The Progress of Ethnology Part 10

History of the Punjab, and of the rise, progress and present condition of the Sikhs, 2 vols. post, 8vo. London, 1846.

The history of the Sikhs, with a personal narrative of the war between the British and the Sikhs. By W.L. McGregor, 2 vols.

8vo. London, 1847.

The Sikhs and Affghans, immediately before and after the death of Runjeet Singh. By Shahamat Ali, post, 8vo. London, 1847.

The Hindoo Castes; or history, manners and customs of the 42 castes or sects of the Brahmins of British India, with highly colored plates: By E.A. Rodriguez, 24 numbers.

COCHIN-CHINA, CHINA, MANCHURIA, COREA, AND j.a.pAN.

COCHIN-CHINA. M. Hedde has published a few notices of a visit to Turon in Annam in 1844, on his pa.s.sage from Singapore to Macao.[102] He represents the country as altogether in a wretched, declining condition, misgoverned and beggared by despotic officers, presenting a painful contrast in its general prosperity with the Chinese empire. The present monarch is named Thieufri (or Yuen-fuh-siuen in Chinese) and succeeded his father Ming-ming or Minh-menh in 1841, but no improvement in the domestic or foreign administration of the government has taken place.

Several Cochin-Chinese youth have been educated at Singapore, and the king purchased two steamers several years ago from the Dutch, but the natives probably were too little acquainted with the machinery and motive power to make the least use of them, as nothing has since been heard of them. The country is highly favored by its natural advantages and navigable rivers for maintaining a large population, but oppression on the part of the rulers and ignorance among the people, vitiate the sources of national prosperity. The port of Turon alone, is open in Annam for foreign trade, but no American vessels have been there for a cargo since Lieut. White's unsuccessful voyage in the Franklin in 1804.

Capt. Percival of the U.S. ship Const.i.tution anch.o.r.ed there in May, 1845, but no official account of his visit has been published, which if the rumors of his firing upon the town are true, is not strange. The Peac.o.c.k and Enterprize also anch.o.r.ed there in 1836, but Mr. Roberts, the American diplomatic agent, was too ill to have any communications with the authorities.

CHINA. The late war between England and China has directed the attention of other nations towards that empire in an unusual degree. Except the immediate details of the contest and the personal incidents connected with it, however, the works of those officers who have written upon that war, have not contained so much information as was expected by some, but quite as much as could be collected under the circ.u.mstances. The war was almost wholly a maritime one, confined to attacks upon cities and forts upon the coast and rivers, by both the army and navy, and few or none of the officers were acquainted with the language of the people, so that little information could be obtained from those natives whom suspicion or terror did not drive away. The region around Ningpo, Chusan and the mouth of the Yangtsz kiang, has been described with more minuteness than any other part of the maritime provinces; and the careful survey of the coast from Amoy to Shanghai, with the Chusan and Pescadore archipelagoes by Captains Collinson, and Kellet and others, has left little to be done for the navigator's benefit, in making known the hydrography of this part of China. The general topography of China is, however, but little better known now than it was at the close of the general survey of the Jesuits in 1714, and their maps form the basis of the best extant.

The emba.s.sy sent by the French government in 1844, under M. Th. de Lagrene, to form a commercial treaty with China, was furnished on a most liberal scale with everything necessary to make the greatest improvement of the opportunities offered to examine into the mechanical arts and productions of the land. Four gentlemen were attached to the amba.s.sador's suite, to make inquiries into the various agricultural and mechanical arts of the Chinese, one of whom, M. Isidore Hedde, was especially designated to investigate everything relating to the growth and preparation of silk. In pursuance of this object, he visited the city of Tuchan fu, which lies a few miles northwest of Shanghai, and is the capital of the province of Kiangsu. This place is probably the second or third city in the empire, Canton or Hangchau fu being the only ones which can compete with it for wealth and beautiful manufactures. It lies in a highly cultivated region, and is connected with Peking and other large places, through the Grand ca.n.a.l and the Yangtsz kiang. M.

Hedde went in a Chinese dress, and succeeded in visiting the princ.i.p.al buildings in the city, such as the provincial mint, the hall of examination, an establishment for the education of unhappy females destined for sale for the amus.e.m.e.nt of the opulent, and some manufactories. The suburbs of Suchau, as is the case with most Chinese cities, exceed that part within the walls, and here he found most of the craftsmen in iron, ivory, gold, silver, wood, bone, horn, gla.s.s, earth, paper, cotton and silk. His errand being chiefly to examine the silken fabrics, he noticed whatever was peculiar in spinning, dyeing and weaving, in the shops he entered. The Chinese have no such immense establishments as are found in this country, where large buildings accommodate an immense quant.i.ty of machinery and numerous workmen, but all their products are made by manual labor in small establishments. M.

