Travels in China Part 8

As a direct refusal to any request would betray a want of good breeding, every proposal finds their immediate acquiescence; they promise without hesitation, but generally disappoint by the invention of some sly pretence or plausible objection. They have no proper sense of the obligations of truth. So little scrupulous indeed are they with regard to veracity, that they will a.s.sert and contradict without blushing, as it may best suit the purpose of the moment.

The vanity of an usurped national superiority and a high notion of self-importance never forsake them on any occasion. Those advantages in others which they cannot avoid feeling, they will affect not to see. And although they are reduced to the necessity of employing foreigners to regulate their calendar and keep their clocks in order, although they are in the habit of receiving yearly various specimens of art and ingenuity from Europe, yet they pertinaciously affect to consider all the nations of the earth as barbarians in comparison of themselves. A Chinese merchant of Canton, who, from the frequent opportunities of seeing English ships, was not insensible of their advantages over those of his own nation which traded to Batavia and other distant ports, resolved, and actually began, to construct a vessel according to an English model; but the _Hoo-poo_ or collector of the customs being apprized of it, not only obliged him to relinquish his project but fined him in a heavy penalty for presuming to adopt the modes of a barbarous nation. So great is their national conceit that not a single article imported into the country, as I have elsewhere observed, retains its name. Not a nation, nor person, nor object, that does not receive a Chinese appellation: so that their language, though poor, is pure.

The expressions made use of in salutation, by different nations, may perhaps be considered as deriving their origin from features of national character. _Lau-ye_, _Old sir_, is a t.i.tle of respect, with which the first officers of state may be addressed, because the maxims of government have inculcated the doctrine of obedience, respect, and protection to old age. The common salutation among the lower orders of people in some of the southern provinces is _Ya fan_, _Have you eaten your rice?_ the greatest happiness that the common cla.s.s of people in China can hope to enjoy consisting in their having a sufficiency of rice. Thus also the Dutch, who are considered as great eaters, have a morning salutation which is common among all ranks, _Smaakelyk eeten!_ _May you eat a hearty dinner!_ Another universal salutation among this people is, _Hoe vaart uwe?_ _How do you sail?_ adopted no doubt in the early periods of the Republic, when they were all navigators and fishermen. The usual salutation at Cairo is, How do you sweat? a dry hot skin being a sure indication of a destructive ephemeral fever. I think some author has observed, in contrasting the haughty Spaniard with the frivolous Frenchman, that the proud steady gait and inflexible solemnity of the former were expressed in his mode of salutation, _Come esta?_ _How do you stand?_ whilst the _Comment vous portez vous?_ _How do you carry yourself?_ was equally expressive of the gay motion and incessant action of the latter.

The Chinese are so ceremonious among themselves, and so punctilious with regard to etiquette, that the omission of the most minute point established by the court of ceremonies is considered as a criminal offence. Visiting by tickets, which with us is a fashion of modern refinement, has been a common practice in China some thousand years; but the rank of a Chinese visitor is immediately ascertained by the size, colour, and ornaments of his ticket, which also varies in all these points according to the rank of the person visited. The old Viceroy of _Pe-tche-lee's_ ticket to the Emba.s.sador contained as much crimson-coloured paper as would be sufficient to cover the walls of a moderate-sized room.

CHAP. V.

Manners and Amus.e.m.e.nts of the Court--Reception of Emba.s.sadors--Character and private Life of the Emperor--His Eunuchs and Women.

_General Character of the Court--Of the Buildings about the Palace--_Lord Macartney's_ Account of his Introduction--Of the Celebration of the Emperor's Anniversary Festival--Of a Puppet-Shew--Comedy and Pantomime--Wrestling--Conjuring and Fire-Works--Reception and Entertainment of the Dutch Emba.s.sadors from a Ma.n.u.script Journal--Observations on the State of the Chinese Stage--Extraordinary Scene in one of their Dramas--Gross and indelicate Exhibitions--Sketch of_ Kien-Long's_ Life and Character--Kills his Son by an unlucky Blow--conceives himself immortal--Influence of the Eunuchs of the Tartar Conquest--their present State and Offices--Emperor's Wife, Queens, and Concubines--How disposed of at his Death._

