Chapter 15

[1]The term “sea-market” is generally understood in the sense ofmirage, or some similar phenomenon.return to text[2]A famous General who played a leading part in the wars of the Three Kingdoms. SeeNo. XCIII.,note 127.return to footnote anchor 2return to footnote 127[3]A hit at the hypocrisy of the age.return to text[4]Shewing that hypocrisy is bad policy in the long run.return to text[5]The tears of Chinese mermaids are said to be pearls.return to text[6]SeeNo. XIX.,note 135.return to text[7]Good ink of the kind miscalled “Indian,” is usually very highly scented; and from a habit the Chinese have of sucking their writing-brushes to a fine point, the phrase “to eat ink” has become a synonym of “to study.”return to text[8]This all-important point in a Chinese marriage ceremony is the equivalent of our own “signing in the vestry.”return to text[9]Literally, “if you have no one to cook your food.”return to text[10]“Dragon Palace” and “Happy Sea,” respectively.return to text[11]Alluding to an old legend of a letter conveyed by a bird.return to text[12]SeeNo. V.,note 49.return to text[13]The “Spinning Damsel,” or name of a star in Lyra, connected with which there is a celebrated legend of its annual transit across the Milky Way.return to text[14]These are of course only the equivalents of the Chinese names in the text.return to text[15]To keep off the much-dreaded wind, which disturbs the rest of the departed.return to text[16]For which a very high price is obtained in China.return to text[17]Of the Ming dynasty; reignedA.D.1426–1436.return to text[18]These beadles are chosen by the officials from among the respectable and substantial of the people to preside over a small area and be responsible for the general good behaviour of its inhabitants. The post is one of honour and occasional emolument, since all petitions presented to the authorities, all mortgages, transfers of land,&c., should bear the beadle’s seal or signature in evidence of theirbonâ fidecharacter. On the other hand, the beadle is punished by fine, and sometimes bambooed, if robberies are too frequent within his jurisdiction, or if he fails to secure the person of any malefactor particularly wanted by his superior officers. And other causes may combine to make the post a dangerous one; but no one is allowed to refuse acceptance of it point-blank.return to footnote anchor 18return to footnote anchor 61return to footnote anchor 263return to footnote anchor 277[19]A favourite Chinese expression, signifying the absence of food.return to text[20]That is to say, his spirit had entered, during his period of temporary insanity, into the cricket which had allowed itself to be caught by his father, and had animated it to fight with such extraordinary vigour in order to make good the loss occasioned by his carelessness in letting the other escape.return to text[21]This is the term used by the Chinese for “Persia,” often put by metonymy for things which come from that country,sc.“valuables.” Thus, “to be poor in Persia” is to have but few jewels, gold and silver ornaments, and even clothes.return to text[22]The name here used is theHêngor “ceaseless” river, which is applied by the Chinese to the Ganges. A certain number, extending to fifty-three places of figures, is called “Ganges sand,” in allusion to a famous remark that “Buddha and the Bôdhisatvas knew of the creation and destruction of every grain of dust in Jambudwipa (the universe); how much more the number of the sand-particles in the river Ganges?”return to text[23]Drunkenness is not recognised in China as an extenuating circumstance; neither, indeed, is insanity,—a lunatic who takes another man’s life being equally liable with ordinary persons to the forfeiture of his own.return to text[24]A favourite Chinese figure expressive of old age. It dates back to the celebrated commentary by Tso Ch‘iu Ming on Confucius’Spring and Autumn(SeeNo. XLI.,note 237):—“Hsi is twenty-three and I am twenty-five; and marrying thus we shall approach the wood together;” the “wood” being, of course, that of the coffin.return to text[25]SeeNo. VIII.,note 63.return to text[26]“... Move these eyes?... Here are severed lips.”—Merchant of Venice, Actiii.,sc.2.return to text[27]SeeNo. LIII.,note 288.return to text[28]This method of arranging a matrimonial difficulty is a common one in Chinese fiction, but I should say quite unknown in real life.return to text[29]This term, while really including all literary men, of no matter what rank or standing, is more usually confined to that large section of unemployed scholarship made up of (1) those who are waiting to get started in an official career, (2) those who have taken one or more degrees and are preparing for the next, (3) those who have failed to distinguish themselves at the public examinations, and eke out a small patrimony by taking pupils, and (4) scholars of sufficiently high qualifications who have no taste for official life.return to text[30]Unless under exceptional circumstances it is not considered creditable in China for widows to marry again. It may here be mentioned that the honorary tablets conferred from time to time by His Imperial Majesty upon virtuous widows are only given to women who, widowed before the age of thirty, have remained in that state for a period of thirty years. The meaning of this is obvious: temptations are supposed to be fewer and less dangerous after thirty, which is the equivalent of forty with us; and it is wholly improbable that thirty years of virtuous life, at which period the widow would be at least fifty, would