Chapter 16

[72]The Infernal Regions are supposed to be pretty much a counterpart of the world above,exceptin the matter of light.return to text[73]The visitor to Canton cannot fail to observe batches of prisoners with chains on them sitting in the street outside the prisons, many of them engaged in plying their particular trades.return to text[74]The judge in a Chinese court is necessarily very much dependent on his secretaries; and, except in special cases, he takes his cue almost entirely from them. They take theirs from whichever party to the case knows best how to “cross the palm.”return to text[75]The whole story is of course simply a satire upon the venality and injustice of the ruling classes in China.return to text[76]In BookV.of Mencius’ works we read that Shun, the perfect man, stood with his face to the south, while the Emperor Yao (seeNo. VIII.,note 63) and his nobles faced the north. This arrangement is said to have been adopted in deference to Shun’s virtue; for in modern times the Emperor always sits facing the south.return to footnote anchor 76return to footnote anchor 156return to footnote anchor 308[77]Name of a celebrated play.return to text[78]These are about as big as a cheese-plate and attached to a short stick, from which hangs suspended a small button of metal in such a manner as to clash against the face of the gong at every turn of the hand. The names and descriptions of various instruments employed by costermongers in China would fill a good-sized volume.return to text[79]SeeNo. XXIII.,note 154.return to text[80]A famous official who lived in the reign of Hung Wu, first Emperor of the Ming dynasty (A.D.1368–1399). I have not been able to discover what was the particular act for which he has been celebrated as “loyal to the death.”return to text[81]SeeNo. II.,note 42.return to text[82]The Chinese, fond as they are of introducing water, under the form of miniature lakes, into their gardens and pleasure-grounds, do not approve of a running stream near the dwelling-house. I myself knew a case of a man, provided with a pretty little house, rent free, alongside of which ran a mountain-rill, who left the place and paid for lodgings out of his own pocket rather than live so close to a stream which he averredcarried all his good luck away. Yet this man was a fair scholar and a graduate to boot.return to text[83]That Chinaman thinks his a hard lot who cannot “eat till he is full.” It may be noticed here that the Chinese seem not so much to enjoy the process of eating as the subsequent state of repletion. As a rule, they bolt their food, and get their enjoyment out of it afterwards.return to text[84]The full explanation and origin of this saying I have failed to elucidate. Dragons are often represented with pearls before their mouths; and these they are supposed to spit out or swallow as fancy may take them. The pearl, too, is said to be the essence of the dragon’s nature, without which it would be powerless; but this is all I know about the subject.return to footnote anchor 84return to footnote anchor 331[85]Such is the common belief in China at the present day. There is a God of Thunder who punishes wicked people; the lightning is merely a mirror, by the aid of which he singles out his victims.return to text[86]The “sea-serpent” in this case was probably nothing more or less than some meteoric phenomenon.return to text[87]The following is merely a single episode taken from a long and otherwise uninteresting story. Miss Fêng-hsien was a fox; hence her power to bestow such a singular present as the mirror here described, the object of which was to incite her lover to success—the condition of their future union.return to text[88]Besides the all-important aspirate, this name is pronounced in a differenttonefrom the first-mentioned “Tung;” and is moreover expressed in writing by a totally different character. To a Chinese ear, the two words are as unlikely to be confounded as Brown and Jones.return to text[89]The Four Seas are supposed by the Chinese to bound the habitable portions of the earth, which, by the way, they further believe to be square. In the centre of all is China, extending far and wide in every direction, the eye of the universe, the Middle Kingdom. Away at a distance from her shores lie a number of small islands, wherein dwell such barbarous nations as the English, French, Dutch, etc.return to text[90]The commentator, I Shih-shih, adds a note to this story which might be summed up in ourown—“The [wo]man that deliberates