After the sketch I have exhibited of the state of society among the different ranks in China, a tolerable notion may be formed of the general character and complexion of the court. It is, as Lord Macartney has justly observed, "a singular mixture of ostentatious hospitality and inbred suspicion, ceremonious civility and real rudeness, shadowy complaisance and substantial perverseness; and this prevails through all the departments connected with the Court, although somewhat modified by the personal disposition of those at their head; but as to that genuine politeness, which distinguishes our manners, it cannot be expected in Orientals, considering among other things the light in which they are accustomed to regard the female part of society." Whether the great ministers of state, who have daily intercourse in the different tribunals, sometimes relax from the stiff and formal deportment observed towards each other in public, I am not able to say, but when at Court they invariably observe certain stated forms and expression as studied and ceremonious as if they had never met before. It appeared to us highly ridiculous to see our friends, the two colleagues _Van-ta-gin_ and _Chou-ta-gin_, on meeting in the precincts of the palace, performing to each other all the genuflexions and motions of the body which the ceremonial inst.i.tutes of the empire require.

I rather suspect, however, that where any degree of confidence prevails among these people they sometimes enjoy their moments of conviviality.

Our two worthy conductors met at Canton an old acquaintance who was governor of a city in Fo-kien. He gave them an evening entertainment on the river in a splendid yacht to which I was privately invited. On entering the great cabin I found the three gentlemen with each a young girl by his side very richly dressed, the cheeks, lips, and chin highly _rouged_, the rest of the face and neck whitened with a preparation of cerate. I was welcomed by a cup of hot wine from each of the ladies who first sipped by way of pledging me. During supper, which for number and variety of dishes exceeded any thing I had hitherto met with in the country, the girls played on the flute and sung several airs, but there was nothing very captivating either in the vocal or instrumental part of the music. We pa.s.sed a most convivial evening free from any reserve or restraint, but on going away I was particularly desired by _Van_ not to take any notice of what I had seen, apprehensive, I suppose, that their brother officers might condemn their want of prudence in admitting a barbarian to witness their relaxation from good morals. The yacht and the ladies it seemed were hired for the occasion.

The incalculable numbers of the great officers of state and their attendants, all robed in the richest silks, embroidered with the most brilliant colours, and tissued with gold and silver, the order, silence, and solemnity with which they arrange and conduct themselves on public court-days are the most commanding features on such occasions.

This sober pomp of Asiatic grandeur is exhibited only at certain fixed festivals; of which the princ.i.p.al is the anniversary of the Emperor's birth-day, the commencement of a new year, the ceremonial of holding the plough, and the reception of foreign emba.s.sadors, most of whom they contrive to be present at one or other of those festivals. The birth-day is considered to be the most splendid; when all the Tartar princes and tributuaries, and all the princ.i.p.al officers of government both civil and military, are expected to be present.

For reasons of state, which will be noticed hereafter, the Emperor rarely shews himself in public among the Chinese part of his subjects, except on such occasions; and even then the exhibition is confined within the precincts of the palace from which the populace are entirely excluded. Consistent with their system of sumptuary laws there is little external appearance of pomp or magnificence in the establishment of the Emperor. The buildings that compose the palace and the furniture within them, if we except the paint, the gilding, and the varnish, that appear on the houses even of plebeians, are equally void of unnecessary and expensive ornaments. Those who should rely on the florid relations, in which the missionaries and some travellers have indulged in their descriptions of the palaces of Pekin and those of _Yuen-min-yuen_, would experience on visiting them a woful disappointment. These buildings, like the common habitations of the country, are all modelled after the form of a tent, and are magnificent only by a comparison with the others and by their number, which is sufficient, indeed, to form a town of themselves. Their walls are higher than those of ordinary houses, their wooden columns of greater diameter, their roofs are immense, and a greater variety of painting and gilding may be bestowed on the different parts; but none of them exceeds one story in height, and they are jumbled and surrounded with mean and insignificant hovels. Some writer has observed that the King of England is worse lodged at Saint James's palace than any sovereign in Europe. Were I to compare some of the imperial palaces in China to any royal residence in Europe it would certainly be to Saint James's; but the apartments, the furniture, and conveniences of the latter, bad as they are, infinitely transcend any of those in China. The stone or clay floors are indeed sometimes covered with a carpet of English broad-cloth, and the walls papered; but they have no gla.s.s in the windows, no stoves, fire-places, or fire-grates in the rooms; no sofas, bureaux, chandeliers, nor looking-gla.s.ses; no book-cases, prints, nor paintings. They have neither curtains nor sheets to their beds; a bench of wood, or a platform of brick-work, is raised in an alcove, on which are mats or stuffed mattresses, hard pillows, or cushions, according to the season of the year; instead of doors they have usually skreens, made of the fibres of bamboo. In short, the wretched lodgings of the state-officers at the court of Versailles, in the time of the French monarchy, were princely palaces in comparison of those allotted to the first ministers of the Emperor of China, in the capital as well as at _Yuen-min-yuen_.

