Society in China.

Preface

The object of the present work is to picture the Chinese as they are, and not necessarily as they profess to be. There is no country in the world where practice and profession are more widely separated than in China. The empire is preeminently one of make-believe. From the emperor to the meanest of his subjects a system of high-sounding pretension to lofty principles of morality holds sway ; while the life of the nation is in direct contradiction to these assumptions. No imperial edict is complete, and no official proclamation finds currency, without protestations in favour of all the virtues. And yet few courts are more devoid of truth and uprightness, and no magistracy is more corrupt, than those of the celestial empire.

In the following pages an attempt is made to follow the emperor from his throne to his everyday employments and amusements ; to attend the mandarins both on the bench and in their private lives ; to associate with the merchants in their counting-houses and chambers of commerce ; to go

IV

PREFACE.

with the mechanic into his workshop and the council-chamber of his trades-union ; and to accompany one and all into the temples of their gods.

For these purposes the pages of the oldest journal in the world, the Peking Gazette, as well as the novels and plays of the people, have been largely drawn upon. With curious outspokenness the first of these authorities reflects the lives of the officials and people with faithful minuteness. The faults and shortcomings of the emperor, the crooked ways and corruptions of the mandarins, and the crimes, superstitions, and follies of the people, are described in its pages with unfaltering directness. In the novels and dramas we have, further, placed before us truthful representations of the lives and ideas of the people. It is from these native witnesses, therefore, that much of the present work has received its inspiration.

An experience of some years in the country has supplemented these sources of information, and Blue books have contributed largely towards the chapters on the foreign relations of the empire. At the present time, when affairs appear to be drifting towards a condition of danger, when the attitude of the Peking Government towards foreigners is becoming well-nigh intolerable, it is well to take to heart the lessons which the last sixty years should have taught us. China is a long way off, and our statesmen are disinclined to plunge into a quarrel with an empire at the other end of the

PREFACE.

V world. But if our trade is to be maintained and our treaty rights are to be observed, it will soon become necessary for us to take a far stronger line than we have lately adopted in our relations with the celestial empire. The chapter on trade shows that our commerce in the far East is not what it was ; and this is the more important since signs are not wanting that there is a danger of a still further contraction, owing to the advance made by other nations, and the growing hostility of the Chinese Government.

ROBERT K. DOUGLAS.

British Museum.

First Edition published May yd, 1894. Second Edition published AJay wth, 1894.

Chapter I

The Emperor and the Court ... ... Pages 1-31

The political constitution, 2. The constituent elements of Chinese society, 3. The titles of the emperor, 3. The Temple of Heaven, 4. The sacrifice to Shangti, the Supreme Ruler, 5. Superstitious proposal by Tseng Kwofan, 6. The worship of the emperor, 8. The emperor as the living Buddha — Ilis influence among the Mongolians and Tibetans, 9. “The solitary man,” 10. The exterior and interior of the palace, ii. The affairs of the state settled in the early hours of the morning, 12. The assumption of the imperial purple, 13. The choice of an empress, 14. The imperial marriage, 16. The late emperor’s valedictory address, 21. His burial, 21. The grief of his heir, 23. The three names given to the emperor, 23. The pomp and ceremony attending the burial of an empress, 24. The usual character of Chinese emperors, 27. The emperor’s authority over the princes and nobles, 28. The hereditary nobility, 29. The titles of the male representative of Confucius, 30; of the representative of the last emperor of the late Ming dynasty, 31.

Chapter II

The appointment of mandarins, 32. The division of the empire into eighteen provinces, 33. The provincial authorities, 33. Salaries of the mandarins, 34. The rights of the people, 37. The civil mandarins, 39. Military mandarins, 39. The two imperial councils of state, 41. Their duties, 42. The six Boards for the transaction of departmental affairs, 44. Their duties, 44. The postal system of China, 49. The letter shop, 50. The two kinds of Chinese stamps, 51. The Board of Punishments, 53. The prison of the board, 54. The Tsungli Yamun, 57. The Colonial office, 59. The office of censors, 60.

