Something about the Chinese.CalligraphyThe Chinese are, my young friends, a very wonderful people—quite unlike the people in any other part of the world. They are very different in their religion, laws, manners and customs; and were you to go and live in China, you would be puzzled to know what to do, and how to act. My friend, Mr. Welton, however, who has just sent over to his native place a beautiful collection of Chinese curiosities, seems to know how to get on very well; and from his letters, and the specimens of Chinese literature, art, and manufactures, it will not be a very difficult thing to obtain some slight knowledge of the Chinese.China is the most populous country in the world; it is supposed to contain at least two hundred and fifty millions of human beings. Of these, more than two millions live in boats on the rivers, and a very large number have been enrolled as soldiers. At the present moment, China is undergoing a great revolution (of which I shall have something to say before I have done), and the religion of Jesus Christ ismaking progress. The end of this will probably be the opening of the whole of the Chinese empire to European commerce, which will be of great advantage to the whole world.No country abounds like China in towns and cities, which in some of the provinces are so thick and close to each other, that the whole seems but one continued town swarming with inhabitants. Their roads are generally crowded with passengers. Some cities are purely military, and are inhabited by soldiers, of which there are said to be not less than five millions in the empire.The most wonderful things in China are the canals, especially the Great Canal, as it is called, which is an uninterrupted communication of nearly seven hundred miles of water, between Pekin and the great central stream of the Yang-tse-Kiang. In connection with the rivers, it opens a communication between Canton and Pekin, by means of a thousand miles of navigation.The Great Wall of China has always been considered one of the wonders of the world. It was erected three hundred years before Christ. It is in length one thousand miles, and it passes over hills, vallies, rivers, and mountains which are in some places more than five thousand feet high. Its height is thirty feet, and it is very broad. The towers, which are at short distances from each other, are forty feet high. This Wall is no longer of much use as a fortification, and is now regarded more as a curiosity. The mass of materials used in its construction would be sufficient to build a thick wall, six feet in height, all round the globe. China is also famous for triumphal arches, erected to the memoryof their heroes; it is said that there are from six hundred to seven hundred in the empire. It is customary for persons travelling to pay their adoration at these arches, as well as at the tombs of their ancestors, whom they regard with the greatest veneration.A triumphal archMost of the Chinese cities have large bells set up in their high towers, by which notice is given of the different watches of the night. The first watch is denoted by a single stroke; the second, by two; the third, by three; and so on. Some of the Chinese bells are very large, and weigh upwards of one hundred thousand pounds. Their clappers are of wood and not of metal—the former being thought to give a softer sound.The city of Pekin has been the fixed capital of China ever since the expulsion of the Moguls; and, although situated on the Northern confines of China Proper, it is central withregard to the whole empire. It is surrounded by a wall, flanked with high towers, each containing accommodation for a hundred men. Within this wall are the Emperor’s palace and gardens. These are surrounded by another wall, the enclosure being called the Sacred City. The two cities are not less than twenty-five miles in circumference.wall around the sacred cityThe Imperial Palace is situated in the heart of the city, and has a prodigious number of courts, squares, ponds, parks, and edifices. The apartments are spacious and healthy, and the whole is adorned with gardens, baths, and pleasure terraces. There, is, in the midst of one of the principal gardens, an artificial lake of about a mile in extent, surrounded by stately trees, and gorgeous temples, and fine statues.The Great Hall of Audience is a lofty building, one hundred and thirty feet long, and nearly of a square form. Its ceiling is of carved work, garnished with green, and adorned with gilt dragons in bas-relief. The pillars whichsupport the roof are about seven feet in circumference, and are embellished with raised works of fruits and flowers. The pavement is covered with a rich carpet; the walls are polished white, and without hangings, mirrors, or any kind of ornament. The throne stands in the centre of the hall, and consists of a lofty alcove, but has few ornaments or inscriptions; it, however, bears the words “Reason’s glory,” the name assumed by the present Emperor.templeThe Great Temple of the Chinese, or of Pekin, is a very curious edifice—not merely on account of its riches and grandeur, but from its being the scene of a very important ceremony, performed by the Emperor every year, when the sun enters the winter