is lost.”return to text[91]Buddhist priests not unusually increase the revenue of their monastery by taking pupils; and it is only fair to them to add that the curriculum is strictly secular, the boys learning precisely what they would at an ordinary school and nothing else.return to text[92]These consist simply of thin slips of wood dipped in brimstone, and resemble those used in England as late as the first quarterofthe present century. They are said to have been invented by the people of Hang-chou, the capital of Chekiang; but it is quite possible that the hint may have first reached China from the west. They were calledyin kuang“bring light,” (cf.lucifer),fa chu“give forth illumination,” and other names. Lucifer matches are now generally spoken of astzŭ lai huo“self-come fire,” and are almost universally employed, except in remote parts where the flint and steel still hold sway.return to text[93]The whole point of the story hinges on this.return to text[94]Beside which lived Hsi Shih, the famous beauty of the fifth century after Christ.return to text[95]I fear that the translation of this “Singing-girl’s Lament” falls so considerably below the pathetic original as to give but a poor idea of the real merit of the latter as a lyric gem.return to text[96]The Chinese have precisely the same mania as our Browns, Joneses, and Robinsons, for scribbling and carving their names and compositions all over the available parts of any place of public resort. The literature of inn walls alone would fill many ponderous tomes.return to text[97]The examination, which lasts nine days, has been going on all this time.return to text[98]That is, his own body, into which Ch‘u’s spirit had temporarily passed, his own occupying, meanwhile, the body of his friend.return to text[99]That is, for being born again, the sole hope and ambition of a disembodied shade.return to text[100]SeeNo. LXXI.,note 48.return to text[101]SeeNo. LXI.,note 346.return to text[102]His own spirit in Ch‘u’s body had met her in a disembodied state.return to text[103]Such is the invariable custom. Large presents are usually made by those who can afford the outlay, and the tutor’s name has ever afterwards an honourable place in the family records.return to text[104]SeeNo. XLVIII.,note 274.return to text[105]The elaborate gilding and wood-work of an ordinary Chinese temple form a very serious item in the expense of restoration. Public subscriptions are usually the means employed for raising sufficient funds, the names of subscribers and amount given by each being published in some conspicuous position. Occasionally devout priests—black swans, indeed, in China—shut themselves up in boxes studded with nails, one of which they pull out every time a certain donation is given, and there they remain until every nail is withdrawn. But after all it is difficult to say whether they endure these trials so much for the faith’s sake as for the funds from which they derive more of the luxuries of life, and the temporary notoriety gained by thus coming before the public. A Chinese proverb says, “The image-maker doesn’t worship Buddha. He knows too much about the idol;” and the application of this saying may safely be extended to the majority of Buddhist priests in China.return to text[106]This is the title generally applied to the Manchu commanders of Manchu garrisons, who are stationed at certain of the most important points of the Chinese Empire, and whose presence is intended as a check upon the action of the civil authorities.return to text[107]SeeNo. VI.,note 52.return to text[108]The moral being, of course, that Buddha protects those who look after his interests on earth.return to text[109]It is related in theFamily Sayings, an apocryphal work which professes to give conversations of Confucius, that a number of one-legged birds having suddenly appeared in Ch‘i, the Duke of Ch‘i sent off to ask the Sage what was the meaning of this strange phenomenon. Confucius replied, “The bird is theshang-yang, and portends beneficial rain.” And formerly the boys and girls in Shantung would hop about on one leg, crying, “Theshang-yanghas come;” after which rain would be sure to follow.return to text[110]Speaking in the unknown tongue, like the Irvingites and others.return to text[111]This is a clever hit. The “personal” name of a man may not be uttered except by his father or mother, grandfather, grandmother, uncles, etc. Thus, the mere use of the personal name of thehead of a familyproves conclusively that the spirit of