Chapter III

The enumeration of punishments, 64. Especial regulations for lightening punishments, 66. The severity of punishment for offences committed in

CONTENTS.

vni or near the imperial palace, 67. Marriage, 69. Treason, 7i- Lingchi, or death by a slow and lingering process, 71. Attempt on the life of the Emperor Kialc’ing, 72. Tortures, 73. The Chinese belief in magic, 75. The extraction of false confessions by torture, 75. The guiding principle in Chinese legislation, 78. The power of the heads of households, 78. Murder of an unfilial son, 79. Attitude of husbands and masters towards their wives and slaves, 81. Quarrelling and fighting, 8i. Gambling and betting, 82, 83.

Chapter IV

The Administration of the Laws... ... Pages 84-107

The dishonesty of the mandarins, and their means of accumulating wealth, 84. An honest mandarin, 87. His measures for punishing his subordinates, 87. The story of Chang, Ch’ii, and others, 92. The story of Ko and his wife, 96. Coroners’ inquests, 99. The “ Hsiyuanlu," 100. Some of the absurdities of this book, loi. The terror inspired by the officials of the Yamuns, 104. The difficulty of prosecuting appeals, 105. Illegal taxation and extortion, 105. The want of barristers in China, 107.

Chapter V

The object of the community, 109. The divisions of a community, 109. The Tipao and his duties, iii. Criminal affairs settled by the village communities, 113. The case of Peng, 113. The heavy punishment imposed for pilfering ears of corn, 1 14. The unwritten laws of the village communities, 1 14. The possession of villages by single families, 1 15. The position of the clan elders, 115. The clan elders as fellow-workers with the promoters of attacks upon Christians, 115. The punishment of members suspected of having joined the foreign religion, 115.

Chapter VI

The Literati the first of the four classes of the population, 1 16. Their graduation, 116. Their privileges, Ii6. The great number of unemployed graduates, u6. The interference of the graduates in legal matters, 117. Strange memorials presented by them, 117. Antagonism of the Literati towards foreigners, 118. The persecution of the Literati, 119. The case of Chow Han, 120. The farmers form the second class, 120. The Emperor Shennung, the divine husbandman, 120. The unjust taxes on farmers, 121. The absolute power of the Emperor, 122. The division of the land, 122. The conditions on which the land-tax is levied ; remittance under certain conditions, 123. Grain-tax, 124. Cultivation of rice, 125. The agricultural calendar, 126. Books on agriculture, 127. The silk industry, 127. The poppy, 129. Opium smoking, 129. The edicts against the opium trade, 129. Opium smuggling, 130. Opium used as currency, 132. Tea, 132. Where the best is grown, 133. The competition between China and India in tea, 133. The cultivation of the tea plant, 133. Tea-houses, 134. The exportation of tea, 135. Brick-tea, 135.

CONTEXTS.

IX

Chapter VII

Mechanics and Merchants ... ... Pages 137-148

The poverty and industry of mechanics, 137. Their tools, 137. The smallness of their pay, 138. Their great skill, 138. Itinerant craftsmen, 139. “ Those who think must govern those who toil,” 139. The

integrity of the merchants, 140. The antiquity of commerce, 141. The sayings of Confucius, 141. Guild halls, 142. The uses of guilds, 143. Their revenue, 143. Trade guilds, 144. Their rules, 144. A strike of carpenters, and the attack on the magistrate’s yamun, 145. Brutal punishment inflicted on a manufacturer, 145. Apprentices, 146. Barbers,

146. The influence of the trade unions, 147. Objection to machinery,

147. Disadvantages arising from the absence of an hereditary aristocracy,

Chapter VIII

Chinese doctors, 149. Drugs in common use, 150. Amputation never resorted to, 150. A doctor’s fee, 150. His visit to a patient, 151. Medicines and tonics, 151. Acupuncture, 152. Small-pox, leprosy, and other diseases, 153. Hydrophobia, and the cure for it, 155. Tumours, 155. Magical arts, the philosopher’s stone, 157. Ginseng, 157. Legal aflairs, 159.