solstice; hence it is termed the Temple of the Sun. The temple stands about half-a-mile from the east end of the city, and is surrounded by a wall nearly a mile in circuit. Within this enclosure are reared several stately apartments, amid groups of lofty trees, and in the centre a spacious round hall, of a considerable height. The dome or roof is supported by eighty-two columns,curiously painted with gold and azure, representing the sky. At an upper part of the temple stands a very large vessel of brass, in which perfumes are burned; and on each side of it stand the priests. To this temple the Emperor repairs at the proper season, and, in a homely garb, without gold, or jewels, or even the yellow garment that denotes royalty—kneels down in adoration, and offers up his prayers for the sins of the people, and prays the Divine Being to give happiness and prosperity to the nation at large.EMporer offering up prayersIn another temple, called the Temple of the Earth, which is without the walls of the city, a ceremony is performed by every Emperor, on coming to the throne, equally worthyof description. Immediately after the coronation, the Emperor comes with regal pomp to this temple, which stands on the west side of the city. As soon as he passes the walls of the city, he divests himself of his imperial robes, and clothes himself in the habit of a common ploughman; and in this humble guise proceeds, with his numerous retinue, to a spot of ground kept for the purpose within the compass of the temple. Here he finds a plough, gilt and ornamented with gold, to which two oxen with golden horns are fastened, and, taking the plough in his hand, he drives it to the extent of two or three furrows. Whilst at this laborious exercise, the Empress, attended by her ladies, prepares some plain dish for his dinner, and brings it to him into his private apartment, in the most homely style, and sits and eats with him.This excellent custom is of Chinese origin, and of great antiquity. Its design is to put the new monarch in mind that his revenue is owing to the sweat and labour of his subjects, and that he ought to abstain from all superfluous expenses, and ease them of all unnecessary burdens.The Chinese are great lovers of festivals, and one of their principal entertainments of this kind is celebrated during the eighth moon. From sunset and the rising of the moon till midnight, every one walks about with his relatives and friends in the streets, public places, and gardens. In the preceding days they send to each other tarts and cakes, called yua-pini, that is, cakes of the moon; they are round and flat, and made to resemble that luminary. These cakes are eaten by moonlight—the wealthy to the sound of melodious music, and the poor to the din of drums, gongs, and other noisy instruments.The engraving represents a dealer in confectionary of this kind; the cakes are flat, and the hares, which are one of the chief of their ornaments, are either sitting on their haunches, or lying down eating. One of the cakes in the upper row is adorned with peacock’s feathers, between which is placed a figure of the moon, on which is the representation of a hare pounding rice.dealer in confectionaryFruit is sold by hawkers, and men who sit at a table in the open air. The picture shows the way in which fruit is hawked in baskets, suspended from the ends of a bamboo, which is borne on one shoulder. The baskets of this trader are stocked with various kinds of fruit. The melons, one ofwhich is seen in the picture, are water-melons; there are besides grapes, white and red figs, and peaches. This latter fruit the Chinese regard as the emblem of immortality. In the abode of Hien Gien, which is their paradise, they imagine a peach-tree, the fruit of which secures all those who eat of it from death.fruit sellerThe other Chinese fruits are apricots, cherries, lemons, and oranges, which are grown in the gardens of the country people; they also eat the young shoots of the fragrant ash, the flowers of the yulong, and the soft shoots of the juicy-bamboo. The leaf which the itinerant fruit-seller holds, is that of the “nelumbriem,” an aquatic plant, the canes of which sometimes grow large enough for an umbrella. The engravingrepresents a retail dealer in fruit, sitting at his stall, in the shade of an ample umbrella made of rushes.dealer in fruitThe middle classes of the Chinese live upon pork, venison, and shark-fins. Horse-flesh is eaten by the Tartars, and sold in the markets with beef. Cats, too, are a favourite dish, and dogs are the crowning delicacy of the cookery-book.The Chinese towns swarm with hawkers of all sorts, and among the most numerous are the flower-sellers. They carry their flowers about in two flat baskets, suspended like a pair of scales from the two ends of a bamboo. The flowers common to China are, many of them, now common with us. Theplant for which they have the strongest liking is the peony, which they call “moutein.” It is also called the “king of flowers,” and “pe-lean-king,” which means one hundred ounces of gold on account of its beauty, and of the enormous price given for it by the curious.flower sellerThe Chinese, as I have said, eat cats and dogs. They also eat snakes and vipers: the former for