[612]The long flowing robe is a sign of respectability which all but the very poorest classes love to affect in public. At the port of Haiphong,shoesare the criterion of social standing; but, as a rule, the well-to-do native merchants prefer to go barefoot rather than give the authorities a chance of exacting heavier squeezes, on the strength of such a palpable acknowledgment of wealth.return to text[613]SeeNo. I.,note 36.return to text[614]SeeNo. LVI.,note 317; andNo. XCVII.,note 505.return to text[615]The lictor had no right to divulge his errand when he first met the cloth merchant, or to remove the latter’s name from the top to the bottom of the list.return to text[616]The clay image makers of Tientsin are wonderfully clever in taking likenesses by these means. Some of the most skilful will even manipulate the clay behind their backs, and then, adding the proper colours, will succeed in producing an exceedingly good resemblance. They find, however, more difficulty with foreign faces, to which they are less accustomed in the trade.return to text[617]SeeNo. LXI.,note 346.return to text[618]SeeNo. LXIV.,note 373.return to text[619]Such is the officially authorised method of determining a doubtful relationship between a dead parent and a living child, substituting a bone for the clay image here mentioned.return to text[620]“In various savage superstitions the minute resemblance of soul to body is forcibly stated.”—Myths and Myth-makers, by John Fiske,p.228.return to text[621]An important point in Chinese etiquette. It is not considered polite for a person in a sitting position to address an equal who is standing.return to text[622]By becoming his son and behaving badly to him. SeeNo. CX.,note 545, and the text to which it refers.return to text[623]SeeNo. CXXXI.,note 605.return to text[624]The story is intended as a satire on those puffed-up dignitaries who cannot even go to a picnic without all the retinue belonging to their particular rank. SeeNo. LVI.,note 315.return to text[625]SeeNo. XXIII.,note 152.return to text[626]The examiner for the bachelor’s, or lowest, degree.return to text[627]The Chinese never cut the tails of their horses or mules.return to text[628]One of the feudal Governors of by-gone days.return to text[629]A Chinese Landseer.return to text[630]Advertisements of these professors of physiognomy are to be seen in every Chinese city.return to text[631]In order to make some show for the public eye.return to text[632]SeeNo. LXIV.,note 373.return to text[633]A doctor of any repute generally has large numbers of such certificates, generally engraved on wood, hanging before and about his front door. When I was stationed at Swatow, the writer at Her Majesty’s Consulate presented one to Dr. E. J. Scott, the resident medical practitioner, who had cured him of opium smoking. It bore two principal characters, “Miraculous Indeed!” accompanied by a few remarks, in a smaller sized character, laudatory of Dr. Scott’s professional skill. Banners, with graceful inscriptions written upon them, are frequently presented by Chinese passengers to the captains of coasting steamers who may have brought them safely through bad weather.return to text[634]The story is intended as a satire upon Chinese doctors generally, whose ranks are recruited from the swarms of half-educated candidates who have been rejected at the great competitive examinations, medical diplomas being quite unknown in China. Doctors’ fees are, by a pleasant fiction, called “horse-money;” and all prescriptions are made up by the local apothecary, never by the physician himself.return to text[635]This would be exactly at the hottest season.return to text[636]TheJupiter Pluviusof the neighbourhood.return to text[637]A sneer at the superstitious custom of praying for good or bad weather, which obtains in China from the Son of Heaven himself down to the lowest agriculturist whose interests are involved. Droughts, floods, famines, and pestilences, are alike set down to the anger of Heaven, to be appeased only by prayer and repentance.return to text[638]Planchette was in full swing in China at the date of the composition of these stories, more than 200 years ago, and remains so at the present day. The characterchi, used here and elsewhere for Planchette, is defined in theShuo Wên, a Chinese dictionary, publishedA.D.100, “to inquire by divination on doubtful topics,” no mention being made of the particular manner in which responses are obtained. For the purpose of writing from personal experience, I recently attended aséanceat a temple in Amoy, and witnessed the whole performance. After much delay, I was requested to write on a slip of paper “any question I might have to put to the God;” and, accordingly, I took a pencil and wrote down, “A humble suppliant ventures to inquire if he will win the Manila lottery.” This question was then placed upon the altar, at the feet of the God; and shortly afterwards two respectable-looking Chinamen, not priests, approached a small table covered with sand, and each seized one arm of a forked piece of wood, at the fork of which was a stumpy end, at right angles to the plane of the arms. Immediately the attendants began burning quantities of joss-paper, while the two performers whirled the instrument round and round at a rapid rate, its vertical point being all the time pressed down upon the table of sand. All of a sudden the whirling movement stopped, and the point of the instrument rapidly traced a character in the sand, which was at once identified by several of the bystanders, and forthwith copied down by a clerk in attendance. The whirling movement was