When attending the court, on public occasions, each courtier takes his meal alone in his solitary cell on a small square table crowded with bowls of rice and various stews; without table-linen or napkins, without knife, fork, or spoon; a pair of small sticks, or the quills of a porcupine, are the only subst.i.tutes for these convenient articles: placing the bowl under his chin, with these he throws the rice into his mouth and takes up the pieces of meat in his soup or stews. Having finished his lonely meal, he generally lies down to sleep. In a government so suspicious as that of China, if parties were known to meet together, the object of them might be supposed something beyond that of conviviality, which however mutual jealousy and distrust have prevented from growing into common use.

As the ready compliance of the late Dutch Emba.s.sadors with all the degrading ceremonies required by the Chinese, added to their constant residence in the capital, gave them more opportunities of observing the manners and the amus.e.m.e.nts of the court than occurred to the British emba.s.sy, I shall here avail myself of that part of a journal relating to this subject, which was kept by a young gentleman in the suite of the former, and whose accuracy of observation may be depended on. The account given by him of the New Year's festival, added to Lord Macartney's description of his introduction and the birth-day solemnities, which his Lordship has obligingly permitted me to extract from his journal, together with my own observations at the palace of _Yuen-min-yuen_, will serve to convey a tolerably exact idea of the state, pleasures, and amus.e.m.e.nts of the great Monarch of China.

"On the 14th September," observes his Lordship, "at four o'clock in the morning we set out for the court, under the convoy of _Van-ta-gin_, and _Chou-ta-gin_, and reached it in little more than an hour, the distance being about three miles from our hotel. We alighted at the park gate, from whence we walked to the Imperial encampment, and were conducted to a large handsome tent prepared for us, on one side of the Emperor's.

After waiting there about an hour, his approach was announced by drums and music, on which we quitted our tent and came forward upon the green carpet. He was seated in an open Palankeen, carried by sixteen bearers, attended by numbers of officers bearing flags, standards, and umbrellas; and as he pa.s.sed we paid him our compliments, by kneeling on one knee, whilst all the Chinese made their usual prostrations. As soon as he had ascended his throne I came to the entrance of his tent, and holding in both my hands a large gold box, enriched with diamonds, in which was enclosed the King's letter, I walked deliberately up and, ascending the steps of the throne, delivered it into the Emperor's own hands, who, having received it, pa.s.sed it to the Minister by whom it was placed on the cushion. He then gave me, as the first present from him to his Majesty, the _Eu-shee_, or symbol of peace and prosperity, and expressed his hopes that my Sovereign and he should always live in good correspondence and amity. It is a whitish agate-looking stone, perhaps serpentine, about a foot and a half long, curiously carved, and highly prized by the Chinese; but to me it does not appear in itself to be of any great value.

"The Emperor then presented me with an _Eu-shee_ of a greenish-coloured serpentine stone, and of the same emblematic character; at the same time he very graciously received from me a pair of beautiful enamelled watches, set with diamonds which, having looked at, he pa.s.sed to the Minister.

