Travels in China Part 15

In a very ancient treatise on the military art, there is a detailed account of the manner how to annoy an enemy's camp, by springing a mine with gunpowder; but this treatise makes no mention of cannon.

Fire-works, made generally of gunpowder, filings of zinc, camphor, and other ingredients, are described in various old tracts. It is easily conceived, that the deflagration of nitre was likely to be first noticed in those countries where it is the spontaneous and abundant production of the earth, which is the case on the elevated desarts of Tartary and Thibet, and on the low and extensive plains of India and China. The gunpowder, however, made by the Chinese is extremely bad. They have no particular manufactory, but each individual makes his own. It is in fact one part of the soldier's employment to prepare his own gunpowder. The usual proportions, according to _Van-ta-gin's_ information are,

50 pounds of nitre, 25 ---- sulphur, 25 ---- charcoal.

They know not the art of granulating the paste, as in Europe, but use it in a coa.r.s.e powder, which sometimes cakes together into a solid ma.s.s; and from the impurity of the nitre, (no means appearing to be employed for extracting the common salt it usually contains) the least exposure to the air, by attracting the moisture, makes it unfit for service. This may be one reason for their objection to firelocks.

It has been remarked, that the three great discoveries of the magnetic needle, of gunpowder, and of printing, in Europe, followed close upon the return of the famous traveller Marco Polo. It was the boast indeed of _Caung-shee_ to the Jesuits, when they instructed him in some of the sciences of Europe, that the latter country was neither acquainted with the mariner's compa.s.s, nor with the art of printing, nor with gunpowder, till they had been in common use in China near two thousand years. As to gunpowder, it is pretty obvious, that our countryman Roger Bacon was well acquainted with the ingredients that enter into its composition. In more than one part of his works he observes, that with saltpetre and other articles may be made a fire that will inflame to a great distance; and in one place he states, that with sulphur, saltpetre, and something else, which he disguises under two or three barbarous words, a composition may be made, by which the effects of thunder and of lightning may be imitated. Bacon died in the year 1292, and Marco Polo returned to Europe in 1295; so that he could not possibly have received any hint to lead towards the discovery through the channel of the Venetian traveller[18].

[18] The invention, in Europe, is usually attributed to one Schwartz, a German Monk, about the year 1354, which, however, is very doubtful, as there is every reason to believe that cannon was made use of at the battle of Cressy, which happened in the year 1346. And Mariana, in his account of the siege of Algeziras by the Spaniards, in the year 1342, or 1343, as quoted by Bishop Watson, observes, "that the Moors very much annoyed the Christians with their iron shot;" and he further adds, that "this is the first mention made in history of the use of gunpowder and ball." It is therefore extremely probable, that the first introduction of gunpowder into Europe was by some Mahomedans from the eastward, and that Schwartz was not the inventor, although he might perhaps have been the first publisher of the discovery.

If the Chinese had, at any period of their history, been acquainted with the art of casting large cannon, and of making use of them in their wars, it is scarcely probable they would ever have lost it. Yet it is very certain the two Jesuits, Schaal and Verbiest, took great pains to instruct them in the method of casting cannon; in which, however, they have not made any progress or improvement. I observed, near one of the gates of Pekin, a few rude, ill-shapen, and disproportionate pieces, lying unmounted on the ground, and these, with some of the same kind on the frontiers of Canton, and a few pieces, apparently twelve pounders, at _Hang-tcheu-foo_, which had wooden pent-houses erected over each, were the only cannon that we noticed in the whole country. Whether the specimens, exhibited in the annexed plate, which were drawn by the late Captain Parish of the Royal Artillery, be originally of Chinese invention, or borrowed from some other nation, I cannot take upon me to decide; but such are the pieces which are sometimes found, scattered about the gates of some of their cities.

Mr. Bell, who visited China in the suite of the Russian Emba.s.sador, near a century ago, remarks, that "towards the western extremity of the Great Wall, he observed some hundreds of old cannon piled up in one of the towers, each composed of three or four pieces of hammered iron, joined and fastened together with hoops of the same metal." It is probable indeed that the Chinese, like the Hindoos, before the time of Schaal and Verbiest, made use of cannon of wrought iron, which were hooped together like those mentioned by Mr. Bell.

[Ill.u.s.trations: _Sketches of Chinese Artillery._

References.