then continued until a similar pause was made and another character appeared; and so on, until I had four lines of correctly-rhymed Chinese verse, each line consisting of seven characters. The following is an almost word-for-wordtranslation:—“The pulse of human nature throbs from England to Cathay,And gambling mortals ever love to swell their gains by play;For gold in this vile world of ours is everywhere a prize—A thousand taels shall meet the prayer that on this altar lies.”As the question is not concealed from view, all that is necessary for such a hollow deception is a quick-witted versifier who can put together a poetical responsestans pede in uno. But in such matters the unlettered masses of China are easily outwitted, and are a profitable source of income to the more astute of their fellow-countrymen.return to text[639]An official who flourished in the eighth century of our era, and who, for his devotion to the Taoist religion, was subsequently canonized as one of the Eight Immortals. He is generally represented as riding on a crane.return to text[640]That is, by means of the planchette-table.return to text[641]Our author was here evidently thinking of his own unlucky fate.return to text[642]SeeNo. CXXXI.,note 607.return to text[643]SeeNo. LXXV.,note 426.return to text[644]Literally, “golden oranges.” These are skilfully preserved by the Cantonese, and form a delicious sweetmeat for dessert.return to text[645]A.D.1573–1620, the epoch of the most celebrated “blue china.”return to text[646]A satirical remark of Mencius (BookI.), used by the sage when combating the visionary projects of a monarch of antiquity.return to text[647]This disgusting process is too frequently performed by native butchers at the present day, in order to give their meat a more tempting appearance. Water is also blown in through a tube, to make it heavier; and inexperienced housekeepers are often astonished to find how light ducks and geese become after being cooked, not knowing that the fraudulent poulterer had previously stuffed their throats as full as possible of sand.return to text[648]This was the man whose destiny it was really to die just then, and appear before the Ruler of Purgatory.return to text[649]The city of Canton boasts several “cat and dog” restaurants; but the consumption of this kind of food is much less universal than is generally supposed.return to text[650]Not in our sense of the term. It was not death, but decapitation, or even mutilation, from which the trader begged to be spared. SeeNo. LXXII.,note 414.return to text[651]The Chinese dog is usually an ill-fed, barking cur, without one redeeming trait in its character. Valued as a guardian of house and property, this animal does not hold the same social position as with us; its very name is a by-word of reproach; and the people of Tonquin explain their filthy custom of blackening the teeth on the ground that a dog’s teeth are white.return to text[652]A celebrated scholar and statesman, who flourished towards the close of the Ming dynasty, and distinguished himself by his impeachment of the powerful eunuch, Wei Chung-hsien,—a dangerous step to take in those eunuch-ridden times.return to text[653]Mr. Yang was a man of tried virtue, and had he been able to tolerateoculo irretorto, the loss of his money, the priest would have given him, not merely a cure for the bodily ailment under which he was suffering, but a knowledge of those means by which he might have obtained the salvation of his soul, and have enrolled himself among the ranks of the Taoist Immortals. “To those, however,” remarks the commentator, “who lament that Mr. Yang was too worldly-minded to secure this great prize, I reply, ‘Better one more good man on earth, than an extra angel in heaven.’”return to text[654]Alchemy was widely cultivated in China during the Han dynasty by priests of the Taoist religion, but all traces of it have now long since disappeared.return to text[655]SeeNo. XXII.,note 143.return to text[656]These are used, together with a heavy woodenbâton, by the Chinese washerman, the effect being most disastrous to a European wardrobe.return to text[657]For thus interfering with the appointments of Destiny.return to text[658]To provide coffins for poor people has ever been regarded as an act of transcendent merit. The tornado at Canton, in April, 1878, in which several thousand lives were lost, afforded an admirable opportunity for the exercise of this form of charity—an opportunity which was very largely availed of by the benevolent.return to text[659]For usurping its prerogative by allowing Chia to obtain unauthorized wealth.return to text[660]SeeNo. XIV.,note 97.return to text[661]SeeNo. LIV.,note 293.return to text[662]The God of Literature.return to text[663]SeeNo. LXXVII.,note 431.return to text[664]SeeNo. XXVI.,note 182.return to text[665]A fleshy protuberance on the head, which is the distinguishing mark of a Buddha.return to text[666]The eighteen personal disciples of Shâkyamuni Buddha. Sixteen of these are Hindoos, which number was subsequently increased by the addition of two Chinese Buddhists.return to text[667]Literally, “wind and water,” or that which cannot be seen and that which cannot be grasped. I have explained the term in myChinese Sketches,p.143, as “a system of geomancy, by thescienceof which it is possible to determine the desirability of sites,—whether of tombs, houses, or cities, from the configuration of such natural objects as rivers, trees, and hills, and to foretell with certainty the fortunes of any family, community, or individual, according to the spot selected; by theartof which it is