food, the latter for physic. The Chinese are very dexterous in catching these animals, and they will also play various tricks with them. It is no unusual thing to see a Chinaman put a viper in his mouth, and ask a bye-stander to pull it out by its tail. Hereis a picture of a viper-seller; the board in his hand contains a list of his reptiles.reptile sellerThe engraving in the next page is the representation of a Chinese barber. He goes from house to house, carrying with him his instruments—a stool, a small furnace, water, razors, brushes. The barbers are also ready to shampoo a customer, if the state of his health require it. The mode of shampooing in China has been thus described:—“First,” said my informant, “the shampooer placed me in a large chair, and then began to beat me with both hands very fast, upon all parts of my body. He next stretched out my arms and legs, and gave them several sudden pulls; he then got my arm on his shoulder, and hauled me sideways a good way off thechair, giving my head at the same time a sudden switch or jerk, almost enough to pull my neck out of joint. Next he beat with the ends of his fingers very softly and very quickly, all over my body and legs, every now and then cracking my fingers. Then he stroked my ears, temples, and eye-lashes. After this he began to scrape, pick and syringe my ears, every now and then working with an instrument close to them. The next things were my eyes, into which several small instruments were thrust. He then proceeded to paring, scraping, and cleansing the nails of my fingers and toes, and then cutting my corns. For all this he only charged the sum of one penny.”barberThe Chinese are very fond of fishing, and although they are not so scientific in throwing a line as Albert Smith, still they manage to get the fish somehow—indeed fishing is very common in China. The waters of the rivers contain a great number of fish unknown to us, one of which is called the flour-fish, on account of its whiteness, and is very delicious eating. The hoang-zy, or yellow fish, sometimes grows to such a size, as to weigh 800 lbs.fishermanWhen a Chinaman goes fishing he takes with him his nets and lines: but he has some other very ingenious methods of catching fish, especially by the employment of the fishing-cormorant; and when he goes out for a day’s sport, he usuallytakes with him ten or twelve of these birds, either in light boats, or on bamboo rafts. The cormorant is taught to pursue fish in the same manner as the falcon does game. The fishermen beat the water strongly with one of their oars, which serves as a signal to the birds, and they instantly plunge into the water, and swallow in as many fish as they can get; they then repair immediately to the boat, each conveying a large fish in the middle of its bill. To prevent the small fish from passing into the stomach of the bird, a ring is commonly put round its neck to confine its gullet, which is long and capable of great expansion. To make it disgorge the fish which it has swallowed, the fisherman holds the bird with its head downwards, and strokes its head with his hand. Some are so well trained as to have no occasion for the ring. They bring their prey honestly to their master, and when they have caught as much he wants, he allows them to fish for themselves.bird catcherThe Chinese are equally as expert in catching birds as in catching fish. Their method of catching wild ducks is exceedingly curious and very amusing. The sportsman covers his head with the half of a large hollow gourd or dry calabash, in which he makes holes, to enable him to see and breathe; he then walks naked into the water, or swims about in sucha manner that nothing is to be seen above the surface but the gourd, which is attached to his head. The ducks, which have been accustomed to the sight of the floating gourds, and to sport and dabble among them, approach without mistrust; the man then pulls them under water, breaks their necks to prevent their making a noise, and fastens them to his girdle.pedlarPedlars are common in China, and they travel without a licence. Here is a picture of one of them. His stock consists of pieces of stuff, ribands, purses, tobacco-pouches, and other small articles. He also deals occasionally in a little opium and tobacco. The latter is very dear in China, and the Chinese frequently mix with it opium, which produces a delicious kind of intoxication. There are thousands of professed opium-eaters in China, who ruin both mind and body by this destructive habit; and Mr. Welton, a surgeon and missionary, to whom the Chinese are greatly indebted for his services in this particular, describes the effect of opium as most frightful.The importation of opium commenced in the seventeenth century, and since that time it has increased to an enormous extent. The chief officers of the province of Canton suffered the drug (though continually prohibited) to come into the country in large quantities, by paying a bribe foreach chest, and in 1825 the importation rose to 10,000 chests every year, which increased till nearly 30,000 chests were disposed of annually.I do not, however, wish to go into the opium question. I would rather afford my young friends some more pictures of China. The countrymen