someone of his ancestors must be present.return to text[112]I consider the whole of the above a curious story to be found in a Chinese work exactly 200 years old, but no part of it more so than the forcible removal of some part of the clothing, which has been so prominent a feature in theséancesof our own day. It may be added that in many a court-yard in Peking will be found one or more trees, which cause the view from the city wall to be very pleasing to the eye, in spite of the filth and ruins which a closer inspection reveals.return to text[113]The arrangement being that of the hobby-horse of by-gone days.return to text[114]The couches of the north of China are brick beds, heated by a stove underneath, and covered with a mat. Upon one of these is generally a dwarf table and a couple of pillows; and here it is that the Chinaman loves to recline, his wine-kettle, opium-pipe, or teapot within reach, and a friend at his side, with whom he may converse far into the night.return to text[115]SeeNo. LXXIII.,note 63. Chang Fei was the bosom-friend of the last, and was his associate-commander in the wars of the Three Kingdoms. Chou Kung was the first Emperor of the Chou dynasty, and a pattern of wisdom and virtue. He is said by the Chinese to have invented the mariner’s compass; but the legend will not bear investigation.return to text[116]Mr. Li had, doubtless, taken a “drop too much” before he started on his mountain walk.return to text[117]Of whom I can learn nothing.return to text[118]The following extract from a long and otherwise tedious story tells its own tale. Wang is the modest man, and the young man from Yü-hang the braggart. Sung is merely a friend of Wang’s.return to text[119]This is one of our author’s favourite shafts—a sneer at examiners in general, and those who rejected him in particular.return to text[120]This would be regarded as a very meritorious act by the Chinese.return to text[121]The Byron of China.return to text[122]Chinese wine—or, more correctly,spirits—is always taken hot; hence the term wine-kettle, which frequently occurs in these pages.return to footnote anchor 122return to footnote anchor 208return to footnote anchor 240[123]The Magistrate; who is supposed to be towards the people what a father is to his children.return to text[124]This singularly un-Chinese surname is employed to keep up a certain play upon words which exists in the original, and which is important to thedénouementof the story. “River” is the simple translation of a name actually in use.return to text[125]Chinese dice are the exact counterpart of our own, except that the ace and the four are coloured red: the ace because the combination of black and white would be unlucky, and the four because this number once turned up in response to the call of an Emperor of the T‘ang dynasty, who particularly wanted a four to win him thepartie. All letters, despatches, and such documents, have invariably somethingredabout them, this being the lucky colour, and to the Chinese, emblematic of prosperity and joy.return to text[126]Alluding to an ancient story of a promise by a Mr. Fan that he would be at his friend Chang’s house that day three years. When the time drew near, Chang’s mother ridiculed the notion of a man keeping a three years’ appointment; but, acceding to her son’s instances, prepared a boiled chicken, which was barely ready when Fan arrived to eat of it.return to text[127]Alluding to the celebrated oath of confederation sworn in the peach garden between Kuan Yü, or Kuan Ti (seeNo. I.,note 39), Chang Fei (seeNo. LXIII.,note 2), Liu Pei, who subsequently proclaimed himself Emperor,A.D.221, and Chu-ko Liang, his celebrated minister, to whose sage counsels most of the success of the undertaking was due. The whole story is one of the best known of Chinese historical romances, bringing about, as it did, the downfall of the famous Han dynasty, which had endured for over 400 years.return to footnote anchor 2return to footnote anchor 127[128]Alluding to the story of a young man who went in search of his missing father.return to text[129]Lin-tsung saw his host kill a chicken which he thought was destined for himself. However, Mao-jung served up the dainty morsel to his mother, while he and his guest regaled themselves with two baskets of common vegetables. At this instance of filial piety, Lin-tsung had the good sense to be charmed.return to text[130]The Chinese recognise no act more worthy a virtuous man than that of burying stray bones, covering up exposed coffins, and