China: Its State and Prospects/Chapter 5
CHAPTER V.
THE CIVILIZATION OF CHINA.
In seeking to evangelize the heathen world, two descriptions of people claim our attention; namely, the barbarous and the civilized. China belongs to the latter class. Instead of a savage and untutored people—without a settled government, or written laws,—roaming the desert, and living in caves,—dressed in skins, and sitting on the ground,—knowing nothing of fashion, nor tasting luxuries; we behold in the Chinese a quiet, orderly, well-behaved nation, exhibiting many traces of civilization, and displaying them at a period when the rest of mankind were for the most part sunk in barbarism. Of course we must not look for that high degree of improvement, and those well-defined civil rights, which are in a great measure the effects of Christianity; neither are we warranted to expect in China any of those advances in science, or improvements in the arts, which now distinguish Europe, and which are the result of that march of mind so characteristic of the age we live in. Railways, tunnels, machinery, and all the ramifications and operations of gas and steam, are not to be looked for in China. With these exceptions, however, China possesses as much civilization as Turkey now, or England a few centuries ago. Indeed, were the question proposed to a Chinese, as to which he considered the most civilized nation, while he might acknowledge the superiority of Europeans in cunning and force, he would not scruple to claim for his own countrymen the praise of a superior polish. They denominate China, "the flowery nation,"—"the region of eternal summer,"—"the land of the sages,"—"the celestial empire,"—while they unscrupulously term all foreigners "barbarians," and sometimes load them with epithets still more degrading and contemptuous, such as swine, monkeys, and devils.
The soliloquy of one of them is rather amusing; "I felicitate myself," says Tëen Ke-shih, "that I was born in China; and constantly think how very different it would have been with me, if born beyond the seas, in some remote part of the earth, where the people, deprived of the converting maxims of the ancient kings, and ignorant of the domestic relations, are clothed with the leaves of plants, eat wood, dwell in the wilderness, and live in the holes of the earth; though living in this world in such a condition, I should not have been different from the beasts of the field. But now, happily, I have been born in the middle kingdom. I have a house to live in; have food, drink, and elegant furniture; clothing, caps, and infinite blessings; truly the highest felicity is mine!"
The Chinese have a proverb, that he who judges of the circumstances of others, without a thorough acquaintance with them, is like a man at the bottom of a well, attempting to form an opinion of the heavens. It is to be feared that the Chinese have been at the bottom of the well with regard to foreigners, and that we are not unfrequently at the bottom of the well with regard to them. The writer would fain bring each party to the brink, and exhibit them to each other. Without acceding, therefore, to the extravagant pretensions of the Chinese, or submitting to their unjust reflections upon foreigners, we must allow them a degree of civilization, which would awaken an interest in their behalf, and favour not a little the attempt to promote their evangelization.
The civilization of the Chinese will be seen in their complaisance towards each other. In no unchristian country do we find such attention paid to ceremony, such polish in daily intercourse, and so many compliments passing to and fro, as among the Chinese. In associating with friends, and in entertaining strangers, their politeness is remarkable. The poorest and commonest individual will scarcely allow a passenger to cross the door without asking him in; should the stranger comply, the pipe is instantly filled and presented to his lips, or the tea poured out for his refreshment; a seat is then offered, and the master of the house does not presume to sit down, until the stranger is first seated. The epithets employed, when conversation commences, are in keeping with the character of the people. The familiar use of the personal pronoun is not indulged in; on the contrary, "venerable uncle,"—"honourable brother,"—"virtuous companion,"—or "excellent sir,"—in addressing a stranger, are used instead of the pronoun "you;" and "the worthless fellow,"—"the stupid one,"—" the late born,"—or the "unworthy disciple," instead of the pronoun "I," are terms of common occurrence. "What is your noble patronymic?" is the first question; to which the usual reply is, "my poverty-struck family name is so and so;" again, the question is asked respecting the "honourable appellation, the exalted age, and the famous province," of the stranger, which queries are replied to by applying to one's self the epithets of "ignoble, short-lived, and vulgar;" and thus the conversation proceeds in a strain of compliment, the very commonness of which proves the civilization of the people. The titles bestowed upon the relations of others, together with the humiliating light in which persons speak of their own connections, are also remarkable. "Honourable young gentleman," for a friend's son; and "the thousand pieces of gold" for his daughter, are usual appellations; while the individual replies by bestowing the epithet of "dog's son," and "female slave," on his own offspring.
