced his reign in the forty-first year of the fifth cycle, while the cycle itself is said to have begun with the sixty-first year of the reign of Hwang-te. During the period anterior to Yaou, however, the events of history, in Chinese books, are not marked by the years of the cycle, while subsequent to Yaou's accession, every important occurrence is care- fully noted down by the appropriate horary character, so that a student can easily ascertain the date of any given event, by a reference to this mode of calculation. The inference, therefore, is, that the cycle was not known before Yaou, if so early; and that the assumption of the forty-first year of the fifth cycle, for the accession of that monarch is merely arbitrary, for the sake of fixing the date of subsequent, rather than of preceding events. The sixty years of the cycle are made out by joining ten horary characters, called the "ten celestial stems," with twelve others, called the "twelve terrestrial branches." These united together, of course, exhibit an excess of two branches, after every ten stems, which being carried over to the next row, vary the associations, until the ten stems are repeated six times, thus forming sixty: when the process has to begin again. The origin of the ten stems may be ascribed to the ten digits, and of the twelve branches, to the twelve signs of the zodiac, which are to be met with in all primitive nations of antiquity, and are supposed, by some, to be antediluvian. Indeed, the twelve stems, are, in calendars and astronomical books, used for the signs of the zodiac, beginning with Aquarias. As the characters, denoting these twelve branches, have little or no signifiation in themselves, the common peo- ple, in order to remember them the more easily, have attached to each branch-character another word, with the meaning of which they are familiar; as mouse, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, sheep, monkey, pig, fowl, and dog, which were, probably, the ancient terms for the Chinese signs of the zodiac: so that the supposi- tion that they were, originally, derived from that source, is not altogether without foundation. The Chinese make frequent use of these horary characters in the notation of THE DOMINIONS OF CHINA. 25 time, not only as designating 3'ears, but months, days, and hours. Thus tliere are in each year, twelve months, and three hundred and sixty days; while in each day there are twelve hours, all exhibiting numbers easily denoted by peculiar modifications of twelve. These characters are frequently used in designating the age of individuals, and most requisite in calculating destinies; while in chronological matters, they form the only safe method of denoting time. The history of China exhibits many traits of human character, and a variety of incidents that would well repay the perusal. It was thought sufficient, however, in the present work, merely to allude to the system of chronology adopted by that people, partly to remove an erroneous notion entertained by some, that the Chinese boast of a chronology extending through an almost in- definite period, and partly to establish the fact, tiiat, ex- clusive of their fabulous and traditionary periods, they do possess a series of historical records, extending back to the very first ages of the world, agreeing, in many im- portant points, with the astronomical and chronological calculations of the West, and entitled, in some degree, to confidence and credit. It will not be unsuitable now to call the attention of the reader to the dominions which have been possessed by these successive dynasties. A glance at the map of China Proper, exhibits it as bounded on the south and east, by the ocean; on the west, by Thibet and the desert; and on the north, by the great wall. Two mighty rivers are seen rising, nearly togeth.er, in the mountains of the west, one flowing north and the other south; and, after a lengthened and tortuous course, approaching each other nearly about the centre of China, from whence they flow side by side, till they empty themselves into the eastern sea, not far from each other; the one is called lioang-ho, or the Yellow River, and the other, Yang-tsze-keang, or the Child of the Ocean. At the first settlement of the Chinese in their patri- archal regions, they doubtless occupied but a small por- tion of that space which they now call their own. The first part of the country possessed by their primeval an- cestors, soon after the dispersion, was that portion of 3 26 TERRITORIES ENLARGED. territory now included in the provinces of Shan-se and Shen-se, on the banks of the Yellow River, just after it crosses the great wall ; or the north-western part of China Proper. Here the land was laid out in portions which were divided into nine equal squares, the outer allotments of which were cultivated by eight separate husbandmen, while the middle plot was wrought by the united strength of the whole, and the proceeds given up for the service of the state. As the population increased, they spread themselves farther eastward, occupying the lands that lie between the Yellow River and the modern wall, as far as the sea; until, in the time of Confucius, the whole of tlie territory north and south of the Yellow River, as far as the Yang-tsze-keang, was inhabited by tribes speaking the same language, and adopting the same customs, separated into different states, and ac- knowledging one federal head. In process of time, these were all brought under the dominion of Tsin, and the foundation of that empire was laid, which has been long known to the western world, under the appellation of Sin, Chin, and Ciiina. It was long, however, before the emperors of China extended their sway over the tribes lying to the soutli of the Yang-tsze-keang, and, for many ages, the provinces of Fuh-keen, Canton, Kwang-se, Yun-nan, and Kwei-chow", were in a state of barbarism, scarcely submitting to the Chinese yoke, and deriving little benefit from the civilizing influence of their north- ern neighbors. Education, however, and superior tactics, gradually won over the southern states, and the emperors of China became lords of all within the wall and the ocean, and extended their influence from the desert to the eastern sea. Having thus far progressed, China was soon enabled to enlarge her territories by that which generally cir- cumscribes dominion. She spread, not by conquering, but by being conquered. For many ages, the effemi- nate Cliinese had been exposed to the incursions of the Tartar hordes, whicii infested their northern border. To keep out these, the great wall was built, but built in vain. First, under the Monguls, and, subsequently, under the Manciiows, the Tartar race invaded the terri- tory, and ascended the throne of China. In this, how- PRESENT EXTENT. 27 ever, the superiority of knowledge over ignorance — of civilization over barbarism — has been apparent. Men- cius, a Chinese philosopher, who flourished before the Christian era, has a passage in his works to the follow- ing effect; "I have heard of barbarians being improved by the Chinese, but I never heard of the Chinese being improved by barbarians." Thus the Tartars, after sub- jugating China, instead of altering its institutions, and changing its maxims of government, conformed them- selves to the customs and laws already existing in the country, and were, in fact, subdued by the Chinese: while China remained what China was, having only changed its rulers, and gained a great accession of ter- ritory. The modern empire of China assumes a peculiar interest and importance, on account of the extent of its territory. In addition to China Proper, which with its eighteen rich and fertile provinces, each of them equal in extent and population to some European kingdoms, covers an area of 1,298,000 square miles, the empire is now swelled by the annexation of Chinese Tartary, a thinly peopled, but outstretched region, extending from the sea of Ochotsk, on the east, to Bukaria, on the west ; and from Altay and Nershink mountains on the north, to the great wall, on the south. The power of China is strengthened, by having Thi- bet on the one hand, and Corea and Loo-Choo on the other, almost entirely subject to its influence; while its importance, in the eyes of eastern nations, is augmented by claiming to include CochinChina, Camboja, Burmah, and Siam, among its tributary kingdoms. What an enormous and overgrown dominion is thus presented before us, extending over thirty-five degrees of latitude and seventy of longitude, and covering an area of up- wards of 3,000,000 square miles. The Chinese empire occupies no inconsiderable space in our map of the earth's surface, and fills up nearly the whole of their own; no wonder, then, that the Chinese should consider their country as the middle kingdom, including all within the four seas; and that, with them, the world and their empire should be synonymous terms. It is true, that a great part of these territories are unin- 28 PRESENT EXTENT. habitable deserts, and Chinese Tirtary may have only four inhabitants to a square mile; yet the government of that country extends an influence over nearly as much of the earth's surface, and more of its population, than either England or Russia, and makes its orders heard and obeyed from Peking to E-le, and from the capital to Canton, amongst several hundred millions of people. By its new accessions of territory, China has come into the neighborhood of the British possessions; and, though originally so distant from us seems to shake hands across the Himalaya mountains, — and invite western nations to publish amongst them, the glad tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. CHAPTER II PROBABLE POPULATION. The question of population intcrcstino; to the pliilosoplier, the politician, the merchant, and the christian — The possibility and probability of a large population argued from the fertility of the soil — The extensive- ness of the cultivation — The paucity of the roads — The manner of dis- posing of the dead — The encouragement given to agriculture — The in- dustry of the inhabitants — The skill of the husbandman — The economy in food, dress, and dwellings — contrasted with the scarcity' of provisions — and want of feeling — Emigration, with its difficulties — Bounty on the importation of rice-^Infanticide — Its prevalence — Foundling hospitals — Conclusion. Scarcely any thing has been the subject of so much controversy, and at the same time of so much interest, relative to China, as tlie number of its population. The philosopher, the politician, the merchant, and the Chris- tian are alike concerned to know, how many individuals are congregated together in that iminense empire, and what is the rate of increase of its inhabitants. The popu- lation of China has formed the basis of numerous hypotheses among those who treat of the wealth or poverty of nations, and its exceeding populousness has been assumed or denied, according as different writers have sought to establish various propositions relative to the rapid or slow growth of the human family; and in proportion to the amount of their fears lest the increase of population should entrench upon the means of sub- sistence and produce an extensive and insupportable famine. The Malthusites have caught at the fact, that China, already over peopled, is yet increasing in popu- lation and is doubling the number of its inhabitauts every twenty-five years; which connected with the cir- *3 30 DIFFERENT HYPOTHESES. cumstance of the scarcity and misery which already prevail, have led them to form the most gloomy appre- hensions for the future, and to discourage marriage and encourage wars, lest the world should, like China, become overstocked, and universal want and misery en- velope and engulph tlie whole family of man. The anti- Malthusites, on the other hand, shocked at this dreadful picture, and still more alarming prospect, have greedily embraced the suggestion thrown out by some writers, that the population of China has been exaggerated ; and finding different returns given by various authors, have argued that the subject is questionable and undecided; then taking the lowest census they can find, they have come boldly forward and declared that China is one of the most thinly peopled countries of the globe, that her soil is not one tenth part cultivated, and that her peasantry and mechanics are enjoying an ease and luxury, devoid of all appearance of want or penury, un- known and unequalled in any other part of the world. These extreme differences of opinion, established as they both appear to be by irrefragable arguments, tend to perplex the inquirer; but we must remember that the advocates of opposing systems generally go to ex- tremes in defence of their favorite propositions; and that the truth usually lies between the two, to be elicited only by a dispassionate research, and an unprejudiced mind; determined to judge according to the evidence adduced, independent of previously existing opinions. The politician is not less interested in the question of China's population; for, if it be true that that empire contains its hundreds of millions, it will become an im- portant inquiry how she is to be dealt with; and what precautions are necessary to prevent her enterprizing, though not warlike people, from pressing with their teeming myriads upon the neighboring populous and fertile states. If they be so numerous, and if they threaten to become doubly so, not only will the restric- tive policy of the Chinese, which would prevent its in- habit nls from emigrating, be broken down, but the wel- fare, if not the peace of surrounding nations be disturbed by the influx of a mass of shrewd and hungry intruders; who, if they cannot obtain a livelihood by honest compe- VIEWS OF THE POLITICIAN. 