Читать книгу The War in the East: Japan, China, and Corea - White Trumbull - Страница 9

Table of Contents

Origin of the Name of China, and What the Chinese Call their Own Country—Dependencies of the Empire—China and the United States in Comparison—Their Many Physical Similarities—Mountains and Plains—The Fertile Soil—Provinces of China—Rivers and Lakes—Climate—Fauna and Flora—Industries of the People—Commerce with Foreign Nations—The Cities of China—Forms of Government and Administration.

Until recent years the word China was unknown in the empire which we call by that name, but of late it has become more familiar to the Chinese, and in certain regions they are in fact adopting it for their own use, owing to the frequency with which they hear it from the foreigners with whom they are doing business. The name was no doubt introduced in Europe and America from the nations of Central Asia who speak of the Chinese by various names derived from that of the powerful Ching family, who held sway many centuries ago. The names which the Chinese use in speaking of themselves are various. The most common one is Chung Kwo, the “Middle Kingdom.” This term grew up in the feudal period as a name for the royal domain in the midst of the other states, or for those states as a whole in the midst of the uncivilized countries around them. The assumption of universal sovereignty, of being the geographical center of the world, and also the center of light and civilization that have been so injurious to the nation, appear in several of the most ancient names. In the oldest classical writings the country is called the Flowery Kingdom, flowery presenting the idea of beautiful, cultivated, and refined. The terms Heavenly Flowery Kingdom, and Heavenly Dynasty are sometimes used, the word heavenly presenting the Chinese idea that the empire is established by the authority of heaven, and that the emperor rules by divine right. This title has given rise to the contemptuous epithet applied to the race by the Europeans, “The Celestials.”

The Chinese empire, consisting of China proper and Manchooria, with its dependencies of Mongolia, I-li and Thibet, embraces a vast territory in eastern and central Asia, only inferior in extent to the dominions of Great Britain and Russia. The dependencies are not colonies but subject territories; and China proper itself indeed, has been a subject territory of Manchooria since 1644.

China proper was divided nearly two hundred years ago into eighteen provinces; and since the recent separation of the island of Formosa from Fu-chien, and its constitution into an independent province, we may say that it now consists of nineteen. These form one of the corners of the Asiatic continent, having the Pacific ocean on the south and east. They are somewhat in the shape of an irregular rectangle, and including the island of Hainan lie between 18 and 49 degrees north latitude and 98 and 124 degrees east longitude. Their area is about two million square miles, while the whole empire has an area more than twice that large.

In giving a correct general idea of China one cannot perhaps do better than to institute a comparison between it and the United States, to which it bears a striking resemblance. It occupies the same position in the eastern hemisphere that the United States does in the western. Its line of sea coast on the Pacific resembles that of the United States on the Atlantic, not only in length but also in contour. Being found within almost the same parallels of latitude, it embraces almost the same variety of climate and production. A river as grand as the Mississippi, flowing east, divides the empire into nearly two equal parts, which are often designated as “north of the river” and “south of the river.” It passes through an immense and fertile valley, and is supplied by numerous tributaries having rise in mountain ranges on either side and also in the Himalayas on the west. The area of China proper is about two-thirds that of the states of the American union.

CHINESE MINERS.

The resemblance holds also in the artificial divisions. While our country is divided into more than forty states, China is divided into nineteen provinces. As our states are divided into counties, so each province has divisions called fu and each fu is again divided into about an equal number of hien. These divisions and subdivisions of the provinces are generally spoken of in English as departments or prefectures, and districts, but they are much larger than our corresponding counties and townships. And similarly to our own system of government, each of these divisions and subdivisions has its own capital or seat of civil power, in which the officers exercising jurisdiction over it reside. The outer dependencies of the Chinese empire are comparatively sparsely populated, and in this work, when China, without specification, is mentioned, it is intended to refer to the eighteen provinces exclusively, which include the vast proportion of the population, intelligence and wealth of the empire.

As to the physical features of China proper, the whole territory may be described as sloping from the mountainous regions of Thibet and Nepaul towards the shores of the Pacific on the east and south. A far extending spur of the Himalayas called the Nanling, or southern range, is the most extensive mountain system. It commences in Yun-nan, and passing completely through the country enters the sea at Ningpo. Except for a few steep passes, it thus forms a continuous barrier that separates the coast regions of south-eastern China from the rest of the country. Numerous spurs are cast off to the south and east of it, which appear in the sea as a belt of rugged islands. On the borders of Thibet to the north and west of this range, the country is mountainous, while to the east and from the great wall on the north to the Po-yang Lake in the south, there is the great plain comprising an area of more than two hundred thousand square miles and supporting in the five provinces contained in it more than one hundred and seventy-five million people.