so forth. By such means the favour of the Gods is most surely obtained, to say nothing of the golden opinions of the living.return to text[131]This is merely our author’s way of putting the question of the old man’s identity. He was the Spirit of the Waters—his name, it will be recollected, was River—just, in fact, as we say Old Father Thames.return to text[132]From a poem by Wang Wei, a noted poet of the T‘ang dynasty. The second line is not given in the text.return to text[133]From a poem by P‘an T‘ang-shên, whichruns:—“Her rustic home stands by the Tung-t‘ing lake.Ye who would there a pure libation pour,Look for mud walls—a roof of rushy make—And Judas-tree in flower before the door.”The Chinese believe that the Judas-tree will only bloom where fraternal love prevails.return to text[134]I have already observed that men and women should not let their hands touch when passing things to each other (seeNo. XL.,note 233); neither is it considered proper for persons of different sexes to hang their clothes on the same clothes-horse. (SeeAppendix,note 381.)With regard to shaking hands, I have omitted to mention how hateful this custom is in the eyes of the Chinese, as in vogue among foreigners, without reference to sex. They believe that a bad man might easily secrete some noxious drug in the palm of his hand, and so convey it into the system of any woman, who would then be at his mercy.return to footnote anchor 134return to footnote 226[135]Alluding to Wang’s breach of etiquette in visiting the father himself, instead of sending a go-between, who would have offered the same sum in due form as the usual dowry or present to the bride’s family.return to text[136]Witnesses in a Chinese court of justice take no oath, in our sense of the term. Their written depositions, however, are always ended with the words “the above evidence is the truth!” In ordinary life people call heaven and earth to witness, or, as in this case, the sun; or they declare themselves willing to forfeit their lives; and so on, if their statements are not true. “Saucer-breaking” is one of those pleasant inductions from probably a single instance, which may have been the fancy of a moment; at any rate, it is quite unknown in China as a national custom. “Cock-killing” usually has reference to the ceremonies of initiation performed by the members of the numerous secret societies which exist over the length and breadth of the Empire, in spite of Government prohibitions, and the penalty of death incurred upon detection.return to text[137]Adoption is common all over China, and is regulated by law. For instance, an adopted son excludes all the daughters of the family. A man is not allowed to marry a girl whom he has adopted until he shall have given her away to be adopted in a family of adifferent surname from his own;after which fictitious ceremony, his marriage with her becomes legal (seeNo. XV.,note 109); for the child adopted takes the same surname as that of the family into which he is adopted, and is so far cut off from his own relations, that he would not venture even to put on mourning for his real parents without first obtaining the consent of those who had adopted him. A son or daughter may be sold, but an adopted child may not; neither may the adopted child be given away in adoption to any one else without the specific consent of his real parents. The general object in adopting children is to leave some one behind at death to look after the duties of ancestral worship. For this boys are preferred; but theFortunate Uniongives an instance in which these rites were very creditably performed by the heroine of the tale.return to footnote anchor 137return to footnote 255[138]This story is a sequel to the last.return to text[139]The surnames would in this case be different, and no obstacle could be offered on that score. SeeNo. XV.,note 109.return to text[140]Thedénouementof theYü-chiao-li, a small novel which was translated into French by Rémusat, and again by Julien under the title ofLes Deux Cousines, is effected by the hero of the tale marrying both the heroines.return to text[141]The sexes do not dine together. On the occasion of a dinner-party, private or official, the ladies give a separate entertainment to the wives of the various guests in the “inner” or women’s apartments, as an adjunct to which a theatrical troupe is often engaged, precisely as in the case of the opposite sex. Singing-girls are, however, present at and share in the banquets of therouésof China.return to text