"Sir George Staunton (whom, as he had been appointed Minister plenipotentiary, to act in case of my death or departure, I introduced to him as such) now came forward, and after kneeling upon one knee, in the same manner as I had done, presented to him two elegant air-guns, and received from him an _Eu-shee_ of greenish stone nearly similar to mine. Other presents were sent, at the same time, to all the gentlemen of my train. We then descended from the steps of the throne, and sat down upon cushions at one of the tables on the Emperor's left hand. And at other tables, according to their different ranks, the chief Tartar princes and the Mandarins of the court at the same time took their places; all dressed in the proper robes of their respective ranks. These tables were then uncovered and exhibited a sumptuous banquet. The Emperor sent us several dishes from his own table, together with some liquors, which the Chinese call wine; not however expressed from the grape, but distilled or extracted from rice, herbs, and honey.

"In about half an hour he sent for Sir George Staunton and me to come to him and gave to each of us, with his own hands, a cup of warm wine, which we immediately drank in his presence, and found it very pleasant and comfortable, the morning being cold and raw. Among other things he asked me the age of my Sovereign and, being informed of it, said he hoped he might live as many years as himself which were then eighty-three. His manner was dignified, but affable and condescending; and his reception of us was very gracious and satisfactory.

"The order and regularity in serving and removing the dinner was wonderfully exact, and every function of the ceremony performed with such silence and solemnity as in some measure to resemble the celebration of a religious mystery.

"There were present on this occasion three Emba.s.sadors from _Ta-tze_ or Pegu, and six Mahomedan Emba.s.sadors from the Kalmucs of the south-west, but their appearance was not very splendid. During the ceremony, which lasted five hours, various entertainments of wrestling, tumbling, wire-dancing, together with dramatic representations, were exhibited opposite the Emperor's tent, but at a considerable distance from it.

"The 17th of September, being the Emperor's birth day, we set out for the court at three o'clock in the morning, conducted by _Van-ta-gin_, _Chou-ta-gin_, and our usual attendants. We reposed ourselves about two hours in a large saloon at the entrance of the palace enclosure, where fruit, tea, warm milk, and other refreshments were brought to us. At last notice was given that the festival was going to begin, and we immediately descended into the garden, where we found all the great men and mandarins in their robes of state, drawn up before the Imperial pavilion. The Emperor did not shew himself, but remained concealed behind a screen, from whence I presume he could see and enjoy the ceremonies without inconvenience or interruption. All eyes were turned towards the place where his Majesty was imagined to be enthroned, and seemed to express an impatience to begin the devotions of the day. Slow, solemn music, m.u.f.fled drums, and deep-toned bells, were heard at a distance;--on a sudden the sounds ceased, and all was still--again they were renewed, and then intermitted with short pauses; during which several persons pa.s.sed backwards and forwards, in the proscenium or foreground of the tent, at if engaged in preparing some _grand coup-de-theatre_.

"At length the great band, both vocal and instrumental, struck up with all their powers of harmony, and instantly the whole court fell flat upon their faces before this invisible Nebuchadnezzar, whilst

"He in his cloudy tabernacle shrined Sojourned the while."

"The music might be considered as a sort of birth-day ode, or state anthem, the burthen of which was, '_Bow down your heads all ye dwellers upon earth, bow down your heads before the great Kien-long, the great Kien-long_.' And then all the dwellers upon China earth there present, except ourselves, bowed down their heads and prostrated themselves upon the ground at every renewal of the chorus. Indeed, in no religion either ancient or modern has the divinity ever been addressed, I believe, with stronger exterior marks of worship and adoration than were this morning paid to the phantom of his Chinese majesty. Such is the mode of celebrating the Emperor's anniversary festival, according to the court ritual. We saw nothing of him the whole day, nor did any of his ministers, I imagine, approach him, for they all seemed to retire at the same moment that we did.