In the north-western provinces the soil is a brownish colored earth, extremely porous, crumbling easily between the fingers, and carried far and wide in clouds of dust. It covers the sub-soil to an enormous depth and is apt to split perpendicularly in clefts which render traveling difficult. Nevertheless by this cleavage it affords homes to thousands of the people, who live in caves excavated near the bottom of the cliffs. Sometimes whole villages are so formed in terraces of the earth that rise one above another. The most valuable quality of this peculiar soil is its marvelous fertility, as the fields composed of it require scarcely any other dressing than a sprinkling of its own fresh loam. The farmer in this way obtains an assured harvest two and even three times a year. This fertility, provided there be a sufficient rainfall, seems inexhaustible. The province of Shan-hsi has borne the name for thousands of years of the “granary of the nation,” and it is, no doubt, due to the distribution of this earth over its surface, that the great plain owes its fruitfulness.

Geographically speaking the arrangement of the provinces of China is as follows: On the north there are four provinces, Chihli, Shan-hsi, Shen-hsi, and Kan-su; on the west two, Szechwan, the largest of all, and Yun-nan; on the south two, Kwang-hsi and Kwang-tung; on the east four, Fu-chien, Cheh-chiang, Chiang-su, and Shan-tung. The central area enclosed by these twelve provinces is occupied by Honan, An-hui, Hoopih, Hunan, Chiang-hsi, and Kwei-chau. The latter is a poor province, with parts of it largely occupied by clans or tribes supposed to be the aborigines. The island of Formosa, lying off the coast of Fu-chien, ninety miles west of Amoy, is about two hundred and thirty-five miles in length, fertile and rich in coal, petroleum, and camphor wood. The first settlement of a Chinese population took place only in 1683, and the greater part of it is still occupied by aboriginal tribes of a more than ordinary high type. The population of these provinces is immense, but the various estimates and alleged censuses fluctuate and vary so much that it is impossible to give a definite number as the total. It is a safe estimate however to say that the population of the Chinese empire approximates four hundred million, or considerably more than one-fourth the population of the world, and nearly as much as the total of all Europe and America.

One of the most distinguishing features of China is found in the great rivers. These are called for the most part “ho” in the north and “chiang” (kiang) in the south. Two of these are famous and conspicuous among the great rivers of the world, the Ho, Hoang-ho, or Yellow River, and the Chiang, generally misnamed the Yang-tsze. The sources of these two rivers are not far from one another. The Ho rises in the plain of Odontala, which is a region of springs and small lakes, and the Chiang from the mountains of Thibet only a few miles distant. The Ho pursues a tortuous course first to the east and north until it crosses the great wall into Mongolia. After flowing a long distance northward of the Mongolian desert, to the northern limit of Shen-hsi, it then turns directly south for a distance of five hundred miles. A right angle turns its course again to the eastward and finally north-eastward, when it flows into the Gulf of Pechili in the province of Shan-tung. The Chiang on the contrary turns south where the Ho turns north, and then after a general course to the eastward and northward, roughly parallelparallel with its fellow, flows into the Eastern Sea, not far from Shanghai.

Both rivers are exceedingly tortuous and their courses are only roughly outlined here. Almost the very opening of Chinese history is an account of one of the inundations of the Ho River, which has often in course of time changed its channel. The terrible calamities caused by it so often have procured for it the name of “China’s sorrow.” As recently as 1887 it burst its southern bank near Chang Chau, and poured its mighty flood with hideous devastation, and the destruction of millions of lives, into the populous province of Honan. Each of these rivers has a course of more than three thousand miles. They are incomparably the greatest in China, but there are many others which would be accounted great elsewhere. In connection with inland navigation must be mentioned the Grand Canal, intended to connect the northern and southern parts of the empire by an easy water communication; and this it did when it was in good order, extending from Peking to Hankow, a distance of more than six hundred miles. Kublai Khan, the first sovereign of the Yuan dynasty, must be credited with the glory of making this canal. Marco Polo described it, and compliments the great ruler for the success of his work. Steam communication all along the eastern seaboard from Canton to Tien-tsin has very much superseded the use of the canal and portions of it are now in bad condition, but as a truly imperial achievement it continues to be a grand memorial of Kublai.