be followed by any act that might cast a stain upon the tablet thus bestowed.return to footnote anchor 30return to footnote 64return to footnote anchor 324[31]Literally, a “pig old-woman dragon.” Porpoise (Fr.porc-poisson) suggests itself at once; but I think fresh-water dolphin is the best term, especially as the Tung-t‘ing lake is many hundred miles inland. The commentator explains it byt‘o, which would be “alligator” or “cayman,” and is of course out of the question. My friend, Mr. L. C. Hopkins, has taken the trouble to make some investigations for me on this subject. He tells me that this fish, also called the “river pig,” has first to be surrounded and secured by a strong net. Being too large to be hauled on board a boat, it is then driven ashore, where oil is extracted from the carcase and used for giving a gloss to silk thread,&c.return to text[32]Literally, in the utter absence of anybody.return to text[33]In passing near to the women’s quarters in a friend’s house, it is etiquette to cough slightly, that inmates may be warned and withdraw from the doors or windows in time to escape observation. Over and over again at interviews with mandarins of all grades I have heard the rustling of the ladies’ dresses from some coigne of vantage, whence every movement of mine was being watched by an inquisitive crowd; and on one occasion I actually saw an eye peering through a small hole in the partition behind me.return to text[34]Literally, “bald”—i.e., without the usual width and ornamentation of a Chinese lady’s sleeve.return to text[35]Small waists are much admired in China, but any such artificial aids as stays and tight lacing are quite unknown. A certain Prince Wei admitted none but the possessors of small waists into his harem; hence his establishment came to be called thePalace of Small Waists.return to footnote anchor 35return to footnote anchor 46[36]Probably of felt or some such material, to prevent the young lady from slipping as she stood, not sat, in the swing.return to text[37]A rebel chieftain of the legendary period of China’s history, who took up arms against the Emperor Huang Ti (B.C.2697–2597), but was subsequently defeated in what was perhaps the first decisive battle of the world.return to text[38]This favourite process consists in gently thumping the person operated upon all over the back with the soft part of the closed fists. Compare Lane,Arabian Nights,Vol. I.,p.551:—“She then pressed me to her bosom, and laid me on the bed, and continued gently kneading my limbs until slumber overcame me.”return to footnote anchor 38return to footnote anchor 228[39]SeeNo. LVI.,note 315. A considerable number of the attendants there mentioned would accompany any high official, some in the same, the rest in another barge.return to text[40]Generally known as the “cut-wave God.”return to text[41]At all great banquets in China a theatrical troupe is engaged to perform while the dinner, which may last from four to six hours, drags its slow length along.return to text[42]SeeNo. LIV.,note 292.return to text[43]The name of a celebrated beauty.return to text[44]In this favourite pastime of the literati in China the important point is that each word in the second line should be a due and proper antithesis of the word in the first line to which it corresponds.return to text[45]SeeNo. LXII.,note 349.return to text[46]SeeNo. LXIX.,note 35.return to text[47]The language in which this fanciful document is couched is precisely such as would be used by an officer of the Government in announcing some national calamity; hence the value of these tales,—models as they are of the purest possible style.return to text[48]The examination consists of three bouts of three days each, during which periods the candidates remain shut up in their examination cells day and night.return to footnote anchor 48return to footnote anchor 100[49]The name of a place.return to text[50]This interesting ceremony is performed by placing little conical pastilles on a certain number of spots, varying from three to twelve, on the candidate’s head. These are then lighted and allowed to burn down into the flesh, while the surrounding parts are vigorously rubbed by attendant priests in order to lessen the pain. The whole thing lasts about twenty minutes, and is always performed on the eve of Shâkyamuni Buddha’s birthday. The above was well described by Mr. S. L. Baldwin in theFoochow Herald.return to text[51]There is a room in most Buddhist temples specially devoted to this purpose.return to text[52]The Buddhist emblem of cleanliness; generally a yak’s tail, and commonly used as a fly-brush.return to text[53]Tree-worship can hardly be said to exist in China at the present day; though at a comparatively recent epoch this phase of religious sentiment must have been widely spread. SeeThe Flower NymphsandMr. Willow.return to footnote anchor 53return to footnote anchor 173[54]Literally, “had been allotted the post of Nan-fu magistrate,” such appointments being always determined by drawing lots.return to text[55]Such is one common explanation of catalepsy (seeNo. I.,note 40), it being further averred that the proper lictors of the Infernal regions are unable to remain long in thelightof the upper world.return to text[56]Upon a wall at the entrance to every official residence is painted a huge fabulous animal, calledGreed, in such a position that the resident mandarin must see it every time he goes out of his front gates. It is to warn him against greed and the crimes that are sure to flow from it.return to text[57]Such, indeed, is the case