The ceremonies observed on the invitation and entertainment of guests are still more striking; complimentary cards are presented, and polite answers returned, all vieing with each other in the display of humility and condescension. On the arrival of the guest, considerable difficulty is found in arranging who shall make the lowest bow, or first enter the door, or take the highest seat, or assume the precedence at table; though the host generally contrives to place his guest in the most elevated position. When conversation commences, the mutual assent to every proposition, the scrupulous avoiding of all contradiction, and the entire absence of every offensive expression, or melancholy allusion, shew what a sense these people entertain of politeness; while the congratulations or condolence lavished on every prosperous or adverse occasion, and the readiness displayed to "rejoice with them that do rejoice, and to weep with them that weep," manifest the degree of interest they appear to take in each other. Any one who would examine the style of their epistolary correspondence, the form of their invitation cards, and the phraseology of their polite discourses, must see, that, professedly at least, "they esteem every other better than themselves," which is the foundation of politeness. Their civility may indeed verge towards adulation, and their compliments assume the air of flattery; but, when we see a whole nation thus externally soft, affable, and yielding, we must acknowledge that they have made some advances in the art of good breeding.
But the civilization of the Chinese appears in a more substantial form, in the discoveries they have made, and the arts and sciences which they have cultivated. Their inventive genius has been manifested in various particulars, and at early periods. Three most important discoveries, which have given an extraordinary impulse to the progress of civilization in Europe, were known to the Chinese previous to their being found out by us. First of all ranks the invention of the mariner's compass, with which the Chinese seem to have been long acquainted. The earliest allusion to the magnetic needle is met with in the traditionary period of their history, about 2600 years before Christ; when the Yellow Emperor, having missed his way, invented a carriage, upon the top of which was a gallery, surmounted by a little figure, pointing to the south, whichever way the carriage turned.
At a later period, we have a more credible account of this discovery, in the reign of Ching-wang, of the Chow dynasty, B.C. 1114; when it is said that some ambassadors came from the modern Cochin-China, affirming, that having experienced neither storm nor tempest in that country for three years, they imagined it was in consequence of the sages then existing in China; and therefore had come to pay court to them. On the return of these ambassadors, they knew not what course to take; and the prime minister of China gave them five close carriages, all provided with instruments that pointed to the south: with these they were enabled to find their way, and in a year arrived at their own country. "Hence," adds the historian, "these south-pointing carriages have ever since been used as guides to travellers." There are several other references to this important invention at later periods, so as to make it evident that they possessed the discovery before the people of Europe, and it is not improbable were the means of communicating it to us; for it is well known that Marco Paulo, the Venetian traveller, visited China A.D. 1275, and that the mariner's compass was not invented by Gioia, of Naples, until A.D. 1302, so that it is not unlikely that the Italian communicated it to his countryman. Though the Chinese have not much improved the art of navigation, and have allowed us to exceed them in nautical science, yet we should remember from whence the grand invention was derived, and accord the due meed of praise to those who so early possessed it.
Next in the order of utility stands the art of printing, which it appears was known to the Chinese upwards of nine hundred years ago. Some, say, that it was invented by one Fung-taou, the time-serving minister of the first ruler of the Tsin dynasty, A.D. 937; though by a reference to Chinese history, it appears, that eleven years previous, the ruler of Tang ordered the nine classics to be engraved, printed, and sold to the people. The historians of those times do not seem to have any doubt about the art having been then in use, and merely discuss the propriety of selling the books, rather than give them away, on the principle that it would be difficult to supply so many millions gratuitously.
