Travels in China Part 3

17, and 18. Characters of obscure mythology.

19. Names of 28 constellations and their places in the heavens.

20. Relates to the sixth and fifteenth circles.

21. The world divided according to the sidereal influences.

22. Corresponds with the eighth and fifteenth circles.

23. Contains the same as the above with the addition of the fourteenth circle.

24, and 35. Are inexplicable even by the Chinese.

26. An arrangement of certain characters and marks for calculating lucky, unlucky, and neutral days.

27, is the same as the nineteenth, and surrounds the whole[5].

[5] If any argument were wanting to prove the originality of the magnetic needle as used in China, the circ.u.mstance of their having ingrafted upon it their most ancient and favourite mythology, their cycles, constellations, elements, and, in short, an abstract of all their astronomical or astrological science, is quite sufficient to settle that point. Those who are acquainted with the Chinese character will not readily admit that their long established superst.i.tions should be found incorporated on an instrument of barbarian invention.

The greatest depth of the Yellow Sea, in the track of the ships, did not exceed thirty-six fathoms, and it was frequently diminished to ten fathoms. The weather, as usually happens in shallow seas, was generally hazy. In doubling the projecting promontory of the province of Shan-tung, the land was hidden in thick fogs. And on these, fortunately, dissipating, it was perceived that the whole squadron was within four miles of the main land, and one of the ships close upon a rocky island.

The pilots were as ignorant of our situation as the meanest sailor in the squadron. Proceeding to the westward, a capacious bay was discovered. One of the pilots, after a minute examination of the land, which was now clear, a.s.serted that he knew the place very well; that it was the bay of _Mee-a-taw_. The confidence with which he spoke, and the vast concourse of people, crowding down towards the sh.o.r.e, as if expecting our arrival, induced the Commander to steer directly into the bay: but the depth of water diminishing to five fathoms, and land appearing on every side, it was thought prudent to let go the anchor.

Several boats from the sh.o.r.e were presently along-side; and we were soon convinced how little we had to trust to the knowledge of our pilots, even within sight of land. We were informed that the bay was called _Kee-san-seu_, and that _Mee-a-taw_ was, at least, fifteen leagues farther to the westward.

The hills along this southern coast of the gulph of Pe-tche-lee have a very peculiar character. They are all of the same form and nearly of the same size, being regular cones with smooth sides as if fashioned by art, and entirely detached, each standing on its proper base, resembling in their shapes the summer caps worn by the officers of government; and having, as yet, no European names, they were noticed in the journals by the appellation of the first, second, third, &c., mandarin's bonnets.

Determining now to avail ourselves of the advice given by the magistrate of _Chu-san_, and to navigate from port to port, we here procured two new pilots to carry the ships to _Mee-a-taw_. They brought us indeed to this place, but, instead of a harbour, we found only a narrow strait, with a rapid tide setting through it, and rocky anchoring ground. On the sh.o.r.e of the continent was a city of considerable extent, under the walls of which next the sea was a bason or dock, filled with vessels whose capacity might be from ten to one hundred tons.

The Governor of this city (the name of which we learned to be _Ten-tchoo-foo_) paid his respects to the emba.s.sador on board the Lion, and observed in the course of conversation that his orders from court were to render all the service in his power to the emba.s.sy, and to provide proper means of conveyance, either by land or by sea. He seemed to be about the age of five and thirty, a man of frank and easy manners, courteous, intelligent, and inquisitive. He stood higher in the opinion of all of us than any we had yet seen. The following morning he sent off what he was pleased to call a trifling refreshment, which consisted of four bullocks, eight sheep, eight goats, five sacks of fine white rice, five sacks of red rice, two hundred pounds of flour, and several baskets of fruit and vegetables.

We have always been taught to believe that the Chinese consider us as barbarians; but we have hitherto no reason to say that they treated us as such. At all events it was obvious that the expected arrival of the British emba.s.sy had made no slight impression on the court of Pekin.

Here we once more ventured on another pilot to carry the ships across the gulph of _Pe-tche-lee_ to _Tien-sing_. He was an old man of 70 years, and seemed to possess a perfect knowledge of all the bays and harbours in the gulph. He drew on paper the sketch of a port on the western coast to which he undertook to carry the ships. Fortunately, however, for us, it was considered more safe to send the small brigs a-head to sound, than to place any confidence in men who had already so often deceived us. They had scarcely departed before the signal of danger was made; a new course was steered for the night, and early the following morning, the same signal was repeated. No land was now in sight, yet the water had shallowed to six fathoms; it was therefore deemed prudent to come to an anchor. It was a very unusual situation for such large ships to ride thus at anchor in the middle of a strange sea, and out of sight of land, yet liable, in case of blowing weather, to strike against the bottom.