"In the course of a tour we made in the gardens with the prime minister and other great officers of state, whom the Emperor had directed to attend us, we were entertained at one of the palaces with a collation of pet.i.tpatis, salt relishes, and other savoury dishes, with fruits and sweetmeats, milk and ice-water; and as soon as we rose from table, a number of yellow boxes, or drawers, were carried in procession before us, containing several pieces of silk and porcelain, which we were told were presents to us from the Emperor, and we consequently made our bows as they pa.s.sed. We were also amused with a Chinese puppet-shew which differs but little from an English one. There are a distressed princess confined in a castle, and a knight-errant, who, after fighting wild beasts and dragons, sets her at liberty and marries her; wedding-feasts, jousts, and tournaments. Besides these, there was also a comic drama, in which some personages not unlike punch and his wife, Bandemeer and Scaramouch performed capital parts. This puppet-shew, we were told, properly belongs to the ladies' apartments, but was sent out as a particular compliment to entertain us; one of the performances was exhibited with great applause from our conductors, and I understand it is a favourite piece at court.

"On the morning of the 18th September we again went to court, in consequence of an invitation from the Emperor, to see the Chinese comedy and other diversions given on occasion of his birth-day. The comedy began at eight o'clock and lasted till noon. The Emperor was seated on a throne, opposite the stage, which projected a good deal into the pit.

The boxes were on each side without seats or divisions. The women were placed above, behind the lattices, so that they might enjoy the amus.e.m.e.nts of the theatre without being observed.

"Soon after we came in, the Emperor sent for Sir George Staunton and me to attend him, and told us, with great condescension of manner, that we ought not to be surprised to see a man of his age at the theatre, for that he seldom came there except upon a very particular occasion like the present, for that, considering the extent of his dominions and the number of his subjects, he could spare but little time for such amus.e.m.e.nts. I endeavoured, in the turn of my answer, to lead him towards the subject of my emba.s.sy, but he seemed not disposed to enter into it farther than by delivering me a little box of old j.a.pan, in the bottom of which were some pieces of agate and other stones much valued by the Chinese and Tartars; and at the top a small book written and painted by his own hand, which he desired me to present to the king my master as a token of his friendship saying, that the old box had been 800 years in his family. He, at the same time, gave me a book for myself also written and painted by him, together with several purses for Areca nut. He likewise gave a purse of the same sort to Sir George Staunton, and sent some small presents to the other gentlemen of the emba.s.sy. After this several pieces of silk or porcelain, but seemingly of no great value, were distributed among the Tartar princes and chief courtiers, who appeared to receive them with every possible demonstration of humility and grat.i.tude.

"The theatrical entertainments consisted of great variety, both tragical and comical; several distinct pieces were acted in succession, though without any apparent connexion with one another. Some of them were historical, and others of pure fancy, partly in _recitativo_, partly in singing, and partly in plain speaking, without any accompaniment of instrumental music, but abounding in battles, murders, and most of the usual incidents of the drama. Last of all was the grand pantomime which, from the approbation it met with, is, I presume, considered as a first-rate effort of invention and ingenuity. It seemed to me, as far as I could comprehend it, to represent the marriage of the ocean and the earth. The latter exhibited her various riches and productions, dragons, and elephants, and tygers, and eagles, and ostriches, oaks and pines, and other trees of different kinds. The ocean was not behind hand, but poured forth on the stage the wealth of his dominions, under the figures of whales and dolphins, porpesses and leviathans, and other sea monsters, besides ships, rocks, sh.e.l.ls, spunges, and corals, all performed by concealed actors, who were quite perfect in their parts, and performed their characters to admiration. These two marine and land regiments, after separately parading in a circular procession for a considerable time, at last joined together and, forming one body, came to the front of the stage when, after a few evolutions, they opened to the right and left, to give room for the whale, who seemed to be the commanding officer, to waddle forward; and who, taking his station exactly opposite to the Emperor's box, spouted out of his mouth into the pit several tons of water, which quickly disappeared through the perforations of the floor. This e.j.a.c.u.l.a.t.i.o.n was received with the highest applause, and two or three of the great men at my elbow desired me to take particular notice of it; repeating, at the same time, '_Hao, kung hao!_'--'_charming, delightful!_'

"A little before one o'clock in the afternoon we retired, and at four we returned to court to see the evening's entertainments, which were exhibited on the lawn, in front of the great tent or pavilion, where we had been first presented to the Emperor. He arrived very soon after us, mounted his throne, and gave the signal to begin. We had now wrestling and dancing, and tumbling and posture-making, which appeared to us particularly awkward and clumsy, from the performers being mostly dressed according to the Chinese _costume_, one inseparable part of which is a pair of heavy quilted boots with the soles of an inch thick.