In the time of Confucius, B.C. 500, books were formed of slips of bamboo, upon which they wrote with the point of a style. About one hundred and fifty years after Christ, paper was invented, when the Chinese wrote on rolls, and formed volumes. A.D. 745, books were first bound up into leaves; and two hundred years afterwards they were multiplied by printing; so that the Chinese appear to have made early advances in civilization, whilst we only discovered the art of making paper in the eleventh, and that of printing in the fifteenth century. The mode of printing adopted by the Chinese is of the simplest character. Without expensive machinery, or a complicated process, they manage to throw off clear impressions of their books, in an expeditious manner. Stereotype, or block printing, seems to have taken the precedence of moveable types in all countries, and in China they have scarcely yet got beyond the original method. Their language consisting of a great number of characters, they have not thought it worth while to cut or cast an assortment of these; which they might distribute and recompose, as the subject required; but have preferred cutting the characters for each separate work, page by page. This stereotyping of their books has caused the stereotyping of their ideas; and kept them in the same eternal round of uniform notions, without variety or improvement. While the discovery of printing, therefore, has enabled them to multiply copies of their ancient books, it has discouraged the compilation of new works, and tied them down to an imitation of antiquity, without assisting them to burst the fetters which custom has laid upon them.
Still the use of wooden blocks has not been without its advantages: among which we may enumerate speed and cheapness. The first part of the process is, to get the page written out in the square or printed form of the character. This having been examined and corrected, is transferred to the wood in the following manner. The block, after having been smoothly planed, is spread over with a glutinous paste; when the paper is applied and frequently rubbed, till it becomes dry. The paper is then removed, as much of it as can be got away, and the writing is found adhering to the board, in an inverted form. The whole is now covered with oil, to make the letters appear more vivid and striking; and the engraver proceeds to his business. The first operation is, to cut straight down by the sides of the letters, from top to bottom, removing the vacant spaces between the lines, with the exception of the stops. The workman then engraves all the strokes which run horizontally; then, the oblique; and, afterwards, the perpendicular ones, throughout the whole line; which saves the trouble of turning the block round, for every letter. Having cut round the letters, he proceeds to the central parts; and, after a while, the page is completed. A workman generally gets through one hundred characters a day, for which he will get sixpence. A page generally contains five hundred characters. When the engraver has completed his work, it is passed into the hands of the printer, who places it in the middle of a table: on one side is a pot of liquid ink, with a brush; and, on the other, a pile of paper: while, in front, there is a piece of wood, bound round with the fibrous parts of a species of palm, which is to serve for a rubber. The workman then inks his block with the brush; and taking a sheet of dry paper, with his left hand, he places it neatly on the block; and, seizing the rubber with his right hand, he passes it once or twice quickly over the back of the paper, when the impression is produced, the printed sheet hastily removed, and the workman proceeds with the next impression, till the whole number be worked off; and thus, without screw, lever, wheel, or wedge, a Chinese printer will manage to throw off 3,000 impressions in a day. After the copies are struck off, the next business is to fold the pages exactly in the middle; to collate, adjust, stitch, cut, and sew them; for all of which work, including the printing, the labourer does not receive more than ninepence a thousand. The whole apparatus of a printer, in that country, consists of his gravers, blocks, and brushes; these he may shoulder and travel with from place to place, purchasing paper and lamp-black as he needs them; and, borrowing a table anywhere, he may throw off his editions by the hundred or the score, as he is able to dispose of them. Their paper is thin, but cheap; ten sheets of demy-size costing only one halfpenny. This, connected with the low price of labour, enables the Chinese to furnish books to each other, for next to nothing. The works of Confucius, with the commentary of Choo-foo-tsze, comprising six volumes, and amounting to four hundred leaves, octavo, can be purchased for ninepence; and the historical novel of the three kingdoms, amounting to 1,500 leaves, in twenty volumes, may be had for half-a-crown. Of course, all these prices are what the natives charge to each other; for all which Europeans must expect to pay double. Thus, books are multiplied, at a cheap rate, to an almost indefinite extent; and every peasant and pedlar has the common depositories of knowledge within his reach. It would not be hazarding too much to say, that in China there are more books, and more people to read them, than in any other country of the world.
Another discovery, which is supposed to have originated with the Chinese, is that of gunpowder. Soon after the commencement of the Christian era, this people were in the habit of using what they called "fire medicine," which they employed for the purpose of making signals, and affording amusement, in the shape of rockets and fireworks, but do not appear to have used it to project bullets to a distance, in order to attack an enemy.