[72]The Infernal Regions are supposed to be pretty much a counterpart of the world above,exceptin the matter of light.return to text

[73]The visitor to Canton cannot fail to observe batches of prisoners with chains on them sitting in the street outside the prisons, many of them engaged in plying their particular trades.return to text

[74]The judge in a Chinese court is necessarily very much dependent on his secretaries; and, except in special cases, he takes his cue almost entirely from them. They take theirs from whichever party to the case knows best how to “cross the palm.”return to text

[75]The whole story is of course simply a satire upon the venality and injustice of the ruling classes in China.return to text

[76]In BookV.of Mencius’ works we read that Shun, the perfect man, stood with his face to the south, while the Emperor Yao (seeNo. VIII.,note 63) and his nobles faced the north. This arrangement is said to have been adopted in deference to Shun’s virtue; for in modern times the Emperor always sits facing the south.return to footnote anchor 76return to footnote anchor 156return to footnote anchor 308

[77]Name of a celebrated play.return to text

[78]These are about as big as a cheese-plate and attached to a short stick, from which hangs suspended a small button of metal in such a manner as to clash against the face of the gong at every turn of the hand. The names and descriptions of various instruments employed by costermongers in China would fill a good-sized volume.return to text

[79]SeeNo. XXIII.,note 154.return to text

[80]A famous official who lived in the reign of Hung Wu, first Emperor of the Ming dynasty (A.D.1368–1399). I have not been able to discover what was the particular act for which he has been celebrated as “loyal to the death.”return to text

[81]SeeNo. II.,note 42.return to text

[82]The Chinese, fond as they are of introducing water, under the form of miniature lakes, into their gardens and pleasure-grounds, do not approve of a running stream near the dwelling-house. I myself knew a case of a man, provided with a pretty little house, rent free, alongside of which ran a mountain-rill, who left the place and paid for lodgings out of his own pocket rather than live so close to a stream which he averredcarried all his good luck away. Yet this man was a fair scholar and a graduate to boot.return to text

[83]That Chinaman thinks his a hard lot who cannot “eat till he is full.” It may be noticed here that the Chinese seem not so much to enjoy the process of eating as the subsequent state of repletion. As a rule, they bolt their food, and get their enjoyment out of it afterwards.return to text

[84]The full explanation and origin of this saying I have failed to elucidate. Dragons are often represented with pearls before their mouths; and these they are supposed to spit out or swallow as fancy may take them. The pearl, too, is said to be the essence of the dragon’s nature, without which it would be powerless; but this is all I know about the subject.return to footnote anchor 84return to footnote anchor 331

[85]Such is the common belief in China at the present day. There is a God of Thunder who punishes wicked people; the lightning is merely a mirror, by the aid of which he singles out his victims.return to text

[86]The “sea-serpent” in this case was probably nothing more or less than some meteoric phenomenon.return to text

[87]The following is merely a single episode taken from a long and otherwise uninteresting story. Miss Fêng-hsien was a fox; hence her power to bestow such a singular present as the mirror here described, the object of which was to incite her lover to success—the condition of their future union.return to text

[88]Besides the all-important aspirate, this name is pronounced in a differenttonefrom the first-mentioned “Tung;” and is moreover expressed in writing by a totally different character. To a Chinese ear, the two words are as unlikely to be confounded as Brown and Jones.return to text

[89]The Four Seas are supposed by the Chinese to bound the habitable portions of the earth, which, by the way, they further believe to be square. In the centre of all is China, extending far and wide in every direction, the eye of the universe, the Middle Kingdom. Away at a distance from her shores lie a number of small islands, wherein dwell such barbarous nations as the English, French, Dutch, etc.return to text

[90]The commentator, I Shih-shih, adds a note to this story which might be summed up in ourown—“The [wo]man that deliberates is lost.”return to text

[90]The commentator, I Shih-shih, adds a note to this story which might be summed up in ourown—

“The [wo]man that deliberates is lost.”

return to text

[91]Buddhist priests not unusually increase the revenue of their monastery by taking pupils; and it is only fair to them to add that the curriculum is strictly secular, the boys learning precisely what they would at an ordinary school and nothing else.return to text

[92]These consist simply of thin slips of wood dipped in brimstone, and resemble those used in England as late as the first quarterofthe present century. They are said to have been invented by the people of Hang-chou, the capital of Chekiang; but it is quite possible that the hint may have first reached China from the west. They were calledyin kuang“bring light,” (cf.lucifer),fa chu“give forth illumination,” and other names. Lucifer matches are now generally spoken of astzŭ lai huo“self-come fire,” and are almost universally employed, except in remote parts where the flint and steel still hold sway.return to text