Hedde was struck with the immense population of the city and its environs, including a floating suburb of great extent, the whole comprising a population of not far from two millions. The Chinese census gives an average of over nine hundred souls to a square mile in the province of Kiangsu, and every opportunity which has been offered for examining it, has added new evidence to the truth of this statement, though closer investigation and further travel is necessary before we can give implicit reliance to the a.s.sertions made on this subject.

Two English missionaries have lately gone long journeys into the interior, but as Protestants have no coadjutors among the people away from the ports, who would be willing to receive and conceal them; and as their system of operations aims rather to impart a true knowledge of Christianity than to make many converts to a form of worship, these excursions have not been frequently made. One of the two here referred to, was across the country from Ningpo to Canton, by the same route Lord Macartney came, and the other was up the Yangtsz kiang. Two American missionaries visited the large city of Changchau fu near Amoy in 1844, where they were received with civility though not with kindness.

Mr. Robert Fortune, sent out to China by the Horticultural Society, has lately returned to England, with new plants of great beauty, and a large collection of botanical and ornithological specimens, among which are doubtless many not heretofore described. Mr. Fortune visited all the ports, and made excursions in their neighborhoods, and his reception among the people was generally kind. The people in the cities of Ningpo and Shanghai, and their vicinities, compare favorably for their kindness and general courtesy, with the coa.r.s.e mannered natives of Canton.

The opening of this great empire to the commercial enterprise of western nations, has given rise to antic.i.p.ations of an extensive trade, and the importation of cotton and woolen fabrics during the last few years has been increasing; and if it was not for the abominable traffic in opium, which is both impoverishing and destroying the Chinese, there would be every reason for believing the commerce with China would soon be one of the largest branches of trade. The princ.i.p.al articles in which it is most likely to increase are tea and silk, but there is a great a.s.sortment of other productions, which can be taken in exchange for the cloths, metals and wares of the west. Mr. Montgomery Martin for a short time colonial treasurer of Hongkong, has collected all the statistics bearing on this subject in his work, which will aid in forming an opinion on this point. Commercially, politically and religiously, the Chinese empire now presents a most interesting spectacle, and the experiment of regenerating it and introducing it into the family of nations, without completely disorganizing its present form of government and society, will constantly go on and attract still more and more the notice of Christendom. The probabilities at present are in favor of a successful issue, but it is impossible to contemplate the desolating effects of the use of opium, brought to the people in such quant.i.ties, without great apprehension as to the result. The lava like progress of the power of Great Britain in Asia, has just commenced on the borders of China, and when the country is drained of specie in payment for this drug, there is reason to fear that the native government will be unable to carry on its operations and maintain its authority.

COREA. Since the extermination of the Catholic priests from Corea in 1839, the most rigid measures have been adopted to exclude all foreigners; in fact, the determination on the part of the government of Corea to prevent all intercourse between its people and those of other countries seems to have been adopted from its neighbor of j.a.pan. These measures are even extended to the Chinese, against whom a strong natural antipathy exists, growing out of the persecutions formerly inflicted on the Coreans by them. Accurate descriptions of Europeans are kept at the various posts on the frontier, and from their well known characteristics they are easily distinguished. The Coreans themselves on leaving their country for China for purposes of trade, receive a pa.s.sport, which on returning must be given back or they are not permitted to enter. Many Christians still remain in Corea, and though they are subject to persecution, the minds of the people are well disposed towards the Christian religion. The literary cla.s.s hold it in the highest estimation, and seem only to be waiting for the moment when they will be free to declare in its favor.[103]