31 tition, will first by petty thefts, and then by more daring robberies, become dangerous to the colonies where they reside ; and in time present such annoyances as can only be checked by their exclusion from the scene of their chosen residence. There are already two colonies in the eastern Archipe- lago, one under the Dutch and the other under English authority, where the annual intlux of Chinese colonists has, whether right or wrong, been the occasion of much alarm; and in one district in particular the revolt, or supposed revolt, of the Chinese has ended in the utter extermination of the suspected tribe; while in Borneo the Chinese have settled themselves down in the interior — have made head against the European authorities — and carried on the war for a considerable time ; con- cluding with an honorable peace, by which they have retained full possession of a rich province, — abounding in the precious metals, — and secured the mouth of a river, alTording a favorable outlet for foreign trade. Hence European colonies in the east have begun to forbid the introduction of Chinese emigrants, some levying a heavy fine on all new comers, which amounts to an actual j)rohibition, and others sending whole car- aoes away, bidding them seek another home. To the merchant and manufacturer, this subject is not devoid of interest; particularly at a period when by the invention of machinery, goods are manufactured more than doubly suflicient for all the civilized tribes of Europe and America; when even our East Indian pos- sessions are overstocked with the productions of art; and when a new market for our manufactures becomes a matter of serious concern to those who have already exceeded the necessities of neighboring nations, and who are compelled to look out for purchasers in new and untried fields of commerce. But if Chnia really contain so large a population as is assigned to it, in a climate where warm clothing is annually required, how large a field is thus opened to the speculations of capitalists and the energies of operatives, which for years and age- they would not be able fully to exhaust. Say not, the Chi- nese are poor and cannot pay for our goods; they already pay four millions oi pounds sterling for our opium, which 32 VIEWS OF THE PHILANTHROPIST. only injures and destroys them; and how is it that they cannot afford to purchase useful and necessary com- inodities, tlie wearing of which will as much promote their interests, as the sale will ours. It is true, their system is exclusive, and commerce with them is carried on under numerous restrictions; yet if such a vast mass of people exist and must be clothed; and if our mer- chants and manufacturers can furnish them with the necessary articles cheaper and better than they can sup- ply themselves, the trade must extend, and our manufac- tures gain admission. But the Christian philanthropist is still more interested in this important question. When each individual pos- sesses a never dying spirit, and each sinner is exposed to endless wrath, the greater the number of persons in- volved in the calamity, the more serious the evil; and the more must the contemplation of it oppress the mind of the thoughtful Christian. As this view of the sub- ject, however, will be more fully enlarged upon in the sequel, it will be sufficient now, to discuss the question of China's population; and endeavor to ascertain the real state of the case, leaving the deduction of inferences to the close. To clear the way to this important subject, it will be necessary, first, to shew, the possibility and probability of China's containing the assumed population; and then, the reality of its existence. That it is a possible case that China contains as many inhabitants as even the largest census would give, few who have paid any attention to the subject will be dii^posed to deny. Tliough there have not been wanting those who strenuously affirm, that the soil is incapable of sustaining so vast a population; yet, by a comparison of that land with others, calculating the number of occu- pants and the area of their territory, we find that such a priori reasonings are not founded in fact, nor entitled to our regard. China Proper is said to contain 1,297,'.'99 square miles, or 8;5t),7I9,"J()0 English acres of ground. If then we allow only one half of the land to be capable of cultivation, (though some would allow two thirds,) and each acre of cultivated ground to be capable of sus- taining one individual, (though some say each acre will POSSIBILITY OF THE CASE. 33 support five,) then we have cultivable ground in China sufficient for the support of 415, 000, 000 of persons. Thus by a very moderate calculation, we see that it is by no means impossible for China to contain the full population which the highest census assio-ns to it. Again, if we compare China with other countries of the globe, and calculate the population of each square mile, we shall find that that empire is not more thickly peopled than some other countries ; and if it be possible for other regions to sustain their population, then is it also possible for China to do the same. In Holland, for instance, we have 210 inhabitants to the square mile; in England, including the army and navy, 244; in Ireland, 256; and in Belgium, 333. While in China, if we take the population at the highest census, given in 1812, namely, 3GI ,271),897, we shall find that its popu- lation is about 278 individuals to the square mile, being somewhat more than the population of Ireland, but by no means equal to that of Belgium. Now as the people of Ireland can live, and those of Belgium can afford to maintain a separate and expensive government, and keep a large army on foot, — there is nothing extravagant in the supposition that China contains and is able to sustain the population assigned to it. We next come to consider the probability of such a supposition; and in so doing we shall find that it is not unlikely that China contains a large amount of popula- tion from the fertility of its soil, combined with the great quantity of land under cultivation; the encouragement that is given to agriculture; and the industry and skill of the inhabitants, contrasted with the economy observed; notwithstanding which the people in many provinces are reduced to the most abject state of want and misery, many dying of actual starvation, and thousands emigrat- ing every year, in order to procure a precarious subsist- ence abroad. It is true that China is in some parts hilly, and in others marshy ; that wild men and wild beasts occupy the higher regions, and reeds and rushes the lower; in such situations we do not of course expect to find fertil- ity; yet the valley and the level plains, which are by no means circumscribed, are proverbially productive, and in 34 FERTILITY OF CHINA. some favored spots, the fertility' is amazing. Barrow says, "tliat an acre of land in China, with proper culture, will afford a supply of rice for ten persons, for a whole year, in the southern provinces; and sufficient for the consumption of live in the northern; allowing each per- son two pounds a day."* This estimate may be consid- ered high ; but on minute inquiry of the natives, who are acquainted with the cultivation of the interior, it appears, that an acre of land in China, well cultivated, will produce 3600 pounds of rice, in two crops, per year; which is equal, at two pounds a day, to the sustenance of five individuals. But the Chinese peasantry generally cannot calculate on two pounds of rice a day, or scarcely one, and are obliged to make up the deficiency by sweet potatoes, pulse, or any thing else that will satisfy hunger. The observation of travellers, who have visited the coun- try, tends to shew, that the borders of the grand canal, and the two gigantic streams — the Yellow River, and the Yang-tsze-keang — are extraordinarily productive, yielding two crops in the year, without needing to lie fallow a single season. The provinces of Keang-soo and Ganhwuy, Shan-tung and Shan-se, Che-keang and Ho- nan, are those which yield the greatest revenue to the emperor, and consequently those which are most pro- ductive to the people ; while the thick set stalks of waving corn in the vicinity of those places fully sub- stantiate the character given of them by foreign travellers and native documents, as being the granary of the land. To the fertility of the soil, we may add the consider- ation that it is very extensively cultivated. China con- tains, as has been before observed, 830,719,360 English acres; and if we allow one third of this area for hills, rivers, marshes, and waste lands, we shall have 553,812,906 acres for cultivable ground. In ascertaining this, how- ever, we are not left to conjecture ; as there exists a report made to the emperor Keen-lung, in the year 1745, of the amount of land then under cultivation, according to which it appears, that, reckoning the land belonging to individuals, with that in the possession of the Tartar standards, the military, the priests, and the literary, there were, at that time, 595,598,221 English acres ^Barrow's Travels in China, pp. 577, 578. NARROW ROADS. 35 under cultivation ; since which period, a new estimate has given 040,579,381 English acres, as the total extent of occupied land in China. Thus it appears, that more than three-fourths of the surface are owned and tilled by man, allowing according to the highest census, nearly one acre and three quarters to each individual. The greatest part of this area is laid out exclusively in arable land, and devoted to the production of food for man alone. In China, the natives make no use of butter or cheese, and very seldom of milk ; the principal animal food is pork, which is generally home-fed ; they have few horses for travelling, pomp, or war; and the only cattle they keep are such as are needed in husbandry: hence, there are no grazing farms, no meadows, and very little pasture; while every acre of ground, capable of cultivation, is turned up by the spade or the plough, in order to afford sustenance for the teeming inhabitants. The few beasts of burden, or of draught, which they keep, are either tethered to a string by the side of the road, or turned out to graze on the hills; while they are supplied, by night, with a little straw or bean stalks, which is also their principal food during the winter. A common is quite unusual throughout the eastern half of China; while parks and pleasure grounds are proportionably scarce, as the anxiety to satisfy the appetite prevails over the desire of anmsement. Wheel carriages being rare, particularly in tlie south, the roads are comparatively few and narrow; generally consisting of raised pathways through the rice helds, or of winding lanes over the mountains. The statement of Barrow, that "the imperial roads are triple," with the declaration of Le Compte, that "they are fourscore feet broad, or near it," does not interfere with the general assertion, that the roads of China are narrow; for the two writers just quoted, are speaking of the public roads in the vicinity of the capital, and of the royal way from Peking to the imperial residence in Chinese Tartary. Broad ways may comport with a higli state of civilization, but where the people are little accustomed to luxury and self-indulgence, they will be content with narrow paths; particularly when every particle of improveablo soil is needed to sustain the population. What an immense 36 STATE OF THE CEMETERIES. quantity of land is occupied in England, in order to in- dulge the locomotive propensity of the inhabitants, and to enable them to move, with ease and expedition, from one place to another. This expenditure of the energies of the soil, in feeding millions of horses, and this laying out of good ground, in constructing several thousand miles of road, is almost entirely spared in China, where the public are content to walk, or to carry each other about, if tiiey may but get enough to eat and to wear. It has been objected to the statement regarding the occupancy of a great proportion of the land in tillage, that the cemeteries of the Chinese are both numerous and extensive; and much of the soil being consecrated to the service of the dend, there must of necessity be a smaliui quaiility Icii fur ihe support of the living. The force of this objection seems to be heightened by the consideration, that the Chinese never allow old graves to be disturbed; and, generally speaking, dig a new pit for each individual. But, an acquaintance with the fact, obviates the supposed difficulty; for, the Chinese seldom select, for burial places, situations capable of agricultu- ral use and improvement ; and inter their deceased friends on the hill side, or under the craggy precipice, where little else could be made of the soil. During the various excursions, which the writer has made into the interior, along the shores of three or four maritime prov- inces, he was particularly struck with the extreme paucity of graves. In one part of the province of Shan-tung, a cemetery was discovered in a sequestered glen; and, here and there, a white monument presented itself by the road side ; but by no means equal to the hosts of living inhab- itants, everywhere met with. Near the populous city of Shang-hae, coffins were seen in the corners of the fields, kept above ground till the bodies should decay; when the bones might be collected into jars, placed by the cottage door, and the coffin and the room might serve for other occupants. At the great Island ofChoo-san, scores of coffins were observed under a precipice, scattered about in confusion, some fresh, and others in a state of decay, all denied the right of sepulture, from the crying neces- sity of a want of room. In the neighborhood of Peking, AGRICULTURE ENCOURAGED. 