The commanders of the ships were exasperated against the pilots, and these on their part were almost petrified with fear. The poor creatures had done their best, but they possessed neither skill nor judgment, or, perhaps, it may be more charitable to suppose that they were confused by the novelty of their situation. It was in vain to endeavour to make them comprehend the difference in the draught of water between their own ships and ours, which, in the latter, was as many fathoms as feet in the former, although they were palpably shewn, by a piece of rope, the depth that was required.

As it was evidently impracticable to proceed farther with our own ships towards the land, which was now from twelve to fifteen miles distant, and so very low as not to be visible the deck, one of the tenders was dispatched to the mouth of the _Pei-ho_ or white river to report our arrival. Here two officers from the court had already embarked to wait on the Emba.s.sador, carrying with them a present of refreshments, consisting of bullocks, hogs, sheep, poultry, wine, fruit, and vegetables, in such quant.i.ties, as to be more than sufficient for a a week's consumption of the whole squadron, amounting nearly to six hundred men. It consisted in twenty small bullocks, one hundred hogs, one hundred sheep, one thousand fowls, three thousand pumpkins, as many melons, apples, pears, plumbs, apricots, and other fruits, with an abundance of culinary vegetables. The wine was contained in large earthen jars whose covers were closely luted. Numbers of the hogs and the fowls had been bruised to death on the pa.s.sage, which were thrown overboard from the Lion with disdain, but the Chinese eagerly picked them up, washed them clean and laid them in salt.

The number of vessels they had dispatched to take on sh.o.r.e the presents and the baggage was between thirty and forty, the capacity of each not being less, and many of them more, than two hundred tons; so imperfect a judgment had these people formed of the quant.i.ty of articles to be transhipped. These were the vessels whose holds were divided into thirteen distinct compartments, separated by part.i.tions of two inch plank, the seams of which were caulked with a preparation of fine lime made from sh.e.l.ls, and fibres of bamboo, in order to render them water-tight. Their sails, cables, rigging and cordage were all made of bamboo; and neither pitch nor tar was used on these or any part of the wood-work.

We detained about fifteen of these vessels to take on sh.o.r.e the Emba.s.sador's suite, the presents for the Emperor, and the baggage; after which the British ships returned to _Chu-san_ without the a.s.sistance of the Chinese pilots, whose skill in navigation was held very cheap, by the lowest seamen on board.

On entering the _Pei-ho_ we observed a number of buildings erected on the right bank, with roofs of matting, but decorated in the most fantastical manner, with different coloured ribbands and variegated silks; and about three hundred soldiers in their uniforms (which appeared to our eye not much adapted to military purposes) were drawn out, with a band of music, near a temporary landing-place constructed of wood; all of which we understood had been hastily prepared for the reception of the Emba.s.sador; but as his Excellency was desirous of reaching the capital without delay, he declined going on sh.o.r.e, preferring to step into the accommodation yachts at once, that were ready to receive him, a little higher up the river, the moment that the presents should be transhipped into the river-craft. The officers who were deputed to conduct him to the capital observed, that so much haste was not at all necessary, as the Emperor's birth-day was yet distant; these people having no other idea of an emba.s.sy, as it seemed, than that of its being a mere compliment to their Sovereign. The yellow flags displayed at the mast-heads of the river fleet, laden with the presents, and consisting of seventeen sail, gave, indeed, a more extended meaning of such a mission. These flags, in broad black characters, bore the following inscription; _The English Emba.s.sador carrying Tribute to the Emperor of China._

We found the yachts that were destined to convey us exceedingly convenient, more so indeed than any I have seen on our ca.n.a.ls of England. They are flat bottomed, and draw only about fifteen inches of water. Their upper works are high, appearing indeed like a floating house. They have three apartments for the accommodation of pa.s.sengers; the first an antichamber for the servants and baggage; the middle a commodious sitting and dining room, about fifteen feet square; and the third divided into two or three sleeping rooms. Behind these is the kitchen; and still farther aft, small places like dog-kennels, for the boatmen. Sometimes there is a kind of second story, upon the apartments, divided into little cells, that are just the length and breadth of a man. A Chinese sailor requires no room for luggage, his whole wardrobe being generally on his back. In the different operations employed for making the yachts proceed, they give no interruption to the pa.s.sengers.