Chapter IX

The stability of the empire, 160. The idiosyncrasies of the Chinese race, 161. The subjects and books for the competitive examinations, 163. The commentators, 164. The superficial teaching for girls, 164. The different stages of education, 165. Examinations for the first degree, 166. Triennial examinations, 166. The examiners, 167. The examination hall and the examination, 167. The conferring of the degree of “advanced scholar,” 168. The advantages of the examinations, 169. Deceptions used by both examiners and candidates, 170. An examination essay, 173. A knowledge of history required in examinations, 178. Occasional questions on mathematics, 178. The examination of military candidates, 179.

Chapter X

The twenty-four instances of filial piety, 181. Devotion of a son to his widowed mother, 182. The story of Miss Wang, 183. The disadvantages belonging to women in China, 185. Allusions to women in the characters of the languages, 185. Chinese society, 187. Etiquette, 188. Adulatory and depreciatory terms in common use, 189. The estrangement between the sexes, 189. Rarity of prenuptial elopements, 190. Early marriage, 191.

X

CONTENTS.

Chapter XI

Protracted prenuptial ceremonies, 192. The go-between, 192. The story of a dying mother and her son, 193. The six engagement ceremonies, 194. “ The best man ” and his duties, 195. Betrothal letters,

196. Historical allusions, 197. How presents are sent, 199. The choice of a lucky day, 199. The grief of the bride, 200. The wedding day, 200. The lifting of the bride over the threshold, 201. The consecration of the marriage, 202. Traces of marriage by capture, 202. The possible dissolution of the, marriage tie, 205. Common interference in other people’s affairs, 206. A plot of a play illustrating this peculiarity, 207. Instances of polygamy, 209. The position of the secondary wife, 209. The Chinese woman’s contentment with her lot, 211. The abject dependence of wives on their husbands, 212. The duties of the wife to her parents-in-law, 214. Devices to avoid matrimony, 214. Instances of devotion of husbands and wives, 215.

Chapter XII

Belief in an after-life, 219. Ceremonies attending the burial of the dead, 219. Providing coffins in preparation for death, 221. Things put in the coffin with the corpse, 221. The prostration of the relatives before the coffin, 222. The procession, 222. Some strange rites, 223. The mourning after the funeral, and “the feast of the dead,” 224. Graves and tombs, 225. The law which forbids the admission of a corpse within the walls of cities, 226. Other funeral rites, 226. Cremation, 226.

Chapter XIII

The three divisions of this subject, 228. The antiquity of Chinese trade, 228. The first expeditions of European travellers into China, 229. The increase of national prosperity, 230. The influence of the words of the ancient sages on the treatment of foreigners, 232. The first English expeditions to China, 232. The private enterprise of Captain Weddell, 233. The concentration of British trade at Canton, 234. Lord Macartney’s embassy in 1792, 235. The unsuccessful result of it, 236. Lord Amherst’s mission in 1816, his dismissal from Peking, 236. The appointment of Lord Napier as minister, 237. A report of the decrease of the wealth of the empire owing to the purchase of opium, 237. The refusal of the viceroy of Canton to hold communication with Lord Napier, 238. Lord Napier’s death, 238. The appointment of Captain Elliot in his place, 238. The stubborn opposition of the mandarins and Commissioner Lin, 238. Our surrender of opium, and the increasing demands of Commissioner Lin, 239. Affairs placed in the hands of Admiral Sir John Bremer, 239. The advance of the English to the mouth of the Pciho, and their ultimate retreat to Canton, 239. The declaration of war, 240. The Chinese policy in making terms, 240. The treaty of 1842, 240. The attitude of the Chinese, 241.

CONTENTS.