37 the cemetery may be large, because the population is great, and tlie ground round the capital comparatively barren; but generally throughout the country, and par- ticularly in the more level and fertile provinces, the living cannot afford much room for the dead, and the cemeteries are therefore contracted and few. The encouragement given to agriculture would also argue a dense population. It is an ancient maxim with the Chinese, that when people are hungry there is no attending to the dictates of justice and propriety, and only when a population is well fed, can they be well governed. Hence from the earliest antiquity, the em- peror has set an example of industry to his people, by personally and publicly holding the plough once a year, while the empress does the same with regard to the loom. In arranging the various classes of the people, the Chinese place the literati in the foremost rank, as learning is with them the stepping stone to honor; but immediately after the learned, the husbandman takes the precedence of all others, because being engaged in raising the necessaries of life, he is abundantly more im- portant than the mechanic, who merely changes the forms of matter; and the merchant, who originates nothing, and only barters and exchanges commodities for the sake of gain. This honor put upon agricultural employments is evidently the result of design ; and shews that the country, being over stocked with inhabitants, needs cultivating to its utmost extent, in order to provide the people with sustenance. The industry and skill of the Chinese, striving to pro- duce as many of the necessaries of life as possible, would also argue a dense population, ever struggling against threatening want, and compelled to exert themselves for their daily bread. In tropical climates, where the ground is fertile, and the population scanty, the natives find that, by a few months labor, they can produce suffi- cient food for a whole year's consumption and are there- fore indisposed to exert themselves further. But in China, the inhabitants are incessantly employed, and every individual is obliged to be busy in contributing his quota to the common weal. Every one, in the least ac- quainted with the manners of the Chinese, knows that 4 38 SKILL OF THE HUSBANDMAN, they are untiring in their exertions to maintain them- selves and families. In the busincFs of agriculture, they are more particularly nctive, raising two crops from the ground every year, extending their cultivation in every possible direction, and bringing the most unpromising spots into use, in order that nothing may be lost. Their skill in effecting these objects, is not, considering their few advantages, contemptible. They thoroughly under- stand the importance of varying the crops; they know perfectly well the seasons and soils adapted for certain productions; and they are fully sensible of the importance of manuring the ground, in order to maintain its fertility. A stranger is struck with this, on first setting his foot on the shores of China. Almost every individual met with, in the paths and fields, is provided with a basket and a rake; and every evening the cottager brings home a cer- tain quantity to add to the mest heap, which is a most important appendage to every dwelling. Having but few sheep and cattle, they are obliged to make the most of the stercoraceous stock of men and swine. This is carefully collected, and actually sold at so much per pound, while whole strings of city scavengers may be seen cheerily posting into the country, every successive morning, with their envied acquisitions; little heeding the olfactory nerves of the less interested passengers. Every other substance likely to answer the end, is anx- iously collected and carefully disposed, so as to provide for future exigencies; such as decayed animal and veget- able matter, the sweeping of streets, the mud of canals, burnt bones, lime; and, what is not a little singular, the short stumpy human hair, shaven from millions of heads, every ten days, is industriously gathered up, and sold for manure throughout the empire. In the high importance placed on stercoration, in China, we see an illustration of that passage in 2 Kings, vi. 25, that when there was a great famine in Samaria, '.'the fourth part of a cab of dove's dung was sold for five pieces of silver." The skill of the Chinese husbandman is also manifested in the arrangement and irrigation of his rice lands. In the centre and south of China rice is the staple commo- dity ; and it is well known that rice will not thrive unless supplied with water. From the preparing of the ground IN IRRIGATION. 39 for llie seed, almost to the reaping of the harvest, the rice fields must be overspread with water. In order to this, each field is made perfectly level, with an elevated ridge or border, and a stream of water constantly flowing into it, to provide against the loss by evaporation, and to yield an overplus for the fields around and beneath it. For this purpose water must either be raised by artificial means, such as pumps, levers, wheels, &:c., from a lower to a higher region, or conducted with great skill and care from some elevated position, along the sides of hills, and across vallies, to the desired spot; where, introduced into the highest field of the series, it gradually flov/s down to the lower terraces, until it is lost in the river or the sea. The very ingenious methods which the Chinese employ for raising water, have often been illustrated; and shew at once their adroitness, and the necessity which has thus driven them to their wits ends, to in- crease the produce of their soil. The water brought over the land, brings fertility along with it, and the debris accompanying the fluid thus conveyed from the surrounding heights, tends alike to moisten and fructify the soil. The Chinese may be considered adepts in ter- race cultivation, notwithstanding the observations of Barrow, that he saw but few instances of it in his route. From all the information that can be gathered from the natives, the contrary is the fact; and though in places where a supply of water cannot be commanded at an ele^'ated spot; the natives necessarily leave the hills uncut into terraces ; yet in every instance in which the locality is favorable, they do not fail to adopt a mode of cultivation so essential to the production of rice in southern latitudes. All travellers agree in the opinion that in minute spade husbandry, the Chinese more than equal Europeans; and Lord Macartney denominates them the best husbandmen in the world. The activity and acuteness of the Chinese husbandman, therefore, tend to shew, that so much energy and mind have been necessarily called into display by an overflowing popu- lation. Not less remarkable, nor less available to our argu- ment, is the economy observed by the Chinese in the use of the necessaries of life, in order that they may make 40 ECONOMY OF THE CHINESE. them go as far as possible. This is apparent in their food, their dress, and their dwellings; in all of which they avoid extravagance, and restrict themselves to such kinds as need the smallest quantity of ground to produce and rear them. It is not meant by this, that the Chi- nese are not fond of good food, and plenty of it, when they can get it; they are, in fact, both epicures and gor- mands, when good things fall in their way; but they manage to do with little and coarse food, when necessity compels them, which is, alas! but too often. The diet of a Chinese is generally a little rice and salt fish, or salted vegetable; a species of hrassica being commonly used for this purpose, which being thoroughly impreg- nated with salt, helps to flavor the insipid rice, and enables them to relish their food. This mess is some- times varied by certain preparations of pulse or millet, and more rarely a few ounces of pork are stewed down with the vegetable preparations, in the proportion of one to five. The common food of the poor, however, is sweet potatoes or yams, with occasionally a little rice boiled in a large quantity of water; and once a month, it may be, a pork meal, or on grand festive occasions, a little poultry. Against the eating of beef they have a strong prejudice, not so much on account of religious scruples, as because oxen are used in husbandry, and they think it a shame, after a poor animal has been laboring all his life in their service, to cut him to pieces at last, and then to feed upon his flesh, and make shoes of his hide. Hence in the hortatory tracts, which they sometimes publish, they draw the figure of an ox, composed en- tirely of words or characters, which set forth the com- plaint of the cow kind, relative to their hard usage dur- ing life, and their still harder fate at death, concluding by assigning the lowest place in Pandemonium, to the villainous beef-butchers, who mercilessly cut them up for gain. Having no inclosed pastures, they cannot breed many sheep or goats, which, wandering over the corn fields and gardens, would destroy more than they are worth. It is only in hilly and barren regions where these animals are allowed to roam, and even there not beyond the shepherd's eye; hence in the more fertile and more DRESS ANU DWELLINGS. 41 populous parts of the country, mutton is scarce and sel- dom eaten. Instead of beef and mutton, however, the Chinese have recourse to dogs and cats, the flesh of uhich animals is equal in price to that of swine. In default of these, they have no objection to make a dish of rats and snakes; and cockroaches and other reptiles come in to be used either as food or medicine, by a peo- ple who are driven frequently to great straits for want of sustenance; animals that die of disease, and those already far gone in a state of decay, are when discovered eagerly devoured by a hungry peasantry in search of food. la short the Chinese have the most unscrupulous stomachs imaginable; every thing animal from the hide to the entrails, — and almost every thing vegetable, from the leaves to the roots, is made available to the support of life; and even some parts of the mineral kingdom are laid under requisition for this im{x)rtant purpose.* In their dress, the Chinese are alike anxious to econo- mize the soil. Barrow says, "that an acre of cotton will clothe two or three hundred persons :" and as cotton can be planted between the rice crops, and thus vary the productions, and relieve the soil, the Chinese prefer such clothing as they can raise, at the least expense of ground and labor. Were the hundreds of millions of China to be clothed in woollens, an immense tract of grazing land would be required, which would deduct materially from the area devoted to food, and greatly exceed what the Chinese could afford. In their dwellings, likewise, they are particularly frugal of room: living together in a very small compass, and crowding into closely built cities, as though ground with them were an object of great mo- ment. A room twenty feet square would afford sufficient space for a dozen people to eat, drink, work, trade, and sleep; while the streets of their towns and cities are so narrow, that it is quite possible to touch each side of the way with the hand as you pass along. Now if we com- pare this frugality with the extravagance of European nations in regard to room, living on beef and mutton, and wearing woollen clothes; we may easily see that the ground which would sustain one Englishman, would be * Tlie Chinese use great quantities of gypsum, wliicii tiicy mix with pulse, in order to form a jelly of wliich they arc very fond. *4 42 SCARCITY OF PROVISIONS. sufficient for the support of three or four Chinese. Amongst such a selfish and sensual people, so much economy would not be observed, did not stern necessity - compel ; and what greater necessity can exist than the difficulty of sustaining a crowded population from a con- tracted soil. Notwithstanding all this diligence and care, however, the people in most of the provinces find a difficulty in procuring the necessaries of life; many die of actual want, and many more are obliged to emigrate: while every encouragement is given to the importation of grain, in order to relieve a needy population. The general poverty of the people has already been alluded to, in shewing them to be content with a diminished quality and sometimes quantity of food; yet many of them can hardly find food enough, and numbers die annually of sheer starvation. When a drought, or inundation occurs, when locusts invade the coasts, and the crops fail from blight or mildew, imperial bounty is obliged to be extend- ed to the sufferers; otherwise a people, considerably straitened on common occasions, would in a season of scarcity actually perish for want. For this purpose, a great quantity of grain is annually left in the various provinces, besides that which is forwarded to Peking, in order that the supply may be ready when necessity de- mands it. According to one statement, there are re- served in different parts of the country about 26,000,000 bushels of grain, and 12,000,000 bushels of rice, to be sold out at a low price to the poor in seasons of scarcity; a quantity sufficiently indicative of the wants of the peo- ple, and of the straits to which they are sometimes driven, to need such a supply. And yet this royal munificence sometimes proves inadequate to the relief of the wretch- ed; or being pillaged by underlings in its way to the necessitous, leaves the hungry to starve ere the provis- ion reaches them. The extreme poverty of the people in the south of China is well known to all who are acquaint- ed with those regions, and the piteous scenes presented in winter by whole hosts of peasants almost destitute of food or fuel, are enough to affect most deeply the minds of the compassionate. The common wages of the day laborer is but four pence a day, and the remuneration to EMIGRATION. 