A projecting gangway on each side of the vessel, made of broad planks, serves as the pa.s.sage from one end to the other.

The two officers that were sent from court, to conduct the Emba.s.sador to the capital, paid a visit to every yacht, and shewed the most earnest desire to please and to make us comfortable. Their names were _Van_ and _Chou_, to which they annexed the t.i.tle of _Ta-gin_, or _great man_.

_Van_ had the rank of Lieutenant-General in the army, and _Chou_ was the Governor of a district in _Pe-tche-lee_. We observed in their manners no indication of that stiff and ceremonious conduct, which custom obliges them to put on in public. On the contrary, they sat down to table with us, endeavouring to learn the use of the knife and fork, and made themselves extremely agreeable; lamented they were not able to hold conversation with us in our own language; and on going away, shook hands with us like Englishmen.

Provisions, fruit, and wines (such as the country affords) were sent on board in such profusion, that I really believe the Chinese boatmen, in the course of the pa.s.sage up this river, were enabled to lay by their winter's stock from the surplus. In truth, as Sir George Staunton has observed, the hospitality, attention, and respect we hitherto experienced, were such as strangers meet with only in the Eastern parts of the world.

Nothing that could convey the idea of extraordinary wealth or comfort among the inhabitants, or of extraordinary abundance and fertility in the country, (unless in the copious supplies of our provisions) had yet occurred, either at _Chu-san_ or in the first three days' sail up the _Pei-ho_ towards the capital. The land on both sides was low and flat, and instead of hedge-rows, trenches were dug to mark the boundaries of property. A small proportion only was under cultivation. The greater part appeared to be sour swampy ground, covered with coa.r.s.e gra.s.s, with bushes, and the common reed. There were few trees, except near the villages, which were of mean appearance, the houses generally consisting of mud walls, one story in height, and thatched with straw or rushes. Here and there a solitary cottage intervened, but nothing that bore any resemblance to the residence of a gentleman, or that could even be called a comfortable farm-house. And although villages were numerous, no a.s.semblage of houses were perceived, that properly could be cla.s.sed under the name of a town, except that of _See-koo_, near the mouth of the river, and _Ta-koo_, a few miles higher, until we proceeded to the distance of about ninety miles, when we entered the suburbs of the large city of _Tien-sing_, stretching, like London on the Thames, for several miles along each bank of the river _Pei-ho_. But neither the buildings nor the river would bear any comparison, even with those parts about Redriffe and Wapping. Every thing, in fact, that we had hitherto seen wore an air of poverty and meanness. After a long confinement on board a ship, to those at least who are not accustomed to it, almost any country appears to possess the charms of a Paradise; yet on our first landing in this celebrated empire to the present place, which is no great distance from the capital, I am persuaded, that every individual of the emba.s.sy felt himself rather disappointed in the expectations he had formed. If any thing excited admiration, it was the vast mult.i.tudes of people that, from our first arrival, had daily flocked down to the banks of the river, of both s.e.xes and of all ages. Their general appearance, however, was not such as to indicate any extraordinary degree of happiness or comfort. The best dressed men wore a sort of velvet cap on their heads; a short jacket, b.u.t.toned close round the neck, and folded across the breast, the sleeves remarkably wide; the materials cotton cloth, black, blue, or brown silk, or European camblet; they wore quilted petticoats, and black sattin boots. The common people were dressed in large straw hats, blue or black cotton frocks, wide cotton trowsers, and thick clumsy shoes, sometimes made of straw. Some had coa.r.s.e stockings of cotton cloth; the legs of others were naked. A single pair of drawers const.i.tuted indeed the whole clothing of a great portion of the crowd.

Never were poor women fitted out in a style so disadvantageous for setting off their charms as those who made their appearance on the banks of the _Pei-ho_, and we afterwards found that the dress of these, with some slight variations, was the common mode of the country. Bunches of large artificial flowers, generally resembling _asters_, whose colours were red, blue, or yellow, were stuck in their jet-black hair, which, without any pretensions to taste or freedom, was screwed up close behind, and folded into a ridge or knot across the crown of the head, not very unlike (except in the want of taste) to the present mode in which the young ladies of England braid their locks. Two bodkins of silver, bra.s.s, or iron, were conspicuously placed behind the head, in the form of an oblique cross, which is the common mode of Malay women.

