Chapter 47

The _T'u Shu Chi Ch'êng_ was planned, and to a great extent made ready, under instructions from the emperor K'ang Hsi (see above), and was finally brought out by his successor, Yung Chêng, 1723-1736. Intended to embrace all departments of knowledge, its contents were distributed over six leading categories, which for want of better equivalents may be roughly rendered by (l) Heaven, (2) Earth, (3) Man, (4) Arts and Sciences, (5) Philosophy and (6) Political Science. These were subdivided into thirty-two classes; and in the voluminous index which accompanies the work a further attempt was made to bring the searcher into still closer touch with the individual items treated. Thus, the category Heaven is subdivided into four classes, namely--again, for want of better terms--(_a_) The Sky and its Manifestations, (_b_) The Seasons, (_c_) Astronomy and Mathematics and (_d_) Natural Phenomena. Under these classes come the individual items; and here it is that the foreign student is often at a loss. For instance, class _a_ includes Earth, in its cosmogonic sense, as the mother of mankind; Heaven, in its original sense of God; the Dual Principle in nature; the Sun, Moon and Stars; Wind; Clouds; Rainbow; Thunder and Lightning; Rain; Fire, &c. But Earth is itself a geographical category; and all strange phenomena relating to many of the items under class _a_ are recorded under class _d_. Category No. 6, marked as Political Science, contains such classes as Ceremonial, Music and Administration of Justice, alongside of Handicrafts, making it essential to study the arrangement carefully before it is possible to consult the work with ease. Such preliminary trouble is, however, well repaid, the amount of information given on any particular subject being practically coextensive with what is known about that subject. The method of presenting such information, with variations to suit the nature of the topics handled, is to begin with historical excerpts, chronologically arranged. These are usually followed by sometimes lengthy essays dealing with the subject as a theme, taken from the writings of qualified authors, and like all the other entries, also chronologically arranged. Then come elegant extracts in prose and verse, in all of which the subject may be simply mentioned and not treated as in the essays. After these follow minor notices of incidents, historical and otherwise, and all kinds of anecdotes, derived from a great variety of sources. Occasionally, single poetical lines are brought together, each contributing, some thought or statement germane to the subject, expressed in elegant or forcible terms; and also, wherever practicable, biographies of men and women are inserted.

Chronological and other tables are supplied where necessary, as well as a very large number of illustrations, many of these being reproductions of woodcuts from earlier works. It is said that the _T'u Shu Chi Ch'êng_ was printed from movable copper type cast by the Jesuit Fathers employed by the emperor K'ang Hsi at Peking; also that only a hundred copies were struck off, the type being then destroyed. An 8vo edition of the whole encyclopaedia was issued at Shanghai in 1889; this is bound up in sixteen hundred and twenty-eight handy volumes of about two hundred pages each. A copy of the original edition stands on the shelves of the British Museum, and a translation of the Index has recently been completed.

_Manuscripts and Printing._--At the conclusion of this brief survey of Chinese literature it may well be asked how such an enormous and ever-increasing mass has been handed down from generation to generation. According to the views put forth by early Chinese antiquarians, the first written records were engraved with a special knife upon bamboo slips and wooden tablets. The impracticability of such a process, as applied to books, never seems to have dawned upon those writers; and this snowball of error, started in the 7th century, long after the knife and the tablet had disappeared as implements of writing, continued to gather strength as time went on. Recent researches, however, have placed it beyond doubt that when the Chinese began to write in a literary sense, as opposed to mere scratchings on bones, they traced their characters on slips of bamboo and tablets of wood with a bamboo pencil, frayed at one end to carry the coloured liquid which stood in the place of ink. The knife was used only to erase. So things went on until about 200 B.C., when it would appear that a brush of hair was substituted for the bamboo pencil; after which, silk was called into requisition as an appropriate vehicle in connexion with the more delicate brush. But silk was expensive and difficult to handle, so that the invention of paper in A.D. 105 by a eunuch, named Ts'ai Lun, came as a great boon, although it seems clear that a certain kind of paper, made from silk floss, was in use before his date. However that may be, from the 1st century onwards the Chinese have been in possession of the same writing materials that are in use at the present day.