Farther accounts from this country have lately appeared in the Annals of the Propaganda Society,[104] in a letter from Keemay Kim a native of Corea, and a Christian, who had just completed his studies at Macao in China. He was sent on a mission to the Christians in Corea, but owing to the vigilance observed on the frontiers of that country, was unable to enter it. Determined to persevere in the attempt, he posted on to Hoong-tchoong, a small frontier town near the mouth of a river which separates Corea from Manchuria, where he waited until the period arrived when the great fair was to take place at Kee-eu-Wen, the nearest town in Corea, four leagues distant. "They supply the Coreans with dogs, cats, pipes, leather, stag's horns, copper, horses, mules and a.s.ses; and receive in exchange, baskets, kitchen utensils, rice, corn, swine, paper, mats, oxen, furs and small horses." A few officers are permitted to trade every year, but they are closely guarded. All others who pa.s.s the frontier are made slaves or ma.s.sacred at once. Our traveller here met a few Corean Christians in the immense crowd which had come to traffic, and whom he recognised by a badge previously agreed upon; but so great was the confusion and hurry on the occasion, added to the fear of being recognized, that the interview does not seem to have been productive of good, or increased our information of the people or country. Since the great persecution a few years since, the church had been at rest; and though a few converts had been made, the faithful had retired to the southern provinces for better security. They still entertained the idea of introducing a European missionary through the north, though with the knowledge that if discovered by the authorities, instant death would follow. Such is the zeal and perseverance with which these men pursue their philanthropic and Christian labors.

The fair to which allusion has been made, is thus described by our Corean. The traders cannot begin their operations until a signal is given, by hoisting a flag and beating the gong, "when the immense and densely packed crowd rush to the market place; Coreans, Chinese, and Manchus, are all mingled together. Each speaks in his own tongue, and so great is the uproar produced by this ma.s.s of people, that the echoes of the neighboring mountains repeat their discordant shouts."

"Four or five hours is the whole time allowed for buying and selling; consequently, the tumult which takes place, the quarrels which arise, the blows which are exchanged, and the plundering which goes on, give the place more the look of a city taken by storm and given up to pillage, than that of a fair." At evening, when the signal is given, the strangers are driven out by the soldiers with the points of their lances.

MANCHURIA. The vast regions of Manchuria, lying north of Corea to the Hing-an or Yablonoi mountains, and east of the Sialkoi to the ocean, are inhabited by various tribes speaking different dialects and subsisting princ.i.p.ally by hunting and fishing. The Manchus are now the dominant race, but some of the tribes near the sea and in Taraka island, bear no tributary relations to them, if indeed they are much acquainted. Since the conquest of China, the Manchus have gone on steadily improving this part of their possessions by stationing agricultural troops at the princ.i.p.al ports of observation, and collecting the hunters around these points as much as possible. Criminals are also constantly banished there, who carry with them their arts, and by their industry both maintain themselves and set an example to the nomads. The southern part called Shingking, has become well cultivated in many parts, and considerable trade is carried on at Kinchau with other parts of China.

Manchuria produces pulse, maize, (Indian corn), millet, barley and buckwheat; pulse, drugs and cattle, form the leading articles of trade.

The climate of this country is so inhospitable, as to prove a serious obstacle in the way of its settlement and cultivation.

The Manchus have no national literature; all the books written in their language are translations of Chinese works, made under the superintendence of the Academies at Moukden and Peking. Their written characters are derived from the Mongols, but have undergone many changes. The emperors have taken great pains to elevate their countrymen by providing them with the best books in Chinese literature, and compelling them to go through the same examinations before they can attain any office; but the numerical superiority of the Chinese and their active habits, give them so much the advantage, that except in their own country, the Manchus find it difficult to preserve their native tongue to the second generation.

MONGOLIA. The last volume of the Annals of the Propaganda Society contains an interesting narrative of a journey into Mongolia, by the Rev. Mr. Huc.[105] This vast country, covering a million of square miles, consists of barren deserts and boundless steppes. In the limits allotted each corps, there is seldom more than one town, where the chief resides. The people live in tents, without any permanent residence. They move from place to place, with the changes of the seasons, or when their immense herds of oxen, camels and horses have exhausted the gra.s.s around their encampment. To-day presents an animated scene of hundreds of tents, filled with an active population; the children playing as happy and contented as though surrounded with every luxury a civilized life affords; the women cooking their food and drawing water from a well just dug; and the men, mounted on horseback, are galloping over the plain, keeping their countless herds from straying away. To-morrow, this picturesque and animated scene will be changed to a dreary and forbidding desert. Men, flocks, and tents have vanished, and nought remains to mark the visit of this wandering race, but the curling smoke of their unquenched fires, or the birds of prey hovering over the carcase of some dying camel, or feeding on the remains of their late repast. The Mongols are irreclaimable nomads, though some tribes of them, as the Tsakhars, Ortous, and Solous, cultivate the soil. The four khanates of the Kalkas are called Outer Mongolia, and comprise within their borders, several well built towns, though none of any size, compared with the cities in China. Few Chinese have settled among the Mongols, except near the Great Wall, nor will they allow them to do so, as there is a deep antipathy between the two races. The Mongols of the present day have probably made no advances in civilization over their ancestors in the days of Genghis and Kublai.