Their faces and necks were daubed with white paint, the eye-brows blackened, and on the center of the lower lip, and at the point of the chin, were two spots, about the size of a small wafer, of a deep vermillion colour. A blue cotton frock, like that of the men, reaching in some to the middle of the thigh, in others to the knee, was almost universal. A pair of wide trowsers, of different colours, but commonly either red, green, or yellow, extended a little below the calf of the leg, where they were drawn close, in order the better to display an ankle and a foot, which for singularity at least, may challenge the whole world. This distorted and disproportionate member consists of a foot that has been cramped in its growth, to the length of four or five inches, and an ankle that is generally swollen in the same proportion that the foot is diminished. The little shoe is as fine as tinsel and tawdry can make it, and the ankle is bandaged round with party-coloured clothes, ornamented with fringe and ta.s.sels; and such a leg and foot, thus dressed out, are considered in China as superlatively beautiful.

The constant pain and uneasiness that female children must necessarily suffer, in the act of compressing, by means of bandages, the toes under the sole of the foot, and retaining them in that position until they literally grow into and become a part of it; and by forcing the heel forward, until it is entirely obliterated, make it the more wonderful how a custom, so unnatural and inhuman, should have continued for so many ages, at least such is the opinion, that its origin is entirely unknown, or explained by such fabulous absurdities as are too ridiculous to a.s.sign for its adoption.

Few savage tribes are without the unnatural custom of maiming or lopping off some part of the human body, as boring the lips and the cartilege of the nose, drawing or colouring the teeth, cutting off a joint from the fingers or toes, and otherwise practising, as they must suppose, improvements on nature. But on this consideration it would scarcely be fair to conclude, that maiming the feet of the Chinese ladies derived its origin from a period of time when they were yet in a savage state, since we are in the daily habit of observing the most civilized and enlightened societies studying to find out beauties in defects, and creating them where nature had intended perfection. The Chinese would no doubt be equally surprized at, and consider as egregiously absurd, the custom of circ.u.mcision, as practiced by a great portion of Asiatic nations; nor have we any reason to think they would not condemn the refinement of docks and crops among our horses as an absurd custom, not less ridiculous in their eyes, than the little feet of their ladies are in ours. If they could not refrain from bursting into fits of laughter on examining the grease and powder with which our hair was disfigured; and if they sometimes lamented that so much oil and flour had unnecessarily been wasted, we might, perhaps, in the vanity of self-importance, affect to pity their taste; but setting custom and prejudice apart, we had certainly no great reason to despise and ridicule the Chinese, or indeed any other nation, merely because they differ from us in the little points of dress and manners, seeing how very nearly we can match them with similar follies and absurdities of our own.

The silence of the earliest travellers into China on so extraordinary a custom, would almost warrant a conjecture that, notwithstanding the pretended ignorance of the Chinese with regard to its origin, both the fashion and the sentiment of its being vulgar for ladies to be seen abroad, were only adopted within the period of a few centuries. The Venetian traveller, although he makes frequent mention of the beauty and dress of the women, takes no notice of this singular fashion; and he observes that on the lake of _Hang-tchoo-foo_ the ladies are accustomed to take their pleasure with their husbands and their families. The Emba.s.sadors also of Shah Rokh, the son of Tamerlane, who in the year 1419, were sent to congratulate the Emperor of China, state in the narrative of their expedition that, at their public reception, there stood two young virgins, one on each side of the throne, with their faces and bosoms uncovered; that they were furnished with paper and pencils and took down with great attention every word that the Emperor spoke. These Emba.s.sadors saw also numbers of women in open baths near the Yellow River; and, in one city, they remark that "there were many taverns, at the doors of which sat a number of young girls of extraordinary beauty." Nor do the travels of two Mahomedans into China in the ninth century, published by Mr. Renaudot, make any mention of the unnatural smallness of the women's feet; and they are not by any means deficient in their observations of the manners and customs of this nation, at that time so very little known to the rest of the world.

Almost every thing they have related concerning China at this early period is found to be true at the present day, and as they particularly notice the dress and ornaments worn by the women, one would think they would not have omitted a custom so singular in its kind as that of maiming the feet, if it had then been as common as it now is.