in the power of the geomancer to counteract evil influences by good ones, to transform straight and noxious outlines into undulating and propitious curves, and rescue whole districts from the devastations of flood or pestilence.”return to text[668]As a rule, only the daughters of wealthy families receive any education to speak of.return to text[669]A reprehensible proceeding in the eyes of all respectable Chinese, both from a moral and a practical point of view; “for when brothers fall out,” says the proverb, “strangers get an advantage over them.”return to text[670]Chinese tradesmen invariably begin by giving short weight in such transactions as these, partly in order to be in a position to gratify the customer by throwing in a trifle more and thus acquire a reputation for fair dealing.return to text[671]It was only his soul that had left the house.return to text[672]SeeNo. LVI.,note 322.return to text[673]SeeNo. CXXIII.,note 589.return to text[674]A common saying is “Foxes in the north; devils in the south,” as illustrative of the folk-lore of these two great divisions of China.return to text[675]In no country in the world is adulteration more extensively practised than in China, the only formal check upon it being a religious one—the dread of punishment in the world below.return to text[676]The text has here a word (literally, “mud”) explained to be the name of a boneless aquatic creature, which on being removed from the water lies motionless like a lump of mud. The common term for a jelly-fish isshui-mu, “water-mother.”return to text[677]SeeNo. LXXIII.,note 417.return to text[678]There is a widespread belief that human life in China is held at a cheap rate. This may be accounted for by the fact that death is the legal punishment for many crimes not considered capital in the West; and by the severe measures that are always taken in cases of rebellion, when the innocent and guilty are often indiscriminately massacred. In times of tranquillity, however, this is not the case; and the execution of a criminal is surrounded by a number of formalities which go far to prevent the shedding of innocent blood. TheHsi-yüan-lu(seeNo. XIV.,note 100) opens with the words, “There is nothing more important than human life.”return to text[679]SeeNo.LXVIII.,note 385.return to text[680]This story is inserted chiefly in illustration of the fact that all countries have a record of some enormous bird such as therocof the “Arabian Nights.”return to text[681]SeeNo. XXXV.,note 217.return to text[682]The term here used refers to a creature which partakes rather of the fabulous than of the real. TheKuang-yünsays it is “a kind of lion;” but other authorities describe it as a horse. Its favourite food is tiger-flesh. Incense-burners are often made after the “lion” pattern and called by this name, the smoke of the incense issuing from the mouth of the animal, like our own gargoyles.return to text[683]The Law of Inheritance, as it obtains in China, has been ably illustrated by Mr.Chal.Alabaster inVols.V.andVI.of theChina Review. This writer states that “there seems to be no absolutely fixed law in regard either of inheritance or testamentary dispositions of property, but certain general principles are recognised which the court will not allow to be disregarded without sufficient cause.” As a rule the sons, whether by wife or concubine, share equally, and in preference to daughters, even though there should be a written will in favour of the latter.return to text[684]This has reference to the “seed-time and harvest.”return to text[685]SeeNo. I.,note 36.return to text[686]Clouds being naturally connected in every Chinaman’s mind with these fabulous creatures, the origin of which has been traced by some to waterspouts. SeeNo. LXXXI.,note 439.return to text
[612]The long flowing robe is a sign of respectability which all but the very poorest classes love to affect in public. At the port of Haiphong,shoesare the criterion of social standing; but, as a rule, the well-to-do native merchants prefer to go barefoot rather than give the authorities a chance of exacting heavier squeezes, on the strength of such a palpable acknowledgment of wealth.return to text
[612]The long flowing robe is a sign of respectability which all but the very poorest classes love to affect in public. At the port of Haiphong,shoesare the criterion of social standing; but, as a rule, the well-to-do native merchants prefer to go barefoot rather than give the authorities a chance of exacting heavier squeezes, on the strength of such a palpable acknowledgment of wealth.return to text
[613]SeeNo. I.,note 36.return to text
[613]SeeNo. I.,note 36.return to text
[614]SeeNo. LVI.,note 317; andNo. XCVII.,note 505.return to text
[614]SeeNo. LVI.,note 317; andNo. XCVII.,note 505.return to text
[615]The lictor had no right to divulge his errand when he first met the cloth merchant, or to remove the latter’s name from the top to the bottom of the list.return to text
[615]The lictor had no right to divulge his errand when he first met the cloth merchant, or to remove the latter’s name from the top to the bottom of the list.return to text
[616]The clay image makers of Tientsin are wonderfully clever in taking likenesses by these means. Some of the most skilful will even manipulate the clay behind their backs, and then, adding the proper colours, will succeed in producing an exceedingly good resemblance. They find, however, more difficulty with foreign faces, to which they are less accustomed in the trade.return to text