The historian of the Yuen dynasty, A.D. 1280, says, that "fire engines" commenced about that period. Wei-ching constructed machines for throwing stones, in which he used powder, made of saltpetre, sulphur, and charcoal. Some time after this, guns and powder were invented in Europe; and, it is not unlikely, were introduced into this part of the world, in consequence of the statements of Marco Paulo.
With regard to the sciences, the Chinese cannot be said to rank high, though they have made some advances in a few, fully equal to what has been accomplished in other eastern nations. To astronomy, they have always paid some attention; and even during the reigns of their earliest kings, the five planets, the twenty-eight constellations, and the twelve signs of the zodiac were well known. They were in the habit of regarding various celestial phenomena, and eclipses and comets were regularly observed, and faithfully recorded, as will be seen by a reference to the scheme of chronology in the Appendix. A.D. 900, a comet appeared, which was considered as ominous of some change in the government, when the sovereign put thirty men of influence to death, and threw some of the literati into the Yellow River; closing the bloody transaction by murdering the former empress, in order to secure to himself the possession of an usurped throne. A.D. 996, an eclipse of the sun, which had been predicted by the astronomers, did not take place; on which occasion, the courtiers congratulated his majesty, suggesting that the very heavens had altered their courses, out of compliment to his virtues.
In all the periods of their history, the Chinese have thought that the heavenly bodies moved in their orbits, for no other purpose, than to point out the rise and fall of dynasties, and to indicate some change of rule in their empire. Famines and pestilences, wars and commotions, droughts and inundations, are with them prognosticated by falling stars and shooting meteors; and so close is the connection between the celestial empire and the powers of nature, that nothing can happen to the one without affecting the other. The science of astronomy, therefore, is studied mainly on account of the influence of the stars on human affairs; and hence the astronomical board is intimately connected with the government, and interference with that department is considered as treason against the state, and punished accordingly. The arrangement of the calendar is a matter of much moment with the Chinese, and lucky and unlucky days are regularly noted in that important document, by which all the business of the empire is regulated. We must not, however, rate the Chinese exceedingly low, on account of their partiality to astrology; when we remember that even in England, in the nineteenth century, there are numbers of persons who continue to place implicit confidence in Francis Moore, and his precious prognostications, which are sure to happen "the day before or the day after."
Of botany they have sufficient knowledge to enable them to collect and arrange a vast number of plants, whose appearance and properties they minutely enumerate, though they do not describe or classify them in a philosophical manner.
In the commencement of Chinese history, we find some allusion to the "Divine Husbandman," who cultivated the five kinds of grain, examined the various plants, and compounded medicines. Before that period the people lived on the fruits of trees, and the flesh of animals, knowing nothing about husbandry; until Shin-nung pointed out the varieties of the seasons, and the properties of the soil, making ploughs of hard wood, and teaching the pleople to plant grain: thus commenced the business of agriculture. When sickness invaded, and remedies were needed, the sovereign tasted the various plants to ascertain their cooling and tranquillizing properties, and in one day discovered seventy kinds of poisonous shrubs, with their antidotes, which he described in a book; and the science of medicine began to flourish. Since then, the Chinese have published a very compendious work on botany, called the Pun-tsaou, which is certainly the result of much labour, and, considering their disadvantages, does them great credit. In this work they distinguish plants into class, genus, and variety. Their classes are five; viz., shrubs, grains, herbs, fruits, and trees. Under the first class they include the following genera: wild, odoriferous, marshy, poisonous, rocky, scandent, watery, cryptogamous, and miscellaneous plants; under the second class they enumerate wheat, barley, millett, maize, and other grains; under the third class are found alliaceous, mucilaginous, creeping, watery, and fungous vegetables; under the fourth class we meet with cultivated, wild, and foreign, as also aromatic and watery fruits; and under the fifth class are included odoriferous, gigantic, luxuriant, parasitic, flexible, and miscellaneous trees. All these genera are subsequently divided into 1094 species. This arrangement will be seen to be far from scientific; but that they should have examined the vegetable kingdom at all, and made any sort of classification, shews that they are by no means an unthinking or an uncivilized people.