at the present day in China, and elsewhere.return to text[58]SeeNo. VII.,note 54.return to text[59]The great sorrow of decapitation as opposed to strangulation is that the body will appear in the realms below without a head. The family of any condemned man who may have sufficient means always bribe the executioner to sew it on again.return to footnote anchor 59return to footnote anchor 295[60]This story is an admirableexposéof Chinese official corruption, as rampant at the present day as ever in the long history of China.return to text[61]SeeNo. LXIV.,note 18.return to text[62]Such has, doubtless, been the occasional result of torture in China; but the singular keenness of the mandarins, as a body, in recognising the innocent and detecting the guilty,—that is, when their own avaricious interests are not involved,—makes this contingency so rare as to be almost unknown. A good instance came under my own notice at Swatow in 1876. For years a Chinese servant had been employed at the foreign Custom House to carry a certain sum of money every week to the bank, and at length his honesty was above suspicion. On the occasion to which I allude he had been sent as usual with the bag of dollars, but after a short absence he rushed back with a frightful gash on his right arm, evidently inflicted by a heavy chopper, and laying the bone bare. The money was gone. He said he had been invited into a tea-house by a couple of soldiers whom he could point out; that they had tried to wrest the bag from him, and that at length one of them seized a chopper and inflicted so severe a wound on his arm, that in his agony he dropped the money, and the soldiers made off with it. The latter were promptly arrested and confronted with their accuser; but, with almost indecent haste, the police magistrate dismissed the case against them, and declared that he believed the man had made away with the money and inflicted the wound on himself. And so it turned out to be, under overwhelming evidence. This servant of proved fidelity had given way to a rash hope of making a little money at the gaming-table; had hurried into one of these hells and lost everything in three stakes; had wounded himself on the right arm (he was a left-handed man), and had concocted the story of the soldiers, all within the space of about twenty-five minutes. When he saw that he was detected, he confessed everything, without having received a single blow of the bamboo; but up to the moment of his confession the foreign feeling against that police-magistrate was undeniably strong.return to footnote anchor 62return to footnote 242return to footnote anchor 322return to footnote anchor 337[63]SeeNo. I.,note 39.return to footnote anchor 63return to footnote 115[64]SeeNo. LXVIII.,note 30. The circumstances which led to this marriage would certainly be considered “exceptional.”return to text[65]This being a long and tedious story, I have given only such part of it as is remarkable for its similarity to Washington Irving’s famous narrative.return to text[66]SeeNo. IV.,note 46.return to text[67]Borrowed from Buddhism.return to text[68]Alluding to a similar story, related in theRecord of the Immortals, of how these two friends lost their way while gathering simples on the hills, and were met and entertained by two lovely young damsels for the space of half-a-year. When, however, they subsequently returned home, they found that ten generations had passed away.return to text[69]Besides the above, there is the story of a man named Wang, who, wandering one day in the mountains, came upon some old men playing a game ofwei-ch‘i(seeAppendix); and after watching them for some time, he found that the handle of an axe he had with him had mouldered away into dust. Seven generations of men had passed away in the interval. Also, a similar legend of a horseman, who, when riding over the hills, saw several old men playing a game with rushes, and tied his horse to a tree while he himself approached to observe them. A few minutes afterwards he turned to depart, but found only the skeleton of his horse and the rotten remnants of the saddle and bridle. He then sought his home, but that was gone too; and so he laid himself down upon the ground and died of a broken heart.return to text[70]SeeAppendixA.return to text[71]If there is one institution in the Chinese empire which is jealously guarded and honestly administered, it is the great system of competitive examinations which has obtained in China now for many centuries. And yet frauds do take place, in spite of the exceptionally heavy penalties incurred upon detection. Friends are occasionally smuggled through by the aid of marked essays; and dishonest candidates avail themselves of “sleeve editions,” as they are called, of the books in which they are to be examined. On the whole, the result is a successful one. As a rule the best candidates pull through; while, in exceptional cases, unquestionably good men are rejected. Of the latter class, the author of this work is a most striking instance. Excelling in literary attainments of the highest order, he failed more than once to obtain his master’s degree, and finally threw up in disgust. Thenceforward he became the enemy of the mandarinate; and how he has lashed the corruption of his age may be read in such stories asThe Wolf Dream, and many others, while the policy that he himself would have adopted, had he been fortunate enough to succeed, must remain for ever a matter of doubt and speculation.return to footnote anchor 71return to footnote anchor 288return toVol. I.footnote anchor 168