[616]The clay image makers of Tientsin are wonderfully clever in taking likenesses by these means. Some of the most skilful will even manipulate the clay behind their backs, and then, adding the proper colours, will succeed in producing an exceedingly good resemblance. They find, however, more difficulty with foreign faces, to which they are less accustomed in the trade.return to text
[617]SeeNo. LXI.,note 346.return to text
[617]SeeNo. LXI.,note 346.return to text
[618]SeeNo. LXIV.,note 373.return to text
[618]SeeNo. LXIV.,note 373.return to text
[619]Such is the officially authorised method of determining a doubtful relationship between a dead parent and a living child, substituting a bone for the clay image here mentioned.return to text
[619]Such is the officially authorised method of determining a doubtful relationship between a dead parent and a living child, substituting a bone for the clay image here mentioned.return to text
[620]“In various savage superstitions the minute resemblance of soul to body is forcibly stated.”—Myths and Myth-makers, by John Fiske,p.228.return to text
[620]“In various savage superstitions the minute resemblance of soul to body is forcibly stated.”—Myths and Myth-makers, by John Fiske,p.228.return to text
[621]An important point in Chinese etiquette. It is not considered polite for a person in a sitting position to address an equal who is standing.return to text
[621]An important point in Chinese etiquette. It is not considered polite for a person in a sitting position to address an equal who is standing.return to text
[622]By becoming his son and behaving badly to him. SeeNo. CX.,note 545, and the text to which it refers.return to text
[622]By becoming his son and behaving badly to him. SeeNo. CX.,note 545, and the text to which it refers.return to text
[623]SeeNo. CXXXI.,note 605.return to text
[623]SeeNo. CXXXI.,note 605.return to text
[624]The story is intended as a satire on those puffed-up dignitaries who cannot even go to a picnic without all the retinue belonging to their particular rank. SeeNo. LVI.,note 315.return to text
[624]The story is intended as a satire on those puffed-up dignitaries who cannot even go to a picnic without all the retinue belonging to their particular rank. SeeNo. LVI.,note 315.return to text
[625]SeeNo. XXIII.,note 152.return to text
[625]SeeNo. XXIII.,note 152.return to text
[626]The examiner for the bachelor’s, or lowest, degree.return to text
[626]The examiner for the bachelor’s, or lowest, degree.return to text
[627]The Chinese never cut the tails of their horses or mules.return to text
[627]The Chinese never cut the tails of their horses or mules.return to text
[628]One of the feudal Governors of by-gone days.return to text
[628]One of the feudal Governors of by-gone days.return to text
[629]A Chinese Landseer.return to text
[629]A Chinese Landseer.return to text
[630]Advertisements of these professors of physiognomy are to be seen in every Chinese city.return to text
[630]Advertisements of these professors of physiognomy are to be seen in every Chinese city.return to text
[631]In order to make some show for the public eye.return to text
[631]In order to make some show for the public eye.return to text
[632]SeeNo. LXIV.,note 373.return to text
[632]SeeNo. LXIV.,note 373.return to text
[633]A doctor of any repute generally has large numbers of such certificates, generally engraved on wood, hanging before and about his front door. When I was stationed at Swatow, the writer at Her Majesty’s Consulate presented one to Dr. E. J. Scott, the resident medical practitioner, who had cured him of opium smoking. It bore two principal characters, “Miraculous Indeed!” accompanied by a few remarks, in a smaller sized character, laudatory of Dr. Scott’s professional skill. Banners, with graceful inscriptions written upon them, are frequently presented by Chinese passengers to the captains of coasting steamers who may have brought them safely through bad weather.return to text
[633]A doctor of any repute generally has large numbers of such certificates, generally engraved on wood, hanging before and about his front door. When I was stationed at Swatow, the writer at Her Majesty’s Consulate presented one to Dr. E. J. Scott, the resident medical practitioner, who had cured him of opium smoking. It bore two principal characters, “Miraculous Indeed!” accompanied by a few remarks, in a smaller sized character, laudatory of Dr. Scott’s professional skill. Banners, with graceful inscriptions written upon them, are frequently presented by Chinese passengers to the captains of coasting steamers who may have brought them safely through bad weather.return to text
[634]The story is intended as a satire upon Chinese doctors generally, whose ranks are recruited from the swarms of half-educated candidates who have been rejected at the great competitive examinations, medical diplomas being quite unknown in China. Doctors’ fees are, by a pleasant fiction, called “horse-money;” and all prescriptions are made up by the local apothecary, never by the physician himself.return to text
[634]The story is intended as a satire upon Chinese doctors generally, whose ranks are recruited from the swarms of half-educated candidates who have been rejected at the great competitive examinations, medical diplomas being quite unknown in China. Doctors’ fees are, by a pleasant fiction, called “horse-money;” and all prescriptions are made up by the local apothecary, never by the physician himself.return to text
[635]This would be exactly at the hottest season.return to text
[635]This would be exactly at the hottest season.return to text
[636]TheJupiter Pluviusof the neighbourhood.return to text
[636]TheJupiter Pluviusof the neighbourhood.return to text