43 a school master from each of his scholars is only ten shil- lings a year; while provisions are sometimes nearly as high as they are in Europe. The want of feeling generally apparent among the Chinese, argues their deep poverty; for where provi- sions are scarce and dear, the human heart, unsanctified, by Divine grace, soon becomes closed against the cry of distress, and the sick poor are allowed to perish by the road side, without a helping hand to relieve them. There is some charity manifested towards kindred, but none to strangers, who are left alike destitute of public provision and private benevolence. Canton is infested with beg- gars, who gain a scanty relief by their untiring impor- tunity; and, in other parts of the country, the needy present their dismal tale of miseries to the too heedless spectators. Persons in danger of being drowned, or burnt, are sel- dom rescued; and numbers are turned out to die in the open air, to save the trouble of tending them while sick, and the expense of cleansing the house of their ghosts, when dead. This disregard of the wants and miseries of others, must be partly occasioned by the pressure of per- sonal want, and the great number of individuals needing relief The subject of emigration, is one which considerably affects the question of the population of China. The government of that country being restrictive and exclu- sive, have gone on the principle of forbidding alike the emigration of natives and the immigration of strangers. Standing in need, however, of foreign supplies; and being unable to provide for their own subjects, they have, in the first place, been induced to allow a sort of restricted commerce at Canton; and, finally, to wink at the departure of natives to foreign lands. Still they consider those who go abroad, as forfeiting all claim to tiie protection of their own government, constituting themselves outlaws, as well as aliens, by the same act of expatriation. When a misunderstanding occurred between the Chinese colonists and the Dutch authorities, at Batavia, some years ago, and a massacre of the Chi- nese followed: the colonial government afraid, lest the emperor of China should take umbrage at the transaction, 44 EMIGRATION. sent an embassy to that country, explaining the matter, and attributing the blame to the emigrant Chinese them- selves. The emperor, however, coolly replied, that, as they had chosen to place themselves without the pale of his benign and fostering sway, they were no longer en- titled to his protecting influence ; thus, whatever hap- pened to them, he should not interfere. Those who re- turn to their native land, after having amassed consid- erable property, if not screened and sheltered by their friends and relatives, are liable to be accused of having had intercourse with barbarians; when their crime in- creases in malignity, according to the amount of their possessions, until, by repeated extortions, they are de- prived of all. Notwithstanding, however, the original restrictions on emigration, the forfeiture of the rights of citizenship which they thereby incur, and the prospect of a good squeezing when they return; yet, such is the difficulty many of them find in procuring a subsistence, that they willingly quit their friends and home and brave the dangers of the deep, with the inhospitalities of a for- eign clime, in a state of poverty, rather than stay at home, and drag on a miserable existence in want of all things. Hence they have not only removed from the more populous provinces of China, to those more thinly peopled ; but have crossed the wall, the desert, and the ocean — pouring forth their hordes to the east, west, north, and south, — occupying the waste lands of Tartary, — col- onizing Thibet, Burmah, Camboja, and Siam, and bask- ing under the fostering care of European governments, in the islands of the Malayan Archipelago. What stronger proof of the dense population of China could be afforded than the fact, that emigration is going on, in spite of restrictions and disabilities, from a country, where learning and civilization reign, and where all their dearest interests and prejudices are found — to one where comparative ignorance and barbarity prevail, and where the heat or cold of a tropical or frozen region, is to be exchanged for a mild and temperate climate; added to the consideration, that not a single female is permitted, or ventures to leave the country, when consequently all the tender attachments, that bind heart to heart, must be burst asunder, and perhaps for ever. Where is the FEMALE INFANTICIDE. 45 country — where, under such circumstances, emigration would prevail, unless stern necessity compelled, and unless the ever-increasing progeny pressed on the heels of the adult population, and obliged them to seek a pre- carious subsistence in a less thickly peopled part of the earth? The breaking through of another restriction, in the otherwise unalterable system of Chinese policy, proves the existence of a dense population in that country. It has been before observed, that the Chinese discourage intercourse with foreign nations, and only permit a limited and heavily burthened commerce at Canton. All foreign vessels, trading at Canton, have to pay a measurement charge, amounting, on vessels of eight hundred tons, to two thousand dollars, and an entre- port fee of nearly equal value ; but, by command of the present emperor, in the year 1825, the former, and by previous orders, the latter charge, were both dispensed with, in case of all vessels loaded with rice, in order to encourage the importation of so necessary an article from abroad. This permission is taken advantage of by foreign merchants, at Canton, and great quantities of rice are thus imported, to supply the wants of a needy population. Nothing but necessity will induce the Chi- nese government to swerve from its usual regulations, and to grant any immunities to foreigners : — when they do so, as in the case alluded to, it shews that rice is greatly needed in the country; and, if rice be needed in so fertile a region as China, it is evident that China is overstocked with inhabitants. In addition to the above mentioned considerations, the prevalence of infanticide, in China, has been adduced, by some, as a proof of that empire's extreme populous- ness. While, however, we would by no means argue, that this abominable practice is kept up, in order to keep down the population, or that it has any considerable in- fluence in diminishing the numbers of the people, we may still contend, that infanticide in China, is more the result of poverty than prejudice, and has to do with econ- omical, rather than religious considerations. In the first place, it is to be observed, that infanticide in China, is wholly confined to the female sex ; boys, it is imagined, 46 SLIGHTING OF DAUGHTERS. can provide sufficiently well for themselves; are likely to repay, by their labor, the care and expense bestowed on them ; and contribute to the building up of the family name and fortunes ; in all of which matters, girls are of little value. Hence the birth of a son is hailed, in every Chinese family, with delight ; while the house is only filled with lamentation, on the appearance of a wretched daughter. A son is, therefore, valued and cherished, while a daughter is despised and neglected. This feel- ing carried to excess, leads many, in extreme poverty, to perpetrate infanticide, in the one case ; and to practice forbearance in the other. Again, the abominable custom alluded to, is not taught or enjoined by any religious system prevalent in China — either Confucianism, Taou- ism, or Buddhism ; it is not done to propitiate the gods, as was the case, formerly, amongst the cruel worshippers of Moloch; nor do the natives expect to reap any spirit- ual advantage, by giving, "the fruit of their body for the sin of their soul;" but the Chinese perpetuate this infer- nal custom merely from parsimonious motives, and just to save themselves the care and expense of bringing up a useless and troublesome being, who is likely to cost more than ever she will fetch, on being sold out in marriage. It prevails, therefore, in proportion to the general indi- gence of the people, and affords by its prevalence, a cri- terion by which to judge of the density of the population, and the poverty of the inhabitants. Hence, we find that it obtains more in the southern provinces, where the numbers of human beings exceed the powers of the soil to produce sufficient sustenance ; or, in a crowded capi- tal, where the myriads of citizens find hardly room to live or to breathe. In the southern parts of the empire, the natives themselves, who might be supposed anxious to conceal the fact, bear ample testimony to its existence, and that in a proportion which it is fearful to contem- plate ; while the lightness, with which they treat the murder of female infants, shews that it must have pre- vailed, in no ordinary degree, in order so far to blunt their sensibilities, on the subject, as to lead them to con- template the drowning of a daughter, as far more excusa- ble than the treading of printed paper under foot. The extent of infa)iticide in the capital has been calculated, FOUNDLING HOSPITALS. 47 by the number of infants thrown out every night, and gathered by the police in the morning, to be buried in one common hole, without the city. One writer informs us, that ten or a dozen infants are picked up every morning, in Peking alone; hence, the murders in that city must amount to several thousands annually. Some writers and travellers have questioned the prev- alence of infanticide in China, because they have never, in their intercourse with the Chinese, seen any instances of it. Thus, Ellis remarks, "that in passing along the populous rivers of China, through upwards of 1600 miles of country, they met with no proofs of its existence." De Guignes has been brought in, also, as saying, "that in his route, through the whole extent of China, in travel- ling by water, he never saw an infant drowned; and, in travelling by land, although he had been early in the morning, in cities and in villages, and at all hours, on the highways, he never saw an infant exposed or dead." But, this negative kind of evidence is contradicted by the direct testimony of Messrs. Bridgman and Gutzlaff, who have both met with instances of what neither Ellis nor De Guignes could trace or discover. The fact, that foundling hospitals are more easily filled in China than elsewhere, is corroborative of the little regard in which female infants are held. The more tender hearted parents, rather than lay violent hands on their offspring, prefer giving them away; or if they can find no one to receive the charge, depositing them in some temple, or monastery, where there is, at least, a chance of their being noticed and preserved. The Buddhists, in China, avail themselves of tiiis circum- stance to fill their nunneries; while the Catholics, in that country, increase the number of their adherents, by rescuing the outcast daughters of the inhabitants, and bringing them up for wives to the native converts. Others, actuated by base motives, pick up the abandoned children, and rear them for the purpose of sordid gain, which they accomplish by selling them for domestic slaves, or training them up for wanton gratifications, or condemning them to beg through the streets, after hav- ing cruelly put out their eyes, to make them objects of charity. 48 CONCLUSION. It is not meant to be argued, that the Chinese murder, expose, or sell their female infants to prevent the country becoming overpeopled ; or that the practice is so general as to have any material effect on the population. What- ever the motive be, it is altogether personal, and not pat- riotic ; it is merely to save themselves pains and money, and not to benefit the country by decreasing the number of consumers. To whatever extent, also, the practice may prevail, it is not likely materially to affect the aggre- gate of the population. For if we allow that one per mille only of the female infants born in China are smothered, which is much below the mark in the popu- lous provinces and crowded cities, it would exhibit a fearful estimate as the aggregate of murders, it would still be very inconsiderable as affecting a population, which amounts to several hundred millions, and which increases at the rate of three per cent, annum. The object of the argument is to shew, that the children being sacrificed to Mammon rather than to Moloch, the prevalence of the custom indicates the great poverty and overwhelming numbers of the people, — that there is a disproportion between the supply of food and the number of consumers, — that human life is cheaper than human provender, — and hence the conclusion, considering the fertility of the soil, that China is immensely populous. CHAPTER lit CENSUS OF THE POPULATION, Testimony of the Catholic missionaries — and Chinese authorities— The law of the census and the way of taking it — The reason for so doing — Its credibility — The different accounts reconciled — Increase accounted for — Increase sketched — Amiot's estimate — Grosier's — Morrison's — and Sir G. Staunton's — comparison of the whole — vvliich most to be cred- ited — The discrepancies of some— The most credible census — The rev- enue of China — and its light pressure on the people. But we have somewhat more than probability to guide us, in endeavoring to ascertain the population of China. We have the evidence of men who have long resided in the country, and a variety of estimates taken by the natives themselves, and published by imperial authority. While the learned of Europe are sitting at home, and calculating what may or may not be, which they decide according to their several hypotheses, and partialities ; we have the testimony of eye witnesses and actual resi- dents, as to what really exists. Between these bare sup- posers and personal inquirers there can be no difficulty in determining on whom most reliance is to be placed. The speculators on China's population, however, aware that facts are against them, have sought to throw dis- credit on the witnesses produced on the other side, by bestowing on them the most opprobrious epithets, and calling their veracity into question on every occasion. The authorities most likely to furnish information on the subject of China are the Catholic missionaries, and the Chinese themselves. The former who penned the " Edifying and curious letters," are sometimes spoken of jocularly as " reverend gentlemen" telling their " pleas- 5 50 ACCOUNT OF THE MISSIONARIES. ant stories ;" at otlier times more cavalierly, as "stupid and lying missionaries, who contrived to impose upon ]''uropeans with their ahsurd and ridiculous notions." IMalte Brun, however, describes them as " weak and credulous, rather than wilfully mendacious." It must be confessed, that these are rather hard terms to bestow upon men who have left their native land, and ventured all, to spread what they conceive to be the truth; men, at the same time, of much learning, and, one would hope, of some sincerity — who have deserved better than to be denounced as downright liars, in matters where they had neither interest nor inclination to deceive. Their oppor- tunities for ascertaining the fact, were many and great, as they were engaged, by imperial authority, in travel- ling through the various provinces, and drawing up a statistical view of the empire ; so that Ihey were not likely to be easily imposed upon by accounts inconsistent with trutli. The Chinese authorities have been treated in a still more unscrupulous manner, and the estimate given by a principal mandarin, to Sir Giles Staunton, is described as complete an example of Chinese mendaciousness, as any ever afforded ; and, as a document, bearing on its very face, the marks of fabrication. It is comparatively easy to get rid of adverse testimony, by throwing dis- credit on the judgment or veracity of the witnesses ; but though the Chinese may be, generally, given to fabrica- tion and exaggeration, yet, in a matter where the only trial of veracity is to transmit returns from the people to the government, and to record them in puldic documents, Ave do not see Vv'hy they may not be believed. The docu- ments, thus drawn np and published by the Chinese ex- ecutive, are not intended for the eyes of foreigners, or meant to exalt native resources in the estimation of sur- rounding nations; on the contrary, the emperor, in the edicts referring to the population, does not speak of its amount in a boasting, but a complaining tone; for, like another Malthus, he is afraid lest the increase of popula- tion should entrench on the means of subsistence, and a famine be produced ; he, therefore, exhorts the people to dilicrence in husbandry, that they may raise as many of the necessaries of life as possible, and to economy in LAW OF THE CENSUS. 