[1]The term “sea-market” is generally understood in the sense ofmirage, or some similar phenomenon.return to text

[2]A famous General who played a leading part in the wars of the Three Kingdoms. SeeNo. XCIII.,note 127.return to footnote anchor 2return to footnote 127

[3]A hit at the hypocrisy of the age.return to text

[4]Shewing that hypocrisy is bad policy in the long run.return to text

[5]The tears of Chinese mermaids are said to be pearls.return to text

[6]SeeNo. XIX.,note 135.return to text

[7]Good ink of the kind miscalled “Indian,” is usually very highly scented; and from a habit the Chinese have of sucking their writing-brushes to a fine point, the phrase “to eat ink” has become a synonym of “to study.”return to text

[8]This all-important point in a Chinese marriage ceremony is the equivalent of our own “signing in the vestry.”return to text

[9]Literally, “if you have no one to cook your food.”return to text

[10]“Dragon Palace” and “Happy Sea,” respectively.return to text

[11]Alluding to an old legend of a letter conveyed by a bird.return to text

[12]SeeNo. V.,note 49.return to text

[13]The “Spinning Damsel,” or name of a star in Lyra, connected with which there is a celebrated legend of its annual transit across the Milky Way.return to text

[14]These are of course only the equivalents of the Chinese names in the text.return to text

[15]To keep off the much-dreaded wind, which disturbs the rest of the departed.return to text

[16]For which a very high price is obtained in China.return to text

[17]Of the Ming dynasty; reignedA.D.1426–1436.return to text

[18]These beadles are chosen by the officials from among the respectable and substantial of the people to preside over a small area and be responsible for the general good behaviour of its inhabitants. The post is one of honour and occasional emolument, since all petitions presented to the authorities, all mortgages, transfers of land,&c., should bear the beadle’s seal or signature in evidence of theirbonâ fidecharacter. On the other hand, the beadle is punished by fine, and sometimes bambooed, if robberies are too frequent within his jurisdiction, or if he fails to secure the person of any malefactor particularly wanted by his superior officers. And other causes may combine to make the post a dangerous one; but no one is allowed to refuse acceptance of it point-blank.return to footnote anchor 18return to footnote anchor 61return to footnote anchor 263return to footnote anchor 277

[19]A favourite Chinese expression, signifying the absence of food.return to text