The Great Wall was another vast achievement of human labor, constructed more than two thousand years ago. It has been alleged a myth at some times, but its existence has not been denied since explorations have been made to the north of China Proper. It was not as useful as the canal, and it failed to answer the purpose for which it was intended, a defense against the incursions of the northern tribes. In 214 B.C. the Emperor Che Hwang Ti determined to erect a grand barrier all along the northern limit of his vast empire. The wall commences at the Shan-hsi pass on the north coast of the Gulf of Pechili. From this point it is carried westward till it terminates at the Chia-yu barrier gate, the road through which leads to the “western regions.” It is twice interrupted in its course by the Ho River, and has several branch and loop walls to defend certain cities and districts. Its length in a straight line would be one thousand two hundred and fifty-five miles, but if measured along its sinuosities this distance must be increased to one thousand five hundred. It is not built so grandly in its western portions after passing the Ho River, nor should it be supposed that to the east of this point it is all solid masonry. It is formed by two strong retaining walls of brick rising from granite foundations, the space between being filled with stones and earth. The breadth of it at the base is about twenty-five feet, at the top fifteen feet, and the height varies from fifteen to thirty feet. The surface at the top was once covered with bricks but is now overgrown with grass. What travelers go to visit from Peking is merely a loop wall of later formation, enclosing portions of Chihli and Shan-hsi.

China includes many lakes, but they are not so commanding in size as the rivers. There are but three which are essential to mention. These are the Tung-ting Hu, the largest, having a circumference of two hundred and twenty miles, about in the center of the empire; the Po-yang Hu, half way between the former and the sea; and the Tai Hu, not far from Shanghai and the Yang-tsze River. The latter lake is famous for its romantic scenery and numerous islets.

The peculiarities of climate along the Chinese coast are due in great measure to the northern and southern monsoons, the former prevailing with more or less uniformity during the winter, and the latter during the summer months. These winds give a greater degree of heat in summer and of cold in winter than is experienced in the United States in corresponding latitudes. At Ningpo, situated in latitude 30, about that of New Orleans, large quantities of ice are secured in the winter for summer use. It is, however, very thin measured by what we think proper ice for preservationpreservation. In this part of China snow not infrequently falls to the depth of six or eight inches, and the hills are sometimes covered with it for weeks in succession. In the northern provinces the winters are very severe. In the vicinity of Peking, not only are the canals and rivers closed during the winter, but all commerce by sea is suspended during two or three months, while in the summer that part of China is very warm. The period of the change of the monsoon, when the two opposite currents are struggling with each other is marked by a great fall of rain and by the cyclones which are so much dreaded by mariners on the Chinese coast. The southern monsoon gradually loses its force in passing northward, and is not very marked above latitude 32, though its influence is decidedly felt in July and August. With the exception of the summer months the climate of the northern coast of China is remarkably dry; that of the southern coast is damp most of the year, especially during the months of May, June, and July.

In different parts of the country almost every variety of climate can be found, hot or cold, moist or dry, salubrious or malarial. The ports which were at first opened as places of residence for foreigners were unfortunately among the most unhealthful of the empire, not so much from the enervating effects of their southerly latitude as from their local miasmatic influences, being situated in the rice-producing districts and surrounded more or less by stagnant water during the summer months. Under the later treaties which opened new ports in the north, as well as interior cities, foreigners have been permitted to live in regions whose climates will compare favorably with most parts of our own country. The Chinese themselves consider Kwang-tung, Kwang-hsi, and Yun-nan to be less healthful than the other provinces; but foreigners using proper precautions may enjoy their lives in every province.

The Chinese are essentially an agricultural people, and from time immemorial they have held agriculture in the highest esteem as being the means by which the soil has been induced to supply the primary wants of the empire, food. Of course the climate and the nature of a district determine the kind of farming appropriate to it. Agriculturally China may be said to be divided into two parts by the Chiang. South of that river, speaking generally, the soil and climate point to rice as the appropriate crop, while to the north lie vast plains which as clearly are best designed for growing wheat, barley, oats, Indian corn and other cereals. Culinary or kitchen herbs, mushrooms, and aquatic vegetables, with ginger and a variety of other condiments, are everywhere produced and widely used. From Formosa there comes sugar, and the cane thrives also in the southern provinces. Oranges, pomegranates, peaches, plantains, pineapples, mangoes, grapes, and many other fruits and nuts are supplied in most markets. The cultivation of opium is constantly on the increase.