_Fig. 1 Iron four Pounder about 8 feet long at Han cheu Fou 2. Iron four Pounder about 8 feet long at Chong san chien 3. A Field Piece about the Calibre and length of our Wall Piece but of much greater thickness of Metal 4. Half Pounder Field Piece 5. A Platform of Masonry with irregular Pieces about 2 pounders probably for throwing stones. They are thus placed in the open s.p.a.ces at the Gate Ways at =PEKIN= and Ton cheu 6. A Stand for Field Pieces at Cou pe keou_

_Fig. 1_

_Fig. 2_

_Fig. 3_

_Fig. 4_

_Fig. 5_

_Fig. 6_

_Published May 1^st. 1804 by Cadell & Davies Strand._

_Neele sculp. 352 Strand._]

In making their salutes, of which they are not sparing, they invariably employ three small petards, or pistol-barrels rather, which are stuck erect in the ground; and in firing these small pieces the soldiers are so afraid, that they are discharged by a train laid from one to the other. When Captain Parish caused a few rounds to be fired from two field-pieces, which were among the presents for the Emperor, in as quick succession as possible, the Chinese officers very coolly observed, that their own soldiers could do it just as well, and perhaps better. And when Lord Macartney asked the Ex-viceroy of Canton if he would wish to see his guard go through the different evolutions as practised in Europe, he replied with equal indifference, "That they could not possibly be new to him, who had been so much engaged in the wars on the frontiers of Tartary;" though the chances are, that he had never before seen a firelock: with such ridiculous affectation of superiority, and contempt for other nations, does the unconquerable pride of this people inspire them. It seems, indeed, to be laid down as a general principle, never to be caught in the admiration of any thing brought among them by foreigners. Whenever a man of rank came to look at the presents, if observed by any of us, he would carelessly glance his eye over them, and affect as much indifference as if he was in the daily habit of viewing things of the same kind.

A French physician, who travelled in China, says he never saw an alembic or distillatory apparatus in the whole country. The art of distillation, however, is very well known, and in common practice. Their _Sau-tchoo_, (literally burnt wine), is an ardent spirit distilled from various kinds of grain, but most commonly from rice, of a strong empyreumatic flavour, not unlike the spirit known in Scotland by the name of whiskey.

The rice is kept in hot water till the grains are swollen; it is then mixed up with water in which has been dissolved a preparation called _pe-ka_, consisting of rice-flour, liquorice-root, anniseed, and garlic; this not only hastens fermentation, but is supposed to give it a peculiar flavour. The mixture then undergoes distillation. The _Sau-tchoo_, thus prepared, may be considered as the basis of the best arrack, which in Java is exclusively the manufacture of Chinese, and is nothing more than a rectification of the above spirit, with the addition of mola.s.ses and juice of the cocoa-nut tree. Before distillation the liquor is simply called _tchoo_, or wine, and in this state is a very insipid and disagreeable beverage. The vine grows extremely well in all the provinces, even as far north as Pekin, but the culture of it seems to meet with little encouragement, and no wine is made from the juice of the grape, except by the missionaries near the capital.

The manufacture of earthen ware, as far as depends upon the preparation of the materials, they have carried to a pitch of perfection not hitherto equalled by any nation, except the j.a.panese, who are allowed to excel them, not only in this branch, but also in all articles of lacquered and varnished ware, which fetch exorbitant prices even in China. The beauty of their porcelain, in a great degree, depends upon the extreme labour and attention that is paid to the a.s.sortment, and the preparation of the different articles employed. These are in general a fine sort of clay called _Kao-lin_ which is a species of Soap-rock, and a granite called _Pe-tun-tse_, composed chiefly of quartz, the proportion of mica being very small. These materials are ground down and washed with the greatest care; and when the paste has been turned or moulded into forms, each piece is put into a box of clay before it goes into the oven; yet with every precaution, it frequently happens (so much is this art still a work of chance) that a whole oven runs together and becomes a ma.s.s of vitrified matter. Neither the Chinese nor the j.a.panese can boast of giving to the materials much elegance of form. With those inimitable models from the Greek and Roman vases, brought into modern use by the ingenious Mr. Wedgwood, they will not bear a comparison. And nothing can be more rude and ill-designed than the grotesque figures and other objects painted, or rather daubed, on their porcelain, which however are generally the work of the wives and children of the labouring poor. That they can do better we have evident proof; for if a pattern be sent out from England, the artists in Canton will execute it with scrupulous exactness; and their colours are inimitable.