To the science of medicine the Chinese have paid some attention; but, as usual, were more celebrated for it in former than in latter times. The systems of their earliest physicians have mostly died with their inventors, and posterity have scarcely been able to equal, much less to exceed, the ancients. Some allusion has been made above to the "Divine Husbandman," who discovered the noxious and healing qualities of various plants, and laid the foundation of the Chinese pharmacopoeia. About the same time lived a statesman, to whom the invention of the puncture is attributed; this man left on record two fragments, which are looked upon as the most ancient notices on the cause and cure of diseases in China. In these fragments the circulation of the blood is recognised, and compared to the unceasing revolutions of the heavens and the earth, which begin, end, and begin again from the same point at which they originally set out; thus, they say, the blood goes round and round the human body, till its dissolution. It must not be imagined from this, however, that the Chinese understand the circulation of the blood, as the phrase is used in Europe; or know anything distinctly about the veins and arteries through which it flows. Not having practised anatomy, they are unacquainted with the internal structure of the human frame, and remain satisfied with the fact of the blood's circulation, without attempting to explain it.
To the pulse, however, they have paid close attention, and are enabled to discover its variations with a nicety and precision, scarcely equalled by European physicians. They affect to distinguish twenty-four different kinds of pulsations, and will frequently proceed to prescribe, without asking a single question, or examining any other prognostic. The system which they have imagined to themselves, is more the result of fancy than experience; and the connection they pretend to trace between the five points at which the pulse may be feh, the five viscera, the five planets, and the five elements, is the fruitful source of innumerable mistakes in their practice; but we must remember, that it is not long since Bacon opened the gate of experimental science in Europe, and that our forefathers once united astrology with medicine, by which they blundered quite as much as the Chinese!
In the earliest classics of the Chinese, several physicians of eminence are referred to, and during the period of the "contending states," a medical man was called "the nation's arm," because he rescued so many from impending death. When China was divided into three kingdoms, about the third century of the Christian era, the father of Chinese surgery, Hwa-to, flourished. He is said to have laid bare the arm of a wounded chieftain, and to have scraped the poison off the scapula, while the unmoved warrior continued to play at chess, and to drink wine, with the other arm. A jealous tyrant of that age cruelly murdered this useful man, and his wife burnt all his manuscripts, by which means his valuable art perished with him. In the fourth century the well-known work on the pulse, quoted by Du Halde, was published. In the sixth century lived Chin-kwei, who is said to have cut into the abdomen, removed diseased viscera, and stitched up the part again, curing the patient in a month's time. The most eminent writers on medicine in China are the "four great masters," who flourished—the first in the third, the second in the thirteenth, the third in the fourteenth, and the fourth in the fifteenth centuries. The first is considered the father of physic, and has left numerous writings behind him. From the various treatises on medicine, one imperial work has been compiled, in forty volumes, called "a golden mirror of medical practice," which was completed nearly a century ago, after four years' labour. Other works on medicine have successively appeared; and a gentleman in Canton, wishing to obtain all that was procurable in that city, made a collection of eight hundred and ninety-two volumes of medical books: so that if the Chinese know little of the science in question, it is not for want of books or theories.
We are not, however, to estimate the value of medical knowledge in China by the aggregate of treatises on the subject; or the efficiency of their practice, by the number of doctors' shops throughout the country: for though the celestial empire literally swarms with medical works and apothecaries' shops, jet the number of successful practitioners we believe to be small. For the most part, their medical practice is mere quackery; and their surgery, in modern days, does not extend beyond puncturing, cauterizing, drawing of teeth, and plastering, without attempting any operation in which skill or care is required.
