Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio, Vol. 1 (of 2)
Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio, Vol. 1 (of 2)-11
[83] The belief that a knowledge of alchemy is obtainable by leading
the life of a pure and perfect Taoist, is one of the numerous
additions in later ages to this ancient form of religion. See No. IV.,
note 46.
return to text
[84] The direct issue of the Emperors of the present dynasty and their
descendants in the male line for ever are entitled to wear a yellow
girdle in token of their relationship to the Imperial family, each
generation becoming a degree lower in rank, but always retaining this
distinctive badge. Members of the collateral branches wear a red
girdle, and are commonly known as gioros. With the lapse of two
hundred and fifty years, the wearers of these badges have become
numerous, and in many cases disreputable; and they are now to be found
even among the lowest dregs of Chinese social life.
return to text
[85] Quail fighting is not so common now in China as it appears to
have been formerly. Cricket-fighting is, however, a very favourite
form of gambling, large quantities of these insects being caught every
year for this purpose, and considerable sums frequently staked on the
result of a contest between two champions.
return to text
[86] Impeded, of course, by her small feet. This practice is said to
have originated about A.D. 970, with Yao Niang, the concubine of the
pretender Li Yü, who wished to make her feet like the “new moon.” The
Manchu or Tartar ladies have not adopted this custom, and therefore
the empresses of modern times have feet of the natural size; neither
is it in force among the Hakkas or hill-tribes of China and Formosa.
The practice was forbidden in 1664 by the Manchu Emperor, K‘ang Hsi;
but popular feeling was so strong on the subject that four years
afterwards the prohibition was withdrawn. Protestant missionaries are
now making a dead set at this shameful custom, but so far with very
indifferent success; as parents who do not cramp the feet of their
daughters would experience no small difficulty in finding husbands for
them when they grow up. Besides, the gait of a young lady hobbling
along, as we should say, seems to be much admired by the other sex.
The following seven reasons why this custom still keeps its hold upon
the Chinese mind emanate from a native convert:—
“1st.—If a girl’s feet are not bound, people say she is not like a
woman but like a man; they laugh at her, calling her names, and her
parents are ashamed of her.
“2nd.—Girls are like flowers, like the willow. It is very important
that their feet should be bound short so that they can walk
beautifully, with mincing steps, swaying gracefully, thus showing they
are persons of respectability. People praise them. If not bound short,
they say the mother has not trained her daughter carefully. She goes
from house to house with noisy steps, and is called names. Therefore
careful persons bind short.
“3rd.—One of a good family does not wish to marry a woman with long
feet. She is commiserated because her feet are not perfect. If
betrothed, and the size of her feet is not discovered till after
marriage, her husband and mother-in-law are displeased, her
sisters-in-law laugh at her, and she herself is sad.
“4th.—The large footed has to do rough work, does not sit in a sedan
when she goes out, walks in the streets barefooted, has no red
clothes, does not eat the best food. She is wetted by the rain, tanned
by the sun, blown upon by the wind. If unwilling to do all the rough
work of the house she is called ‘gormandizing and lazy.’ Perhaps she
decides to go out as a servant. She has no fame and honour. To escape
all this her parents bind her feet.
“5th.—There are those with unbound feet who do no heavy work, wear
gay clothing, ride in a sedan, call others to wait upon them. Although
so fine they are low and mean. If a girl’s feet are unbound, she
cannot be distinguished from one of these.
“6th.—Girls are like gold, like gems. They ought to stay in their own
house. If their feet are not bound they go here and go there with
unfitting associates; they have no good name. They are like defective
gems that are rejected.
“7th.—Parents are covetous. They think small feet are pleasing and
will command a high price for a bride.”—On Foot-Binding, by Miss S.