The manufacture of gla.s.s was totally unknown among them until the last century when, at the recommendation of the Jesuits, a family was engaged to go from France to Pekin, for the purpose of introducing the art of gla.s.s-making into the country. The attempt failed of success, and the concern, at the death of the manager, was broken up. In Canton they melt old broken gla.s.s and mold it into new forms; and they have been taught to coat plates of gla.s.s with silver, which are partially used as looking-gla.s.ses; but their common mirrors are of polished metal, which is apparently a composition of copper and zinc.

The pride, or the policy, of the government affecting to despise any thing new or foreign, and the general want of encouragement to new inventions, however ingenious, have been greatly detrimental to the progress of the arts and manufactures. The people discover no want of genius to conceive, nor of dexterity to execute; and their imitative powers have always been acknowledged to be very great. Of the truth of this remark we had several instances at _Yuen-min-yuen_. The complicated gla.s.s l.u.s.tres, consisting of several hundred pieces, were taken down, piece by piece, in the course of half an hour, by two Chinese, who had never seen any thing of the kind before, and were put up again by them with equal facility; yet Mr. Parker thought it necessary for our mechanics to attend at his warehouse several times to see them taken down and again put together, in order to be able to manage the business on their arrival in China. A Chinese undertook to cut a slip of gla.s.s from a large curved piece, intended to cover the great dome of the planetarium, after our two artificers had broken three similar pieces in attempting to cut them with the help of the diamond. The man performed it in private, nor could he be prevailed on to say in what manner he accomplished it. Being a little jagged along the margin, I suspect it was not cut but fractured, perhaps by pa.s.sing a heated iron over a line drawn with water, or some other fluid. It is well known that a Chinese in Canton, on being shewn an European watch, undertook, and succeeded, to make one like it, though he had never seen any thing of the kind before, but it was necessary to furnish him with a main spring, which he could not make: and they now fabricate in Canton, as well as in London, and at one third of the expence, all those ingenious pieces of mechanism which at one time were sent to China in such vast quant.i.ties from the repositories of c.o.xe and Merlin. The mind of a Chinese is quick and apprehensive, and his small delicate hands are formed for the execution of neat work.

The manufacture of silks has been established in China at a period so remote, as not to be ascertained from history; but the time when the cotton plant was first brought from the northern parts of India into the southern provinces of China is known, and noticed in their annals. That species of the cotton plant, from which is produced the manufacture usually called nankin cotton, is said to loose its peculiar yellow tint in the course of two or three years when cultivated in the southern provinces, owing, in all probability, to the great heat of the weather and continued sunshine. I have raised this particular species at the Cape of Good Hope where, upon the same plant, as well as on others produced from its seed, the pods were as full and the tint of as deep a yellow in the third year as in the first. As is generally the case in most of their manufactures, those of silk and cotton do not appear to have lately undergone progressive improvement. The want of proper encouragement from the government, and the rigid adherence to ancient usage, have rendered indeed all their fabrics stationary.

Of all the mechanical arts that in which they seem to have attained the highest degree of perfection is the cutting of ivory. In this branch they stand unrivalled, even at Birmingham, that great nursery of the arts and manufactures where, I understand, it has been attempted by means of a machine to cut ivory fans and other articles, in imitation of those of the Chinese; but the experiment, although ingenious, has not hitherto succeeded to that degree, so as to produce articles fit to vie with those of the latter. Nothing can be more exquisitely beautiful than the fine open work displayed in a Chinese fan, the sticks of which would seem to be singly cut by the hand, for whatever pattern may be required, or a shield with coat of arms, or a cypher, the article will be finished according to the drawing at the shortest notice. The two outside sticks are full of bold sharp work, undercut in such a manner as could not be performed any other way than by the hand. Yet the most finished and beautiful of these fans may be purchased at Canton for five to ten Spanish dollars[19]. Out of a solid ball of ivory, with a hole in it not larger than half an inch in diameter, they will cut from nine to fifteen distinct hollow globes, one within another, all loose and capable of being turned round in every direction, and each of them carved full of the same kind of open work that appears on the fans. A very small sum of money is the price of one of these difficult trifles. Models of temples, paG.o.das, and other pieces of architecture, are beautifully worked in ivory; and from the shavings, interwoven with pieces of quills, they make neat baskets and hats, which are as light and pliant as those of straw. In short, all kinds of toys for children, and other trinkets and trifles, are executed in a neater manner and for less money in China, than in any other part of the world.