This monstrous fashion has generally been attributed to the jealousy of the men. Admitting this to have been the case, the Chinese must be allowed to be well versed in the management of the s.e.x, to have so far gained the ascendancy over them, as to prevail upon them to adopt a fashion, which required a voluntary relinquishment of one of the greatest pleasures and blessings of life, the faculty of locomotion; and to contrive to render this fashion so universal that any deviation from it should be considered as disgraceful. The desire of being thought superior to the rest of his fellows sometimes, indeed, leads a man into strange extravagancies. Upon this principle the men of learning, as they are pleased to style themselves, suffer the nails of their little fingers to grow sometimes to the enormous length of three inches for the sole purpose of giving ocular demonstration of the impossibility of their being employed in any sort of manual labour; and upon the same principle, perhaps, the ladies of China may be induced to continue the custom of maiming their female infants, in order that their children may be distinguished from those of the peasantry, who, in most of the provinces, are condemned to submit to the drudgery of the field.

The interior wrappers of the ladies' feet are said to be seldom changed, remaining, sometimes, until they can no longer hold together; a custom that conveys no very favourable idea of Chinese cleanliness. This, indeed, forms no part of their character; on the contrary they are what Swift would call a _frowzy_ people. The comfort of clean linen, or frequent change of under-garments, is equally unknown to the Sovereign and to the peasant. A sort of thin coa.r.s.e silk supplies the place of cotton or linen next the skin, among the upper ranks; but the common people wear a coa.r.s.e kind of open cotton cloth. These vestments are more rarely removed for the purpose of washing than for that of being replaced with new ones; and the consequence of such neglect or economy is, as might naturally be supposed, an abundant increase of those vermin to whose production filthiness is found to be most favourable. The highest officers of state made no hesitation of calling their attendants in public to seek in their necks for those troublesome animals, which, when caught, they very composedly put between their teeth. They carry no pocket handkerchiefs, but generally blow their noses into small square pieces of paper which some of their attendants have ready prepared for the purpose. Many are not so cleanly, but spit about the rooms, or against the walls like the French, and they wipe their dirty hands in the sleeves of their gowns. They sleep at night in the same clothes they wear by day. Their bodies are as seldom washed as their articles of dress. They never make use of the bath, neither warm nor cold.

Notwithstanding the vast number of rivers and ca.n.a.ls, with which every part of the country is intersected, I do not remember to have seen a single groupe of boys bathing. The men, in the hottest day of summer, make use of warm water for washing the hands and face. They are unacquainted with the use of soap. We procured, in Pekin, a sort of Barilla with which and apricot oil we manufactured a sufficient quant.i.ty of this article to wash our linen, which, however, we were under the necessity of getting done by our own servants.

On approaching the town of _Tien-sing_ we observed a prodigious number of large stacks of salt, piled up in sacks of matting. The quant.i.ty thus stored was found, on rough calculation, to be sufficient for the consumption of thirty millions of people, for a whole year. Such a surprising aggregate of one of the useful and almost necessary, articles of life, was a preparative, in some measure, for the vast mult.i.tudes of people which appeared on our pa.s.sing this northern emporium of China.

The gabelle, or duty on salt, which the government here, as well as elsewhere, had found convenient to impose on one of the indispensable articles of life, partly accounted for such an extraordinary acc.u.mulation. The collector of the salt duties of _Tien-sing_ held one of the most lucrative appointments in the gift of the crown.

The crowds of large vessels lying close together along the sides of the river; the various kinds of craft pa.s.sing and re-pa.s.sing; the town and manufactories and warehouses extending on each bank as far as the eye could reach, indicated a spirit of commerce far beyond any thing we had hitherto met with. The large vessels, the small craft, the boats, the sh.o.r.es, the walls surrounding the houses, the roofs were all covered with spectators. Our barges, being r.e.t.a.r.ded in the narrow pa.s.sages among the shipping, were at least two hours in reaching the head of the town.

During the whole time the populace stood in the water, the front rank up to the middle, to get a peep at the strangers. Hitherto among the spectators there had generally appeared full as many of the fair s.e.x as of the other; and the elderly dames, in particular, had been so curious as to dip their little stumps into the water in order to have a peep into the barges as they glided slowly along; but here, among the whole crowd, not a single female was visible. Although the day was extremely sultry, the thermometer of Fahrenheit being 88 in the shade, as a mutual accommodation their heads were all uncovered, and their bald pates exposed to the scorching rays of the sun. It was an uncommon spectacle to see so many bronze-like heads stuck as close together, tier above tier, as Hogarth's groupe, intended to display the difference between character and caricature, but it lacked the variety of countenance which this artist has, in an inimitable manner, displayed in his picture.