The wrestlers, however, seemed to be pretty expert and afforded much diversion to such as were admirers of the _Palaestra_.

"A boy climbed up a pole or bamboo thirty or forty feet high, played several gambols, and balanced himself on the top of it in various att.i.tudes, but his performance fell far short of what I have often met with in India of the same kind.

"A fellow lay down on his back, and then raised his feet, legs, and thighs from his middle, perpendicularly, so as to form a right angle with his body. On the soles of his feet was placed a large round empty jar, about four feet long and from two and a half to three feet diameter. This he balanced for some time, turning it round and round horizontally, till one of the spectators put a little boy into it, who, after throwing himself into various postures at the mouth of it, came out and sat on the top. He then stood up, then fell flat upon his back, then shifted to his belly, and after shewing a hundred tricks of that sort, jumped down upon the ground and relieved his coadjutor.

"A man then came forward and after fastening three slender sticks to each of his boots took six porcelain dishes of about eighteen inches diameter, and balancing them separately at the end of a little ivory rod, which he held in his hand, and twirling them about for some time, put them one after the other upon the points of the six bootsticks abovementioned, they continuing to turn round all the while. He then took two small sticks in his left hand, and put dishes upon them in the same manner as upon the other, and also one more upon the little finger of his right hand, so that he had nine dishes annexed to him at once, all twirling together, which in a few minutes he took off one by one and placed them regularly on the ground, without the slightest interruption or miscarriage.

"There were many other things of the same kind, but I saw none at all comparable to the tumbling, rope-dancing, wire-walking, and straw balancing of Sadler's-Wells; neither did I observe any seats of equitation in the style of Hughes's and Ashley's amphitheatres, although I had been always told that the Tartars were remarkably skilful in the instruction and discipline of their horses. Last of all were the fire-works which, in some particulars, exceeded any thing of the kind I had ever seen. In grandeur, magnificence, and variety, they were, I own, inferior to the Chinese fire-works we had seen at Batavia, but infinitely superior in point of novelty, neatness, and ingenuity of contrivance. One piece of machinery I greatly admired; a green chest of five feet square was hoisted up by a pulley to the height of fifty or sixty feet from the ground; the bottom was so constructed as then suddenly to fall out, and make way for twenty or thirty strings of lanterns inclosed in the box to descend from it, unfolding themselves from one another by degrees so as at last to form a collection of at least five hundred, each having a light of a beautifully coloured flame burning brightly within it. This devolution and developement of lanterns (which appeared to me to be composed of gauze and paper) were several times repeated, and every time exhibited a difference of colour and figure. On each side was a correspondence of smaller boxes, which opened in like manner as the others, and let down an immense network of fire, with divisions and compartments of various forms and dimensions, round and square, hexagons, octagons and lozenges, which shone like the brightest burnished copper, and flashed like prismatic lightning, with every impulse of the wind. The diversity of colours indeed with which the Chinese have the secret of cloathing fire seems one of the chief merits of their pyrotechny. The whole concluded with a volcano, or general explosion and discharge of suns and stars, squibs, bouncers, crackers, rockets, and grenadoes, which involved the gardens for above an hour after in a cloud of intolerable smoke. Whilst these entertainments were going forward the Emperor sent to us a variety of refreshments, all which, as coming from him, the etiquette of the court required us to partake of, although we had dined but a short time before.