In A.D. 170, Ts'ai Yung, who rose subsequently to the highest offices of state, wrote out on stone in red ink the authorized text of the Five Classics, to be engraved by workmen, and thus handed down to posterity. The work covered forty-six huge tablets, of which a few fragments are said to be still in existence. A similar undertaking was carried out in 837, and the later tablets are still standing at a temple in the city of Hsi-an Fu, Shensi. With the T'ang dynasty, rubbings of famous inscriptions, wherein the germ of printing may be detected, whether for the style of the composition or for the calligraphic excellence of the script, came very much into vogue with scholars and collectors. It is also from about the same date that the idea of multiplying on paper impressions taken from wooden blocks seems to have arisen, chiefly in connexion with religious pictures and prayers. The process was not widely applied to the production of books until the 10th century, when in A.D. 932 the Confucian Canon was printed for the first time. In 981 orders were issued for the _T'ai P'ing Kuang Chi_, an encyclopaedia extending to many volumes (see above) to be cut on blocks for printing. Movable types of baked clay are said to have been invented by an alchemist, named Pi Shêng, about A.D. 1043; and under the Ming dynasty, 1368-1644, these were made first of wood, and later of copper or lead, but movable types have never gained the favour accorded to block-printing, by means of which most of China's great typographical triumphs have been achieved. The process is, and always has been, the same all over China. Two consecutive pages of a book, separated by a column containing the title, number of section, and number of leaf, are written out and pasted face downwards on a block of wood (_Lindera tz[)u]-mu_, Hemsl.). This paper, where not written upon, is cut away with sharp tools, leaving the characters in relief, and of course backwards, as in the case of European type. The block is then inked, and an impression is taken off, on one side of the paper only. This sheet is then folded down the middle of the separating column above mentioned, so that the blank halves come together, leaving two pages of printed matter outside; and when enough sheets have been brought together, they are stabbed at the open ends and form a volume, to be further wrapped in paper or pasteboard, and labelled with title, &c. It is almost superfluous to say that the pages of a Chinese book must not be cut. There is nothing inside, and, moreover, the column bearing the title and leaf-number would be cut through. The Chinese newspapers of modern times are all printed from movable types, an ordinary fount consisting of about six to seven thousand characters.

See J. Legge, _The Chinese Classics_ (1861-1872); A. Wylie, _Notes on Chinese Literature_ (1867); E. Chavannes, _Mémoires historiques_ (1895-1905); H.A. Giles, _Chuang Tz[)u]_ (1889), _A Chinese Biographical Dictionary_ (1898), and _A History of Chinese Literature_ (1901); A. Forke, _Lun-Hêng_ (1907); F. Hirth, _The Ancient History of China_ (1908); L. Giles, _Sun Tz[)u]_ (1910). (H. A. GI.)

FOOTNOTES:

[1] As to the origin of the names China and Cathay (the medieval name) see below § _History_. According to one theory the name China is of Malay origin, designating originally the region now called Indo-China, but transferred in early times to China proper. By the Chinese the country is often called _Shih-pa-shêng_, "the Eighteen Provinces," from the number of its great territorial divisions. It is also called _Chung-kwo_, "the Middle Kingdom," properly used of the central part of China, and _Hwa-kwo_, "the Flowery Kingdom."

[2] A Chinese mile, _li_, or _le_ = 0.36 English mile.

[2] For the Grand Canal the chief authority is Dominique Gandar, S.J., "Le Canal Impérial. Étude historique et descriptive," _Variétés sinologiques_ No. 4 (Shanghai, 1903); see also Stenz, "Der Kaiserkanal," in _Beiträgen zur Kolonialpolitik_, Band v. (Berlin, 1903-1904), and the works of Ney Elias, Sir J.F. Davis, A. Williamson, E.H. Parker and W.R. Carles.

[4] Nevertheless there is considerable local traffic. The transit trade with Shan-tung, passing the Chin-kiang customs and using some 250 m. of the worst part of the canal, was valued in 1905 at 3,331,000 taels.

[5] The portion of the wall which abutted on to the sea has been destroyed.

[6] See the _Geog. Jnl._ (Feb. and March 1907). For a popular account of the wall, with numerous photographs, see _The Great Wall of China_ (London, 1909), by W.E. Giel, who in 1908 followed its course from east to west. Consult also A. Williamson, _Journey in North China_ (London, 1870); Martin, "La Grande Muraille de la Chine," _Revue scientifique_ (1891).

[7] For Shanghai the figures are compiled from twenty-six years' observations. See _China Sea Directory_, vol. iii. (4th ed., 1904) p. 660.

[8] The thermometer registered 23° F. in January 1893, on the river 28 m. below Canton. This is the lowest reading known. Ibid, pp. 104-105.

[9] See W.W. Rockhill, _Inquiry into the Population of China_ (Washington, 1904).

[10] For a bibliography of works relating to the aboriginal races of China see Richard's _Comprehensive Geography of the Chinese Empire_ (1908 ed.), pp. 371-373.

[11] Evidences of the social changes taking place in China are to be found in the strong movement for the education of girls, and in the formation of societies, under official patronage, to prevent the binding of women's feet.

[12] It must be remembered that there is great variety in the costumes worn in the various provinces. The particulars here given are of the most general styles of dress.

[13] Richard's _Comprehensive Geography_, &c. (1908 edition), pp. 340-341.

[14] Otherwise Ab[=u] Ja'far Ibn Mahommed al-Mans[=u]r (see CALIPHATE, C. § 2).

[15] For a summary of Chang Chih-tung's treatise, see _Changing China_ (1910 edition), chap. xxii.