The deep sounding _gong_, a sort of brazen kettle struck with a mallet, and used in the barges to direct the motions of the trackers on sh.o.r.e, the kettle-drums and the trumpets in the military band, the shrill music and squalling recitative in the theatre, which was entirely open in front, and facing the river in full view of the crowd; the number of temporary booths and buildings erected for the use of the viceroy, governor, judges, and other officers of government, and gaily decorated with ribbands and silken streamers; the buzz and merriment of the crowd had, altogether, so striking an affinity to the usual entertainments of Bartholomew fair, that no extraordinary stretch of the imagination was required to suppose ourselves for the moment to have been transported into Smithfield. We instantly acquitted the Chinese of any want of curiosity. The arrival of Elfi Bey in London drew not half the crowd; and yet the Chinese account us much greater barbarians than we pretend to consider the mamelukes. The old viceroy of the province, a Tartar of mild and winning manners, had prepared for us a most magnificent entertainment with wine, fruits, and great variety of pastry and sweetmeats, together with presents of tea, silk, and nankins, not only to the Emba.s.sador and his suite, but also to the servants, musicians, and soldiers.

The cheerful and good-natured countenances of the mult.i.tude were extremely prepossessing; not less so their accommodating behaviour to one another. There was an innocence and simplicity in their features, that seemed to indicate a happy and contented turn of mind. This, however, being a sort of gala day, we might, on account of the extraordinary occasion, perhaps have viewed them to the best advantage; yet the same cheerful and willing mind had constantly shewn itself on all occasions, by all those who were employed in the service of the emba.s.sy. On board the yachts constant mirth and good humour prevailed among the seamen. When the weather was calm, the vessels were generally pushed on by means of two large sculls or oars turning upon pivots that were placed in projecting pieces of wood near the _bow_ of the vessel, and not the stern, as is the practice of most other nations. From six to ten men are required to work one of these oars, which, instead of being taken out of the water, as in the act of rowing, are moved backwards and forwards under the surface, in a similar manner to what in England is understood by sculling. To lighten their labour, and a.s.sist in keeping time with the strokes, the following rude air was generally sung by the master to which the whole crew used to join in chorus:

[Music: AIR.

Solo by the Master.

Hai-yo hai-yau hai-yo hai-yau hai-wha de hai-yau hai-yau

Chorus by the Crew.

Hai-yo hai-yau hai-yo hai-yau hai-yo hai-yau]

On many a calm still evening, when a dead silence reigned upon the water, have we listened with pleasure to this artless and unpolished air, which was sung, with little alteration through the whole fleet.

Extraordinary exertions of bodily strength, depending, in a certain degree, on the willingness of the mind, are frequently accompanied with exhilarating exclamations among the most savage people; but the Chinese song could not be considered in this point of view; like the exclamations of our seamen in hauling the ropes, or the oar song of the Hebridians, which, as Doctor Johnson has observed, resembled the proceleusmatick verse by which the rowers of Grecian galleys were animated, the chief object of the Chinese chorus seemed to be that of combining chearfulness with regularity.

"Verse sweetens toil, however rude the sound."

Of their honesty, sobriety, and carefulness, we had already received convincing proofs. Of the number of packages, amounting to more than six hundred, of various sizes and descriptions, not a single article was missing nor injured, on their arrival at the capital, notwithstanding they had been moved about, and carried by land, and transhipped several times. Of the three state-officers, who had been deputed from court to attend the emba.s.sy, two of them were the most obliging and attentive creatures imaginable. The third, a Tartar, who first made his appearance at _Tien-sing_, was distant, proud, and imperious. The Chinese indeed were invariably more affable than the Tartars. In short, had we returned to Europe, without proceeding farther in the country than _Tien-sing_, a most lively impression would always have remained on my mind in favour of the Chinese. But a variety of incidents that afterwards occurred, and a more intimate acquaintance with their manners and habits, produced a woeful change of sentiment in this respect. Of such incidents, as may tend to ill.u.s.trate the moral character of this extraordinary people, I shall relate a few that were the most striking, in taking a general view of their state of society, to which, and to the nature of the executive government, all their moral actions may be referred: and by the influence of which, the natural bent of their character evidently has undergone a complete change.