[20]That is to say, his spirit had entered, during his period of temporary insanity, into the cricket which had allowed itself to be caught by his father, and had animated it to fight with such extraordinary vigour in order to make good the loss occasioned by his carelessness in letting the other escape.return to text

[21]This is the term used by the Chinese for “Persia,” often put by metonymy for things which come from that country,sc.“valuables.” Thus, “to be poor in Persia” is to have but few jewels, gold and silver ornaments, and even clothes.return to text

[22]The name here used is theHêngor “ceaseless” river, which is applied by the Chinese to the Ganges. A certain number, extending to fifty-three places of figures, is called “Ganges sand,” in allusion to a famous remark that “Buddha and the Bôdhisatvas knew of the creation and destruction of every grain of dust in Jambudwipa (the universe); how much more the number of the sand-particles in the river Ganges?”return to text

[23]Drunkenness is not recognised in China as an extenuating circumstance; neither, indeed, is insanity,—a lunatic who takes another man’s life being equally liable with ordinary persons to the forfeiture of his own.return to text

[24]A favourite Chinese figure expressive of old age. It dates back to the celebrated commentary by Tso Ch‘iu Ming on Confucius’Spring and Autumn(SeeNo. XLI.,note 237):—“Hsi is twenty-three and I am twenty-five; and marrying thus we shall approach the wood together;” the “wood” being, of course, that of the coffin.return to text

[25]SeeNo. VIII.,note 63.return to text

[26]“... Move these eyes?... Here are severed lips.”—Merchant of Venice, Actiii.,sc.2.return to text

[26]

“... Move these eyes?... Here are severed lips.”—Merchant of Venice, Actiii.,sc.2.

“... Move these eyes?... Here are severed lips.”

“... Move these eyes?

... Here are severed lips.”

—Merchant of Venice, Actiii.,sc.2.

return to text

[27]SeeNo. LIII.,note 288.return to text

[28]This method of arranging a matrimonial difficulty is a common one in Chinese fiction, but I should say quite unknown in real life.return to text

[29]This term, while really including all literary men, of no matter what rank or standing, is more usually confined to that large section of unemployed scholarship made up of (1) those who are waiting to get started in an official career, (2) those who have taken one or more degrees and are preparing for the next, (3) those who have failed to distinguish themselves at the public examinations, and eke out a small patrimony by taking pupils, and (4) scholars of sufficiently high qualifications who have no taste for official life.return to text

[30]Unless under exceptional circumstances it is not considered creditable in China for widows to marry again. It may here be mentioned that the honorary tablets conferred from time to time by His Imperial Majesty upon virtuous widows are only given to women who, widowed before the age of thirty, have remained in that state for a period of thirty years. The meaning of this is obvious: temptations are supposed to be fewer and less dangerous after thirty, which is the equivalent of forty with us; and it is wholly improbable that thirty years of virtuous life, at which period the widow would be at least fifty, would be followed by any act that might cast a stain upon the tablet thus bestowed.return to footnote anchor 30return to footnote 64return to footnote anchor 324

[31]Literally, a “pig old-woman dragon.” Porpoise (Fr.porc-poisson) suggests itself at once; but I think fresh-water dolphin is the best term, especially as the Tung-t‘ing lake is many hundred miles inland. The commentator explains it byt‘o, which would be “alligator” or “cayman,” and is of course out of the question. My friend, Mr. L. C. Hopkins, has taken the trouble to make some investigations for me on this subject. He tells me that this fish, also called the “river pig,” has first to be surrounded and secured by a strong net. Being too large to be hauled on board a boat, it is then driven ashore, where oil is extracted from the carcase and used for giving a gloss to silk thread,&c.return to text

[32]Literally, in the utter absence of anybody.return to text

[33]In passing near to the women’s quarters in a friend’s house, it is etiquette to cough slightly, that inmates may be warned and withdraw from the doors or windows in time to escape observation. Over and over again at interviews with mandarins of all grades I have heard the rustling of the ladies’ dresses from some coigne of vantage, whence every movement of mine was being watched by an inquisitive crowd; and on one occasion I actually saw an eye peering through a small hole in the partition behind me.return to text