CHINESE FARM SCENE.

Of course the use of tea as a beverage is a national characteristic. The plant does not grow in the north, but is cultivated extensively in the western provinces and in the southern. The infusion of the leaves was little if at all drunk in ancient times, but now its use is universal. Fu-chien, Hoopih, and Hu-nan produce the greater part of the black teas; the green comes chiefly from Cheh-chiang and An-hui; both kinds comes from Kwang-tung and Sze-chwan. Next to silk, if not equally with it, tea is China’s most valuable export. From rice and millet the Chinese distill alcoholic liquors, but they are very sparingly used and it is a compliment to the temperate inclinations of the people, that immediately upon the opening of tea houses many years ago, the places for selling liquor found themselves empty of business and were soon compelled to close.

CHINESE TEA FARM.

Birds and animals are found in great variety, though the country is too thickly peopled and well cultivated to harbor many wild and dangerous beasts. One occasionally hears of a tiger that has ventured from the forest and been killed or captured, but the lion was never a denizen of China and is only to be seen rampant in stone in front of temples. The rhinoceros, elephant, and tapir are said still to exist in the forests and swamps of Yun-nan; but the supply of elephants at Peking for the carriage of the emperor when he proceeds to the great sacrificial altars has been decreasing for several reigns. Both the brown and the black bear are found, and several varieties of the deer family, of which the musk deer is highly valued. Among the domestic animals the breed of horses and cattle is dwarfish and no attempts seem to be made to improve them. The ass is a more lively animal in the north than it is in European countries or America, and receives much attention. About Peking one is struck by many beautiful specimens of the mule. Princes are seen riding on mules, or drawn by them in handsome litters, while their attendants accompany them on horseback. The camel is seen only in the north. Many birds of prey abound, including minos, crows, and magpies. The people are fond of songbirds, especially the thrush, the canary, and the lark. The lovely gold and silver pheasants are well known, and also the mandarin duck, the emblem to the Chinese of conjugal fidelity. Many geese too are reared and eaten, while the ducks are artificially hatched. The number of pigs is enormous and fish are a plentiful supply of food.

CHINESE STREET SCENE.

The people are very fond of flowers and are excellent gardeners, but their favorites are mostly cultivated in pots instead of in beds.

Silk, linen, and cotton furnish abundant provision for the clothing of the race. China was no doubt the original home of silk. The mulberry tree grows everywhere and silk worms flourish as widely. In all provinces some silk is produced, but the best is furnished from Kwang-tung, Sze-chwan, and Cheh-chiang. From the twenty-third century B.C. and earlier, the care of the silk worm and the spinning and weaving of its produce have been the special work of women. As it is the duty of the sovereign to turn over a few furrows in the spring to stimulate the people to their agricultural tasks, so his consort should perform an analogous ceremony with her silk worms and mulberry trees. The manufactures of silk are not inferior to or less brilliant than any that are produced in Europe, and nothing can exceed the embroidery of the Chinese. The cotton plant appears to have been introduced some eight hundred years ago from Eastern Turkestan and is now cultivated most extensively in the basin of the Chiang River. The well known nankeen is named for Nanking, a center for its manufacture. Of woolen fabrics the production is not large, but there are felt caps, rugs of camels hair and furs of various kinds.

CHINESE FARMER.

While the Chinese have done justice to most of the natural capabilities of their country, they have greatly failed in developing its mineral resources. The skill which their lapidaries display in cutting the minerals and jewels is well known, but in the development of the utilitarian minerals they have been very negligent. The coal fields of China are enormous, but the majority of them can hardly be said to be more than scratched. Immense deposits of iron ore are still untouched. Copper, lead, tin, silver, and gold are known to exist in many places, but little has been done to make the stores of them available. More attention has been directed to their mines since their government and companies began to have steamers of their own and a scheme has been approved by the government for working the gold mines in the valley of the Amoor River. With the government once conscious of its mineral wealth, there is no limit to the results which it may bring about.