51 their expenditure, that they may make them go as far as they can. Now, however mendacious the Chinese may generally be, we can only expect them to gratify their lying pro- pensities when interest allures, or when tliey have no means for ascertaining the truth. That they can have no interest in deceiving the world, is evident from their unconsciousness of these statements being published to the world ; and that they have every possible means of ascertaining the amount of the population, will appear from the manner in which those returns are made, and the census obtained. The law on this subject, is as follows : — " All persons whatever shall be registered, according to their respec- tive proCessions or vocations. When a family has omitted to make any entry in the public register, the master thereof, if possessing lands charge- able with contributions to tlie revenue, shall be punished wiih one hundred blows ; but if he possess no such property, with eighty blows. When any master of a family has among his household strangers, who consti- tute, in fact, a distinct family, but omits to make a corresponding entry in the public register, or registers them as members of his own family, he shall be punislied with one hundred blows, if such strangers possess taxa- ble property ; and with eighty blows, if they do not possess such property; and if the person harbored is not a stranger, but a relative, possessing a separate establishment, the punishment of the master so offending, shall be less than as aforesaid b}' two degrees, and the person harbored shall be liable to the same punishment. In all these cases, the register is to be immediately corrected. In all the districts of the empire, one hundred families shall form a division, in order to provide a head and ten asses- sors, whose duty it is to assist and oversee in the performance of all pub- lic matters. These 'elders' must see that all the families in their respec- tive divisions, have been registered, and failure in doing this, exposes them to the bamboo. The returns of population are to be made annually." On this subject, Dr. Morrison observes : — " In the Chinese government, there appears great regularity and sys- tem. Every district has its appropriate oflicer; every street its consta- ble ; and every ten houses, a tything-man. Thus they have all the requi- site means of ascertaining the population with considerable accuracy. I'very family is required to have a board, always hanging up in ihe house, antl ready for the inspection of authorised officers, on which the names of all persons, men, women, and children, in the house, arc inscribed. This board is called a mun pac, ' door tablet,' because where there are women and children within, the officers are expected to take the account from the board at the door. Were all the inmates of a family faithfully inserted, the amount of the population would, of course, be ascertained with great accuracy. But it is said, that names are sometimes omitted, through neg- lect or design ; others think that the account of persons given in, is gen* crally correct," 52 REASON OF THE CENSUS ITS CREDIBILITY. The census thus annually called for; by the Chinese government, and published in their official accounts of the empire, is demanded with the view of enabling the ruling powers to ascertain the state of the country, in order that they may apportion the due amount of govern- ment officers, and police force, to each district, and make suitable provision for the necessities of the people, in case of famine. According to the system adopted by the reigning dynasty, a considerable proportion of money and grain is retained in the provinces for the service of the state, and the exigencies of the people ; and it would be difficult to know what amount should be reserved, unless the average number of the inhabitants were ascertained. It is, then, to assist the government, in making proper arrangements for the home administration, and not to impose either on themselves or foreigners, that this cen- sus is taken. It is published in a work, given out by im- perial authority, called the Ta-tsing-hwuy-teen, or "Col- lection of statutes for the present dynasty," where the various arrangements, for the direction of the six tribu- nals, are fully particularized. Under the item of reve- nue, the account of the population occurs; and as this work has been published at different periods, it affords a criterion to judge of the state of the population through successive years. Now the question occurs. Are these official documents to be believed, or are they not ? When any European government orders a census to be made, and publishes a state paper, declaring that such and such is the result of their researches and calculations, it is generally believed, No one objects to the statement, on the ground of that government professing the religion of the Romish or Greek church, or professing no religion at all ; but since it is a matter of mere civil polity, with which they must have a much better acquaintance than others can possi- bly have, they are allowed to make their own statement, and are believed accordingly. In negociating with for- eign powers, or in managing matters which immediately concern their individual interests, the Chinese do some- times practice deception ; but, in matters of sober fact and actual calculation, we do not see why the Chinese should not be credited as well as others. We receive, OFFICIAL RETURiNS. 53 without scruple, their account of the number of their provinces, counties, and districts ; the aggregate of their officers, and the amount of their revenue ; and why not take their estimate of the popuhition ? at least, until we can find one made by those who have better opportunities of ascertaining the fact. It will not do for us, who have only supposition to guide us, to contend with those who are in the habit of counting the people every year, and have such etBcient means of arriving at the truth. We may make some deductions for the extravagance of eas- tern nations, and receive with caution the statements of different years, which we can compare together, and endeavor to ascertain the rate of increase ; but we are not at liberty to call them liars, till we can prove them to have erred wilfully in this matter. It is now time to introduce to the notice of the reader, the various estimates which liave been given by the Chi- nese themselves, with the authorities on which they rest, ill order that a complete view may be formed of the gradual growth, and present state, of the Chinese popu- lation. Year Dynasty. Emperor. of reign. A. D. Population. Authority. Ming Tae-tsoo 27 1393 60,545,811 Kang-keen-e-cho. Tsiifs .'^liuiiclie 13 iGf;a 21,0(8,600 \ Tatsinghuuy-leen, " Kaiig-lie 6 lots 25,366,2(j9 > old edition, extracted '( " 4'J 1710 23,312,200 ) by the author. 1' " 50 1711 28,005,716 \ Ta-tsing-hvvuy-teen, »' Kene-luiig 18 1753 102,328,258 ( new edition, extracteJ " 'i 57 1792 307,467,200 ( by Dr. Morrison and " Ivea-kinj 16 1812 361,221,900 J ; his son. The above items are taken from regular Chinese works, and depend on the authority of official documents. By these, it will be seen, that before tlie Tartar con- quests, when the Chinese dwelt under their native empe- rors, the population amounted to 00,000,000 : and that after the invasion of the empire, by the rulers of the present dynasty, the population suddenly fell off to twenty or thirty millions ; at which state it continued for fifty years, when it gradually rose, till it reached a hundred, and, subsequently, three hundred and odd millions. In order to account for this, it may be necessary to observe, 54 REASON OF INCREASE. that the wars which took place on the transfer of the empire into new hands, greatly diminished the number of the people : that, for scores of years, a great part of the empire remained unsubdued, on which account, the Tartars could not reckon on the inhabitants of the south- ern and western provinces as their subjects; and that, at the commencement of the present dynasty, the revenue was levied in the shape of a capitation tax, which, of course, led a great number to evade enrolment, lest they should be held responsible for the impost demanded by the government officers. Hence, it is not difficult to account for the great falling off in the population, during the first years of the present dynasty, and for the amaz- ' ing diiTerence between the forty-ninth and fiftieth year of Kang-he, when the capitation tax was removed, and con- verted into a land tax. Indeed considering the change of measures, adopted by the government, it was rather to be expected that the returns for the following year, would exhibit an increase of twenty instead of five millions, as all those who had been previously deterred from giving in their names, had now every motive to concealment removed, and would willingly allow the registration of their signatures. From the year 1711 to the year 1753, a period of forty- two years, the population appears to have advanced, from twenty-eight millions and a half to a hundred and three millions. This may be accounted for, partly in the way above mentioned, and partly by the gradual increase of the population. This increase will not appear very great, if it be considered, that an excess of three per cent, per annum, on the births over the deaths, will make the population treble itself in the time specified. The next increase, according to the official returns, is of a like character : viz. from 10'2, 328,258 in 1753, to 307,467,200, in 1792 ; or a triple sum in about forty years. And, when we consider, that during these two periods of forty years each, the dominions of the Tartar- Chinese monarch were extending, and more and more persons were inscribed on the population list ; besides the perfect tranquillity which the empire enjoyed during the whole series of years, it is not to be wondered at, that the population should advance at such a rapid rate. POPULATION CHECKED. 55 The customs and institutions of the Chinese, doubt- less, contributed much to this increase ; for, according to the precepts of Confucius, " of the three degrees of unfilial conduct, to be without posterity, is the greatest ;" hence the Chinese of every class and degree marry when quite young, and rejoice in nothing so much as in the increase of their families. Added to the strong desire of issue, we may allude to the bounties offered by the Tar- tar rulers, when fully established in the dominion of the empire, proposing grants of the land which had been previously deserted by the terrified population, to any who would settle down and cultivate it ; which has induced many to spread over the country, and to prose- cute the quiet and healthy arts of husbandry ; by which their industry has been exercised, and their increase pro- moted ; until now the whole land is full of inhabitants, and they are bursting their bonds on every side. From 1792 to 1812, a period of twenty years, the increase has been inconsiderable compared with former years, being only one-sixth of the whole, and scarcely an addition of one per cent, per annum. This diminution in the rate of increase, during the last twenty years, previous to 1812, may be accounted for, partially by the growth of emigration, and, more fully, by the introduc- tion of opium, which, since the latter part of the last century, has been smuggled into the country, at an enor- mous rate. Those who have not seen the effects of opium smoking, in the eastern world, can hardly form any conception of its injurious results on the health, energies, and lives of those who indulge in it. The debilitating of the constitution, and the shortening of life, are sure to follow, in a few years, after the practice has been commenced ; as soon and as certainly, if not much more so, than is seen to be the case with those unhappy persons, who are addicted to the use of ardent spirits. The dealers in opium are little aware how much harm they are the instruments of doing, by carrying on this demoralizing and destructive traffic ; but, the difference between the increase of the Chinese people, before and after the introduction of opium, ought to open their eyes, and lead them to ask themselves whether they are not accountable for the diseases and deaths of all those, who 56 VARIOUS ESTIMATES; have sufFered by its introduction. And if it be true that the Chinese increased at the rate of three per cent, per annum, before the commencement of the traffic, and at the rate of one per cent, per annum, since, it would be well for them to consider, whether the deficiency is not to be attributed, in some degree, to opium, and the guilt to be laid at the door of those who are instrumental in introducing it. They may flatter themselves that if the growth of population were not thus checked by the intro- duction of opium, its increase would be curtailed by wars or pestilences ; or the superabundant popidace would perish by famine, and starvation effect what opium would not accomplish. Still, whatever cause might contribute to the balancing of the population with the means of sub- sistence, human life could not be sacrificed, without blame being attached somewhere ; and blame, in propor- tion to the greatness of the evil which might result from the measure. In addition to the official returns of the population above given, there are others furnished by different European writers, which as they appear to be derived from native sources, deserve some notice here. They are the following. Amiot's estimate, for the year 1713, amounting to 157,301,753 Grosier's do. - - 1762, do. 198,214,553 Morrison's do. - - - 1790, do. 143,125,234. Staunton's do. - - 1792, do. 333,000,000 With respect to the first it will be seen that it exhibits a greater population in 1743, than is found by the othcial returns to have existed in 1753. Amiot professes to have drawn his estimate of the population from the Ta-tsing- yih-tung-che, " an account of what is essential to be known respecting China," published in the eighth year of Keen-lung, A. D. 1743. Grosier, who seems anxious " to justify the assertion of the learned niissionai-y, and to free him from all suspicion of exaggeration," enters more into detail respecting Amiot's estimate, and re- marks that the Yih-tung-che shews only the number of the jin-ting, or those who are taxable in each province, which amounted to 28,516,488 ; and as these are the heads of families, Grosier suggests that Amiot multiplied grosier's account. 