Woolston.
return to footnote anchor 86
return to footnote 159
[87] The disembodied spirits of the Chinese Inferno are permitted,
under certain conditions of time and good conduct, to appropriate to
themselves the vitality of some human being, who, as it were,
exchanges places with the so-called “devil.” The devil does not,
however, reappear as the mortal whose life it has become possessed of,
but is merely born again into the world; the idea being that the
amount of life on earth is a constant quantity, and cannot be
increased or diminished, reminding one in a way of the great modern
doctrine of the conservation of energy. This curious belief has an
important bearing that will be brought out in a subsequent story.
return to footnote anchor 87
return to footnote anchor 99
return to footnote anchor 127
[88] Here again is a Taoist priest quoting the Buddhist commandment,
“Thou shalt not take life.” The Buddhist laity in China, who do not
hesitate to take life for the purposes of food, salve their
consciences from time to time by buying birds, fishes, &c., and
letting them go, in the hope that such acts will be set down on the
credit side of their record of good and evil.
return to text
[89] This recalls the celebrated story of the fisherman in the
Arabian Nights.
return to text
[90] Hu is the sound of the character for “fox;” it is also the
sound of quite a different character, which is used as a surname.
return to footnote anchor 90
return to footnote anchor 136
return to footnote anchor 216
[91] The name of the Chinese type was Ch‘ên P‘ing. See Mayer’s
Reader’s Manual, No. 102.
return to text
[92] At the date at which we are writing skill in archery is still de
rigueur for all Manchus, and for those who would rise in the Chinese
army. Only the other day the progressive Governor-General of the Two
Kiang, Shên Pao-chên, memorialised the Throne with a view to the
abandonment of this effete and useless form of military drill, and
received a direct snub for his pains. Two hundred odd years ago, when
the Manchus were establishing their power, the dexterity of their
bowmen doubtless stood them in good stead; though if we are to judge
of their skill then by the ordinary practice of to-day, as seen on any
Chinese parade-ground, they could never have been more than very
third-rate archers after all.
return to text
[93] Every Chinese man and woman inherits a family name or surname. A
woman takes her husband’s surname, followed in official documents by
her maiden name. Children usually have a pet name given to them soon
after birth, which is dropped after a few years. Then there is the
ming or name, which once given is unchangeable, and by which the
various members of a family are distinguished. But only the father and
mother and certain other relatives are allowed to use this. Friends
call each other by their literary designations or “book-names,” which
are given generally by the teacher to whom the boy’s education is
first entrusted. Brothers and sisters and others have all kinds of
nick-names as with us. Dogs and cats are called by such names as
“Blackey,” “Whitey,” “Yellowy,” “Jewel,” “Pearly,” &c., &c. Junks are
christened “Large Profits,” “Abounding Wealth,” “Favourite of
Fortune,” &c., &c. Places are often named after some striking
geographical feature; e.g., Hankow—“mouth of the Han river,”
i.e., its point of junction with the Yang-tsze; or they have fancy
names, such as Fuhkien—“happily established;” Tientsin—“Heaven’s
ford;” or names implying a special distinction, such as
Nanking—“southern capital;” Shan-tung—“east of the mountains,”
&c.
return to text
[94] The name given by foreigners in China to the imitation of the ten
torture-chambers of purgatory, as seen in every Ch‘êng-huang or
municipal temple. The various figures of the devil-lictors and the
tortured sinners are made either of clay or wood, and painted in very
bright colours; and in each chamber is depicted some specimen of the
horrible tortures that wicked people will undergo in the world to
come. I have given in the Appendix a translation of the
“Yü-li-ch‘ao,” a celebrated Taoist work on this subject, which
should at any rate be glanced at by persons who would understand the
drift of some of these stories.
return to text
[95] To heat the wine, which is almost invariably taken hot.
return to text
[96] In token of their mutual good feeling.
return to text
[97] The Chinese as a nation believe to this day that the heart is the
seat of the intellect and the emotions.
return to footnote anchor 97
return to
[98] The heart itself is supposed to be pierced by a number of “eyes,”
which pass right through; and in physical and mental health these
passages are believed to be clear.
return to text
[99] See No. XII., note 87.
return to text
[100] The Hsi-yüan-lu, a well-known work on Chinese medical
jurisprudence, and an officially-authorised book, while giving an
absurd antidote against a poison that never existed [see my Chinese
Sketches, p. 190], gravely insists that it is to be prepared at
certain dates only, “in some place quite away from women, fowls, and
dogs.”