The approaches of the British power up the valley of the Sutlej, into the regions lying along the base of the western Himalayas, are such that they will ere long come in contact with Tibet through Ladak, and with Yarkand through Badakshan. But there is probably more geographical than ethnological information to be gained by traversing these elevated regions, where stupendous mountains and arid deserts offer nothing to tempt man from the fertile plains of India and China. Two Romish missionaries have lately arrived in Canton from H'la.s.sa in Tibet, by the overland route through Patang in Sz'chuen to the capital of Kw.a.n.gsi, and thence to Canton. This route has never been described by any traveller.

LEWCHEW ISLANDS. This group of islands, including the Madjico sima, lying between it and Formosa, form a dependency of the princ.i.p.ality of Satzuma, in the southwest of j.a.pan, though the rulers are allowed a limited intercourse with China through Fuhchau fu. During the late war between England and China, the transport Indian Oak was lost on Lewchew,[106] August 14, 1840, and the crew were treated with great kindness, and provided with a vessel, in which they returned to Chusan.

Every effort was made by the authorities to prevent the officers and men from examining the island, but their kindness to the unfortunate people thus cast on their sh.o.r.es, made such an impression, that a mission to the islanders was determined upon in London, by some naval gentlemen connected with the expedition, and a society formed. The Rev. B.J.

Bettelheim was appointed to the post, and had reached Canton in March, 1846. He afterwards proceeded on his voyage, and his journal received at Hongkong, from Napa, contains a few details of interest, but shows plainly that the authorities are decided in refusing to allow foreigners to settle in their territories.

An attempt has been made by the Romish missionaries to establish a mission in this group.[107] The Rev. W. Forcade and an a.s.sociate were left on Lewchew in May, 1844, and after a residence of fifteen months were able to transmit some notices of their treatment to the directors, through Sir Edward Belcher, R.N. who stopped at Napa in August, 1845.

On their arrival, M. Forcade and his companion were conducted to their dwelling, where they were surrounded by a numerous guard under the control of officers, and attended by domestics, as they were told, "to charm their leisure moments." Their table was bountifully supplied, and everything they could ask to make them comfortable was granted them, except their liberty. Whenever they went abroad, they were accompanied by a guard, but allowed to hold no intercourse with the natives; they had not been able to proceed beyond twelve miles into the interior, but as far as they had opportunities of conversing with the natives, found them simple and courteous in their manners, and disposed to talk when not under surveillance. It is probable, however, that under such restraint as these gentlemen were placed, it is not likely that they had attained to such fluency in the language as to be able to hold very ready communication with natives met in this hasty manner. The intentions of the government were plain, however, not to allow them to disseminate their doctrines, (if it had learned their real object), nor, by intercourse with the people, become acquainted with their character, or the state of the country. No a.s.sistance was granted them in learning the language, and they were forbidden to adopt the native costume.

Notwithstanding this opposition, they had been able to acquire a partial knowledge of the language, and to compile a vocabulary of six thousand words. Permission to preach the Christian religion was not granted them, lest, as the authorities said, the Chinese, to whom they are tributary, would break off all intercourse; but the real reason was doubtless their fear of the j.a.panese. Yet these obstacles did not dishearten them, and they seem determined to persevere in their attempts, though it is not unlikely that when Mr. Bettelheim arrives, the authorities will take measures for deporting them all.

The Lewchewans are intimately connected with the j.a.panese. The language is the same, with unimportant dialectical variations, and Chinese letters and literature are in like manner cultivated by both. In personal appearance, however, the two people are very unlike. The Lewchewans are not on an average over five feet four inches high, slightly built, and approach the Malayan cast of features more than the Chinese. They are darker than the Chinese, and their mild traits of character, unwarlike habits, and general personal appearance, suggests the idea that they are akin to the aborigines of Formosa and Luconia by descent, while their proximity and subjugation to their powerful neighbors on the north and west, have taught them a higher civilization, and introduced arts and sciences unknown to their early conquerors. When Lewchew was subjugated by the j.a.panese, it was agreed that emba.s.sies with tribute might be sent to Peking, and according to the Chinese account, they come to that court twice in three years.[108] The secretary or deputy emba.s.sador in 1841, was drowned in his pa.s.sage from Peking to Fuhchau. This emba.s.sy is a source of considerable profit to the Lewchewans, for their junks, which are built on the Chinese model, have free entrance to Fuhchau, and all the goods they import and export, are pa.s.sed without duty. The travelling expenses of the emba.s.sy to and from the capital are also defrayed, and permission is given them to study Chinese when in the country. This intercourse is therefore both honorable and profitable to the Lewchewans, but the Chinese are not allowed to trade there, and the only act of sovereignty the emperor exercises, according to M. Forcade, is to send a delegate to sanction the accession of a new inc.u.mbent of the throne--whom, however, it would be ridiculous for him to refuse. He adds, "In conversation, if one is a stranger, the Lewchewans will be continually dwelling on China, they will boast about it, they will relate its history, they will describe its provinces and its cities; but j.a.pan is never mentioned! Such are the words, but the facts are quite another thing."