[637]A sneer at the superstitious custom of praying for good or bad weather, which obtains in China from the Son of Heaven himself down to the lowest agriculturist whose interests are involved. Droughts, floods, famines, and pestilences, are alike set down to the anger of Heaven, to be appeased only by prayer and repentance.return to text
[637]A sneer at the superstitious custom of praying for good or bad weather, which obtains in China from the Son of Heaven himself down to the lowest agriculturist whose interests are involved. Droughts, floods, famines, and pestilences, are alike set down to the anger of Heaven, to be appeased only by prayer and repentance.return to text
[638]Planchette was in full swing in China at the date of the composition of these stories, more than 200 years ago, and remains so at the present day. The characterchi, used here and elsewhere for Planchette, is defined in theShuo Wên, a Chinese dictionary, publishedA.D.100, “to inquire by divination on doubtful topics,” no mention being made of the particular manner in which responses are obtained. For the purpose of writing from personal experience, I recently attended aséanceat a temple in Amoy, and witnessed the whole performance. After much delay, I was requested to write on a slip of paper “any question I might have to put to the God;” and, accordingly, I took a pencil and wrote down, “A humble suppliant ventures to inquire if he will win the Manila lottery.” This question was then placed upon the altar, at the feet of the God; and shortly afterwards two respectable-looking Chinamen, not priests, approached a small table covered with sand, and each seized one arm of a forked piece of wood, at the fork of which was a stumpy end, at right angles to the plane of the arms. Immediately the attendants began burning quantities of joss-paper, while the two performers whirled the instrument round and round at a rapid rate, its vertical point being all the time pressed down upon the table of sand. All of a sudden the whirling movement stopped, and the point of the instrument rapidly traced a character in the sand, which was at once identified by several of the bystanders, and forthwith copied down by a clerk in attendance. The whirling movement was then continued until a similar pause was made and another character appeared; and so on, until I had four lines of correctly-rhymed Chinese verse, each line consisting of seven characters. The following is an almost word-for-wordtranslation:—“The pulse of human nature throbs from England to Cathay,And gambling mortals ever love to swell their gains by play;For gold in this vile world of ours is everywhere a prize—A thousand taels shall meet the prayer that on this altar lies.”As the question is not concealed from view, all that is necessary for such a hollow deception is a quick-witted versifier who can put together a poetical responsestans pede in uno. But in such matters the unlettered masses of China are easily outwitted, and are a profitable source of income to the more astute of their fellow-countrymen.return to text
[638]Planchette was in full swing in China at the date of the composition of these stories, more than 200 years ago, and remains so at the present day. The characterchi, used here and elsewhere for Planchette, is defined in theShuo Wên, a Chinese dictionary, publishedA.D.100, “to inquire by divination on doubtful topics,” no mention being made of the particular manner in which responses are obtained. For the purpose of writing from personal experience, I recently attended aséanceat a temple in Amoy, and witnessed the whole performance. After much delay, I was requested to write on a slip of paper “any question I might have to put to the God;” and, accordingly, I took a pencil and wrote down, “A humble suppliant ventures to inquire if he will win the Manila lottery.” This question was then placed upon the altar, at the feet of the God; and shortly afterwards two respectable-looking Chinamen, not priests, approached a small table covered with sand, and each seized one arm of a forked piece of wood, at the fork of which was a stumpy end, at right angles to the plane of the arms. Immediately the attendants began burning quantities of joss-paper, while the two performers whirled the instrument round and round at a rapid rate, its vertical point being all the time pressed down upon the table of sand. All of a sudden the whirling movement stopped, and the point of the instrument rapidly traced a character in the sand, which was at once identified by several of the bystanders, and forthwith copied down by a clerk in attendance. The whirling movement was then continued until a similar pause was made and another character appeared; and so on, until I had four lines of correctly-rhymed Chinese verse, each line consisting of seven characters. The following is an almost word-for-wordtranslation:—
“The pulse of human nature throbs from England to Cathay,And gambling mortals ever love to swell their gains by play;For gold in this vile world of ours is everywhere a prize—A thousand taels shall meet the prayer that on this altar lies.”
“The pulse of human nature throbs from England to Cathay,And gambling mortals ever love to swell their gains by play;For gold in this vile world of ours is everywhere a prize—A thousand taels shall meet the prayer that on this altar lies.”
“The pulse of human nature throbs from England to Cathay,
And gambling mortals ever love to swell their gains by play;
For gold in this vile world of ours is everywhere a prize—
A thousand taels shall meet the prayer that on this altar lies.”