generally wear cloaks made of rice-straw. Their appearance is very nearly the same as that of the Chinese husbandman, two thousand years ago; for the fashions of China never change. The dress of the ladies is always unalterable. The sempstresses or dressmakers trudge about the streets, looking out for employment, until some one engages them. They carry in their baskets various articles belonging to their profession, and do not work as our poor creatures do, twenty out of the twenty-four hours in the season, to elaborate the dress of some duchess or countess, or that of Mrs. Beecher Stowe, the well-known advocate of freedom among the blacks.The dress of the Chinese lady is very rich, and not ungraceful. She usually carries a pipe in one hand and a fan in the other, if the latter be not carried by a servant. The ladies have often their fans made so as not to close, whilst those of the gentlemen always close in the same manner as those of our ladies; but the most distinguishing mark of beauty among the Chinese ladies is their feet, which, to be handsome, must be especially small, and resemble in some degree that of the pettitoes of a little porker. The smallness of the foot is produced by placing, during infancy, the foot in tight shoes or bandages, so that it has no room to grow, what can have been the origin of this strange custom it is not easy to conceive, but it has been supposed to be one originatingin a wish of the men, to keep the women from gadding abroad.CHINESE LADY.CHINESE NUN.Among many “female varieties” there are a number of female Benzes in China, one of which is represented in the cut. They are a kind of Nun, who take vows for a certain period. There are two classes of them, one of which subjects themselves to stricter rules than the others. About the year 1787, one of these Nuns, like Miss Sqirrel in the wilds of Suffolk, set herself up for a goddess, and pretended to enlighten all the nations by supernatural doings. Thousands flocked to her, and becoming extremely rich, she erected amagnificent temple. The Emperor, however, a sly old fox, having suffered her to acquire as much wealth as he thought proper, at last ordered her to be executed, and confiscated her wealth to his own coffers. In a future chapter I shall afford my young friends some further particulars concerning the Chinese.
Calligraphy
The Chinese are, my young friends, a very wonderful people—quite unlike the people in any other part of the world. They are very different in their religion, laws, manners and customs; and were you to go and live in China, you would be puzzled to know what to do, and how to act. My friend, Mr. Welton, however, who has just sent over to his native place a beautiful collection of Chinese curiosities, seems to know how to get on very well; and from his letters, and the specimens of Chinese literature, art, and manufactures, it will not be a very difficult thing to obtain some slight knowledge of the Chinese.
China is the most populous country in the world; it is supposed to contain at least two hundred and fifty millions of human beings. Of these, more than two millions live in boats on the rivers, and a very large number have been enrolled as soldiers. At the present moment, China is undergoing a great revolution (of which I shall have something to say before I have done), and the religion of Jesus Christ ismaking progress. The end of this will probably be the opening of the whole of the Chinese empire to European commerce, which will be of great advantage to the whole world.
No country abounds like China in towns and cities, which in some of the provinces are so thick and close to each other, that the whole seems but one continued town swarming with inhabitants. Their roads are generally crowded with passengers. Some cities are purely military, and are inhabited by soldiers, of which there are said to be not less than five millions in the empire.
The most wonderful things in China are the canals, especially the Great Canal, as it is called, which is an uninterrupted communication of nearly seven hundred miles of water, between Pekin and the great central stream of the Yang-tse-Kiang. In connection with the rivers, it opens a communication between Canton and Pekin, by means of a thousand miles of navigation.
The Great Wall of China has always been considered one of the wonders of the world. It was erected three hundred years before Christ. It is in length one thousand miles, and it passes over hills, vallies, rivers, and mountains which are in some places more than five thousand feet high. Its height is thirty feet, and it is very broad. The towers, which are at short distances from each other, are forty feet high. This Wall is no longer of much use as a fortification, and is now regarded more as a curiosity. The mass of materials used in its construction would be sufficient to build a thick wall, six feet in height, all round the globe. China is also famous for triumphal arches, erected to the memoryof their heroes; it is said that there are from six hundred to seven hundred in the empire. It is customary for persons travelling to pay their adoration at these arches, as well as at the tombs of their ancestors, whom they regard with the greatest veneration.