The real character of the connection between Lewchew and j.a.pan is not well ascertained. No j.a.panese officers are seen on landing, and the officers appointed to attend the people of the Indian Oak, exhibited the greatest alarm when a few were seen at a distance, while the party were taking a walk. The trade between the two countries is confined to the ports of Napa and Kagosima, between which the vessels of both nations pa.s.s; the junks from other parts of j.a.pan are not permitted to resort to Napa, but it is not probable that the prince of Satzuma has the right of appointing the residents, or whatever authorities are sent thither.

M. Forcade says there were from ten to fifteen j.a.panese vessels in the port, but when the American ship Morrison was there, in 1837, there were only five. Lackered-ware, gra.s.s cloth, sugar, and earthen-ware, are exported to Kagosima, and a great a.s.sortment of metallic articles, cloths, provisions, and stationery taken in exchange. The country in the vicinity of Napa, and towards Shudi, the capital, is highly cultivated, and the people appear to be as well clothed, and possess as many of the comforts and elegancies of life as their neighbors. They still retain enough of their own customs, however, to distinguish them from the j.a.panese, even if their physical appearance did not point them out as distinct. M. Forcade says that there is reason for supposing Christianity to have been implanted in Lewchew at the same time it was introduced into j.a.pan, but Lewchew at that time seems to have been much less dependant upon j.a.pan than subsequently; and it is not probable that much was done to proselyte its inhabitants. He mentions that a cross is cut on the end of the rampart where foreigners land, who are thus obliged to trample on this symbol; but no other visitors mention any such sculpture or custom. The landing place at Napa is a long stone jetty, stretching across the beach, which at low tide, prevents boats approaching the sh.o.r.e.

j.a.pAN.

This country has recently attracted increased attention on the part of commercial nations, and several foreign ships have lately appeared on the coasts, whose reception has only shown the vigilance of the authorities in taking every precaution neither to offend nor receive their unwelcome visitors. The Dutch and Chinese are still the only nations allowed to trade with the j.a.panese, and the news brought by the latter people of the troubles they have lately gone through with their foreign customers, has probably only more strongly convinced the siogoun and his ministers of the propriety of their seclusive policy. Nor is there much reason to doubt that the Chinese and j.a.panese have avoided the fate of the natives of Luconia, Java, and India, by shutting out foreigners from free access and intercourse with their people, and owing to their seclusion, have remained independent to this day. The works of Siebold upon the natural history and political condition of the country and its inhabitants, are now slowly publishing in Paris, but with such luxury of execution as to place them beyond the reach of most persons who might be desirous to examine them. The visits of two American ships to the bay of Yedo, has directed the public eye again to the empire. The first was that of the whaler Manhattan, Captain Cooper, who was led to think of going into the port by having taken eleven shipwrecked men off a small island near the Bonin islands, in April, 1845, lying southeast of Nippon. As he was going north, he fell in with a water-logged junk from Nambu, laden with rice and fish, from which he received eleven more, and soon after made the eastern coast in the princ.i.p.ality of Simosa. Here he landed two men, and proceeding towards Cape King, landed two more, who made their way to Yedo. Owing to north winds, he was blown off the coast twice, and when he approached the estuary leading to the capital, he was taken in tow and carried up to the anchorage.