As the question is not concealed from view, all that is necessary for such a hollow deception is a quick-witted versifier who can put together a poetical responsestans pede in uno. But in such matters the unlettered masses of China are easily outwitted, and are a profitable source of income to the more astute of their fellow-countrymen.return to text
[639]An official who flourished in the eighth century of our era, and who, for his devotion to the Taoist religion, was subsequently canonized as one of the Eight Immortals. He is generally represented as riding on a crane.return to text
[639]An official who flourished in the eighth century of our era, and who, for his devotion to the Taoist religion, was subsequently canonized as one of the Eight Immortals. He is generally represented as riding on a crane.return to text
[640]That is, by means of the planchette-table.return to text
[640]That is, by means of the planchette-table.return to text
[641]Our author was here evidently thinking of his own unlucky fate.return to text
[641]Our author was here evidently thinking of his own unlucky fate.return to text
[642]SeeNo. CXXXI.,note 607.return to text
[642]SeeNo. CXXXI.,note 607.return to text
[643]SeeNo. LXXV.,note 426.return to text
[643]SeeNo. LXXV.,note 426.return to text
[644]Literally, “golden oranges.” These are skilfully preserved by the Cantonese, and form a delicious sweetmeat for dessert.return to text
[644]Literally, “golden oranges.” These are skilfully preserved by the Cantonese, and form a delicious sweetmeat for dessert.return to text
[645]A.D.1573–1620, the epoch of the most celebrated “blue china.”return to text
[645]A.D.1573–1620, the epoch of the most celebrated “blue china.”return to text
[646]A satirical remark of Mencius (BookI.), used by the sage when combating the visionary projects of a monarch of antiquity.return to text
[646]A satirical remark of Mencius (BookI.), used by the sage when combating the visionary projects of a monarch of antiquity.return to text
[647]This disgusting process is too frequently performed by native butchers at the present day, in order to give their meat a more tempting appearance. Water is also blown in through a tube, to make it heavier; and inexperienced housekeepers are often astonished to find how light ducks and geese become after being cooked, not knowing that the fraudulent poulterer had previously stuffed their throats as full as possible of sand.return to text
[647]This disgusting process is too frequently performed by native butchers at the present day, in order to give their meat a more tempting appearance. Water is also blown in through a tube, to make it heavier; and inexperienced housekeepers are often astonished to find how light ducks and geese become after being cooked, not knowing that the fraudulent poulterer had previously stuffed their throats as full as possible of sand.return to text
[648]This was the man whose destiny it was really to die just then, and appear before the Ruler of Purgatory.return to text
[648]This was the man whose destiny it was really to die just then, and appear before the Ruler of Purgatory.return to text
[649]The city of Canton boasts several “cat and dog” restaurants; but the consumption of this kind of food is much less universal than is generally supposed.return to text
[649]The city of Canton boasts several “cat and dog” restaurants; but the consumption of this kind of food is much less universal than is generally supposed.return to text
[650]Not in our sense of the term. It was not death, but decapitation, or even mutilation, from which the trader begged to be spared. SeeNo. LXXII.,note 414.return to text
[650]Not in our sense of the term. It was not death, but decapitation, or even mutilation, from which the trader begged to be spared. SeeNo. LXXII.,note 414.return to text
[651]The Chinese dog is usually an ill-fed, barking cur, without one redeeming trait in its character. Valued as a guardian of house and property, this animal does not hold the same social position as with us; its very name is a by-word of reproach; and the people of Tonquin explain their filthy custom of blackening the teeth on the ground that a dog’s teeth are white.return to text
[651]The Chinese dog is usually an ill-fed, barking cur, without one redeeming trait in its character. Valued as a guardian of house and property, this animal does not hold the same social position as with us; its very name is a by-word of reproach; and the people of Tonquin explain their filthy custom of blackening the teeth on the ground that a dog’s teeth are white.return to text
[652]A celebrated scholar and statesman, who flourished towards the close of the Ming dynasty, and distinguished himself by his impeachment of the powerful eunuch, Wei Chung-hsien,—a dangerous step to take in those eunuch-ridden times.return to text
[652]A celebrated scholar and statesman, who flourished towards the close of the Ming dynasty, and distinguished himself by his impeachment of the powerful eunuch, Wei Chung-hsien,—a dangerous step to take in those eunuch-ridden times.return to text
[653]Mr. Yang was a man of tried virtue, and had he been able to tolerateoculo irretorto, the loss of his money, the priest would have given him, not merely a cure for the bodily ailment under which he was suffering, but a knowledge of those means by which he might have obtained the salvation of his soul, and have enrolled himself among the ranks of the Taoist Immortals. “To those, however,” remarks the commentator, “who lament that Mr. Yang was too worldly-minded to secure this great prize, I reply, ‘Better one more good man on earth, than an extra angel in heaven.’”return to text