A triumphal arch
Most of the Chinese cities have large bells set up in their high towers, by which notice is given of the different watches of the night. The first watch is denoted by a single stroke; the second, by two; the third, by three; and so on. Some of the Chinese bells are very large, and weigh upwards of one hundred thousand pounds. Their clappers are of wood and not of metal—the former being thought to give a softer sound.
The city of Pekin has been the fixed capital of China ever since the expulsion of the Moguls; and, although situated on the Northern confines of China Proper, it is central withregard to the whole empire. It is surrounded by a wall, flanked with high towers, each containing accommodation for a hundred men. Within this wall are the Emperor’s palace and gardens. These are surrounded by another wall, the enclosure being called the Sacred City. The two cities are not less than twenty-five miles in circumference.
wall around the sacred city
The Imperial Palace is situated in the heart of the city, and has a prodigious number of courts, squares, ponds, parks, and edifices. The apartments are spacious and healthy, and the whole is adorned with gardens, baths, and pleasure terraces. There, is, in the midst of one of the principal gardens, an artificial lake of about a mile in extent, surrounded by stately trees, and gorgeous temples, and fine statues.
The Great Hall of Audience is a lofty building, one hundred and thirty feet long, and nearly of a square form. Its ceiling is of carved work, garnished with green, and adorned with gilt dragons in bas-relief. The pillars whichsupport the roof are about seven feet in circumference, and are embellished with raised works of fruits and flowers. The pavement is covered with a rich carpet; the walls are polished white, and without hangings, mirrors, or any kind of ornament. The throne stands in the centre of the hall, and consists of a lofty alcove, but has few ornaments or inscriptions; it, however, bears the words “Reason’s glory,” the name assumed by the present Emperor.
temple
The Great Temple of the Chinese, or of Pekin, is a very curious edifice—not merely on account of its riches and grandeur, but from its being the scene of a very important ceremony, performed by the Emperor every year, when the sun enters the winter solstice; hence it is termed the Temple of the Sun. The temple stands about half-a-mile from the east end of the city, and is surrounded by a wall nearly a mile in circuit. Within this enclosure are reared several stately apartments, amid groups of lofty trees, and in the centre a spacious round hall, of a considerable height. The dome or roof is supported by eighty-two columns,curiously painted with gold and azure, representing the sky. At an upper part of the temple stands a very large vessel of brass, in which perfumes are burned; and on each side of it stand the priests. To this temple the Emperor repairs at the proper season, and, in a homely garb, without gold, or jewels, or even the yellow garment that denotes royalty—kneels down in adoration, and offers up his prayers for the sins of the people, and prays the Divine Being to give happiness and prosperity to the nation at large.
EMporer offering up prayers
In another temple, called the Temple of the Earth, which is without the walls of the city, a ceremony is performed by every Emperor, on coming to the throne, equally worthyof description. Immediately after the coronation, the Emperor comes with regal pomp to this temple, which stands on the west side of the city. As soon as he passes the walls of the city, he divests himself of his imperial robes, and clothes himself in the habit of a common ploughman; and in this humble guise proceeds, with his numerous retinue, to a spot of ground kept for the purpose within the compass of the temple. Here he finds a plough, gilt and ornamented with gold, to which two oxen with golden horns are fastened, and, taking the plough in his hand, he drives it to the extent of two or three furrows. Whilst at this laborious exercise, the Empress, attended by her ladies, prepares some plain dish for his dinner, and brings it to him into his private apartment, in the most homely style, and sits and eats with him.
This excellent custom is of Chinese origin, and of great antiquity. Its design is to put the new monarch in mind that his revenue is owing to the sweat and labour of his subjects, and that he ought to abstain from all superfluous expenses, and ease them of all unnecessary burdens.
The Chinese are great lovers of festivals, and one of their principal entertainments of this kind is celebrated during the eighth moon. From sunset and the rising of the moon till midnight, every one walks about with his relatives and friends in the streets, public places, and gardens. In the preceding days they send to each other tarts and cakes, called yua-pini, that is, cakes of the moon; they are round and flat, and made to resemble that luminary. These cakes are eaten by moonlight—the wealthy to the sound of melodious music, and the poor to the din of drums, gongs, and other noisy instruments.