return to footnote anchor 100
return to
return to
[101] It was almost a wonder that she got a second fiancé, few
people caring to affiance their sons in a family where such a
catastrophe has once occurred. The death of an engaged girl is a
matter of much less importance, but is productive of a very curious
ceremony. Her betrothed goes to the house where she is lying dead and
steps over the coffin containing her body, returning home with a pair
of the girl’s shoes. He thus severs all connection with her, and her
spirit cannot haunt him as it otherwise most certainly would.
return to text
[102] Held annually on the 15th of the first Chinese month—i.e., at
the first full moon of the year, when coloured lanterns are hung at
every door. It was originally a ceremonial worship in the temple of
the First Cause, and dates from about the time of the Han dynasty, or
nearly two thousand years ago.
return to text
[103] It was John Stuart Mill who pointed out that the fear of death
is due to “the illusion of imagination, which makes one conceive
oneself as if one were alive and feeling oneself dead” (The Utility
of Religion).
return to text
[104] “Boards of old age” and “Clothes of old age sold here” are
common shop-signs in every Chinese city; death and burial being
always, if possible, spoken of euphemistically in some such terms as
these. A dutiful son provides, when he can afford it, decent coffins
for his father and mother. They are generally stored in the house,
sometimes in a neighbouring temple; and the old people take pleasure
in seeing that their funeral obsequies are properly provided for,
though the subject is never raised in conversation. Chinese coffins
are beautifully made; and when the body has been in for a day or two,
a candle is closely applied to the seams all round to make sure it is
air-tight,—any crack, however fine, being easily detected by the
flickering of the flame in the escaping gas. Thus bodies may be kept
unburied for a long time, until the geomancer has selected an
auspicious site for the grave.
return to footnote anchor 104
return to footnote 172
[105] Gongs, red umbrellas, men carrying boards on which the officer’s
titles are inscribed in large characters, a huge wooden fan, &c., &c.
return to text
[106] “Be like a cash” [see No. II., note 42] is a not uncommon saying
among the Chinese, the explanation of which rests upon the fact that a
cash is “round in shape and convenient for use,” which words are
pronounced identically with a corresponding number of words meaning
“round in disposition, square in action.” It is, in fact, a play on
words.
return to text
[107] Sickness being supposed to result from evil influences,
witchcraft, &c., just as often as from more natural causes.
return to text
[108] The rule which guides betrothals in China is that “the doors
should be opposite”—i.e., that the families of the bride and
bridegroom should be of equal position in the social scale. Any
unpleasantness about the value of the marriage presents, and so on, is
thereby avoided.
return to text
[109] Marriage between persons of the same surname is forbidden by
law, for such are held to be blood relations, descended lineally from
the original couple of that name. Inasmuch, however, as the line of
descent is traced through the male branches only, a man may marry his
cousins on the maternal side without let or hindrance except that of
sentiment, which is sufficiently strong to keep these alliances down
to a minimum.
return to footnote anchor 109
return to
return to
[110] A very unjustifiable proceeding in Chinese eyes, unless driven
to it by actual poverty.
return to text
[111] The Chinese years are distinguished by the names of twelve
animals—namely, rat, ox, tiger, hare, dragon, serpent, horse, sheep,
monkey, cock, dog, and boar. To the common question, “What is your
honourable age?” the reply is frequently, “I was born under the ——;”
and the hearer by a short mental calculation can tell at once how old
the speaker is, granting, of course, the impossibility of making an
error of so much as twelve years.
return to text
[112] Parents in China like to get their sons married as early as
possible, in the hope of seeing themselves surrounded by grandsons,
and the family name in no danger of extinction. Girls are generally
married at from fifteen to seventeen.
return to text
[113] This scene should for ever disabuse people of the notion that
there is no such thing as “making love” among the Chinese. That the
passion is just as much a disease in China as it is with us will be
abundantly evident from several subsequent stories; though by those
who have lived and mixed with the Chinese people, no such confirmation
will be needed. I have even heard it gravely asserted by an educated
native that not a few of his countrymen had “died for love” of the
beautiful Miss Lin, the charming but fictitious heroine of The Dream
of the Red Chamber.