[34]Literally, “bald”—i.e., without the usual width and ornamentation of a Chinese lady’s sleeve.return to text

[35]Small waists are much admired in China, but any such artificial aids as stays and tight lacing are quite unknown. A certain Prince Wei admitted none but the possessors of small waists into his harem; hence his establishment came to be called thePalace of Small Waists.return to footnote anchor 35return to footnote anchor 46

[36]Probably of felt or some such material, to prevent the young lady from slipping as she stood, not sat, in the swing.return to text

[37]A rebel chieftain of the legendary period of China’s history, who took up arms against the Emperor Huang Ti (B.C.2697–2597), but was subsequently defeated in what was perhaps the first decisive battle of the world.return to text

[38]This favourite process consists in gently thumping the person operated upon all over the back with the soft part of the closed fists. Compare Lane,Arabian Nights,Vol. I.,p.551:—“She then pressed me to her bosom, and laid me on the bed, and continued gently kneading my limbs until slumber overcame me.”return to footnote anchor 38return to footnote anchor 228

[39]SeeNo. LVI.,note 315. A considerable number of the attendants there mentioned would accompany any high official, some in the same, the rest in another barge.return to text

[40]Generally known as the “cut-wave God.”return to text

[41]At all great banquets in China a theatrical troupe is engaged to perform while the dinner, which may last from four to six hours, drags its slow length along.return to text

[42]SeeNo. LIV.,note 292.return to text

[43]The name of a celebrated beauty.return to text

[44]In this favourite pastime of the literati in China the important point is that each word in the second line should be a due and proper antithesis of the word in the first line to which it corresponds.return to text

[45]SeeNo. LXII.,note 349.return to text

[46]SeeNo. LXIX.,note 35.return to text

[47]The language in which this fanciful document is couched is precisely such as would be used by an officer of the Government in announcing some national calamity; hence the value of these tales,—models as they are of the purest possible style.return to text

[48]The examination consists of three bouts of three days each, during which periods the candidates remain shut up in their examination cells day and night.return to footnote anchor 48return to footnote anchor 100

[49]The name of a place.return to text

[50]This interesting ceremony is performed by placing little conical pastilles on a certain number of spots, varying from three to twelve, on the candidate’s head. These are then lighted and allowed to burn down into the flesh, while the surrounding parts are vigorously rubbed by attendant priests in order to lessen the pain. The whole thing lasts about twenty minutes, and is always performed on the eve of Shâkyamuni Buddha’s birthday. The above was well described by Mr. S. L. Baldwin in theFoochow Herald.return to text

[51]There is a room in most Buddhist temples specially devoted to this purpose.return to text

[52]The Buddhist emblem of cleanliness; generally a yak’s tail, and commonly used as a fly-brush.return to text

[53]Tree-worship can hardly be said to exist in China at the present day; though at a comparatively recent epoch this phase of religious sentiment must have been widely spread. SeeThe Flower NymphsandMr. Willow.return to footnote anchor 53return to footnote anchor 173

[54]Literally, “had been allotted the post of Nan-fu magistrate,” such appointments being always determined by drawing lots.return to text

[55]Such is one common explanation of catalepsy (seeNo. I.,note 40), it being further averred that the proper lictors of the Infernal regions are unable to remain long in thelightof the upper world.return to text

[56]Upon a wall at the entrance to every official residence is painted a huge fabulous animal, calledGreed, in such a position that the resident mandarin must see it every time he goes out of his front gates. It is to warn him against greed and the crimes that are sure to flow from it.return to text

[57]Such, indeed, is the case at the present day in China, and elsewhere.return to text

[58]SeeNo. VII.,note 54.return to text

[59]The great sorrow of decapitation as opposed to strangulation is that the body will appear in the realms below without a head. The family of any condemned man who may have sufficient means always bribe the executioner to sew it on again.return to footnote anchor 59return to footnote anchor 295

[60]This story is an admirableexposéof Chinese official corruption, as rampant at the present day as ever in the long history of China.return to text