57 these by five, in order to shew the number of individuals in the whole empire, thus making 142,582,440 ; then including the inhabitants of Ftih-keen, about seven mil- lions, which he had before omitted, and the civil and military officers, literati, &c., he makes the sum total amount to 157,301,755. This, however, is a very unsat- isfactory method of ascertaining the population of a great country ; and will not warrant us, on the ground of such calculations to call in question the authority of official returns. But it is more than likely that Amiot, or his friend Grosier for him, has entirely mistaken the case. Jin-ting is not the expression employed to designate families in Chinese statistical works, but men : the word ^or families being boo, " doors," in distinction from kow, " mouths," which is the proper word for individuals. Again, the work to which he refers, though published in 1743, may refer to a census of the population at a pre- vious date, and thus nearly synchronize with the census given in the year 1711, which we have seen by authentic records to have been 28,60.5,716. Grosier's own enumeration was taken from an estimate of the population in " the tribunal of lands" at Peking, which was made in the twenty-seventh year of Keen- lung, A. D. 1762, and was received in France in 1779. It was written both in Chinese and in French, and was translated into the latter at Peking. By this estimate it appears that the population amounted to 198,214,553. Upon this we may remark, that Grosier himself does not appear to have consulted the work referred to, but only an extract from it, or a translation of it. It is possible, therefore, that there may be some mistake, either in the number, or the date. Still as the census is placed between the years 1753, when the population was 102,328,256, and 1792, when it was 307,467,200, the intermediate number of 198,214,553 is not an unlikely estimate. The account published by Dr. Morrison, in his view of China for philological purposes, exhibits the population as amounting to 143,125,225 in 1790. This estimate was taken from a new edition of the Ta-tsing-yih-tung- cho, or " a complete statistical account of the empire under the present dynasty," published about the close of 58 Morrison's account. the reign of Keen-lung, probably A. D. 1790 ; which is the identical work referred to by Amiot, only a later edition. The edition which Dr. Morrison consulted ex- hibits the original amount of the population, at the begin- ning of the present dynasty, and then the increase since that time. The first, says Dr. Morrison, was probably about A. D. 1G44, and the last about 1790. In a note at the bottom of the page, Dr. Morrison observes, " that the work itself does not state what the time of the orig- inal census was ; that it was at the beginning of the present dynasty rests on the verbal authority of the na- tives." Neither does it appear that the work states the precise time when the second census was made ; we only know that it was taken prior to the publication of the book in 1790, but how long previous to that date we are not aware. The dates, therefore, of 1644, for the first, and 1790 for the second, are merely hypothetical ; and, as much depends on the period when a given census was taken, we cannot, in estimating a population which is constantly and rapidly increasing, take a census without date, and oppose it to the authority of those the dates of which are clearly ascertained. The first census quoted by Dr. Morrison is 27,241,129; while the second amounts to 143, 125,225. Now if we refer to the official returns, the dates of which are determined in a foregoing page, we shall find that about the year 1711, the popula- tion amounted to 28,005,716, which is not far from the first statement furnished by Dr. Morrison ; neither does it difler very materially from the number of jin-ting, or men, quoted by Amiot, and which he has mistaken for families, and multiplied to 157,301,755. The probability therefore is, that as both Amiot and Morrison consulted the Yih-tung-che, only in two separate editions, the number quoted by the French missionary, and the first estimate produced by Dr. Morrison, refer to one and the same period; and that that period, instead of being 1644, as supposed by Dr. Morrison, or 1723, as Amiot imag- ined, was most likely the intermediate date of 1710, which would make it agree with the estimate given of the population for the following year in the Ta-tsing- hwuy-teen, quoted above. Dr. Morrison's second esti- mate of 143,125,225 need not be placed exactly in 1790, Staunton's statement. 59 because the work in which it was found appeared about that time : it might as well be assigned to the middle as the close of Keen-lung's reign, and fall more about the year 17Go, which would allow for the gradual increase of the people from 102,328,258 in 1753, to 143,125,225, twelve years afterwards. Besides the indefiniteness of the dates in the account furnished by Dr. Morrison, there are some inconsistencies hard to be reconciled with other returns, or with the state of the country, which will be noticed in a subsequent page ; it is due to Dr. Morrison, however, to observe, that the statements above given were published in 1817 ; and that in a paper drawn up by him, and inserted in the Anglo-Chinese College Report, for 1829, he has given an estimate of the population as amounting to 307,467,200, in 1792. The account furnished to Sir G. Staunton, by the Chi- nese mandarin, Chow-ta-jin, has been frequently referred to, and not a little reprobated and called in question. Make Brun thinks, that because the numbers, in each province, are given in round millions, and because, in two provinces, the number of millions is precisely the same, that, therefore, the whole document is a fabrica- tion. But, how can these be considered as the marks of fabrication ? The mandarin professed to derive his infor- mation from a particular friend at Peking, and merely gave it as a general estimate, without entering into par- ticulars on the subject ; and this is, by no means, an un- common case with ourselves. The population of Eng- land, France, Germany, or Spain, is frequently given in round millions, without the specification of the units, except when a census is particularly demanded or pub- lished by government ; and when a population is thus roundly stated, it does not throw discredit on the whole, to say, that two different regions, Austria and France, for instance, contain the same number of millions. With regard to Sir G. Staunton's informant, we may look upon his statement, as entitled to credit, as far as general esti- mates go ; and while it does not profess to give a partic- ular account of the population, we may take it as cor- roborating or explaining some cotemporaneous statement derived from more authentic sources. Now this account of the population was delivered to Sir G. Staunton, in 60 WHICH MOST CREDIBLE. 1792, and does not materially differ from an official return, published in the same year, which makes the population amount to 307,467,200 ; and, considering that the one was a rough guess, in round numbers, and the other, the result of a minute investigation, we need not be surprised at the discrepancy that appears in the aggre- gate. The two together are sufficient, however, to prove that the population of China, at that period, exceeded three hundred millions. On the opposite page the reader is presented with a comparative statement of the number of inhabitants in each province, according to the various accounts, accom- panied by other statistical returns, calculated to throw light on the subject. With regard to the lists of the population here present- ed, published at various periods, and adduced by differ- ent writers, we may observe, that the second, third, and seventh columns, being extracted from official documents with the dates annexed, may be considered as most wor- thy of regard : and, by a comparison of these three, it will be seen that, in almost all the items, as well as in the sums total, they advance in a progressive ratio, from 1711 to 1753, and 1812. It is a matter of regret that we are not able to furnish the particulars of the census taken in 1792, and extracted by Dr. Morrison from the Ta- tsing-hwuy-teen, but the aggregate 307,467,200 corres- ponds with that system of progressive increase which has evidently been going on in China, for the last century. It will be seen also that the revenue derived from the various provinces, in the eighth, ninth, and tenth col- umns, is in such proportions as we might anticipate from the population of the respective regions as exhibited in the second, third, and seventh columns ; considering that some of the provinces are more fertile than others, and therefore produce more, both in money and kind. From these considerations, therefore, we may venture to con- clude, that the three columns above referred to, exhibit the most authentic and credible account of the popula- tion, at the periods specified. Next to them in importance and credibility is the account given by Grosier, and the rough sketch brought home by Sir G. Staunton, in the fifth and sixth columns. C5 ^ 'OCO O -^-roO 00 OtOOCl'^ Ci 1 1 . , ^ • c/3 '^ o r^iooo t^ oo*^ C2 oioocco CTj li ^ ^ i|i 0^ ^ '^^ " "^.'^ *^^ '~V"'^*^l ^„ ^•^^'^^r-'^^'-l. o t' OJ, 1 5 ! -s ^fl * Z ■-= a .£8 2 . •^C5rMcQ«00n'»0O'— 'Cri^C^'^OC^CO— -O) C5 j=?;S8 22:?5?C;^S2SZ?;5 5 5?o tc ;o •==■ ;; ^ C- ' — - yj (M C2^0_C.^0 -^O lO "^^''^C^t^5,^=,>0,-„r~ M ^00 c ^ -5 "^ — cm" -r-ToTTJ" -^uTr-T— c^c^r-TirT-r — CO .3 » -c: >-> bo c r-i =^ O 2 .£ re o rt c •- ~ t: a. •r_^ 4-> — .n :3 ^ bn . o =^ a ,.~ V , fM 03 CC O ^ T Of .^i w to "7-, 1"^ 1 1 !.=§ • t^ 1^ CO (T) CC P to lO CI -i3 to CJOCQOOIC^Oi lO to in Oi -c- «giSa553S 2 S n r/^ —1 -o-^ t^ to r;i n o> Ol = S 1 c ^" £ S «" .— -f -■^ 2 -3 S c-n: P 1812 Mori in n in gri pass 1 the re m ,28,' -r a> o o !?» o o o — ' ir: 00 lO po r; Ol T '^ o r^ 00 „ S ^ (-^'^'^■-^to^c^to^oo^'0^io^-T^ao^oo^r?^>-^to^X) tt^cw^io^ Ct_ ■= K '3 13 ."2 " 'JZ — '3 ^ rj St-^cToo'S^c^t-^r^-^coa^^^t^'^^^ci •- c^ :r lO 1^ xi Ol X 00 -f c^ o ci 05 O) in — 00 -^ Ol TT _-q.cj:3 c: ^;rS ^ -,'^1.'"..'^„^,"^„=1°^ —„"„'''„ ^„" ■— '^y '^' '" (-; Census taken traded by J, . Land Tax warded to I* Land Tax p weight. Customs take per tael. Grain retainc Numbiir of i this am't of g "- f^rf-T'-^:^-''-^ «"rf«~-^ -T — rt — — Cici-roxr^— -■'TO — »nx, — oco ^ o 1- o to as X) -- s^ o t^ to — <-•: Ol t^ c^ en Ol -^ c_x^io_o^cr^i-_^-!r_o_^o^-H^r-^0}_0)^— __to_^=_x.r3^0i. cr>_ - ' r:Tc^T^'.C'S-Si~^::^(r\'t-^-o-rt^czi0^co — co ^ -roitr^— 'ini^i^tonococr^cot^ ^-ox 'Y'i ^ ^^"1^*^J.^^H.^^ ^..'^l.'t.'^"-^^^'.- Ol, "^ 01COC0 0101i-!01— 'OlOl-H — — Ol — CO > > C2 ;^ PP5-5 -^ o o— oc:c; = ^OOwCt:: O— O o o oooooocooooocco S, °- '^„^„^°.-^^R.'=-'^„'%.^-^"^S.'^„°„ c o o o o o c ca < >^ ^ ^ Z;Z* •3 c" o" o^cf— ''o"-'"o'~o'"=ro'"o'"='"cro'"="cr c~ :^ = S == £ S 2 S £ 2 £ = ° = = = £ = o T^ O O^ 0^0_C^O^O^O^O^O^G>^C^O^O^C^O^tI^ c:,. , crT of o"— ^•o'-^rf •rf-'^f^Qd'ort-r.-ro'arcr -^ CO « — 01 — — — o5oio« — — oioi- cT ny, extracted e date, 1710. ng to the Ta- q- ;ted from tlie Bridgman. on, jiubii.'ihec e date, 1760. lilished aboul ear 1765. Staunton. oi = ~ = =; o — ?^ = r^ -* c: CO T i^ 1- -n- Ol Ol rv^ ih -T ^ ;o tr cr. i~ = ci =! r: X -=- — t- C5 — ^ ci I'n 65 68,8 22,9 61,4 61,0 29,6 63,6 80,6 29,3 32,5 80,7 68,1 87,4 12,0 82,9 97,5 47,4 78,8 02,7 m ^ ^>. to O),— _r-_,t:;_-3-__t=^c_(» ?5_— __t^oi.'T_r-__i^__m o -3^ Ol, ,-H irC~ir^T~t^-c:coS-Siri~t^t^aiSncTn ent dynai Probabl , accordii rison, Es ig, Rxtrac V. E. C. i r. Morris 1, probabl osier, pul ? to the y to Sir G. CO ro rf 71 -.o ~. T.' --: — 5 to — to X i) 1^ iO cri ?! O — -^'•l,— .."■.-—..'''.-".-— „~i--,^„'~X*^.-'^<^''v"'",'^ -m to'"-r~i-rx"ofio"-r — •~ro''orr-''crf~.'"to~trf~-rcrr:o'— •" '— ^ X o -o CO 01 1^ GO ~ o^ to -r to in -^ 00 05 to ry: -r Ol 2 c J 5_§^a,biit5 =.c f>.. T in_o5_^__CTi__o^co__to_^o^tc_^Tr__(x)_oi co r^rr_in__o_:r)_ i~t co'co"— •"irfoo"— '"'3'''tjrorin-r t-rr-rorco"cr ling of the p ' Dr. Morris ar of Kang d hy J. R. I\ ar of Keen- edition, by ;ung-che, by en-lung's re ung-che, by g, and refer) iiese manda: 01 — CM O! — ,> i ^ — JO IT! = Ol t:; Ol — CO Ol ;.'. 00 tri X 00 00 — ro to in O CO to CO T t^ lO ^ Cl 05 ^ — ic rr in 53 74,2 18.9 35,3 63,8 10,3 68,8 36,3 14,3 69,8 62,3 51,0 33,2 68,4 39,2 75,6 03,0 18,8 S OJ i>» CO to -r o to t^ in ^— r^^-^ "^"U" <35 o c: oi. CO F-H oToTorirToo •^TTtr'f- oTin^co^of r-Tco — '— "--^ i biiut the beginii ih-tung-che, by in the .50th ye -teen, extracte in the 18th ye ivuy-teen, new fro'm the Yih t alter end of Ke from the Yihti ar of Keen-lun lied by the Chii oicoi^oi — co^tOLO^-trincii^'rf'^—' ci- , r^ to oioo — — rrco in tT^-rcno)oo'ri^'-*co "^ 3D_rp_oc),inco__co,_m__c^,_— ^in__— ,_to^in__ti /-;_to 'T^t^ r- ~^ -f'to''r-roi>:rto'co''in"^arj'r--'"ro''rf"orcr"in"r-r irT 17 3,27 2,65 1,35 2,17; 2,71 70 43 33 3,09 2,27 1,72 2,15 3,80 1,14 21 14 3 CO re -f in J '. — . CI Ol 5 5 -1 = a = 2 2 s 5 1 Ci I. Censu ft II. Censi ts III. Cen IV. Cen: V. Censi tl VI. Ceni ling-king hih-le eang-soo an-hw'uy eang-se he-keang uh-keen oo-pih oo-nan o-nan tian-tung lian-se iiense an-suh ze-chuen anton wang-se un-nan ivei-chow aBO«0«Ofa = 33S!»a!a.U!aiOt sent to Peking-, .... 5 31,745,9G6 taels, or £10,581,755 Ditto paid in grain, ditto . . 4,230,957 shiii, worth 4,230,937 Customs paid in money, and ) sent to Peking, .... \ 1,480,997 taels, or 493,666 Grain kept in the provinces, 31,596,569 shih, worth 31,596,569 Money ditto ditto . 28,705,125 taels, or 9,568,375 £56,471,322 This revenue, when divided amongst 361,221,900 per- sons, amounts to three shillings and three half-pence per head : and if that only which is sent to Peking be reck- oned, namely, c^l 5,206, 378, it will not amount to much more than ten pence per head. Some persons may doubt, how a government over so great a country can be maintained for so small a sum, and how a people under an arbitrary rule can be let off with such insignificant imposts; particularly when in a free country like our own, and in a time of profound peace, each individual contributes upwards of two pounds, annually, as his HOW ADEQUATE. 