XI

Chapter XIV

Foreigners excluded from Canton, 242. Attack on foreigners at Fatshan, 242. Sir John Davis’s negotiations with Keying, 243. The anger of the emperor, 244. Excuses still made for excluding foreigners, 246. Yeh’s proposal to meet Sir John Bowring in a warehouse, 246. His motive, 247. He asks for help from the English against rebels, 247. The succession of Sir Harry Parkes to the Consulate at Canton, 248. The Arrow alTair, 248. The refusal of Yeh to give up the men, 248. Continued insults, 249. The seizure of the barrier forts, and attack on Yeh’s yamun, 249. The retreat of Sir Michael Seymour owing to want of troops, 249. The revenge of Yeh on a foreign settlement, 249. _ Ihe arrival of troops from England, and the appointment of Lord Elgin as envoy extraordinary, 250. His demands, 250. Delay in the war on account of the Indian Mutiny, 251. Attack on the Chinese fleet, 251. Terms again offered by Lord Elgin, and Yeh’s answer, 252. The defeat of the garrison of Canton, and capture of Yeh, 252. The friendliness of the Cantonese, 253. Their complete dependence on the mandarins, 253. The advance of Lord Elgin to Shanghai, 255. A discourteous reply, and the capture of the Taku forts, 255. Interview with Kweiliang and Hwashana, 256. The Tientsin treaty, 256. The Chinese disregard the treaty, 256. Strengthening of the Taku forts, and disturbances at Canton, 256. Our defeat at the Taku forts in 1859, 256. Renewed attack by allied forces, and recapture of the Taku forts, 257. Further negotiations with Kweiliang at Tientsin, 258. Lord Elgin’s advance to Tungchow, and his interview with Prince of I at Hosiwu, 258. The treachery of the Chinese, and capture of Sir Harry Parkes and others, 259. Attempt at negotiations on the part of the Commissioners, and the defeat of the Chinese between Tungchow and the capital, 260. The emperor’s desertion of Peking, 261. The capture and burning of Yuen-Ming-Yuen, 261. The treaty of 1858, 262. Lord Elgin returns to England, and Sir Frederick Bruce becomes minister, 263.

Chapter XV

The T’aip’ing rebellion, 264. The friendly attitude adopted by Chinese towards foreigners, 264. The suppression of the rebellion, and the cessation of the conciliatory attitude of the Chinese, 265. Hudson Taylor’s mission at Yangchow, 265. Attack on missionaries, and the murder of the Rev. James Williamson, 266. The Tientsin massacre, 267. Sir Thomas Wade’s letter to Prince Kung, 267. Lengthy negotiations with the Chinese, 269. Reports on the subject by Mr. Consul Lay and Dr. Williamson, 269. The eight articles drawn up by the Chinese Government for the regulation of missionary undertakings, 270. The continued hostility of the Chinese, 271. The Margary expedition, 271. The murder of Mr. Margary, 272. The appointment of English representatives to assist at the investigation of the affair, 272. Chinese lay the blame on border tribes, 273. Sir T. Wade’s letter to Prince Kung, 273. The Chefoo Convention and the renewal of friendship between the two Governments, 274. The surrender of our right to navigate the upper waters of the Yang-tsze Kiang, 275. Proposed expedition through Tibet, 275. The consent of the Chinese authorities to issue the necessary pass-

Xll

CONTENTS.

ports, 277. The intervention of difficulties, 277. The convention signed by our minister at Peking, 278. The hostile attitude of the Tibetan troops, 279. The appointment of a Chinese commissioner to negotiate on the Sikhim frontier, 279. The delay in signing the convention, 280. Local riots and a great disturbance at Canton, 281.

Chapter XVI

Outrages on Missionaries ... ... Pages 282-289

Hostile placards issued in the province of Hunan, 282. Riots directed against missionaries, 283. The report made by the Chinese to the Foreign Office in England, 283. The charges brought against the Chinese Government, 284. The unwillingness of the Chinese authorities to punish the real perpetrators of the riots, 285. A feeble attempt made by the Chinese Government to arrest Chow Han, 286. The appointment of a new minister to Peking, 286. A comparison between the old and new systems of dealing with the Chinese Government, 287.

Chapter XVII

Portuguese and Dutch embassies to Peking, 291. Treatment accorded to A. M. de Sousa Menezes in 1727, 291. Lord Macartney’s mission, 291. His reception by K’ienlung, 292. An imperial feast given in his honour, 293. Lord Amherst’s mission, 293. His arrival at Yuen-Ming- Yuen, 294. His dismissal from Peking, 295. Revival of the audience question in 1873, 295. Audience granted to foreign ministers in the Tzu-Kuang Ko, 296. Description of the ceremony, 297. Audience granted in 1891 in the same pavilion, 300. The true policy on the audience question, 301.