"However meanly we must think of the taste and delicacy of the court of China, whose most refined amus.e.m.e.nts seem to be chiefly such as I have now described, together with the wretched dramas of the morning, yet it must be confessed, that there was something grand and imposing in the general effect that resulted from the whole _spectacle_. The Emperor himself being seated in front upon his throne, and all his great men and officers attending in their robes of ceremony, and stationed on each side of him, some standing, some sitting, some kneeling, and the guards and standard-bearers behind them in incalculable numbers. A dead silence was rigidly observed, not a syllable articulated, nor a laugh exploded during the whole performance."

Such was the reception and the entertainment of the British Emba.s.sador at the court of Gehol, in _Mantchoo_ Tartary, during the days of the festival of the Emperor's anniversary. I now proceed to give some account of the manner in which the Dutch Emba.s.sadors were received, and the entertainments that took place on the occasion of the festival of the new year, as related in the ma.n.u.script journal above alluded to.

This journalist observes that, on approaching the capital of the empire, they were not a little astonished to find that the farther they advanced the more miserable and poor was the apparent condition of the people, and the face of the country; the clay-built huts and those of ill-burnt bricks were crumbling to dust; the temples were in ruins, the earthen G.o.ds were demolished, and their fragments strewed on the ground; and the district was thinly inhabited. The following day they entered Pekin but were turned out again to take up their lodgings in the suburbs, in a sort of stable. From this place they were ordered to proceed to the palace in their old travelling dresses, as their baggage was not yet arrived. They were drawn in small carts as crazy and as much out of order as their own dresses. Sitting in the bottom of these carts, without any seats, they waited within the walls of the palace a full hour, while an empty room was swept out for their reception. Having remained here for some time, a few planks were brought in, on which were arranged a number of dishes of meat and fish, stewed in different ways.

Having finished their repast, thus ended their first day's visit.

The following morning, at five o'clock, they were again summoned to court, and ushered into a small room like that of the preceding day, without any kind of furniture. The weather being extremely cold, the thermometer many degrees below the freezing point, the Emba.s.sadors prevailed on the people to make a little fire which after some time was brought in, not however without letting them understand that it was an extraordinary mark of favour, it being the custom of the Chinese to let all Emba.s.sadors wait the arrival of the Emperor in the open air.

At length the Emperor made his appearance, carried by eight men in a yellow sedan chair. On his approaching the place where the Emba.s.sadors and their suite were standing, they were directed by the master of the ceremonies to fall down on their knees, and in this posture the first Emba.s.sador was instructed to hold in both his hands, above his head, the gold box in which was contained the letter for the Emperor: the second minister then stepped forwards, and took the letter out of his hands, which he delivered to the Emperor; and, at the same time, they were directed to bow their heads nine times to the ground, in token of acknowledgment for the gracious reception they had met with from his Chinese Majesty.

This ceremony being ended, they were desired to follow the Emperor's chair, which was carried to the side of a pond or bason in the gardens, then frozen over. From this place the Emperor was drawn on a sledge to a tent pitched on the ice, whilst the Emba.s.sador and his suite were conducted into a dirty hovel little better than a pig-stye, where they were desired to sit down on a sort of bench built of stone and mortar; for, like the room they were put into on a former day, it was dest.i.tute of the least furniture; and they were told that something presently would be brought for them to eat. On complaining to their conductors that this was not the manner in which they were accustomed to sit down to meat, and that they did not conceive such apartments to be at all suitable to the situation they had the honour to hold, they were shortly afterwards conducted into another room, little better however than the first, but partly furnished with a few old chairs and tables. The candlesticks were small blocks of wood, to which the candles were fastened with a couple of nails. A few dishes of stewed meat were served up and, as a great delicacy from the Emperor's table, were brought in, without any dish, a pair of stag's legs, which the Chinese threw down upon the naked table; and for this mark of imperial favour they were required to make the customary genuflections and nine prostrations.