The engraving represents a dealer in confectionary of this kind; the cakes are flat, and the hares, which are one of the chief of their ornaments, are either sitting on their haunches, or lying down eating. One of the cakes in the upper row is adorned with peacock’s feathers, between which is placed a figure of the moon, on which is the representation of a hare pounding rice.
dealer in confectionary
Fruit is sold by hawkers, and men who sit at a table in the open air. The picture shows the way in which fruit is hawked in baskets, suspended from the ends of a bamboo, which is borne on one shoulder. The baskets of this trader are stocked with various kinds of fruit. The melons, one ofwhich is seen in the picture, are water-melons; there are besides grapes, white and red figs, and peaches. This latter fruit the Chinese regard as the emblem of immortality. In the abode of Hien Gien, which is their paradise, they imagine a peach-tree, the fruit of which secures all those who eat of it from death.
fruit seller
The other Chinese fruits are apricots, cherries, lemons, and oranges, which are grown in the gardens of the country people; they also eat the young shoots of the fragrant ash, the flowers of the yulong, and the soft shoots of the juicy-bamboo. The leaf which the itinerant fruit-seller holds, is that of the “nelumbriem,” an aquatic plant, the canes of which sometimes grow large enough for an umbrella. The engravingrepresents a retail dealer in fruit, sitting at his stall, in the shade of an ample umbrella made of rushes.
dealer in fruit
The middle classes of the Chinese live upon pork, venison, and shark-fins. Horse-flesh is eaten by the Tartars, and sold in the markets with beef. Cats, too, are a favourite dish, and dogs are the crowning delicacy of the cookery-book.
The Chinese towns swarm with hawkers of all sorts, and among the most numerous are the flower-sellers. They carry their flowers about in two flat baskets, suspended like a pair of scales from the two ends of a bamboo. The flowers common to China are, many of them, now common with us. Theplant for which they have the strongest liking is the peony, which they call “moutein.” It is also called the “king of flowers,” and “pe-lean-king,” which means one hundred ounces of gold on account of its beauty, and of the enormous price given for it by the curious.
flower seller
The Chinese, as I have said, eat cats and dogs. They also eat snakes and vipers: the former for food, the latter for physic. The Chinese are very dexterous in catching these animals, and they will also play various tricks with them. It is no unusual thing to see a Chinaman put a viper in his mouth, and ask a bye-stander to pull it out by its tail. Hereis a picture of a viper-seller; the board in his hand contains a list of his reptiles.
reptile seller
The engraving in the next page is the representation of a Chinese barber. He goes from house to house, carrying with him his instruments—a stool, a small furnace, water, razors, brushes. The barbers are also ready to shampoo a customer, if the state of his health require it. The mode of shampooing in China has been thus described:—“First,” said my informant, “the shampooer placed me in a large chair, and then began to beat me with both hands very fast, upon all parts of my body. He next stretched out my arms and legs, and gave them several sudden pulls; he then got my arm on his shoulder, and hauled me sideways a good way off thechair, giving my head at the same time a sudden switch or jerk, almost enough to pull my neck out of joint. Next he beat with the ends of his fingers very softly and very quickly, all over my body and legs, every now and then cracking my fingers. Then he stroked my ears, temples, and eye-lashes. After this he began to scrape, pick and syringe my ears, every now and then working with an instrument close to them. The next things were my eyes, into which several small instruments were thrust. He then proceeded to paring, scraping, and cleansing the nails of my fingers and toes, and then cutting my corns. For all this he only charged the sum of one penny.”
barber
The Chinese are very fond of fishing, and although they are not so scientific in throwing a line as Albert Smith, still they manage to get the fish somehow—indeed fishing is very common in China. The waters of the rivers contain a great number of fish unknown to us, one of which is called the flour-fish, on account of its whiteness, and is very delicious eating. The hoang-zy, or yellow fish, sometimes grows to such a size, as to weigh 800 lbs.