[19] I am aware that those laboured pieces, of Italian make, of ivory cut into landscapes, with houses, trees, and figures, sometimes so small as to be comprehended within the compa.s.s of a ring, may be quoted against me; but the work of a solitary and secluded monk to beguile the weary hours, is not to be brought in compet.i.tion with that of a common Chinese artist, by which he earns his livelihood.

The various uses, to which that elegant species of reed called the bamboo is applied, would require a volume to enumerate. Their chairs, their tables, their skreens, their bedsteads and bedding, and many other household moveables, are entirely constructed of this hollow reed, and some of them in a manner sufficiently ingenious and beautiful. It is used on board ships for poles, for sails, for cables, for rigging, and for caulking. In husbandry for carts, for wheelbarrows, for wheels to raise water, for fences, for sacking to hold grain, and a variety of other utensils. The young shoots furnish an article of food; and the wicks of their candles are made of its fibres. It serves to embellish the garden of the prince, and to cover the cottage of the peasant. It is the instrument, in the hand of power, that keeps the whole empire in awe. In short, there are few uses to which a Chinese cannot apply the bamboo, either entire or split into thin laths, or further divided into fibres to be twisted into cordage, or macerated into a pulp to be manufactured into paper.

That "there is nothing new under the sun," was the observation of a wise man in days of yore. Impressed with the same idea an ingenious and learned modern author[20] has written a book to prove, that all the late discoveries and inventions of Europe were known to the ancients. The discovery of making paper from straw, although new, perhaps, in Europe, is of very ancient date in China. The straw of rice and other grain, the bark of the mulberry-tree, the cotton shrub, hemp, nettles, and various other plants and materials, are employed in the paper manufactories of China, where sheets are prepared of such dimensions, that a single one may be had to cover the whole side of a moderate sized room. The finer sort of paper for writing upon has a surface as smooth as vellum, and is washed with a strong solution of alum to prevent the ink from sinking.

Many old persons and children earn a livelihood by washing the ink from written paper, which, being afterwards beaten and boiled to a paste, is re-manufactured into new sheets; and the ink is also separated from the water, and preserved for future life. To this article of their manufacture the arts in our own country owe so many advantages, that little requires to be said in its favour. The Chinese, however, acknowledge their obligations to the Coreans for the improvements in making ink, which, not many centuries ago, were received from them.

[20] Mr. Dutens.

As to the art of printing, there can be little doubt of its antiquity in China, yet they have never proceeded beyond a wooden block. The nature, indeed, of the character is such, that moveable types would scarcely be practicable. It is true, the component parts of the characters are sufficiently simple and few in number; but the difficulty of putting them together upon the frame, into the mult.i.tude of forms of which they are capable, is perhaps not to be surmounted.

Like the rest of their inventions the chain-pump which, in Europe, has been brought to such perfection as to const.i.tute an essential part of ships of war and other large vessels, continues among the Chinese nearly in its primitive state, the princ.i.p.al improvement since its first invention consisting in the subst.i.tution of boards or basket-work for wisps of straw. Its power with them has never been extended beyond that of raising a small stream of water up an inclined plane, from one reservoir to another, to serve the purposes of irrigation. They are of different sizes, some worked by oxen, some by treading in a wheel, and others by the hand.

The great advantages attainable from the use of mechanical powers are either not understood or, purposely, not employed. In a country of such vast population, machinery may perhaps be considered as detrimental especially as, at least, nine-tenths of the community must derive their subsistence from manual labour. It may be a question, not at all decided in their minds, whether the general advantages of facilitating labour, and gaining time by means of machinery, be sufficient to counterbalance the individual distress that would, for a time, be occasioned by the introduction of such machinery. Whatever the reason may be, no such means are to be met with in the country. Among the presents that were carried out for the Emperor were an apparatus for the air pump, various articles for conducting a set of experiments in electricity, and the models of a complete set of mechanical powers placed upon a bra.s.s pillar. The Emperor, happening to cast his eye upon them, enquired of the eunuch in waiting for what they were intended. This mutilated animal, although he had been daily studying the nature and use of the several presents, in order to be able to say something upon them when they should be exhibited to his master, could not succeed in making his Imperial Majesty comprehend the intention of the articles in question.