Chapter XVIII

Antiquity of Chinese trade, 303. Total value of foreign trade, 304. Decline of direct British trade with China, 305. Large increase of trade with Hong Kong, 305. Increase of direct continental trade with China, 306. Present small margin of profits, 306. Chinese policy of subsidizing steamship companies and building factories, 307. Trade in cotton yarn, 308. Advisability of looking out for fresh markets, 309. Trade in kerosene oil, 310. Importation of flints, 311. Trade in skins and horns of the rhinoceros, 312. Clocks and watches, matches and needles, 313. Umbrellas, 314. Medicines and culinary delicacies for the Straits Settlements, etc., 315. Cotton goods and opium, 317. Opium-smoking, 318. The tea trade, 319. The silk trade, 320. The food of silkworms, 321. The different kinds of silk, 321. The trade in straw braid, 322. Wool and tobacco, 322. Arsenic and its uses, 322. Bamboo and the multitude of uses to which it is applied, 323. China ware and other products, 326. White wax and its production, 326. The trade in human hair, 329.

CONTENTS.

xin

Chapter XIX

Chinese Architecture ... ... Pages 330-345

The origin of the dominant style of building, 330. The sameness in the style of building, 331. Fergusson’s explanation of the absence of variety, 331. The want of development in Chinese architecture partly due to the sterility of the imaginative powers of the Chinese people, 331. The non-existence of any old buildings, 332. How a Chinese nouse is built, the roof constructed first, 333. Double roofs, 334. The interior of a Chinese house, and the furniture, 335. Stove-beds, 336. A Chinese chair, 337. The decorations on the walls, 338. The studies of scholars, 338. A description of a Foo, or ducal residence, in Peking, 339. The Feng Shui superstition, 340, The azure dragon and the white tiger, 341. Temple architecture, 343. Monasteries, 343. Priests’ methods of collecting building funds, 344. Bridges, and the insecurity of the majority of them, 345.

Chapter XX

The large number of slaves in a Chinese household, 346. The origin of the Chinese character for a slave, 346. The buying and selling of slaves, 347. Method of determining whether a slave has a tendency to leprosy, 347. Other means of procuring slaves, kidnapping, 348. Instance of cruelty to a slave-boy, 348. As a rule slaves well treated, 349. The punishments indicted on runaway slaves, 349.

Chapter XXI

Populousness of Chinese households, 351. The power of a father over a son, 352. Reported murder by the Emperor Taokwang of his son, 353. The position of daughters, 353. Their lives sacrificed to the needs of the household, 353. The question of the prevalence of infanticide, 354. Obtains largely in Fuh-kien, 354. An infant found alive on an island in the Hong Kong harbour, 355. Infanticide due entirely to poverty, 356.

Chapter XXII

Rice and vegetables as the staple food of all classes, 357. Pigs, poultry, ducks, and fish, 358. Fishing, 358. Less savoury viands, 358. Locusts, 359. Cat and dog restaurants, 359. The excess of oil and fat in Chinese cooking, 360. A bill of fare at a Chinese dinner, 360. The flowing looseness of Chinese dress ; the visit of a Chinese minister to the British Museum, 361. The button on the cap, 362. The imposition of the queue as a badge of conquest, 362. Official caps, 363. The dress of the wives of mandarins, and of women generally, 363. Women’s coifiures, 364. Chinese women’s appearance ; the cruel fashion of squeezing their feet, 365.

XIV

CONTENTS.

Chapter XXIII

Gardens and Travel ... ... ... Pages 367-374

The Chinese love of flowers, and their skill as landscape gardeners, 367. Artificial rockwork and hills ; high bridges over ponds and streams, 367. The prodigal profusion of flowers and blossoms, 368. Means of travel an index of civilization, 369. Chinese objections to steamers on the Upper Yang-tsze, 370. Chinese carts, 370. Waggons, 371. Passenger-boats, 372. Wheelbarrows, 373. Chinese inns, 373. Poetical description of one, 374.