[93]The whole point of the story hinges on this.return to text

[94]Beside which lived Hsi Shih, the famous beauty of the fifth century after Christ.return to text

[95]I fear that the translation of this “Singing-girl’s Lament” falls so considerably below the pathetic original as to give but a poor idea of the real merit of the latter as a lyric gem.return to text

[96]The Chinese have precisely the same mania as our Browns, Joneses, and Robinsons, for scribbling and carving their names and compositions all over the available parts of any place of public resort. The literature of inn walls alone would fill many ponderous tomes.return to text

[97]The examination, which lasts nine days, has been going on all this time.return to text

[98]That is, his own body, into which Ch‘u’s spirit had temporarily passed, his own occupying, meanwhile, the body of his friend.return to text

[99]That is, for being born again, the sole hope and ambition of a disembodied shade.return to text

[100]SeeNo. LXXI.,note 48.return to text

[101]SeeNo. LXI.,note 346.return to text

[102]His own spirit in Ch‘u’s body had met her in a disembodied state.return to text

[103]Such is the invariable custom. Large presents are usually made by those who can afford the outlay, and the tutor’s name has ever afterwards an honourable place in the family records.return to text

[104]SeeNo. XLVIII.,note 274.return to text

[105]The elaborate gilding and wood-work of an ordinary Chinese temple form a very serious item in the expense of restoration. Public subscriptions are usually the means employed for raising sufficient funds, the names of subscribers and amount given by each being published in some conspicuous position. Occasionally devout priests—black swans, indeed, in China—shut themselves up in boxes studded with nails, one of which they pull out every time a certain donation is given, and there they remain until every nail is withdrawn. But after all it is difficult to say whether they endure these trials so much for the faith’s sake as for the funds from which they derive more of the luxuries of life, and the temporary notoriety gained by thus coming before the public. A Chinese proverb says, “The image-maker doesn’t worship Buddha. He knows too much about the idol;” and the application of this saying may safely be extended to the majority of Buddhist priests in China.return to text

[106]This is the title generally applied to the Manchu commanders of Manchu garrisons, who are stationed at certain of the most important points of the Chinese Empire, and whose presence is intended as a check upon the action of the civil authorities.return to text

[107]SeeNo. VI.,note 52.return to text

[108]The moral being, of course, that Buddha protects those who look after his interests on earth.return to text

[109]It is related in theFamily Sayings, an apocryphal work which professes to give conversations of Confucius, that a number of one-legged birds having suddenly appeared in Ch‘i, the Duke of Ch‘i sent off to ask the Sage what was the meaning of this strange phenomenon. Confucius replied, “The bird is theshang-yang, and portends beneficial rain.” And formerly the boys and girls in Shantung would hop about on one leg, crying, “Theshang-yanghas come;” after which rain would be sure to follow.return to text

[110]Speaking in the unknown tongue, like the Irvingites and others.return to text

[111]This is a clever hit. The “personal” name of a man may not be uttered except by his father or mother, grandfather, grandmother, uncles, etc. Thus, the mere use of the personal name of thehead of a familyproves conclusively that the spirit of someone of his ancestors must be present.return to text

[112]I consider the whole of the above a curious story to be found in a Chinese work exactly 200 years old, but no part of it more so than the forcible removal of some part of the clothing, which has been so prominent a feature in theséancesof our own day. It may be added that in many a court-yard in Peking will be found one or more trees, which cause the view from the city wall to be very pleasing to the eye, in spite of the filth and ruins which a closer inspection reveals.return to text

[113]The arrangement being that of the hobby-horse of by-gone days.return to text