[653]Mr. Yang was a man of tried virtue, and had he been able to tolerateoculo irretorto, the loss of his money, the priest would have given him, not merely a cure for the bodily ailment under which he was suffering, but a knowledge of those means by which he might have obtained the salvation of his soul, and have enrolled himself among the ranks of the Taoist Immortals. “To those, however,” remarks the commentator, “who lament that Mr. Yang was too worldly-minded to secure this great prize, I reply, ‘Better one more good man on earth, than an extra angel in heaven.’”return to text
[654]Alchemy was widely cultivated in China during the Han dynasty by priests of the Taoist religion, but all traces of it have now long since disappeared.return to text
[654]Alchemy was widely cultivated in China during the Han dynasty by priests of the Taoist religion, but all traces of it have now long since disappeared.return to text
[655]SeeNo. XXII.,note 143.return to text
[655]SeeNo. XXII.,note 143.return to text
[656]These are used, together with a heavy woodenbâton, by the Chinese washerman, the effect being most disastrous to a European wardrobe.return to text
[656]These are used, together with a heavy woodenbâton, by the Chinese washerman, the effect being most disastrous to a European wardrobe.return to text
[657]For thus interfering with the appointments of Destiny.return to text
[657]For thus interfering with the appointments of Destiny.return to text
[658]To provide coffins for poor people has ever been regarded as an act of transcendent merit. The tornado at Canton, in April, 1878, in which several thousand lives were lost, afforded an admirable opportunity for the exercise of this form of charity—an opportunity which was very largely availed of by the benevolent.return to text
[658]To provide coffins for poor people has ever been regarded as an act of transcendent merit. The tornado at Canton, in April, 1878, in which several thousand lives were lost, afforded an admirable opportunity for the exercise of this form of charity—an opportunity which was very largely availed of by the benevolent.return to text
[659]For usurping its prerogative by allowing Chia to obtain unauthorized wealth.return to text
[659]For usurping its prerogative by allowing Chia to obtain unauthorized wealth.return to text
[660]SeeNo. XIV.,note 97.return to text
[660]SeeNo. XIV.,note 97.return to text
[661]SeeNo. LIV.,note 293.return to text
[661]SeeNo. LIV.,note 293.return to text
[662]The God of Literature.return to text
[662]The God of Literature.return to text
[663]SeeNo. LXXVII.,note 431.return to text
[663]SeeNo. LXXVII.,note 431.return to text
[664]SeeNo. XXVI.,note 182.return to text
[664]SeeNo. XXVI.,note 182.return to text
[665]A fleshy protuberance on the head, which is the distinguishing mark of a Buddha.return to text
[665]A fleshy protuberance on the head, which is the distinguishing mark of a Buddha.return to text
[666]The eighteen personal disciples of Shâkyamuni Buddha. Sixteen of these are Hindoos, which number was subsequently increased by the addition of two Chinese Buddhists.return to text
[666]The eighteen personal disciples of Shâkyamuni Buddha. Sixteen of these are Hindoos, which number was subsequently increased by the addition of two Chinese Buddhists.return to text
[667]Literally, “wind and water,” or that which cannot be seen and that which cannot be grasped. I have explained the term in myChinese Sketches,p.143, as “a system of geomancy, by thescienceof which it is possible to determine the desirability of sites,—whether of tombs, houses, or cities, from the configuration of such natural objects as rivers, trees, and hills, and to foretell with certainty the fortunes of any family, community, or individual, according to the spot selected; by theartof which it is in the power of the geomancer to counteract evil influences by good ones, to transform straight and noxious outlines into undulating and propitious curves, and rescue whole districts from the devastations of flood or pestilence.”return to text
[667]Literally, “wind and water,” or that which cannot be seen and that which cannot be grasped. I have explained the term in myChinese Sketches,p.143, as “a system of geomancy, by thescienceof which it is possible to determine the desirability of sites,—whether of tombs, houses, or cities, from the configuration of such natural objects as rivers, trees, and hills, and to foretell with certainty the fortunes of any family, community, or individual, according to the spot selected; by theartof which it is in the power of the geomancer to counteract evil influences by good ones, to transform straight and noxious outlines into undulating and propitious curves, and rescue whole districts from the devastations of flood or pestilence.”return to text
[668]As a rule, only the daughters of wealthy families receive any education to speak of.return to text
[668]As a rule, only the daughters of wealthy families receive any education to speak of.return to text
[669]A reprehensible proceeding in the eyes of all respectable Chinese, both from a moral and a practical point of view; “for when brothers fall out,” says the proverb, “strangers get an advantage over them.”return to text
[669]A reprehensible proceeding in the eyes of all respectable Chinese, both from a moral and a practical point of view; “for when brothers fall out,” says the proverb, “strangers get an advantage over them.”return to text
[670]Chinese tradesmen invariably begin by giving short weight in such transactions as these, partly in order to be in a position to gratify the customer by throwing in a trifle more and thus acquire a reputation for fair dealing.return to text
[670]Chinese tradesmen invariably begin by giving short weight in such transactions as these, partly in order to be in a position to gratify the customer by throwing in a trifle more and thus acquire a reputation for fair dealing.return to text
[671]It was only his soul that had left the house.return to text
[671]It was only his soul that had left the house.return to text