Chapter XXIV

Theatrical display, 375. Motives for theatricals, 376. The Chinese stage, 376. Characters in dramas, 377. Nature of plot.s, 377. Similarity of incidents in European and Chinese dramas, 378. The orchestra, 378. Actors tabooed in society, 380. Conjurors, 380. Taoist necromancy, 381. Clairvoyance, 382. Gymnasts, 382. Gambling, 383. Games of chance, 383. Workmen gamble for their meals, 384.

Chapter XXV

Antiquity of the coinage, 385. Cash the only coin, 385. Different kinds of cash in use, 385. Goods bought with silver, 386. Mint established at Canton, 387. Bank-notes, one exhibited at the British Museum, 387. Knife-shaped coin, 387. Chinese painting, 388. Japanese art derived from China, 388. Rules laid down for landscape-painting, 389. Use of the brush learned in writing the characters, 389. The beginning of the art, 390. Influence of Buddhism on the art, 390. Instance of realistic painting, 391. Chinese sense of humour, 392. Portraits, 393.

Chapter XXVI

The three religions, 394. Confucianism the only one which took its rise on Chinese soil, 395. Life of Confucius, 395. His characteristics, 396. His official career, and his disappointments as a teacher, 397. The appearance of a Lin, 397. “The Spring and Autumn Annals,” 398. His death, 398. His teachings and doctrines, 399. His system began with the cultivation of the individual, 399. A model sovereign, 400. No personal deity in his system, 401. Subjects of his discourses, 401. The Taoists, 402. Laotzu, 402. Nothing known of his early life, 402. The allegorical designations of his supposed birthplace, 403. His appearance, 403. Tao, 403. His doctrines, 404. Relation of Taoism to Brahminism, 405. Degeneration of Taoism, 406. Search for the philosopher’s stone and the elixir of immortality, 406. Taoist temples, 407. Taoist monasteries and nunneries, 408. Introduction of Buddhism, 409. The Hinayana and Mahayana schools, 409. Buddhism supplies what Confucianism and Taoism lack, 410. The doctrine of metempsychosis, 410. Buddhist vegetarianism, 41 1. The three Buddhas, 41 1. Punishments inflicted on inattentive gods, 412. Buddhist monasteries, and initiation of neophytes, 413. Degradation of modern Buddhism, 414. Relics of native worship, 414.

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

PACE

The Pa-li Chwang Pagoda near Peking ... Frontispiece The North Altar of the Temple of He.aven To face 5 A Military Bowman ... ... ... ,, 39

A Culprit \vearing a Cangue ... ... „ 65

A Witness tortured by being made to kneel

Fighting Quails ... ... ... „ 83

A Mounted Military Bowman ... ... „ 179

The Bridal Feast ... ... ... „ 202

Bride and Bridegroom paying Ho.mage to the

Bridegroom’s Parents ... ... „ 204

A Street in Peking ... ... ... „ 334

A Confuci.\n Temple ... ... ... „ 343

A Vermicelli Shop ... ... ... „ 358

Native Cart in a Street in Peking ... „ 371

XVI

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.

The Punishment awarded for the Infraction OF Priestly Vows ...

The Introduction of Buddhism into China : Priests bringing Books and an Image of Buddha from India

Entrance to the Lama Temple at Peking A Buddhist Service

Preparing for the Moon-Cake Festival

FAOR

To face 378

413 „ 414

SOCIETY IN CHINA.

Chapter I. The Emperor And The Court

The title of this work may at first sight seem somewhat misleading ; it may be taken to imply that there is a distinct difference between society of the present day in China, and that of an earlier period. This, however, is not the case ; for, speaking generally, everything that is modern is ancient, and all that is ancient is modern. With the exception of fashions in trivial matters, nothing has changed in China for many centuries. Every institution, every custom, and every idea has its foundation in the distant ages and draws its inspiration from the sages of antiquity. Immutability in all that is essential, is written on the face of the empire. No fear of organic change perplexes monarchs, or any one else, in that changeless land, and the people love to have it so. Sovereigns reign and pass away, dynasties come and go, and even foreign powers take possession of the throne, as at the present time, when a line of Manchu emperors reigns at Peking; but the national life in all its

B

SOCIETY IN CHINA.

characteristics goes on unmoved by political change and revolutionary violence. One of the most remarkable spectacles in the world’s history is that of this strange empire which, having been time after time thrown into the crucible of political unrest, has always reappeared identical in its main features and institutions, and absorbing rather than being absorbed by the foreign elements which have occasionally thrust themselves into the body politic.