65 share of the public burthen. But it must be remem- bered, that China has few or no resources beyond itself, that her foreign commerce is limited, and compared with the population insignificant, that comparatively i'ew sub- sist by manufactures, and that almost all the inhabitants are dependent on agriculture. In a country therefore, where the consumers fully equal the capabilities of the soil, and where every production is hastily devoured by ai needy population, there is little left for a government to glean, or, to use a Chinese simile, to squeeze, out of the already exhausted pockets of the people. It is not unlikely, also, that the present peaceful state of the country, and the willingness with which the Chinese submit to the Tartar yoke, is to be ascribed mainly to the light and insignificant burdens pressing on the peo- ple, who would soon complain, and perhaps revolt, if more heavily taxed. But how can the government man- age to maintain an immense establishment of civil and military ofiicers, besides an army and navy of nearly a million of men, upon fifteen or even fifty six millions of pounds sterling? To this it may be replied, that the pay of a Chinese soldier is only four pence a day; that the salary of the highest officer under government does not exceed c£8,000 per annum, of which there are not many; that there is not more than one officer to ten thousand people; and that most of these have not more than ^'50. per annum ; thus it is quite possible for the government to manage a country so thinly officered and so poorly paid, upon a comparatively small sum of money. Besides which, there is no national debt in China, so that all that is gathered goes to the actual maintenance of the government, and is not expended in paying the in- terest on obligations formerly contracted, to be defrayed by future generations. In the report of the Anglo-Chinese college, for 1829, there is an estimate of the amount of land-tax paid in different provinces, extracted from the Ta-tsing-hwuy- teen, or "Collections of statutes of the Tartar dynasty," by which it appears that the average rate of land-tax per mow, (or Chinese acre, somewhat smaller than an English acre,) is from fifteen cash to one hundred, or from one penny to sixpence : this when calculated at its *6 06 LAND-TAX SMALL. highest vahie, and multiplied by the number of acres in China under cultivation, will amount to about ^12,000,000 sterling. This statement agrees with the common re- port of the natives, who affirm that from one to two per cent, of the produce is the utmost of what is exacted by the government in the shape of land-tax. CHAPTER IV REFLECTIONS ON THE P0PULATIO^. Their overwhelming numbers — Their sinful condition — The work of evangelizing them difficult — Dependence on Divine aid — The difl'usive character of the Gospel — Encouragement drawn from the uniformity of their government, language, morals, and sentiment — Their extending population — only checked by Europeans — And the introduction of opium — The etTcct of opium smoking — Its rapid increase — Chinese law against it — Memorial of a Mandarin — Extent of smuggling — Appeal to the opium merchant — and the East India Company — Demoralizing effect of the drug — Remonstrance to the government of Great Britain. If the population of China really amount to such over- whelming numbers, then what a distressing spectacle presents itself to the eye of the Christian philanthropist. Three hundred and sixty millions of human beings hud- dled together in one country, under the sway of one despotic monarch, influenced by the same delusive piii- losophy, and bowing down to the same absurd supersti- tion. One third of the human race, and one half of the heathen world, held by one tie, and bound by one spell; one million of whom are every month dropping into eter- nity, untaught, unsanctiiied, and, as far as we know — unsaved. How unaccountable it appears that one indi- vidual should be allowed to fetter the minds of so vast a portion of immortal men, and to forbid the introduction of evangelical liberty. How distressing to think, that this nation has been for ages in its present demoralized and degraded condition, with no light beaming on the people, but that derived from atheism and polytheism, with now and then an obscure ray from a questionable form of Christianity. If we were sure that this state of things would always continue, or that the Gospel was not C8 STATE OF POPULATION. destined at an early period to subjugate and renovate China, we might ahr.ost be led to grow weary of such an unimproving and unimprovable world. To see the de- mon of darkness reigning in one soul is painful, but to see him rampant over a whole nation, and that nation constituting one third of the human race, is beyond mea- sure distressing, and might well induce one to exclaim, "Oh that my head were waters, and mine eyes a foun- tain of tears, that I might weep day and night for the slain of the daughter of this people." There are, doubtless, amongst such a vast concourse of human beings, numbers, who according to the light they have, lead tolerably decent lives, as it regards moral and social duties; but they must all be destitute of right views of divine and eternal things; and where these fundamental truths are misapprehended, there can be little hope of the claims of human relations being properly sustained; in fact, experience forces upon those who have had the most frequent and intimate intercourse with them, the unwelcome truth, that amongst them in a remarkable degree, "there is none righteous, no, not one : there is none that understandeth; there is none that seeketh after God; they are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable ; there is none that doeth good, no, not one. Their throat is an open sepul- chre, with their tongues they have used deceit; the poi- son of asps is under their lips, whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness; their feet are swift to shed blood ; destruction and misery are in their ways, and the way of peace have they not known;" and why? but because, "there is no fear of God before their eyes." Now, if it be true, that they have "all sinned and come short of the glory of God;" that "without shedding of blood there is no remission," and that "without faith, it is impossible to please God;" if they cannot "call on him in whom they have not believed, nor believe in him of whom they have not heard, nor hear without a preach- er;" then, how wretched must be the condition, and how dismal the prospect of a nation of sinners, and so great a nation, involved in one common ruin with our- selves, and yet ignorant of the only way of salvation. We are not warranted by divine revelation to conclude, EVANGELIZATION DIFFICULT. 69 that wilful and determined sinners will be forgiven with- out an interest in the great atonement ; and we have no reason to imagine, than such interest can be obtained, by adult transgressors, without a knowledge of, and faith in, the Divine Mediator. How truly affecting and heart- rending IS it, therefore, that so large a portion of the human race should be shut up together, under one tyrannical government, whose exclusive policy forbids all intercourse with foreigners, and whose proud self-suffi- ciency imagines their native institutions fully adequate to all the requirements of the present and the future world. Really, if the apostle Paul, speaking under the influence of inspiration, could express himself so feel- ingly and so strongly, relative to God's ancient people, as to "wish himself separated from Christ, for his breth- ren and kinsmen according to the flesh;" and if his "heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel was, that they might be saved;" then, surely. Christians in the present day, may be excused for feeling strongly on the subject of China's danger, and for panting eagerly after China's salvation. But the population of China, in its present condition, not only distresses — it appals the mind. The man, who shall set himself to reform his household, or to enlighten his neighborhood, has assigned himself a task of some difficulty ; but of proportionate ease, compared with the great object of arousing a whole nation, turning the cur- rent of popular opinion, and bringing the mass of a peo- ple to think aright on the subject of religion. The diffi- culty is increased, however, when the reform of such a na- tion is attempted, and that in opposition to early and long cherished prejudices, backed by all the array of political power and philosophical cunning. Where shall we begin, or where can we hope to end the Herculean task? And what proportion do our present means and efforts bear to the end in view? Some score of individuals, is all that the churches of England and America now de- vote to the conversion of China — one thousand persons are thereby brought under instruction, and not more than ten converted every year. This is a very small propor- tion, and protracted will be the period, ere we can expect at such a rate to succeed. Could we bring one thousand 70 CHARACTER OF THE GOSPEL. individuals under instruction every day, and give them only a day's teaching each, it would take one thousand years to bring all the population of China thus under the sound of the Gospel ; and if even ten of these separate thousands were every day converted to God, it would re- quire one hundred thousand years to make all these mighty hosts savingly acquainted with divine truth. This is a startling view of the matter, but a more affect- ing consideration still, is, that the ranks of heathenism are increasing at a thousandfold greater ratio, than we can expect, by such a system of proselyting, to thin them. For, even allowing an increase of only one per cent, per annum, on the whole population, we shall find that they are thus adding three and a half millions, yearly, to their number; so that according to our most sanguine calcula- tions, the heathen would multiply faster than they could be brought over to Christianity. Besides which, while we are thus aiming to rescue a few, the many are still perishing for lack of knowledge. Thus the very magnitude of the object disheartens and depresses the mind. The multitude of individuals to be benefited, astonishes — and the distance to which the supposed accomplishment of the design is removed, sickens — so that men of common mould, and the usual energies, would hardly venture on such an undertaking; and Christians, in general, despairing of success, are tempted to restrain prayer before God. And what shall we say to these things? Shall we give up the attempt as hopeless, and leave the Chinese to perish, unpitied, and unaided? God forbid. It must be remembered, that we depend not on human resources; for if we did, we never should have attempted the work : and had we thus rashly ventured on the undertaking, we should speedily have sounded a retreat. Our hope is in the Father of Lights, from whom cometh down every good and every perfect gift, and with whom there is no variableness, neither shadow of turning. He hath said, "I have sworn by myself, the word hath gone out of my mouth in righteousness, and shall not return, that unto me every knee shall bow, and every tongue shall swear." And hath he said, and shall he not do it? hath he spoken, and shall he not bring it to pass ? He can cause a nation to ENCOURAGEMENT TO EFFORT. 7l be born in a day, and even the conversion of so great and populous a nation as China, is not be}'ond tlie com- pass of Almighty power; for, is anything too hard for the Lord? But God does not need to be at the expense of a miracle, or to step out of the way of his ordinary provi- dence to accomplish such an event. The plain preach- ing of the Gospel, by humble unassuming individuals, accompanied and blessed by the powerful energy of his Holy Spirit, will accomplish, in due time, the desired end; but, in such a way, that the power will, after all, appear to be that of God, and not of men. The charac- ter of the Gospel is diffusion ; it is compared to a little leaven that gradually spreads itself, till it leavens the whole lump. The very instinct of Christianity is propa- gation ; and no sooner does one obtain a knowledge of divine things himself, but he is anxious to make it known to others. Thus an individual converted under the preaching of the word, on the shores of China, like Andrew, on the coast of Galilee, first finds out his own brother Simeon, and tells him of Jesus of Nazareth. In this way, one may be the means of awakening ten, and ten of communicating the same blessing to a hundred ; and so they may go on, without any miracle, except that of grace, spreading and increasing in a tenfold ratio, till a district — a county — a province — and the whole em- pire is evangelized. In this view of the case, numbers no longer appal, nor difficulties dishearten ; and though China contained double the amount of inhabitants, fenced around by much severer restrictions, we need not fear attempting, nor despair of succeeding, in the work of evangelizing that people. On the contrary, there is something in the very abun- dance of the population which constitutes a ground of encouragement; for the inhabitants of that empire, though numerous, and spread over eighteen provinces, must be considered as a great whole; and what bears on the political, intellectual, moral, and religious condition of the people bears upon them as a whole. 