Interpreters came off to the vessel, who could speak English sufficiently well to carry on an imperfect communication, who informed Captain Cooper that his wants would be supplied, but none of his company allowed to land. A triple cordon of boats was placed around the ship, consisting of upwards of a thousand small boats, displaying numerous flags, and containing as many armed men as if the country was in danger of attack. The ship was visited by crowds of natives of all ranks, who behaved with great decorum while gratifying their curiosity, but no trade was allowed. Many officers of high rank came on board and examined the ship, and took an inventory of every article belonging to the rescued seamen, before they were allowed to land. The ship was gratuitously supplied with provisions and a few spars, to the value of about $500, but the captain was again and again enjoined not to return there on any account. When he inquired what he should do if he again came across the siogoun's subjects in like distress, and exposed to a cruel death, he was told, "leave them to their fate, or take them where the Dutch can get them." The men rescued from starvation and death, were, however, deeply sensible of the kindness which had been shown them. After a stay of eight or ten days, Captain Cooper was towed out of the port, and down the bay to the coast, and the last injunction was only a repet.i.tion of the first order, not to come again. This reception, though it presents no encouragement to hope for a relaxation of the policy, deemed by the siogoun at once his safety and his profit, is less likely to call for summary chastis.e.m.e.nt than the rude repulse the American ship Morrison received in 1837, when she entered the bay of Yedo on the same errand, and was driven away by cannon b.a.l.l.s and armed gunboats.

Captain Cooper represents the country in this portion of it as clothed with verdure, and under a high state of cultivation. The proximity of the mountains in Idzu, produces constant showers, which covers the highest peaks with forests and shrubbery. Terrace cultivation is extensively practiced, and constant labor is demanded to supply subsistence to the dense population, who still at times suffer severely for want of food. The capital could not well be seen from the ship, and its enceinte was so filled with trees, that its dimensions could not accurately be defined. No towers or paG.o.das were seen elevating themselves above the dull monotony of the buildings. The harbor was covered with vessels, at anchor and moving about; some of them unwieldy, open-stern junks, designed for the coast trade, others light skiffs and boats, used for communicating with vessels in the harbor and the sh.o.r.e.

The greatest part of the coasting trade centres at Yedo, owing to the large amount of taxes paid the siogoun in kind, and the supplies the princes receive from their possessions while they reside in the capital, both of which causes operate to develope the maritime skill of the people, and increase the amount of tonnage. The shortsighted policy which confines the energies and capital of a seagoing people like the j.a.panese, within their own sh.o.r.es is, however, less a matter of wonder than the despotic power which could compel them to stay at home two centuries ago, at a time when their merchants and agents were found from Acapulco to Bangkok.

The j.a.panese empire presents the greatest feudal government now existing, and on that account is peculiarly interesting to the student of political science. In some respects, the people are superior to the Chinese, but are inferior in the elements of national wealth and progress. They belong to the Mongolian race, but are darker than the Chinese, and not as tall, though superior in stature to the Lewchewans.

They approximate to the Kamtschatdales in their square build, short necks, large heads, and short lower limbs. They are of a light olive complexion, but seldom exhibit a florid, ruddy countenance.

Among the articles obtained from the junk by Captain Cooper, was a map of j.a.pan, including part of Yesso. It is four feet square, drawn on the proportion of less than one degree to two inches, and contains the names of all the places there is room for. It is cut on wood, and painted to show the outlines of the chief princ.i.p.alities; the relative importance of the places is shown by writing their names in different shaped cartouches, but from the s.p.a.ce occupied by the Chinese characters, there is probably not one-tenth of all the towns inserted. The distances between the princ.i.p.al points along the coast are stated, and on some of the leading thoroughfares inland. The map is evidently the original of Krusenstern's "Carte de Nippon," published by the Russian Board of Longitude, and is drawn up from trigonometrical surveys. The degrees of lat.i.tude bear the same numbers as upon European maps; the meridians are reckoned from Yedo. The existence of such maps among the people indicates that a good knowledge of their own country is far more extensively diffused than among the Chinese, whose common maps are a standing reproach to them, while they have others so much more accurate.

The coast from Cape King northward to Simosa, for the s.p.a.ce of two degrees, was found by captain Cooper to be better delineated upon this map than upon his own charts. These seas present a fine field for hydrographic surveys, and it would greatly advance the security of navigation on the eastern sh.o.r.es of Asia, and redound to the honor of our own land, if the American government would despatch two small vessels to survey the seas and sh.o.r.es between Luconia and Kamtschatka.

The visit of Commodore Biddle to the bay of Yedo, has added nothing to our knowledge of its sh.o.r.es. His polite dismissal, and the refusal of the government to entertain any commercial relations with the Americans, only add force to the injunction to captain Cooper the year before, not to return, and shows more strongly that while the j.a.panese rulers are determined to maintain their secluded policy, they wish to give no cause for retaliatory measures on the part of their unwelcome visitors, and mean to keep themselves as well informed as they can upon foreign politics. The subject of foreign intercourse between the two great nations of Eastern Asia and Europeans since it commenced three centuries since, is an instructive one; and the general impression left upon the mind of the candid reader, is that foreign nations have themselves chiefly to thank for their present seclusion from those sh.o.r.es, and the restrictions in their commerce. Rear-Admiral Cecille has also paid a visit to some part of j.a.pan, quite recently, but met with no success in his endeavors to enter into negotiation.