Play-goers can here hardly fail to notice a very striking similarity
to the close of the first act of Mr. W. S. Gilbert’s “Sweethearts.”
return to text
[114] The semi-divine head of the Taoist religion, sometimes called
the Master of Heaven. In his body is supposed to reside the soul of a
celebrated Taoist, an ancestor of his, who actually discovered the
elixir of life and became an immortal some eighteen hundred years ago.
At death, the precious soul above-mentioned will take up its abode in
the body of some youthful member of the family to be hereinafter
revealed. Meanwhile, the present Pope makes a very respectable income
from the sale of charms, by working miracles, and so forth; and only
about two years ago he visited Shanghai, where he was interviewed by
several foreigners.
return to text
[115] Disembodied spirits are supposed to have no shadow, and but very
little appetite. There are also certain occasions on which they cannot
stand the smell of sulphur. Fiske, in his Myths and Myth-makers
(page 230) says, “Almost universally, ghosts, however impervious to
thrust of sword or shot of pistol, can eat and drink like Squire
Westerns.”
return to footnote anchor 115
return to footnote anchor 123
[116] See No. III., note 45.
return to text
[117] The Mu-hsiang or Costus amarus.
return to text
[118] Strictly in accordance with Chinese criminal law.
return to text
[119] These disembodied spirits are unable to stand for any length of
time the light and life of this upper world, darkness and death being
as it were necessary to their existence and comfort.
return to footnote anchor 119
return to footnote anchor 125
[120] The day before the annual spring festival.
return to text
[121] See No. X., note 80.
return to text
[122] Which, well cooked, are a very good substitute for asparagus.
return to text
[123] See note 115 to the last story.
return to text
[124] Such as are from time to time bestowed upon virtuous widows and
wives, filial sons and daughters, and others. These consist of some
laudatory scroll or tablet, and are much prized by the family of the
recipient.
return to text
[125] See note 119 to last story.
return to text
[126] Probably the Illicium religiosum is meant.
return to text
[127] See No. XII., note 87.
return to text
[128] The common application of the term “same-year-men,” is to
persons who have graduated at the same time.
return to text
[129] This is by no means an uncommon form of charity. During the
temporary distress at Canton, in the summer of 1877, large tubs of
gruel were to be seen standing at convenient points, ready for any
poor person who might wish to stay his hunger. It is thus, and by
similar acts of benevolence, such as building bridges, repairing
roads, etc., etc., that the wealthy Chinaman strives to maintain an
advantageous balance in his record of good and evil.
return to text
[130] It may be necessary here to remind the reader that Chan’s spirit
is speaking from Chu’s body.
return to text
[131] We shall come by and by to a story illustrative of this
extraordinary belief.
return to text
[132] The summum bonum of many a Chinese woman.
return to text
[133] Chinese silver, called sycee (from the Cantonese sai see “fine
silk;” because, if pure, it may be drawn out under the application of
heat into fine silk threads), is cast in the form of “shoes,” weighing
from one to one hundred ounces. Paper imitations of these are burnt
for the use of the spirits in the world below. The sharp edges of a
“shoe” of sycee are caused by the mould containing the molten silver
being gently shaken until the metal has set, with a view to secure
uniform fineness throughout the lump.
return to footnote anchor 133
return to
[134] Death is regarded as a summons from the authorities of
Purgatory; lictors are sent to arrest the doomed man, armed with a
written warrant similar to those issued on earth from a magistrate’s
yamên.
return to text
[135] The Milky Way is known to the Chinese under this
name—unquestionably a more poetical one than our own.
return to footnote anchor 135
return to
[136] See No. XIII., note 90.
return to text
[137] That is, of the Taoists. See No. IV., note 46.
return to text
[138] Predestination after the event is, luckily for China, the form
of this superstition which really appeals to her all-practical
children. Not a larger percentage than with ourselves allow belief in
an irremediable destiny to divert their efforts one moment from the
object in view; though thousands upon thousands are ready enough to
acknowledge the “will of heaven” in any national or individual
calamities that may befall. See No. IX., note 69.