[672]SeeNo. LVI.,note 322.return to text
[672]SeeNo. LVI.,note 322.return to text
[673]SeeNo. CXXIII.,note 589.return to text
[673]SeeNo. CXXIII.,note 589.return to text
[674]A common saying is “Foxes in the north; devils in the south,” as illustrative of the folk-lore of these two great divisions of China.return to text
[674]A common saying is “Foxes in the north; devils in the south,” as illustrative of the folk-lore of these two great divisions of China.return to text
[675]In no country in the world is adulteration more extensively practised than in China, the only formal check upon it being a religious one—the dread of punishment in the world below.return to text
[675]In no country in the world is adulteration more extensively practised than in China, the only formal check upon it being a religious one—the dread of punishment in the world below.return to text
[676]The text has here a word (literally, “mud”) explained to be the name of a boneless aquatic creature, which on being removed from the water lies motionless like a lump of mud. The common term for a jelly-fish isshui-mu, “water-mother.”return to text
[676]The text has here a word (literally, “mud”) explained to be the name of a boneless aquatic creature, which on being removed from the water lies motionless like a lump of mud. The common term for a jelly-fish isshui-mu, “water-mother.”return to text
[677]SeeNo. LXXIII.,note 417.return to text
[677]SeeNo. LXXIII.,note 417.return to text
[678]There is a widespread belief that human life in China is held at a cheap rate. This may be accounted for by the fact that death is the legal punishment for many crimes not considered capital in the West; and by the severe measures that are always taken in cases of rebellion, when the innocent and guilty are often indiscriminately massacred. In times of tranquillity, however, this is not the case; and the execution of a criminal is surrounded by a number of formalities which go far to prevent the shedding of innocent blood. TheHsi-yüan-lu(seeNo. XIV.,note 100) opens with the words, “There is nothing more important than human life.”return to text
[678]There is a widespread belief that human life in China is held at a cheap rate. This may be accounted for by the fact that death is the legal punishment for many crimes not considered capital in the West; and by the severe measures that are always taken in cases of rebellion, when the innocent and guilty are often indiscriminately massacred. In times of tranquillity, however, this is not the case; and the execution of a criminal is surrounded by a number of formalities which go far to prevent the shedding of innocent blood. TheHsi-yüan-lu(seeNo. XIV.,note 100) opens with the words, “There is nothing more important than human life.”return to text
[679]SeeNo.LXVIII.,note 385.return to text
[679]SeeNo.LXVIII.,note 385.return to text
[680]This story is inserted chiefly in illustration of the fact that all countries have a record of some enormous bird such as therocof the “Arabian Nights.”return to text
[680]This story is inserted chiefly in illustration of the fact that all countries have a record of some enormous bird such as therocof the “Arabian Nights.”return to text
[681]SeeNo. XXXV.,note 217.return to text
[681]SeeNo. XXXV.,note 217.return to text
[682]The term here used refers to a creature which partakes rather of the fabulous than of the real. TheKuang-yünsays it is “a kind of lion;” but other authorities describe it as a horse. Its favourite food is tiger-flesh. Incense-burners are often made after the “lion” pattern and called by this name, the smoke of the incense issuing from the mouth of the animal, like our own gargoyles.return to text
[682]The term here used refers to a creature which partakes rather of the fabulous than of the real. TheKuang-yünsays it is “a kind of lion;” but other authorities describe it as a horse. Its favourite food is tiger-flesh. Incense-burners are often made after the “lion” pattern and called by this name, the smoke of the incense issuing from the mouth of the animal, like our own gargoyles.return to text
[683]The Law of Inheritance, as it obtains in China, has been ably illustrated by Mr.Chal.Alabaster inVols.V.andVI.of theChina Review. This writer states that “there seems to be no absolutely fixed law in regard either of inheritance or testamentary dispositions of property, but certain general principles are recognised which the court will not allow to be disregarded without sufficient cause.” As a rule the sons, whether by wife or concubine, share equally, and in preference to daughters, even though there should be a written will in favour of the latter.return to text
[683]The Law of Inheritance, as it obtains in China, has been ably illustrated by Mr.Chal.Alabaster inVols.V.andVI.of theChina Review. This writer states that “there seems to be no absolutely fixed law in regard either of inheritance or testamentary dispositions of property, but certain general principles are recognised which the court will not allow to be disregarded without sufficient cause.” As a rule the sons, whether by wife or concubine, share equally, and in preference to daughters, even though there should be a written will in favour of the latter.return to text
[684]This has reference to the “seed-time and harvest.”return to text
[684]This has reference to the “seed-time and harvest.”return to text
[685]SeeNo. I.,note 36.return to text
[685]SeeNo. I.,note 36.return to text
[686]Clouds being naturally connected in every Chinaman’s mind with these fabulous creatures, the origin of which has been traced by some to waterspouts. SeeNo. LXXXI.,note 439.return to text
[686]Clouds being naturally connected in every Chinaman’s mind with these fabulous creatures, the origin of which has been traced by some to waterspouts. SeeNo. LXXXI.,note 439.return to text