The advance which the Chinese have made in the fine arts has been more considerable than in the sciences. To begin with painting, we may observe that the graphical representations of the Chinese are not altogether despicable. It is true they lamentably fail in the knowledge of perspective, and the differences of light and shade have not been much noticed by them. But their colours are vivid and striking, and in delineating flowers, animals, or the human countenance, they are sometimes very successful. The Chinese drawings brought to this country on what is called rice paper, have been much admired for the striking characteristics, and brilliant tints which they display. If instructed in the art of shading, and taught the nature of perspective, the Chinese might become good artists; and one of them, who had the advantage of a few lessons from an eminent English painter, has produced some pieces which have been thought worthy of a place in the Royal Exhibition at Somerset House.
In the art of engraving the Chinese excel. The rapidity with which they carve their intricate and complicated characters is really surprising, and not to be imitated by European artists, in the same style of execution, and at the same low prices. A London engraver was surprised when he learned, that what would cost sixty or eighty shillings in England, might be accomplished by a Chinese workman for half-a-crown. In seal engraving they are not behind our own countrymen, and in ivory and ebony, tortoiseshell, and mother-of-pearl, their carving surpasses that of most other artists. The celebrated Chinese balls, one in the other, to the amount of seven or nine, all exquisitely carved, have puzzled many of our English friends; who have been at a loss to know, whether they were cut out of a solid piece, or cunningly introduced by some imperceptible opening, one within the other. There can be no doubt, however, of their having been originally but one piece, and cut underneath from the various apertures, which the balls contain, until one after another is dislodged and turned, and then carved like the first. The ivory work-boxes and fans, commonly sold in Canton, exhibiting the various figures standing out in very bold relief, may be considered as fair specimens of Chinese skill.
In the useful arts, the Chinese are by no means deficient; and in what contributes to the necessaries, comforts, and even elegances of life, shew themselves to be as great adepts as their neighbours. The manufacture of silk has been long established among them; and thousands of years ago, when the inhabitants of England were going about with naked bodies, the very plebeians of China were clothed in silks; while the nobility there vied with each other in the exhibition of gold and embroidery, not much inferior to what they now display. In the fabled days of the Yellow Emperor, at the commencement of the Chinese monarchy, "the empress taught her subjects to rear the silkworm, and unwind the coocoons, in order to make dresses; so that the people were exempted from cold and chilblains." When Confucius arose, the Chinese had long been in the habit of cultivating the silkworm, and the general rule then was, for "every family that possessed five acres of ground, to plant the circumference with mulberry trees, in order that all above a certain age might be clothed in silk." Down to the present age, the Chinese are still celebrated for the abundance, variety, and beauty of their silk fabrics, equalling in the richness of their colours, and the beauty of their embroidery, anything that can be manufactured in France or England, while the crapes of China still surpass the products of this western world. But they are not only skilled in making, they are also attached to the wearing, of gay apparel; the Chinese are confessedly a well-clothed nation, and, except where poverty prevents, the people are seen attired in silks and crapes, as commonly as we appear in cloth and leather. Their fashions differ indeed from ours, but the dress of a Chinese gentleman or lady is as elegant in its way, as the external appearance of a modern belle or beau in Europe.
The manufacture of porcelain commenced with the Tang dynasty, A. D. 630: and the first furnace on record is that at Chang-nan, in the province of Keang-se, from whence a tribute of porcelain was sent to the court of Han Kaou-tsoo, and called "imitation gem ware." The district now most famous for the production of this article, is Kaou-ling, a hill to the eastward of the town of King-tih, in the district of Yaou-chow, which came into repute in the time of the third ruler of the Sung dynasty, A. D. 1000. The material from which porcelain is made is called tun, "clay," or pĭh-tun, "white clay," from whence is derived the petuntse of European books; its nature is " stiff and white, without much sweat," and the porcelain made of it does not crack. The best sort is known by breaking and examining the ware, to see if the fracture be smooth and even, without veins or granular coarseness, and just as if cut with a knife. What commonly goes under the name of Petuntse is divided into red, white, and yellow. The red and white are used for the finer wares; the yellow only for the coarser sorts. The people who procure it always avail themselves of the mountain streams, where they erect mills, and pound the material; after which they wash it clean, and mould it into the form of bricks, called Petuntse. The yellow clods are large and hard, while the white are rather loose and fine.