The political constitution, the social relations and customary ceremonies were crystallized in their present forms by those ancients on whom, according to the opinion of the people, rested the mantle of perfect wisdom. If the death of the emperor is announced, it is proclaimed in words used by Yao, who lived before the time of Abraham. If a mandarin writes a controversial despatch, he bases his arguments on the sayings of Confucius ; if a youth presents himself at the public examinations, he is expected to compose essays exclusively on themes from the four books and five classics of antiquity ; and if a man writes to congratulate a friend on the birth of a daughter, he does so in phraseology drawn from the national primitive odes, which were sung and chanted before the days of Homer.

This immutability gives certain advantages in writing on Chinese society, since the author is not called upon

“ To shoot folly as it flies And catch the manners living as they rise.”

It is enough for him to keep in view the rock from which the people have hewn their lives, and to

THE EMPEROR.

o draw from the current literature, which reflects that foundation, the picture which he may propose to sketch.

What, then, are the constituent elements of Chinese society ? They are very simple, and are free from the complications and enlacements of European life. At the head is the emperor and his court, next comes the bureaucracy, and after them the people. With the exception of some few families, such as those of Confucius, of Tseng, the late minister at our court, and five or six others, there is no hereditary aristocracy of high rank and importance. All are equal until the examiners have elected into an aristocracy of talent those whose essays and poems are the best. The remaining divisions of “ farmers, mechanics, and traders,” represent one level.

Above these classes the emperor reigns supreme. The possessor of a power which is limited only by the endurance of the people, the object of profound reverence and worship by his subjects, the holder of the lives of “all under heaven,” the fountain of honour as well as the dispenser of mercy, he occupies a position which is unique of its kind, and unmatched in the extent of its influence. There is much magic in a name, and the titles by which the potentate is known help us to realize what he is in the eyes of the people. He is the “ Son of Heaven,” he is the “Supreme Ruler,” the “August Lofty One,” the “ Celestial Ruler,” the “ Solitary Man,” the “Buddha of the present day,” the “Lord;” and, in adulatory addresses, he is often entitled, the “ Lord of Ten Thousand Years.” As the Son of Heaven, he rules by the express command of the

SOCIETY IN CHINA.

celestial powers, and is sustained on the throne by the same supreme authorities, so long as he rules in accordance with their dictates. He alone is entitled to worship the azure heaven, and at the winter solstice he performs this rite after careful preparation, and with solemn ritual. The Temple of Heaven, where this august ceremony is performed, stands in the southern portion of the city of Peking, and consists of a triple circular terrace, two hundred and ten feet wide at the base, and ninety feet at the top. The marble stones forming the pavement of the highest terrace are laid in nine concentric circles. On the centre stone, which is a perfect circle, the emperor kneels, facing the north, and “ acknowledges in prayer and by his position that he is inferior to Heaven, and to Heaven alone. Round him on the pavement are the nine circles of as many heavens, consisting of nine stones, then eighteen, then twenty-seven, and so on, in successive multiples of nine until the square of nine, the favourite number of Chinese philosophy, is reached in the outermost circle of eighty-one stones.”*

On the evening before the winter solstice the emperor is borne in a carriage drawn by elephants to the mystic precincts of the temple, whence, after offering incense to Shangti, “ the Supreme Ruler,” and to his ancestors, he proceeds to the hall of penitential fasting. There he remains until 5.45 a.m., when, dressed in his sacrificial robes, he ascends to the second terrace. This is the signal for setting fire to the whole burnt sacrifice, which consists of a bullock of two years old and without blemish. The Supreme Ruler having been • Williamson’s “Journey in North China,” vol. ii. p. 353.