The commerce of China with the western nations has been constantly on the increase for many years. The number of vessels entering and clearing at the various treaty ports is now between thirty thousand and thirty-five thousand annually, and the value of the whole trade, import and export, approximates $300,000,000 annually. Of course the two principal exports are tea and silk. About half of the trade is done by means of vessels under the British flag, and nearly half of the remainder are vessels of foreign type, but owned by Chinese and sailing under the Chinese flag.

The capitals of the different divisions of the empire are all walled cities, and these form a striking feature of the country. There are important distinctions between the cities of the third class, most of which are designated as hien, a few as cheo and others as ting. Though varying considerably in size, these different cities present nearly the uniform appearance. They are surrounded by walls from twenty to thirty-five feet in height, and are entered by large arched gateways which open into the principal streets and are shut and barred at night. These walls are from twenty to twenty-five feet thick at the base and somewhat narrower at the top. The outside is of solid masonry from two to four feet thick, built of hewn stone, or bricks backed with earth, broken tiles, etc. There is generally a lighter stone facing on the inside. The outside is surmounted by a parapet with embrasures generally built of brick.

The circumferences of the provincial cities vary from eight to fifteen miles; those of the fu cities from four to ten miles, and those of the hien cities from two or three to five miles. Some of the larger and more important cities contain a smaller one, with its separate walls, enclosed within the larger outside walls. This is the Tartar or military city. It is occupied exclusively by Tartars with their families, forming a colony or garrison, and numbering generally several thousand soldiers. In times of insurrection and rebellion the emperor depends principally upon these Tartar colonies to hold possession of the cities where they are stationed. In such emergencies the inhabitants of these enclosed Tartar cities, knowing that their lives and the lives of their families are at stake, defend themselves with great desperation.

The provincial capitals contain an average population of nearly one million inhabitants; the fu cities from one hundred thousand to six hundred thousand or even more, while the cities of the third class, which are much more numerous, generally contain several tens of thousands. The most of these towns of different classes have outgrown their walls, and frequently one-fourth or even one-third of the inhabitants live in the suburbs, which in some cases extend three or four miles outside the walls in different directions. Property is less valuable in these suburbs, not only because it is removed from the business parts of the city, but also because it is more liable to be destroyed in times of rebellion. All the names to be found on even our largest maps of China, are the names of walled cities, and many of those of the third class are not down for want of space. The total number of these cities is more than one thousand seven hundred. From the number and size of the cities of China it might be inferred that they contain the greater portion of the inhabitants of the empire. This is however by no means the case. The Chinese are mainly an agricultural people and live for the most part in the almost innumerable villages which everywhere dot its fertile plains. A detached or isolated farm house is seldom seen. The country people live in towns or hamlets for the sake of society and mutual protection. Most of the cities, even the smaller ones, have thousands of these villages under their jurisdiction. In the more populous parts of China will frequently be found, within a radius of three or four miles, from one hundred and fifty to two hundred of these villages.

The estimate of population made on a previous page gives an average population of about three hundred persons to the square mile, while that of Belgium and some other European countries is greater. Perhaps no country in the world is more fertile and capable of supporting a dense population than China. Every available spot of ground is brought under cultivation, and nearly all the land is made use of to provide food for man, pasture fields being almost unknown. The masses of China eat very little animal food, and what they do eat is mostly pork and fowls, the raising of which requires little or no waste of ground. The comparatively few horses and cattle and sheep which are found in the country are kept in stables, or graze upon the hill tops, or are tethered by the sides of canals. Taking these facts into consideration, that an extended and exceedingly fertile country under the highest state of cultivation, is taxed to its utmost capacity to supply the wants of a frugal and industrious people, the estimate of population need not excite incredulity.

Nearly all of the cities marked on our maps of the coast of China, are now open ports for traffic and residence of foreigners. The most northerly of these is Niuchwang and the most southern Pak-hoi, while between these familiar names are those of Canton, Swatow, Amoy, Foochow, Ningpo, Shanghai, Tien-tsin and several others. Interior cities that have been opened to foreigners include a number on the Chiang River, the one farthest inland being I-chang. Peking is also accessible to foreigners; and several ports on the islands of Hainan and Formosa are opened by treaty. The population of these cities cannot be told with much exactness, as the Chinese census can scarcely claim accuracy. But the largest cities, such as Canton and Peking, are generally credited, in common with several others even smaller, with passing the million mark.

AN IMPERIAL AUDIENCE.