The great object in view in making these attempts to improve the intercourse with j.a.pan, is to find new markets for western manufactures.

It is quite doubtful, however, whether the j.a.panese have many articles suitable for foreign markets. Their lackered-ware is exceedingly beautiful, but it would not be so prized when it became more common.

Copper and tea would form the basis of exports, and perhaps some silk fabrics, but China furnishes now all that is wanted of them both, and can do so to any extent. Until a taste for such foreign manufactures, as woolens, cutlery, gla.s.s-ware, calicoes, &c., is created among them, and they are willing to adapt their own products to the tastes of their customers, it does not seem likely that a trade at all proportioned to the estimated population and riches of the country, would soon be established. The j.a.panese are afraid of the probable results of a more extended intercourse, and deem it to be the safest course to run no risks; and if they read the pages of their early intercourse with the Portuguese, Spanish and Dutch, they must feel they would run many serious risks by granting a trade. If the siogoun and his advisers could be rightly informed, however, there are grounds for believing the present policy would be considerably relaxed.

Learning is highly honored in j.a.pan, and books are as cheap and common as in China. The written language is a singular and most difficult mixture of Chinese characters, with the syllabic symbols adopted by the j.a.panese, rendering its perusal a great labor, more so than that of Chinese, because Chinese must first be mastered. The spoken language is polysyllabic and harmonious, and possesses conjugations, tenses, cases, &c., to facilitate its perspicuity, and increase its variety of expressions. The arts in which they chiefly excel are in the manufacture of silken and linen goods, copper-ware, lackered-ware, porcelain and basket work. Their cutlery is despicable, and the specimens of their carving, which are seen abroad, do not equal those produced by the Chinese. Agriculture is pursued on much the same system as in China--minute subdivision of the soil and constant manuring, together with frequent watering. Rice and fish are the staples of food; vegetables are used in great abundance, but meats only sparingly. The habits and sports of the people are influenced so much by the peculiar notions attending a feudal society, such as adherence to the local prince, and maintenance of his honor, wearing coats of arms, privileged orders, and hereditary t.i.tles, that there is little similarity in the state of society in j.a.pan and China, notwithstanding a similar religion and literature. The j.a.panese were called the Spaniards of the East by Xavier, and the comparison is good at this day. They have, perhaps, more genius and imagination than the Chinese, but are not as peaceable or industrious.

GENERAL VIEW OF THE LANGUAGES OF THE j.a.pANESE, COREANS, CHINESE AND COCHINCHINESE. The four nations here briefly noticed; viz., the j.a.panese, Coreans, Chinese and Cochinchinese, have been collectively called the _Chinese language nations_, from the peculiar relations and connections they have had through the medium of that language. The relation has throughout been one of a literary character, fostered to some extent by religious prejudices, but depending chiefly for its permanence and extension upon the superiority of the writings of the Chinese. It is, in some respects, without a parallel in the history of man. While European languages have all been indebted for many of their words to the two leading ancient tongues of that continent, their bases have been diverse, and the words they have imported from Greek and Latin have undergone various changes, so much so as sometimes hardly to be recognized. This is not the case with these four nations of eastern Asia. They have all adopted the characters used by the leading nation without alteration, and with them, of course, have to a very great degree, taken her authors, her books, her knowledge and her opinions, as their own.

One of the most observable features of the national character of the Chinese, is its conservative inclinations. Not only is it seen in the actions of government and in the writings of scholars, but still more in the habits of the people and their modes of thinking. It has been cherished by that government, as it is by all governments, as a sure and safe principle of preservation, but it is also advocated by the people.

The geographical position of China has isolated it from all western nations, while the political, literary and social superiority of its people over the contiguous nations, has combined to foster their conceit and affectation of supremacy, and make them disinclined to have any intimate or equal relations with others. But one of the strongest and most comprehensive of these conservative influences has arisen from the nature of the language, strengthened by the extent to which education has been diffused among the people. The language is of such a character, combining mystery and difficulty with elegance and ingenuity, as greatly to captivate a people who have time and inclination to trace out the marks and veins on the pavement in the temple of science, but not the invention or investigation to seek out and explore its hidden chambers.