[114]The couches of the north of China are brick beds, heated by a stove underneath, and covered with a mat. Upon one of these is generally a dwarf table and a couple of pillows; and here it is that the Chinaman loves to recline, his wine-kettle, opium-pipe, or teapot within reach, and a friend at his side, with whom he may converse far into the night.return to text

[115]SeeNo. LXXIII.,note 63. Chang Fei was the bosom-friend of the last, and was his associate-commander in the wars of the Three Kingdoms. Chou Kung was the first Emperor of the Chou dynasty, and a pattern of wisdom and virtue. He is said by the Chinese to have invented the mariner’s compass; but the legend will not bear investigation.return to text

[116]Mr. Li had, doubtless, taken a “drop too much” before he started on his mountain walk.return to text

[117]Of whom I can learn nothing.return to text

[118]The following extract from a long and otherwise tedious story tells its own tale. Wang is the modest man, and the young man from Yü-hang the braggart. Sung is merely a friend of Wang’s.return to text

[119]This is one of our author’s favourite shafts—a sneer at examiners in general, and those who rejected him in particular.return to text

[120]This would be regarded as a very meritorious act by the Chinese.return to text

[121]The Byron of China.return to text

[122]Chinese wine—or, more correctly,spirits—is always taken hot; hence the term wine-kettle, which frequently occurs in these pages.return to footnote anchor 122return to footnote anchor 208return to footnote anchor 240

[123]The Magistrate; who is supposed to be towards the people what a father is to his children.return to text

[124]This singularly un-Chinese surname is employed to keep up a certain play upon words which exists in the original, and which is important to thedénouementof the story. “River” is the simple translation of a name actually in use.return to text

[125]Chinese dice are the exact counterpart of our own, except that the ace and the four are coloured red: the ace because the combination of black and white would be unlucky, and the four because this number once turned up in response to the call of an Emperor of the T‘ang dynasty, who particularly wanted a four to win him thepartie. All letters, despatches, and such documents, have invariably somethingredabout them, this being the lucky colour, and to the Chinese, emblematic of prosperity and joy.return to text

[126]Alluding to an ancient story of a promise by a Mr. Fan that he would be at his friend Chang’s house that day three years. When the time drew near, Chang’s mother ridiculed the notion of a man keeping a three years’ appointment; but, acceding to her son’s instances, prepared a boiled chicken, which was barely ready when Fan arrived to eat of it.return to text

[127]Alluding to the celebrated oath of confederation sworn in the peach garden between Kuan Yü, or Kuan Ti (seeNo. I.,note 39), Chang Fei (seeNo. LXIII.,note 2), Liu Pei, who subsequently proclaimed himself Emperor,A.D.221, and Chu-ko Liang, his celebrated minister, to whose sage counsels most of the success of the undertaking was due. The whole story is one of the best known of Chinese historical romances, bringing about, as it did, the downfall of the famous Han dynasty, which had endured for over 400 years.return to footnote anchor 2return to footnote anchor 127

[128]Alluding to the story of a young man who went in search of his missing father.return to text

[129]Lin-tsung saw his host kill a chicken which he thought was destined for himself. However, Mao-jung served up the dainty morsel to his mother, while he and his guest regaled themselves with two baskets of common vegetables. At this instance of filial piety, Lin-tsung had the good sense to be charmed.return to text

[130]The Chinese recognise no act more worthy a virtuous man than that of burying stray bones, covering up exposed coffins, and so forth. By such means the favour of the Gods is most surely obtained, to say nothing of the golden opinions of the living.return to text

[131]This is merely our author’s way of putting the question of the old man’s identity. He was the Spirit of the Waters—his name, it will be recollected, was River—just, in fact, as we say Old Father Thames.return to text

[132]From a poem by Wang Wei, a noted poet of the T‘ang dynasty. The second line is not given in the text.return to text

[133]From a poem by P‘an T‘ang-shên, whichruns:—“Her rustic home stands by the Tung-t‘ing lake.Ye who would there a pure libation pour,Look for mud walls—a roof of rushy make—And Judas-tree in flower before the door.”The Chinese believe that the Judas-tree will only bloom where fraternal love prevails.return to text

[133]From a poem by P‘an T‘ang-shên, whichruns:—

“Her rustic home stands by the Tung-t‘ing lake.Ye who would there a pure libation pour,Look for mud walls—a roof of rushy make—And Judas-tree in flower before the door.”