The Chinese government is one of the great wonders of history. It presents to-day the same character which it possessed more than three thousand years ago, and which it has retained ever since, during a period which covers the authentic history of the world. The government may be described as being in theory a patriarchal despotism. The emperor is the father of his people, and just as in a family the father’s law is supreme, so the emperor exercises complete control over his subjects, even to the extent of holding, under certain recognized conditions, their lives in his hands. But from time immemorial it has been held by the highest constitutional authorities that the duties existing between the emperor and his people are reciprocal, and that though it is the duty of the people to render a loyal and willing obedience to the emperor, so long as his rule is just and beneficent, it is equally incumbent upon them to resist his authority, to depose him, and even to put him to death, in case he should desert the paths of rectitude and virtue.

As a matter of fact however, it is very difficult to say what extent of power the emperor actually wields. The outside world sees only the imperial bolts, but how they are forged or whose is the hand that shoots them none can tell. The most common titles of the emperor are Hwang-Shang, “The August Lofty One,” and Tien-Tsz, “The Son of Heaven.” He lives in unapproachable grandeur, and is never seen except by members of his own family and high state officers, save once a year when he gives audience to few foreign diplomats. Nothing is omitted which can add to the dignity and sacredness of his person or character. Almost everything used by him or in his service is tabooed from the common people, and distinguished by some peculiar mark or color so as to keep up the impression of awe with which he is regarded, and which is so powerful an auxiliary to his throne. The outward gate of the palace must always be passed on foot, and the paved entrance walk leading up to it can be used only by him. The vacant throne, or even a screen of yellow silk thrown over a chair, is worshipped equally with his actual presence, and an imperial dispatch is received in the provinces with incense and prostration.

PREPARATION OF VERMICELLI.

The throne is not strictly and necessarily hereditary, though the son of the emperor generally succeeds to it. The emperor appoints his successor, but it is supposed that in doing so he will have supreme regard for the best good of his subjects, and will be governed by the will of heaven, indicated by the conferring of regal gifts, and by providential circumstances pointing out the individual whom heaven has chosen. Of course in the case of unusually able men, such as the second and fourth rulers of the present dynasty, their influence is more felt than that of less energetic rulers; but the throne of China is so hedged in with ceremonials and so padded with official etiquette that unless its occupant be a man of supreme ability he cannot fail to fall under the guidance of his ministers and favorites. In governing so large a realm, of course it is necessary for the emperor to delegate his authority to numerous officers who are regarded as his agents and representatives in carrying out the imperial will. What they do the emperor does through them. The recognized patriarchal character of the government is seen in the familiar expressions of the people, particularly at times when they consider themselves injured or aggrieved by their officers, when they are apt to say, “A strange way for parents to treat their children.”

The government of the empire, omitting the regulation of the imperial court and family, or the special Manchoo department, is conducted from the capital, supervising, directing, controlling the different provincial administrations, and exercising the power of removing from his post any official whose conduct may be irregular or dangerous to the state.

There is the Grand Cabinet, the privy council of the emperor, in whose presence it meets daily to transact the business of the state, between the hours of 4:00 and 6:00 A.M. Its members are few and hold other offices. There is also the Grand Secretariat, formerly the supreme council, but under the present dynasty very much superseded by the Cabinet. It consists of four grand and two assistant grand secretaries, half of them Manchoos and half Chinese. The business on which the Cabinet deliberates comes before it from the six boards or Luh-pu. These are departments of long standing in the government, having been modeled on much the same plan during the ancient dynasties. At the head of each board are two presidents, called Shang-shu, and four vice-presidents called Shi-lang, alternately a Manchoo and a Chinese. There are three subordinate grades of officers in each board, with a great number of minor clerks, and their appropriate departments for conducting the details of the general and peculiar business coming under the cognizance of the board, the whole being arranged in the most business-like style.

Newly Married.

Young Lady of Quality.

CHINESE LADIES.

The six boards are respectively of Civil Office, of Revenue, of Ceremonies, of War, of Punishments, and of Works. In 1861 the changed relations between the empire and foreign nations led to the formation of what may be called a seventh board styled the Tsung-li Yamen, or Court of Foreign Affairs. There is also another important department which must be mentioned, the censorate, members of which exercise a supervision over the board, and are entrusted with the duty of exposing errors and crimes in every department of government. Distributed through the provinces they memorialize the emperor on all subjects connected with the welfare of the people and the conduct of the government. Sometimes they do not shrink even from the dangerous task of criticising the conduct of the emperor himself.