return to text
[139] Any disembodied spirit whose conduct for a certain term of years
is quite satisfactory is competent to obtain this reward. Thus,
instead of being born again on earth, perhaps as an animal, they
become angels or good spirits, and live for ever in heaven in a state
of supreme beatitude.
return to text
[140] Our author occasionally ends up with a remark of this kind; and
these have undoubtedly had their weight with his too credulous
countrymen.
return to text
[141] A.D. 1682.
return to text
[142] The usual occupation of poor scholars who are ashamed to go into
trade, and who have not enterprise enough to start as doctors or
fortune-tellers. Besides painting pictures and fans, and illustrating
books, these men write fancy scrolls in the various ornamental styles
so much prized by the Chinese; they keep accounts for people, and
write or read business and private letters for the illiterate masses.
return to text
[143] Kuan Chung and Pao Shu are the Chinese types of friendship. They
were two statesmen of considerable ability, who flourished in the
seventh century B.C.
return to footnote anchor 143
return to
[144] Say about £10. See No. II., note 42.
return to text
[145] The term constantly employed by Confucius to denote the man of
perfect probity, learning, and refinement. The nearest, if not an
exact, translation would be “gentleman.”
return to text
[146] Literally, “a young lady whose beauty would overthrow a
kingdom,” in allusion to an old story which it is not necessary to
reproduce here.
return to text
[147] The Lady of the Moon. See No. V., note 49.
return to text
[148] See No. VIII., note 64.
return to text
[149] Miss Lien-hsiang was here speaking without book, as will be seen
in a story later on.
return to text
[150] The female principle. In a properly-constituted human being the
male and female principles are harmoniously combined. Nothing short of
a small volume would place this subject, the basis of Chinese
metaphysics, in a clear light before the uninitiated reader. Broadly
speaking, the yin and the yang are the two primeval forces from
the interaction of which all things have been evolved.
return to text
[151]
“Ber.—It was about to speak, when the cock crew.
Hor.—And then it started like a guilty thing
Upon a fearful summons. I have heard,
The cock, that is the trumpet to the morn,
Doth with his lofty and shrill-sounding throat
Awake the God of Day; and, at his warning,
Whether in sea or fire, in earth or air,
The extravagant and erring spirit hies
To his confine.”
Hamlet.
return to text
[152] “From time immemorial, the Chinese have employed a combination
of two sets of characters, numbering ten and twelve respectively, to
form a cycle of sixty terms for the purpose of chronological notation.
The period at which this cycle was invented is a subject upon which
complete uncertainty prevails, but there is little doubt that it first
came into use as a method of reckoning years after the reform of the
calendar in B.C. 104.”—Mayers’ Reader’s Manual.
The birthday on which any person completes his cycle is considered a
very auspicious occasion. The second emperor of the present dynasty,
K‘ang Hsi, completed a cycle in his reign, with one year to spare;
and his grandson, Ch‘ien Lung (or Kien Lung) fell short of this only
by a single year, dying in the same cyclical period as that in which
he had ascended the throne.
return to footnote anchor 152
return to
[153] Bride and bridegroom drink wine together out of two cups joined
by a red string, typical of that imaginary bond which is believed to
unite the destinies of husband and wife long before they have set eyes
on each other. Popular tradition assigns to an old man who lives in
the moon the arrangement of all matches among mortals; hence the
common Chinese expression, “Marriages are made in the moon.”
return to text
[154] The bill of sale always handed to the purchaser of a child in
China, as a proof that the child is his bonâ fide property and has
not been kidnapped, is by a pleasant fiction called a “deed of gift,”
the amount paid over to the seller being therein denominated “ginger
and vinegar money,” or compensation for the expense of rearing and
educating up to the date of sale. This phrase originates from the fact
that a dose of ginger and vinegar is administered to every Chinese
woman immediately after the delivery of her child.