“Her rustic home stands by the Tung-t‘ing lake.

Ye who would there a pure libation pour,

Look for mud walls—a roof of rushy make—

And Judas-tree in flower before the door.”

The Chinese believe that the Judas-tree will only bloom where fraternal love prevails.return to text

[134]I have already observed that men and women should not let their hands touch when passing things to each other (seeNo. XL.,note 233); neither is it considered proper for persons of different sexes to hang their clothes on the same clothes-horse. (SeeAppendix,note 381.)With regard to shaking hands, I have omitted to mention how hateful this custom is in the eyes of the Chinese, as in vogue among foreigners, without reference to sex. They believe that a bad man might easily secrete some noxious drug in the palm of his hand, and so convey it into the system of any woman, who would then be at his mercy.return to footnote anchor 134return to footnote 226

With regard to shaking hands, I have omitted to mention how hateful this custom is in the eyes of the Chinese, as in vogue among foreigners, without reference to sex. They believe that a bad man might easily secrete some noxious drug in the palm of his hand, and so convey it into the system of any woman, who would then be at his mercy.return to footnote anchor 134return to footnote 226

[135]Alluding to Wang’s breach of etiquette in visiting the father himself, instead of sending a go-between, who would have offered the same sum in due form as the usual dowry or present to the bride’s family.return to text

[136]Witnesses in a Chinese court of justice take no oath, in our sense of the term. Their written depositions, however, are always ended with the words “the above evidence is the truth!” In ordinary life people call heaven and earth to witness, or, as in this case, the sun; or they declare themselves willing to forfeit their lives; and so on, if their statements are not true. “Saucer-breaking” is one of those pleasant inductions from probably a single instance, which may have been the fancy of a moment; at any rate, it is quite unknown in China as a national custom. “Cock-killing” usually has reference to the ceremonies of initiation performed by the members of the numerous secret societies which exist over the length and breadth of the Empire, in spite of Government prohibitions, and the penalty of death incurred upon detection.return to text

[137]Adoption is common all over China, and is regulated by law. For instance, an adopted son excludes all the daughters of the family. A man is not allowed to marry a girl whom he has adopted until he shall have given her away to be adopted in a family of adifferent surname from his own;after which fictitious ceremony, his marriage with her becomes legal (seeNo. XV.,note 109); for the child adopted takes the same surname as that of the family into which he is adopted, and is so far cut off from his own relations, that he would not venture even to put on mourning for his real parents without first obtaining the consent of those who had adopted him. A son or daughter may be sold, but an adopted child may not; neither may the adopted child be given away in adoption to any one else without the specific consent of his real parents. The general object in adopting children is to leave some one behind at death to look after the duties of ancestral worship. For this boys are preferred; but theFortunate Uniongives an instance in which these rites were very creditably performed by the heroine of the tale.return to footnote anchor 137return to footnote 255

[138]This story is a sequel to the last.return to text

[139]The surnames would in this case be different, and no obstacle could be offered on that score. SeeNo. XV.,note 109.return to text

[140]Thedénouementof theYü-chiao-li, a small novel which was translated into French by Rémusat, and again by Julien under the title ofLes Deux Cousines, is effected by the hero of the tale marrying both the heroines.return to text

[141]The sexes do not dine together. On the occasion of a dinner-party, private or official, the ladies give a separate entertainment to the wives of the various guests in the “inner” or women’s apartments, as an adjunct to which a theatrical troupe is often engaged, precisely as in the case of the opposite sex. Singing-girls are, however, present at and share in the banquets of therouésof China.return to text

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