"I fancy," says the old monarch, "they are meant as playthings for some of my great grandchildren."

The power of the pulley is understood by them, and is applied on board all their large vessels, but always in a single state; at least, I never observed a block with more than one wheel in it. The principle of the lever should also seem to be well known, as all their valuable wares, even silver and gold, are weighed with the steelyard: and the tooth and pinion wheels are used in the construction of their self-moving toys, and in all their rice-mills that are put in motion by a water wheel. But none of the mechanical powers are applied on the great scale to facilitate and to expedite labour. Simplicity is the leading feature in all their contrivances that relate to the arts and manufactures. The tools of every artificer are of a construction the most simple that it should seem possible to make them, and yet each tool is so contrived as to answer several purposes. Thus, the bellows of the blacksmith, which is nothing more than a hollow cylinder of wood, with a valvular piston, beside blowing the fire, serves for his seat when set on end, and as a box to contain the rest of his tools. The barber's bamboo basket, that contains his apparatus, is also the seat for his customers. The joiner makes use of his rule as a walking stick, and the chest that holds his tools serves him as a bench to work on. The pedlar's box and a large umbrella are sufficient for him to exhibit all his wares, and to form his little shop.

Little can be said in favour of the state of the fine arts in this country. Of their poetry, modern and ancient, I have given a specimen; but I think it right once more to observe that, with regard to Asiatic compositions, Europeans cannot form a proper judgment, and more especially of those of the Chinese, which, to the mysterious and obscure expressions of metaphor, add the disadvantage of a language that speaks but little to the ear; a whole sentence, or a combination of ideas, being sometimes shut up in a short monosyllable, whose beauties are most studiously addressed to the sense of seeing alone.

Of the other two sister arts, painting and music, a more decided opinion may be pa.s.sed. Of the latter I have little to observe. It does not seem to be cultivated as a science: it is neither learned as an elegant accomplishment, nor practiced as an amus.e.m.e.nt of genteel life, except by those females who are educated for sale, or by such as hire themselves out for the entertainment of those who may be inclined to purchase their favours. And as the Chinese differ in their ideas from all other nations, these women play generally upon wind instruments, such as small pipes and flutes; whilst the favourite instrument of the men is the guittar or something not very unlike it, some of which have two strings, some four, and others seven. Eunuchs, and the lowest cla.s.s of persons, are hired to play; and the merit of a performance should seem to consist in the intenseness of the noise brought out of the different instruments. The gong or, as they call it, the _loo_ is admirably adapted for this purpose. This instrument is a sort of shallow kettle, or rather the lid of a kettle, which they strike with a wooden mallet covered with leather. The composition is said to be copper, tin, and bis.m.u.th. They have also a kind of clarinet, three or four different sorts of trumpets, and a stringed instrument not unlike a violoncello.

Their _sing_ is a combination of uneven reeds of bamboo, not unlike the pipe of Pan; the tones are far from being disagreeable, but its construction is so wild and irregular, that it does not appear to be reducible to any kind of scale. Their kettle drums are generally shaped like barrels; and these, as well as different-sized bells fixed in a frame, const.i.tute parts in their sacred music. They have also an instrument of music which consists of stones, cut into the shape of a carpenter's square, each stone suspended by the corner in a wooden frame. Those which I saw appeared to belong to that species of the silicious genus usually called Gneiss, a sort of slaty granite. In the Keswick museum are musical stones of the same kind, which were picked up in a rivulet at the foot of Skiddaw mountain; but these seem to contain small pieces of black shorl or tourmaline. It is indeed the boast of their historians, that the whole empire of nature has been laid under contribution in order to complete their system of music: that the skins of animals, the fibres of plants, metals, stones, and baked earths, have all been employed in the production of sounds. Their instruments, it is true, are sufficiently varied, both as to shape and materials, but I know of none that is even tolerable to an European ear.

An English gentleman in Canton took some pains to collect the various instruments of the country, of which the annexed plate is a representation, but his catalogue is not complete.

[Ill.u.s.trations:

_A sheet of bell Metal_

_A pot of bell Metal_

_The Great Bell of Canton 20 feet diameter 8-16 Inches thick._

_A Barrel drum sometimes of Wood & sometimes Metal._

_A Log of Wood shaped like a Skull and used in Temples._

_A Metal Bell._

_A Lyre of silken Strings._