The government of China has, for the last thousand years, paid great attention to the manufacture of porcelain; and the emperor Këen-lung, about fifty years ago, sent a person from court to make drawings of the process. The first business is to procure the stones, and make the paste, which is commonly done in the district of Hwuy-chow, in the province of Keang-nan. The paste is then scoured and worked, and the glaze ashes prepared. These are formed of a sort of fern, with the powder of a blueish-white stone, to which a portion of fine Petuntse is added; forming together a thick paste. The next process is to form the earthern boxes in which the ware is baked, and the moulds for the round ware. The biscuit is then turned on a lathe, and formed into vases and other articles. After this the unburnt shade-dried biscuit is fitted to the mould, and the excrescences cut and pared off. These broken bits are pounded to a milky consistency for the use of the painters. Numbers of lame and blind, old and young, earn a scanty livelihood by pounding these pieces, — their wages being only half-a-crown per month; though some by working two pestles, and continuing half the night, get double wages. The ware is then painted, which work is divided amongst two sets of artists, the one drawing the outline, and the other laying on the colours, "in order to render the workman's hand uniform, and keep his mind undiverted." They glaze by the brush, the dip, or the blow tube. The latter is a recent invention, consisting of a bamboo about eight inches long, having its end covered with a thin gauze, through which the workman blows a certain number of times, according to the size of the ware, or the consistence of the varnish. Till this period, two or three inches of earth are left at the bottom of the vessel as a handle; but now the handle is taken away, and the foot formed. After this, it is but into the furnace and burned for some time, when the process is finished. To this succeeds the packing, and the whole is closed by sacrificing to the gods, on which ceremony much stress is laid. On one of these occasions a lad is said to have devoted himself to the flames, by which they imagine that great blessings were procured. The concourse of people at King-tĭh is very great. There are from two to three hundred furnaces, and several hundred thousand workmen, who wait as anxiously on the fire, as the husbandman does for the early and later rain.—See Morrison's Dictionary, part iii.
For some time, porcelain was a regular article of export from China to Europe, and much prized in this country. Since, however, the improvement in our own manufacture, and the discouraging duty levied on imported porcelain, the introduction has greatly diminished; though the value of real China ware still keeps up. Whatever advances we may have made in whiteness of our porcelain, and the brilliancy of our colours, we must remember that the Chinese were the first to practice the art, and still exceed us in the compactness of the material, and the fineness of the ware.
The Chinese have not only furnished us with cups, but with tea. It is not exactly certain when this beverage was first used by the Chinese; it is presumed, however, that in early antiquity the use of the plant was unknown; as the ancient classics, and the history of the middle ages make no mention of it.Ever since the intercourse commenced with western nations this leaf has formed more or less an article of export; and in England, especially, the use of it has grown with a rapidity only equalled by the advance in the opium trade to China. We find mention made of tea, in England, in the year 1661; a century ago, the export of this article did not much exceed half a million pounds weight, but of late years it has risen to nearly fifty millions. The sorts commonly known are seven kinds of black and six of green. First,—Woo-e, or Bohea, so called from a famous range of hills in the province of Fŭh-këen, where this tea is grown. Second,—Keen-pei, or Campoi; literally, choice fire-dried teas. Third,—Kang-foo, or Congo; literally, work-people's tea. Fourth,—Pĭh-haou, or Pekoe; literally, white down tea. Fifth,—Paou-chung, or Pouchong, wrapped tea; so called from its being wrapped in paper parcels. Sixth,—Seaou-chung, or Souchong, small seeded tea. Seventh,—Shwang-che, Souchi, or Caper; literally, double compounded tea. The green teas are,—First,—Sung-lo, fir-twig tea; probably from its resemblance to fir-twigs. Second,—He-chun, or Hyson; literally, happy spring tea. Third,—Pe cha, or Hyson skin; literally, skin tea. Fourth,—Tun-ke, or Twankay, literally, stream-station tea; probably from the place where it is collected. Fifth,—Choo cha, pearl tea, or gunpowder tea. Sixth,—Yu-tsëen Ouchain, or Young Hyson, literally, tea collected before the rains. The black teas are, generally, grown in the province of Fŭh-këen, and the green in Chĕ-këang, or Găn-hwuy. The whole are brought overland to Canton, where they are shipped for the European market. The process of making tea has been delineated, in a succession of pictures, corresponding to those on the manufacture of porcelain; and a variety of books have been written, describing the growth and manufacture; but the exact manipulation of the leaf is a secret still possessed by the Chinese, which foreigners have not been able fully to develope. Some workmen have lately been brought from the tea districts, and conveyed to the island of Java and the province of Assam, under the Dutch and English governments respectively; but, it remains to be seen, whether they can completely succeed in equalling the inhabitants of the celestial empire, in the preparation of tea. It is a matter yet in dispute, whether the green and black teas are made from the same tree, or whether an entirely different plant is used. Most persons incline to adopt the former opinion; though, from the circumstance of the two sorts coming from different provinces, it might be inferred that the green and black are gathered from different shrubs.