We may here add that the value of male children to those who have no
heirs, and of female children to those who want servants, has fostered
a regular kidnapping trade, which is carried on with great activity in
some parts of China, albeit the penalty on discovery is instant
decapitation. Some years ago I was present in the streets of Tientsin
when a kidnapper was seized by the infuriated mob, and within two
hours I heard that the man had been summarily executed.
return to footnote anchor 154
return to footnote 185
return to footnote anchor 238
return to
[155] The power of recalling events which have occurred in a previous
life will be enlarged upon in several stories to come.
return to text
[156] There is nothing in China like an aristocracy of birth. Any man
may raise himself from the lowest level to the highest; and as long as
he and his family keep themselves there, they may be considered
aristocratic. Wealth has nothing to do with the question; official
rank and literary tastes, separate or combined, these constitute a
man’s title to the esteem of his fellows. Trade is looked upon as
ignoble and debasing; and friendly intercourse between merchants and
officials, the two great social divisions, is so rare as to be almost
unknown.
return to text
[157] The medium, without whose good offices no marriage can be
arranged. Generally, but not always, a woman.
This system of go-betweens is not confined to matrimonial engagements.
No servant ever offers himself for a place; he invariably employs some
one to introduce him. So also in mercantile transactions the broker
almost invariably appears upon the scene.
return to text
[158] See No. II., note 41.
return to text
[159] The so-called “golden lilies” always come in for a large share
of criticism. See No. XII., note 86. This term originated with an
emperor who reigned in the fifth century, when, in ecstasies at the
graceful dancing of a concubine upon a stage ornamented with lilies,
he cried out, “Every footstep makes a lily grow.”
return to text
[160] A common custom; e.g. in the case of a little child lying
dangerously ill, its mother will go outside the door into the garden
or field, and call out its name several times, in the hope of bringing
back the wandering spirit.
return to text
[161] This process must be regularly gone through night and morning,
otherwise the bandages become loose, and the gait of the walker
unsteady.
return to text
[162] I have explained before that any great disparity of means is
considered an obstacle to a matrimonial alliance between two families.
return to text
[163] This is a not unusual arrangement in cases where there are other
sons in the bridegroom’s family, but none in that of the bride’s,
especially if the advantage of wealth is on the side of the latter.
return to text
[164] Such is the Chinese rule, adopted simply with a view to the
preservation of harmony.
return to text
[165] They are supposed never to see each other before the
wedding-day; but, after careful investigation of the subject, I have
come to the conclusion that certainly in seven cases out of ten, the
intended bridegroom secretly procures a sight of his future wife. I am
now speaking of the higher classes; among the poor, both sexes mix
almost as freely as with us.
return to text
[166] This would still be considered a creditable act on the part of a
Chinese widow. It is, however, of exceedingly rare occurrence.
return to text
[167] Being nearly dead from hanging.
return to text
[168] This is occasionally done, great influence or a heavy bribe
being brought to bear upon the Examiners, of whom there are only two
for the Master’s degree, and the second of these, or
Assistant-Examiner, holds but a subordinate position. See , and No. LXXV., note 71.
return to text
[169] Admission to the Han-lin, or Chinese National Academy, is the
highest honour obtainable by a scholar. Its members are employed in
drawing up Government documents, histories, etc.
return to text
[170] Besides the numerous secret societies so much dreaded by the
Government, membership of which is punishable by death, very intimate
friends are in the habit of adopting each other as sworn brothers,
bound to stand by one another in cases of danger and difficulty, to
the last drop of blood. The bond is cemented by an oath, accompanied
by such ceremonies as fancy may at the moment dictate. The most
curious of all, however, are the so-called “Golden Orchid” societies,
the members of which are young girls, who have sworn never to enter
into the matrimonial state. To such an extent have these sisterhoods
spread in the Kuang-tung Province, that the authorities have been
compelled to prohibit them under severe penalties.
return to text
[171] A Chinaman loves to be buried alongside of his ancestors, and
poor families are often put to great straits to pay this last tribute
of respect and affection to the deceased. At all large cities are to
be found temporary burial grounds, where the bodies of strangers are
deposited until their relatives can come to carry them away. Large
freights of dead bodies are annually brought back to China from
California, Queensland, and other parts to which the Chinese are in
the habit of emigrating, to the great profit of the steamer-companies
concerned. Coffins are also used as a means of smuggling, respect for
the dead being so great that they are only opened under the very
strongest suspicion.