Van Braam, in the journal which he or some of his friends published in Paris, gives a curious account of the manner in which they were fed from the Emperor's table: "La viande consistait en un morceau de cotes sur lequelles il n'y avait point un demi-pouce d'epaisseur d'une chair maigre, en un pet.i.t os de l'epaule ou il n'y avait presque pas de chair, et en quatre ou cinq autres oss.e.m.e.ns fournis par le dos ou par les pattes d'un mouton, et qui semblaient avoir ete deja ronges. Tout ce degoutant ensemble etait sur un plat sale et paraissait plutot destine a faire le regal d'un chien que le repas d'un homme. En Holland le dernier des mendians recevrait, dans un hopital, une pittance plus propre, et cependant c'est une marque d'honneur de la part d'un Empereur envers un Amba.s.sadeur! Peut-etre meme etait-ce le reste du Prince, et dans ce cas, selon l'opinion des Chinois, c'etait le dernier terme de la faveur, puisque nous pouvions achever l'os que sa Majeste avait commence a nettoyer."--"The meat consisted of a small piece of the ribs, on which there was not half an inch in thickness of lean flesh, and a small shoulder-blade almost without any upon it; and in four or five other pieces of bones from the back, or the legs of a sheep, which appeared to have been already gnawed. The whole of this disgusting mess was brought upon a dirty plate, and seemed much rather intended to feast a dog than as a refreshment for man. In Holland the meanest beggar would receive in an hospital his allowance in a neater manner; and yet it was intended as a mark of honour on the part of an Emperor towards an Emba.s.sador!

Perhaps it was even the remains of the Sovereign, and in that case, according to the opinion of the Chinese, it was the greatest possible act of favour, since we should then have had an opportunity of finishing the bone which his Imperial Majesty had begun to pick."

The Dutch gentlemen, equally disgusted with the meanness and filthiness of the place, and with the pride and haughtiness of the people, became now reconciled to the shabby appearance of their old travelling dresses, which they began to consider as fully good enough for the occasion.

Having finished their elegant repast, the amus.e.m.e.nts of the day commenced on the ice. The Emperor made his appearance in a sort of sledge, supported by the figures of four dragons. This machine was moved about by several great Mandarins, some dragging before, and others pushing behind. The four princ.i.p.al ministers of state were also drawn upon the ice in their sledges by inferior mandarins. Whole troops of civil and military officers soon appeared, some on sledges, some on skaits, and others playing at football upon the ice, and he that picked up the ball was rewarded by the Emperor. The ball was then hung up in a kind of arch, and several mandarins shot at it, in pa.s.sing on skaits, with their bows and arrows. Their skaits were cut off short under the heel, and the forepart was turned up at right angles. Owing to this form, or to the inexpertness of the skaiters, they could not stop themselves on a sudden, but always tumbled one over the other whenever they came near the edge of the ice, or towards the quarter where the Emperor happened to be.

Leaving this place, they were carried through several narrow streets, composed of miserable houses, forming a surprising contrast with the proud walls of the palace. They were conducted into a small room of one of these houses, almost void of furniture, in order to pay their compliments to _Ho-tchung-tang_, the Collao, or prime minister, whom they found sitting cross-legged on a truckle bedstead with cane bottom.

Before this creature of fortune, whose fate I shall have occasion hereafter to notice, they were obliged to go down on their knees. Like a true prime minister of China, he waved all conversation that might lead towards business, talked to them of the length of their journey, was astonished how they bore the cold weather in such scanty clothing, and such like general topics, which, in fact, signified nothing. From the first minister they paid their visit to the second, whom they found lodged in a similar manner; after which they returned to their mean apartments in the city, more satisfied on a comparison with the miserable little chambers in which they had found the two first ministers of this far-famed empire lodged, and the mean hovels which they met with in the very center of the s.p.a.ce shut in by the walls of the imperial palace. The impressions that the events and transactions of this day made on the minds of the visitors were those of utter astonishment, on finding every thing so very much the reverse of what they had been led to expect.

The following day they were again drawn to court in their little carts, before four o'clock in the morning, where, after having waited about five hours in empty rooms, similar to those of the preceding day, two or three great men (_Ta-gin_) called upon them, but behaved towards them in a distant, scornful, and haughty manner. "We had once more," observes the Dutch journalist, from which I quote, "an occasion to remark the surprising contrast of magnificence and meanness in the buildings, and of pride and littleness in the persons belonging to the imperial palace."