The character of this language and the nature of the connection between the nations who use it, may here be briefly exhibited.

The Chinese ascribe the invention of their characters to Tsang Kieh, one of the princ.i.p.al ministers or scholars in the reign of Hw.a.n.gti, about 2650 years before Christ; and although there is no very certain information recorded respecting their origin, there is nothing which seems to be fabulous or supernatural. The characters first depicted were the common objects in nature and art, as the sun, rain, man, parts of the body, animals, a house, &c., and were probably drawn sufficiently accurate to be detected without much if any explanation. They were all described in outline, and generally with far less completeness than the Egyptian symbols. It is not known how many of the primitive characters were made, but one feature attached to them all,--none of them contained any clue to the sound. The inventors must necessarily, one would suppose, have soon perceived this radical defect in their symbols, but they either saw the incompatibility of uniting the phonetic and pictorial modes, or else were so pleased with their varied pictures and symbols, that they cared very little how the reader acquired the sounds.

At first, too perhaps, the number of persons who spoke this language was so small, that there was little difficulty in making them all acquainted with the meaning of the symbols, and when once their meaning was learned, they were of course called by the name of the thing represented, which everybody knew. The necessity of incorporating some clue to the sound of the thing, or idea denoted, became more and more evident, however, as the variety of the symbols multiplied, and the number of people increased. One of the strongest evidences, that the designing of these symbols was contemporary with the earliest days of the Chinese as a people, is deduced from the fact that they are all monosyllabic; the radical words in all languages are mostly of this character, but in nearly all others, the single sounds soon coalesce and combine, while in Chinese this has been prevented by the nature of the written language. There is not, so far as the nature of the case goes, any reason why the sounds of Chinese characters should all be monosyllabic, any more than the Arabic numerals. But not only was the increase of inhabitants, as we suppose, a reason for making the symbols phonetic, the need of reducing the labor of learning the ever growing list, and the difficulty of distinguishing between species of the same genus and things of the same sort, was a still stronger motive. This was done by the combination of a leading type with some other well understood character, chosen quite arbitrarily, but possessing the _same sound_ as the new object to be represented. Thus, supposing a new fish called _pih_ was to be represented by a character; by taking the symbol for _fish_ and joining it to any well known character p.r.o.nounced _pih_, no matter what was its meaning, the compound symbol clearly expressed, to those who understood its elementary parts, the _fish pih_. But neither does this compound contain any more clue to its sound to those unacquainted with the component elements, than its marks and hooks do of its meaning to those who have never learned them. When once the form and meaning of the primitive symbols have been learned, however, the meaning and sounds of the compound ones can, in many cases, be inferred to a greater or less degree; but so varied has been the principle of combination, that no dependence can be placed upon such etymologies for the meaning. In the various mutations the written language has undergone, the sound is not now so certain as it was probably at first; but in the majority of characters, it can be inferred with a considerable degree of certainty, though the idea is exhibited so indefinitely as to afford almost no a.s.sistance in guessing at it. A dictionary is indispensable in ascertaining the meaning, and almost as necessary to learn the sound of all Chinese characters. The meaning can be explained without any greater trouble than in other languages, but the sounds of characters can only be given by quoting other characters of the same sound, which the scholar is supposed to know, if he knows enough to use the dictionary.

These remarks will, perhaps, explain the general composition of Chinese characters. By far the greater part of them are now formed, either of the original pictorial symbols, greatly modified, indeed, and changed from their likeness to the things they stand for, or of those joined to each other in a compound character, partly symbolical and partly phonetic. The former part is called the _radical_, the latter the _primitive_. The Chinese divide the characters into six cla.s.ses, viz., imitative symbols, or those original figures which bore a resemblance to the forms of material objects; indicative symbols, where the position of the two parts point out the idea; symbols combining ideas, a cla.s.s not very unlike the preceding, but more complex; inverted symbols; metaphoric symbols, as that of the natural heart, denoting the affections; and lastly, phonetic symbols. Out of twenty-four thousand two hundred and thirty-five characters, (nearly all the different ones there are in the language), twenty-one thousand eight hundred and ten of them are phonetic, or as much so as the nature of their composition would allow, though there is no other clue to the sound than to learn the sound of the parts or of the whole, either from the people themselves or from a dictionary. The Chinese tyro learns the sounds of most of the characters, as boys do the names of minerals, by tradition.

As he stands before his master, he and the whole cla.s.s hear from his mouth their names, and repeat them until they are remembered.