return to text
[172] See No. XIV., note 104. The price of an elaborate Chinese coffin
goes as high as £100 or £150.
return to text
[173] The never-failing resource of an impecunious Chinaman who has
any property whatever bearing an exchange value. The pawn-shop proper
is a licensed institution, where three per cent. per month is
charged on all loans, all pledges being redeemable within sixteen
months. It is generally a very high brick structure, towering far
above the surrounding houses, with the deposits neatly packed up in
paper and arranged on the shelves of a huge wooden skeleton-like
frame, that completely fills the interior of the building, on the top
of which are ranged buckets of water in case of fire, and a quantity
of huge stones to throw down on any thieves who may be daring enough
to attempt to scale the wall. [In Peking, houses are not allowed to be
built above a certain height, as during the long summer months ladies
are in the habit of sitting to spin or sew in their courtyards, very
lightly clad.] Pawning goods in China is not held to be so disgraceful
as with us; in fact, most people, at the beginning of the hot weather,
pawn their furs and winter clothes, these being so much more carefully
looked after there than they might be at home.
return to text
[174] Nominally of three years’—really of twenty-eight
months’—duration.
return to text
[175] These are entitled to receive from Government a small allowance
of rice, besides being permitted to exercise certain petty functions,
for which a certain charge is authorized. See .
return to text
[176] One of the strangers was the disembodied spirit of Hsiu’s
father, helping his son to take vengeance on the wicked Shên.
return to text
[177] An intermediate step between the first and second degrees, to
which certain privileges are attached.
return to text
[178] A.D. 1400
return to text
[179] The first of the sixteen maxims which form the so-called Sacred
Edict, embodies these two all-important family ties. The doctrine of
primogeniture is carried so far in China as to put every younger
brother in a subordinate position to every elder brother. All
property, however, of whatever kind, is equally divided among the
sons. [The Sacred Edict was delivered by the great Emperor K‘ang Hsi,
and should be publicly read and explained in every city of the Empire
on the first and fifteenth of each month.]
return to text
[180] Ordinary devils being unable to stand for any length of time the
light and life of the upper world, the souls of certain persons are
often temporarily employed in this work by the authorities of
Purgatory, their bodies remaining meanwhile in a trance or cataleptic
fit.
return to footnote anchor 180
return to
[181] Their family name.
return to text
[182] The Chinese corrupted form of Bodhisatva. Now widely employed to
designate any deity of any kind.
return to footnote anchor 182
return to
return to
[183] The usual similitude for a Chinese tatterdemalion.
return to text
[184] The surnames Chang, Wang, and Li, correspond in China to our
Brown, Jones, and Robinson.
return to text
[185] Slavery, under a modified form, exists in China at the present
day. All parents, having absolute power over their children, are at
liberty to sell them as servants or slaves to their wealthier
neighbours. This is not an infrequent occurrence in times of distress,
the children even going so far as to voluntarily sell themselves, and
exposing themselves in some public thoroughfare, with a notice affixed
to a kind of arrow on their backs, stating that they are for sale, and
the amount required from the purchaser. This I have seen with my own
eyes. The chief source, however, from which the supply of slaves is
kept up is kidnapping. [See No. XXIII., note 154.] As to the condition
of the slaves themselves, it is by no means an unhappy one. Their
master has nominally the power of life and death over them, but no
Chinaman would ever dream of availing himself of this dangerous
prerogative. They are generally well fed, and fairly well clothed,
being rarely beaten, for fear they should run away, and either be lost
altogether or entail much expense to secure their capture. The girls
do not have their feet compressed; hence they are infinitely more
useful than small-footed women; and, on reaching a marriageable age,
their masters are bound to provide them with husbands. They live on
terms of easy familiarity with the whole household; and, ignorant of
the meaning and value of liberty, seem quite contented with a lot
which places them beyond the reach of hunger and cold. Slaves take the
surnames of their masters, and the children of slaves are likewise
slaves. Manumission is not uncommon; and Chinese history furnishes
more than one example of a quondam slave attaining to the highest
offices of State.
return to footnote anchor 185
return to