In the manufacture of paper, the Chinese have been early active. In the first century mention is made of paper, which the Chinese employ, not only in making books and wrapping up articles, but in sacrificing to the gods and departed spirits; in which service millions of bundles are annually consumed by this superstitious people. This forms a principal article of internal commerce, and of export trade to the Chinese colonies, whither the native junks proceed almost entirely laden with sacrificial paper.
In lackered ware the Chinese do not equal the Japanese; though, until lately, they far exceeded the Europeans. They are enabled to excel in this art, in consequence of their natural advantages, possessing a varnish tree, which yields them a material better adapted for their purpose than any which can be manufactured by art.
In the working of metals, the Chinese are not unskilled, and produce implements for use suited to all the business of life.[1] Metallic mirrors have been made by them, for the use of the fair sex, by which means the ladies of China were enabled to survey their features and adjust their dress, before the invention of glass, or its introduction into that country. The Chinese still imagine that they possess, so exclusively, the material, and the art of working in iron and steel, that a standing order, in Canton, to this day, is, that the barbarians shall not export iron from the country.
From what has been before advanced, and much more which might be adduced, we are led to accord to the Chinese a certain rank among civilized nations. But let us now see how their civilization is likely to affect their evangelization. When missionaries proceed to a nation altogether barbarous, they have many difficulties to contend with. Their lives and property are, in the first instance, in great jeopardy. Instances have occurred of savage tribes falling upon the messengers of mercy; and, immediately on their arrival, proceeding to plunder, murder, and, even eat them. But this is not likely to occur among a people, in a great measure, civilized. Where order prevails—where law is respected—and where the forms of justice are observed, a person is not likely to be summarily deprived of life or liberty, without the assignment of a reason, or the shadow of a trial. Again, amongst uncivilized tribes, there are a great many difficulties in the way of communicating religious knowledge. The barbarian lias first to be taught to think, before he can ponder religious truth; but, civilized men are, perhaps, too subtle and metaphysical in their speculations, and we find more difficulty in restraining, than in exciting their imaginative faculties. In the savage state, the relations of life are scarcely recognized, friendly and family feelings are almost unknown, and subordination and fidelity are exceedingly rare. But in such a country as China, where marriage has been instituted for upwards of three thousand years, and filial respect cherished from the first settlement of their monarchy; where the reciprocal duties of sovereigns and subjects, friends and neighbours, have been known, and, in some measure, acted upon, for milleniums — a sort of foundation is laid for benevolent and moralizing exertions, — and affords manifest advantages to the propagator of Christianity. In going amongst such a people, he finds a set of commonly-acknowledged axioms, which, though in some instances, erroneous and overstrained, are yet of sufficient stability to serve him for a stepping stone, in order to pass on to greater and more important topics. It is possible, in such cases, by reasoning on principles which the heathen readily acknowledge, to convince them, by Divine assistance, of their deficiencies; and thus to point out the necessity of a mediator to those who have evidently offended against the dictates of natural religion. This is a vantage ground which civilized nations present, and of which the missionary ought gladly to avail himself.
- ↑ In the traditionary period, the Chinese relate, that the Yellow Emperor made twelve bells; afterwards, having discovered a copper mine, he cast three tripods, which have been much venerated by the Chinese, and, for ages, considered the regalia of the empire.