1'hus China, though vast, is under one despotic form of government, and if measures could be adopted that would infiuence the ruler of so vast an empire, the whole mass of his sub- 72 ONE WRITTEN LANGUAGE. jects would, in a great measure, be affected thereby. It is not a fanatical suggestion, that the praj'ers of pious Christians, on behalf of the "Son of Heaven," would be heard in the court of heaven, particularly if all the available means be employed to inform, enlighten, and affect his mind. It is not impossible that a remonstrance drawn up by Christian missionaries, may reach the "dragon throne;" or, that a devoted and zealous preacher of the Gospel should get introduced to court, and plead the cause of Christianity in the imperial ear: and though the expression of his "holy will" might, at first, prove unfavorable, yet the repetition of such attempts, might, in time, prove successful ; and induce the government to grant free toleration to the profession of real godliness, through the length and breadth of the land. The man, who should make this the business of his life, and expend his talents and energies in seeking such an introduction, and procuring such an edict, would effect, under God, more than Archimedes contemplated, when he specu- lated upon moving the world. But the Chinese are not only living under one form of despotic rule, they possess, likewise, one universal lan- guage and literature. It is a remarkable fact, that not- withstanding the spoken dialects of each province and county vary so materially, that the Chinese of different districts are absolutely unintelligible to each other; yet, the written medium of the whole empire is easily under- stood by all, and writing instead of speaking, constitutes the universal method of exchanging ideas. The Chinese written language, being symbolical, and the same sym- bols being used to designate certain significations, what- ever sounds be attached to the character, each instruct- ed person readily understands a book, though he may use a different dialect from the writer. It is remarkable, further, that not only are the same signs employed for certain ideas, in all parts of the country, but the same style is used. The disposal of the characters, as well as the characters themselves, is according to one uniform method; so that a person able to write well, in Chinese, no matter what may be his native dialect, is intelligible to the remotest borders of the empire. Yea, even be- yond the limits of Chinese rule, the Chinese character UNIFORMITY OF SENTIMENT. 73 and style are understood, and throughout Cochln-China, Corea, and Japan, the same mode of writing is current and legible. Thus a book, once composed in the custom- ary Ciiinese style, if intelligible to one learned man, would be intelligible to all; and might travel among the hundreds of millions inhabiting south-eastern Asia, com- municating intelligence throughout the whole region. What a stimulus does this afford to an active and ener- getic mind, while engaged in studying the Chinese lan- guage, or inditing a book for their instruction, that he is doing what may be available to the benefit of so many millions, and that to the latest generation! Such a book needs only to be multiplied and circulated, without un- dergoing the slightest alteration, in order to enlighten and edify one third of the human race. Tiie morals, also, of this numerous people have one striking characteristic, and their religious views and practices are precisely similar throughout the empire. , When a man has studied the main features of the Chi- nese character in one place and one person, he has studied them in all; and when he has discovered a train of argument that will silence the philosophical and super- stitious objections of one individual, he has provided himself with materials that will be serviceable on all oc- casions. This uniformity and unvariableness of the Chinese mind is to be traced to their possessing one set of opinions on philosophy and religion; which being laid down in their ancient books, and stereotyped from age to age, constitutes the public and universal sentiment on the above topics, and runs through the whole mass of society. Hence the missionary finds the Chinese always using the same arguments and starting the same objec- tions, which having been often answered before, may be easily replied to again. In this view of the matter, the multiplicity of their population dwindles into insignifi- cance, and affords an advantage to the missionary not to be met with elsewhere. Whilst considering the population of China in all its bearings, it may be well to observe, that it is possible to draw encouragement from its very increase. It has been before observed, that China, partly by additions to the number enrolled, and partly by the preponderance of 7 74 EXTENDING POPULATION. births over deatlis, has doubled its population several times during the last century. Such has been the rapidity and extent of tlie increase, that all the waste lands, within the empire, capable of cultivation, have been occupied; and the surplus population, unable to gain a subsistence at home, have been compelled to emi- grate by thousands every year, to the islands and coun- tries around. Now the number of inhabitants is still in- creasing, and the Chinese in spite of their exclusive and restrictive system, are bursting forth on every side, and, without our asking it, are coming in contact with Chris- tians, and seeking shelter under European governments, where missionaries may labor unimpeded and unpro- hibited among them. If the same causes continue to operate, without any counteracting influence, there seems nothing to prevent the Chinese from crowding into tlie British possessions in Ilindostan, and, under the mild and just sway of our Indian rulers, multiplying still more fast and plentifully than they have done in their own country. They have already their hundreds of thousands in Siam, and will soon occupy Birmah, Pegu, and Assam. They have long colonized the islands of the Malayan archipelago, and what should hinder them from pushing on to New Holland, wiiere millions of acres await their assiduous and energetic cultivation; while the extensive and fertile regions of New Guinea and New Ireland lie still more contiguous to their mother country. A nation increasing as does the Chinese, can- not be long confined within narrow bounds, and restric- tion with them is impossible. Imperial edicts are already weak and inefticieut, but will soon be flung to the winds. Hunger cannot be controlled, and necessity knows no law. Let but another age roll by, and China double her population once more, and her very increase will break down her political barriers, and bring her myriads in contact with the Christian world. Let vigorous measures be taken for the tliorotigii instruction of the Chinese emi- grants, and, while coming adventurers get an acquaint- ance with the truth, returning individuals will carry with them what they have learned; and thus, within and without the limits of the empire, all will gradually be evangelized. The multiplication of their numbers, OBSTACLES TO INCREASE. 75 therefore, viewed in this light, presents an encouraging aspect, and would lead us to anticipate the period as not far distant when China shall stretch out her hands unto God. It has been suggested, that this would be the case, if no counteracting influence intervened. We lament to say, that such an obstacle to the increase of the popula- tion does exist; and that it is to be found, not in exter- nal wars, or intestine commotions, — not in the oppressive measures of the Chinese government, — not in the un- wholesomeness of their climate, or the confined nature of their buildings, — not in the general neglect of the poor, or in the awful prevalence of female infanticide, — but in the extensively and still advancing introduction of an intoxicating medium. It has been observed, that wherever Europeans come in contact with their less skilful neighbors, and bring superior intelligence, enterprize, and, we may add, cu- pidity, to bear on the tawny nations of the globe; the result has been the gradual decline and disappearance of the one before the other, till the hardy and energetic white has taken the place of his colored brother. In some places this has amounted to complete extermination, and in others the process is rapidly going forward, with the same gloomy prospect. Not one of the race formerly inhabiting Newfoundland is now in existence. The same may be said of the Caribs; while the Indians of North America, and the aborigines of New Holland, will soon be in the condition of those unhappy races. But was it intelligence alone which enabled the tutored tribes to prevail over the untaught? Were not other means employed, and did they not prove most lamentably suc- cessful ? Was not the rum cask called in to the aid of the scheming colonist, and did not the red man fall but too easy a prey to the insidious allurement? Did not ardent spirits prove the ruin of the Indians, undermining their energies, shortening their lives, and decreasing their numbers? All this is well known fact, and will soon become matter of history. In China, territory is not sought, nor lands coveted ; there Europeans do not aim at conquest or colonization; they have no need, therefore, to use an intoxication medium, in order to 76 INTRODUCTION OF OPIUM. subserve their designs of political influence, and territo- rial enlargement. The only inducement, that English merchants can have to lead them to carry on the opium trade in China, is the desire of gain; and yet that gain is so considerable as to draw them on with increasing eagerness in its pursuit. It is with them not a means to an end, but the end itself; they do not contemplate the wasting away of the population in consequence of the traffic, and yet the terrible effects of the traffic may be the same as though they did contemplate it. Facts induce us to believe that it is so. Those who grow and sell the drug, while they profit by the speculation, would do well to follow the consumer into the haunts of vice, and mark the wretchedness, poverty, disease, and death which follow the indulgence; for did they but know the thousandth part of the evils resulting from it, they would not, they could not, continue to engage in the transac- tion. Previous to the year 179G, opium was admitted into China on the payment of a duty, when a few hun- dred chests annually were imported. Since that time, the drug has been openly interdicted, and yet clandes- tinely introduced, at the rate of 20,000 chests annually, which cost the Chinese four millions of pounds sterling every year. This quantity at twenty grains per day for each individual,* would be sufficient to demoralize nearly three millions of persons. When the habit is once formed, it grows till it becomes inveterate; discon- tinuance is more and more difficult, until at length, the sudden deprivation of the accustomed indulgence pro- duces certain death. In proportion as the wretched vic- tim comes under the power of the infatuating drug, so is his ability to resist temptation less strong; and debilitated in body as well as mind, he is unable to earn his usual pittance, and not unfrequently sinks under the cravings of an appetite, which he is unable to gratify. Thus they may be seen, hanging their heads by the doors of the opium shops, which the hard hearted keepers, having fleeced them of their all, will not permit them to enter; and shut out from their own dwellings, either by angry * Some take a great deal more than this, but this is the average for the poor, and therefore for the many. Besides which the properties of the drug are not destroyed by once smoking, but will bear to be used as an anodyne twice over. EFFECTS OF OPIUM. 77 relatives or ruthless creditors, they die in the streets unpitied and despised. It would be well, if the rich opium merchant, were sometimes present to witness such scenes as these, that he might be aware how his wretch- ed customers terminate their course, and see where his speculations, in thousands of instances, end. When the issue of this pernicious habit is not fatal, its tendencies are to weaken the strength, and to undermine the con- stitution ; while the time and property spent in this voluptuous indulgence, constitute so much detracted from the wealth and industry of the country, and tend to plunge into deeper distress those weak and dependent members of society, who are already scarcely able to subsist at all. In fact every opium smoker may calcu- late upon shortening his life ten years from the time when he coaimences the practice ; one half of his physi- cal energies are soon gone; one third of his scanty earnings are soon absorbed; and feeling strength and income both diminishing, while the demands upon his resources are increased, he seeks to obtain by duplicity what he cannot earn by labor, and thus his moral sense becomes blunted and his heart hardened, while he plunges into the vortex of ruin, dragging with him his dependent relatives, and all within the sphere of his intluence. Calculating, therefore, the shortened lives, the frequent diseases, and the actual starvation, which are the result of opium smoking in China, we may ven- ture to assert, that this pernicious drug annually destroys myriads of individuals. No man of leeling can contem- plate this fearful amount of misery and mortality, as re- sulting from the opium trade, without an instinctive shud- der. But the most appalling fact of all is, that the trade is constantly increasing. The following statement exhibits the consumption of opium during the last twenty years: — 1816 . Chests, 3,210 . Value, 3,(157,000 dollars. 1820 . 4,770 . „ 8,400,800 1825 . „ 9, cm . „ 7.(i(>;j.20i3 1830 . 18,760 . „ i2;yoo;o3i 1832 . 23,670 . „ 16,338,160 1836 . 27,111 . 17,ii01.,243' ♦The qviantity introduced up to the yr-ar enilinc in tlu; spritiijof J837, was .■)4,OnO, and tiie deliveries during lliu aioiith of July, ol'tlie saiuo year, amounted to 4,000 chesbs. *s 78 INCREASED INTRODUCTION. By this it will be seen, that while the consumption has been increasing, the price has been falling, from 1139 to 660 dollars per chest, or nearly one half its original value. Still the enterprising speculator has been push- ing his article into the market, determined to furnish the Chinese with it at any price, rather than lose so large a customer. Thus the appetite has been created, and is largely fed, until nearly three millions of victims have been drawn into the snare ; and there is every prospect of its increasing still more, until the consumers dying off in proportion as the consumption extends, the country will be thinned of its inhabitants, and Mammon at leno-th be disappointed of his prey. But is there no remedy? The emperors of China have wisely and patriotically determined, from the very moment they spied the onward march of the threatened evil, to denounce and resist it; and instead of admitting it, on the payment of a duty, have, as rulers, resolutely refused to derive any profit from the vices of the people. In the first year of the late emperor, Kea-king, 1'7