fisherman
When a Chinaman goes fishing he takes with him his nets and lines: but he has some other very ingenious methods of catching fish, especially by the employment of the fishing-cormorant; and when he goes out for a day’s sport, he usuallytakes with him ten or twelve of these birds, either in light boats, or on bamboo rafts. The cormorant is taught to pursue fish in the same manner as the falcon does game. The fishermen beat the water strongly with one of their oars, which serves as a signal to the birds, and they instantly plunge into the water, and swallow in as many fish as they can get; they then repair immediately to the boat, each conveying a large fish in the middle of its bill. To prevent the small fish from passing into the stomach of the bird, a ring is commonly put round its neck to confine its gullet, which is long and capable of great expansion. To make it disgorge the fish which it has swallowed, the fisherman holds the bird with its head downwards, and strokes its head with his hand. Some are so well trained as to have no occasion for the ring. They bring their prey honestly to their master, and when they have caught as much he wants, he allows them to fish for themselves.
bird catcher
The Chinese are equally as expert in catching birds as in catching fish. Their method of catching wild ducks is exceedingly curious and very amusing. The sportsman covers his head with the half of a large hollow gourd or dry calabash, in which he makes holes, to enable him to see and breathe; he then walks naked into the water, or swims about in sucha manner that nothing is to be seen above the surface but the gourd, which is attached to his head. The ducks, which have been accustomed to the sight of the floating gourds, and to sport and dabble among them, approach without mistrust; the man then pulls them under water, breaks their necks to prevent their making a noise, and fastens them to his girdle.
pedlar
Pedlars are common in China, and they travel without a licence. Here is a picture of one of them. His stock consists of pieces of stuff, ribands, purses, tobacco-pouches, and other small articles. He also deals occasionally in a little opium and tobacco. The latter is very dear in China, and the Chinese frequently mix with it opium, which produces a delicious kind of intoxication. There are thousands of professed opium-eaters in China, who ruin both mind and body by this destructive habit; and Mr. Welton, a surgeon and missionary, to whom the Chinese are greatly indebted for his services in this particular, describes the effect of opium as most frightful.
The importation of opium commenced in the seventeenth century, and since that time it has increased to an enormous extent. The chief officers of the province of Canton suffered the drug (though continually prohibited) to come into the country in large quantities, by paying a bribe foreach chest, and in 1825 the importation rose to 10,000 chests every year, which increased till nearly 30,000 chests were disposed of annually.
I do not, however, wish to go into the opium question. I would rather afford my young friends some more pictures of China. The countrymen generally wear cloaks made of rice-straw. Their appearance is very nearly the same as that of the Chinese husbandman, two thousand years ago; for the fashions of China never change. The dress of the ladies is always unalterable. The sempstresses or dressmakers trudge about the streets, looking out for employment, until some one engages them. They carry in their baskets various articles belonging to their profession, and do not work as our poor creatures do, twenty out of the twenty-four hours in the season, to elaborate the dress of some duchess or countess, or that of Mrs. Beecher Stowe, the well-known advocate of freedom among the blacks.
The dress of the Chinese lady is very rich, and not ungraceful. She usually carries a pipe in one hand and a fan in the other, if the latter be not carried by a servant. The ladies have often their fans made so as not to close, whilst those of the gentlemen always close in the same manner as those of our ladies; but the most distinguishing mark of beauty among the Chinese ladies is their feet, which, to be handsome, must be especially small, and resemble in some degree that of the pettitoes of a little porker. The smallness of the foot is produced by placing, during infancy, the foot in tight shoes or bandages, so that it has no room to grow, what can have been the origin of this strange custom it is not easy to conceive, but it has been supposed to be one originatingin a wish of the men, to keep the women from gadding abroad.
CHINESE LADY.
CHINESE LADY.
CHINESE NUN.
CHINESE NUN.
Among many “female varieties” there are a number of female Benzes in China, one of which is represented in the cut. They are a kind of Nun, who take vows for a certain period. There are two classes of them, one of which subjects themselves to stricter rules than the others. About the year 1787, one of these Nuns, like Miss Sqirrel in the wilds of Suffolk, set herself up for a goddess, and pretended to enlighten all the nations by supernatural doings. Thousands flocked to her, and becoming extremely rich, she erected amagnificent temple. The Emperor, however, a sly old fox, having suffered her to acquire as much wealth as he thought proper, at last ordered her to be executed, and confiscated her wealth to his own coffers. In a future chapter I shall afford my young friends some further particulars concerning the Chinese.