[61]SeeNo. LXIV.,note 18.return to text

[62]Such has, doubtless, been the occasional result of torture in China; but the singular keenness of the mandarins, as a body, in recognising the innocent and detecting the guilty,—that is, when their own avaricious interests are not involved,—makes this contingency so rare as to be almost unknown. A good instance came under my own notice at Swatow in 1876. For years a Chinese servant had been employed at the foreign Custom House to carry a certain sum of money every week to the bank, and at length his honesty was above suspicion. On the occasion to which I allude he had been sent as usual with the bag of dollars, but after a short absence he rushed back with a frightful gash on his right arm, evidently inflicted by a heavy chopper, and laying the bone bare. The money was gone. He said he had been invited into a tea-house by a couple of soldiers whom he could point out; that they had tried to wrest the bag from him, and that at length one of them seized a chopper and inflicted so severe a wound on his arm, that in his agony he dropped the money, and the soldiers made off with it. The latter were promptly arrested and confronted with their accuser; but, with almost indecent haste, the police magistrate dismissed the case against them, and declared that he believed the man had made away with the money and inflicted the wound on himself. And so it turned out to be, under overwhelming evidence. This servant of proved fidelity had given way to a rash hope of making a little money at the gaming-table; had hurried into one of these hells and lost everything in three stakes; had wounded himself on the right arm (he was a left-handed man), and had concocted the story of the soldiers, all within the space of about twenty-five minutes. When he saw that he was detected, he confessed everything, without having received a single blow of the bamboo; but up to the moment of his confession the foreign feeling against that police-magistrate was undeniably strong.return to footnote anchor 62return to footnote 242return to footnote anchor 322return to footnote anchor 337

[63]SeeNo. I.,note 39.return to footnote anchor 63return to footnote 115

[64]SeeNo. LXVIII.,note 30. The circumstances which led to this marriage would certainly be considered “exceptional.”return to text

[65]This being a long and tedious story, I have given only such part of it as is remarkable for its similarity to Washington Irving’s famous narrative.return to text

[66]SeeNo. IV.,note 46.return to text

[67]Borrowed from Buddhism.return to text

[68]Alluding to a similar story, related in theRecord of the Immortals, of how these two friends lost their way while gathering simples on the hills, and were met and entertained by two lovely young damsels for the space of half-a-year. When, however, they subsequently returned home, they found that ten generations had passed away.return to text

[69]Besides the above, there is the story of a man named Wang, who, wandering one day in the mountains, came upon some old men playing a game ofwei-ch‘i(seeAppendix); and after watching them for some time, he found that the handle of an axe he had with him had mouldered away into dust. Seven generations of men had passed away in the interval. Also, a similar legend of a horseman, who, when riding over the hills, saw several old men playing a game with rushes, and tied his horse to a tree while he himself approached to observe them. A few minutes afterwards he turned to depart, but found only the skeleton of his horse and the rotten remnants of the saddle and bridle. He then sought his home, but that was gone too; and so he laid himself down upon the ground and died of a broken heart.return to text

[70]SeeAppendixA.return to text

[71]If there is one institution in the Chinese empire which is jealously guarded and honestly administered, it is the great system of competitive examinations which has obtained in China now for many centuries. And yet frauds do take place, in spite of the exceptionally heavy penalties incurred upon detection. Friends are occasionally smuggled through by the aid of marked essays; and dishonest candidates avail themselves of “sleeve editions,” as they are called, of the books in which they are to be examined. On the whole, the result is a successful one. As a rule the best candidates pull through; while, in exceptional cases, unquestionably good men are rejected. Of the latter class, the author of this work is a most striking instance. Excelling in literary attainments of the highest order, he failed more than once to obtain his master’s degree, and finally threw up in disgust. Thenceforward he became the enemy of the mandarinate; and how he has lashed the corruption of his age may be read in such stories asThe Wolf Dream, and many others, while the policy that he himself would have adopted, had he been fortunate enough to succeed, must remain for ever a matter of doubt and speculation.return to footnote anchor 71return to footnote anchor 288return toVol. I.footnote anchor 168

Back to Index Next