The different boards are all charged with the superintendence of the affairs of the eighteen provinces into which the empire is divided. Fifteen of these provinces are grouped into eight vice-royalties, and the remaining three are administered by a governor. Each province is autonomous, or nearly so, and the supreme authorities, whether viceroys or governors, are practically independent so long as they act in accordance with the very minute regulations laid down for their guidance. The principal function of the Peking government is to see that these regulations are carried out, and in case they should not be to call the offending viceroy or governor to account. Below the governor-general or governor of a province, are the lieutenant-governor, commonly called the treasurer, the provincial judge, the salt-comptroller, and the grain-intendant. The provinces are further divided for the purposes of administration into prefectures, departments, and districts. Each has its officers, magistrates, and a whole host of petty underlings. The rank of the different officials in these provinces is indicated by a knob or button on the top of their caps. In the two highest it is made of red coral; in the third it is clear blue; in the fourth it is lapis lazuli; in the fifth of crystal; in the sixth of an opaque white stone; and in the three lowest it is yellow, of gold or gilt. They also wear insignia or badges embroidered on a square patch in the front or back of their robes, representing birds on the civilians and animals on the military officers.

Each viceroy raises his own army and navy, which he pays, or sometimes unfortunately does not pay, out of the revenues of the government. He levies his own taxes, and except in particular cases is the final court of appeal in all judicial matters within the limits of his rule. But in return for this latitude allowed him, he is held personally responsible for the good government of his territory. If by any chance serious disturbances break out and continue unsuppressed, he is called to account, as having by his misconduct contributed to them, and he in his turn looks to his subordinates to maintain order and execute justice within their jurisdiction. Of himself he has no power to remove or punish subordinate officials, but has to refer all complaints against them to Peking. The personal responsibility resting upon him of maintaining order makes him a severe critic on those who serve under him, and very frequently junior officials are impeached and punished at the instigation of their chief. Incapable and unworthy officials, constant opium smokers, those who misappropriate public money, and those who fail to arrest criminals, are those who meet swift punishment. On the whole the conduct of junior officials is carefully watched.

PALANQUIN OF A HIGH OFFICIAL.

As has been already said, the affairs of each province are administered by the viceroy, or governor, and his subordinates, and speaking generally their rule is as enlightened and as just as could be expected in an oriental country where public opinion finds only a very imperfect utterance. Official purity and justice must be treated as comparative terms in China. The constitution of the civil service renders it next to impossible that any office holder can be clean-handed. The salaries awarded are low, out of all proportion to the necessary expenses pertaining to the offices to which they are apportioned, and the consequence is that in some way or other the officials are compelled to make up the deficiency from the pockets of those subject to them. As a rule, mandarins seldom enter office with private fortunes, and the wealth therefore, which soothes the declining years of veteran officials, may be fairly assumed to be ill-gotten gain. There are laws against these exactions, and very often some magistrate is degraded or executed for levying illegal assessments. The immunity which some mandarins enjoy from the just consequences of their crimes, and the severity with which the law is vindicated in the cases of others for much lighter offenses, has a sinister aspect. But in a system of which bribery and corruption practically form a part, one need not expect to find purity in any direction. And it is not too much to say that the whole civil service is, judged by an American standard, corrupt to the core. The people however are lightly taxed and they readily submit to limited extortion so long as the rule of the mandarin is otherwise just and beneficent.

THE GOVERNOR OF A PROVINCE.

How rarely does a mandarin earn the respect and affection of the people is obvious from the great parade which is made on the departure from their posts of the very occasional officials who are fortunate enough to have done so. Archdeacon Gray relates that during his residence of a quarter of a century at Canton he only met one man who had entitled himself to the regret of the people at his departure. When the time came for this man to leave the city, the people rose in multitudes to do him honor and begged for him to return if he could. A somewhat similar scene occurred at Tien-tsin in 1861, on the departure of the most benevolent prefect that the city had ever seen. The people accompanied him beyond the gate on his road to Peking with every token of honor and finally begged from him his boots, which they carried back in triumph and hung up as a memento in the temple of the city god. Going to the opposite extreme, it sometimes happens that the people, goaded into rebellion by a sense of wrong, rise in arms against some particularly obnoxious mandarin and drive him from the district. But the Chinese are essentially unwarlike, and it must be some act of gross oppression to stir their blood to fever heat.

A potent means of protection against oppression is granted to the people by the appointment of imperial censors throughout the empire, whose duty it is to report to the throne all cases of misrule, injustice, or neglect on the part of the mandarins which come to their knowledge. The same tolerance which is shown by the people towards the shortcomings and ill deeds of the officials, is displayed by these men in the discharge of their duties. Only aggravated cases make them take their pens in hand, but when they do, it must be confessed that they show little mercy. Neither are they respectors of persons; their lash falls alike on all from the emperor on his throne to the police-runners in magisterial courts. Nor is their plain speaking more amazing than the candor with which their memorials affecting the characters of great and small alike are published in the Peking Gazette. The gravest charges, such as of peculation, neglect of duty, injustice, or incompetence, are brought against mandarins of all ranks and are openly published in the official paper.

PUNISHMENT BY THE GANGUE.

In the administration of justice the same lax morality as in other branches of government exists, and bribery is largely resorted to by litigants, more especially in civil cases. As a rule money in excess of the legal fees has in the first instance to be paid to clerks and secretaries before a case can be put down for hearing, and a decision of the presiding mandarin is too often influenced by the sums of money which find their way into his purse from the pockets of either suitor. But the greatest blot on Chinese administration is the inhumanity shown to both culprits and witnesses in criminal procedure. Tortures of the most painful and revolting kind are used to extort evidence, and punishments scarcely more severely cruel are inflicted on the guilty parties. Flogging with bamboos, beating the jaws with thick pieces of leather, or the ankles with a stick, are some of the preliminary tortures applied to witnesses or culprits who refuse to give the evidence expected of them. Further refinements of cruelty are reserved for hardened offenders by means of which infinite pain and often permanent injury are inflicted.

FLOGGING A CULPRIT.

It follows as a natural consequence that in a country where torture is thus resorted to the punishments inflicted on criminals must be proportionately cruel. Death, the final punishment, can unfortunately be inflicted in various ways, and a sliding scale of capital punishments is used by the Chinese to mark their sense of the varying heinousness of murderous crimes. For parricide, matricide and wholesale murders, the usual sentence is that of Ling-che, or “ignominious and slow death.” In the carrying out of this sentence the culprit is fastened to a cross, and cuts varying in number, at the discretion of the judge, from eight to one hundred and twenty are made first on the face and fleshy parts of the body, next the heart is pierced, and finally when death has been thus caused, the limbs are separated from the body and divided. During a recent year ten cases in which this punishment was inflicted were reported in the official Peking Gazette. In ordinary cases of capital punishment execution by beheading is the common mode. This is a speedy and merciful death, the skill gained by frequent experience enabling the executioner in almost every case to perform his task with one blow. Another death which is less horrible to Chinamen, who view any mutilation of the body as an extreme disgrace, is by strangulation. The privilege of so passing out of the world is accorded at times to influential criminals, whose crimes are not of so heinous a nature as to demand their decapitation; and occasionally they are even allowed to be their own executioners.

Asiatics are almost invariably careless about the sufferings of others, and the men of China are no exception to the rule. It is almost impossible to exaggerate the horrors of a Chinese prison. The filth and dirt of the rooms, the brutality of the jailers, the miserable diet, and the entire absence of the commonest sanitary arrangements make a picture which is too horrible to draw in detail.

Chinese law-givers have distinguished very markedly between crimes accompanied and unaccompanied with violence. For offenses of the latter description, punishments of a comparatively light nature are inflicted, such as wearing a wooden collar, and piercing the ears with arrows, to the ends of which are attached slips of paper on which are inscribed the crime of which the culprit has been guilty. Frequently the criminals bearing these signs of their disgrace are paraded up and down the street where their offense was committed, and sometimes in more serious cases they are flogged through the leading thoroughfares of the city, preceded by a herald who announces the nature of their misdemeanors. But to give a list of Chinese punishments will be to exhaust the ingenuity of man to torture his fellow creatures. The subject is a horrible one and it is a relief to turn from the dingy prison gates and the halls of so-called justice.

After this review of the impersonal, and the material, and the official character of the Chinese empire as a nation, let us now turn to the more personal consideration of the people themselves, their characteristics, and their manner of life and thought.