[16] It was announced in June 1910 that the throne had approved a recommendation of the Board of Education that English should be the official language for scientific and technical education, and that the study of English should be compulsory in all provincial scientific and technical schools.

[17] See _The Times_ of the 19th of February and the 3rd of May 1910.

[18] Another peculiarity of loess in China is that it lends itself readily to the excavation of dwellings for the people. In many places whole villages live in cave dwellings dug out in the vertical wall of loess. They construct spiral staircases, selecting places where the ground is firm, and excavate endless chambers and recesses which are said to be very comfortable and salubrious.

[19] See J. Edkins, _The Poppy in China_, and H.B. Morse, _The Trade and Administration of the Chinese Empire_, chap. xi.

[20] Richard's _Comprehensive Geography, &c._ (1908 edition), p. 144.

[21] In the 18th century foreign trade was restricted to Canton. In the 17th century, however, the Dutch traded to Formosa and Amoy, and the English to Amoy also. The Portuguese traded with Canton as early as 1517. For the early intercourse between Portugal and China see the introductory chapter in Donald Ferguson's _Letters from Portuguese Captives in Canton_ (Bombay, 1902).

[22] From _The Statesman's Year Book_, 1910 edition.

[23] See _The Times_ of the 28th of March 1910.

[24] See Morse, _op. cit._ chap. x.

[25] The maritime customs had established a postal service for its own convenience in 1861, and it first gave facilities to the general public in 1876. An organized service for the conveyance of government despatches has existed in China for many centuries, and the commercial classes maintain at their own expense a system ("letter hongs") for the transmission of correspondence.

[26] For the causes leading to this movement and the progress of reform see § _History_.

[27] For recent authoritative accounts of the government of China see H.B. Morse, _The Trade and Administration of the Chinese Empire_, chap. iii.; Richard's _Comprehensive Geography_, &c., Bk. I. § v., and _The Statesman's Year Book_.

[28] The empress-consort is chosen by the emperor from a number of girls selected by his ministers from the families of Manchu nobles. From the same candidates the emperor also selects secondary-empresses (usually not more than four). Concubines, not limited in number, are chosen from the daughters of Manchu nobles and free-men. All the children are equally legitimate.

[29] Recent emperors have been children at accession and have been kept in seclusion.

[30] See "Democratic China" in H.A. Giles, _China and the Chinese_.

[31] W.F. Mayers, _The Chinese Government_ (1878).

[32] This body is superseded by the Imperial Senate summoned to meet for the first time on the 3rd of October 1910.

[33] Yamên is the name given to the residences of all high officials. Tsung-li Yamên = the bureau for managing each (foreign) kingdom's affairs.

[34] An edict of the 15th of July 1909 created a naval and military advisory board. Up to that time the navy was controlled by the viceroys at Canton, Nanking, Fu-chow and Tientsin; the viceroys at Canton and Tientsin being ministers superintendent of the southern and northern ports respectively.

[35] Thus in 1910 Prince Ching, president of the grand council, was, for the third time, impeached by censors, being denounced as an "old treacherous minister," who filled the public service with a crowd of men as unworthy as himself. The censor who made the charge was stripped of his office (see _The Times_ of the 30th of March 1910).

[36] For details of local government see Richard's _Comprehensive Geography_, 1908 edition, pp. 301 et seq.

[37] Morse, op. cit., 1908 edition, p. 76

[38] See _The Times_ of the 28th of February 1910.

[39] See _The Statesman's Year-Book_ (1910 edition).

[40] A few of the old native customs stations, which are deemed perquisites of the imperial court, may also be excepted, as, for instance, the native custom-house at Canton, Hwei Kwan on the Grand Canal, and various stations in the neighbourhood of Peking.

[41] The production of a budget in 1915 was promised in one of the reform edicts of 1908.

[42] In this article the tael used as a standard is the Haikwan (i.e. customs) tael, worth about 3s. It fluctuates with the value of silver.

[43] Roughly £43,000,000.

[44] _Trade and Administration of the Chinese Empire_ (1910), p. 118.

[45] Temporary reductions are granted in provinces affected by rebellion, drought or flood.

[46] Information as to what extent the expenses of the new army and navy are met by the central government is lacking.

[47] To meet the expenditure on interest and redemption of the indemnities for the Boxer outrages the Peking government required the provincial authorities to increase their annual remittances by taels 18,700,000 during the years 1902-1910.

[48] It must be remembered that the Haikwan tael is here indicated.

[49] See Morse's _Trade and Administration of the Chinese Empire_, chap. ix.

[50] A supplementary exchange of notes of the same date excepted from the scope of this agreement the Shan-hai-kwan-Niu-chwang extension which had already been conceded to the Hongkong & Shanghai Bank.

[51] The religious aspect of the Boxer movement gave it strength. Its disciples believed that the spirits which defended China were incensed by the introduction of Western methods and ideals. Many of them believed themselves to be invulnerable to any Western weapon. (See Lord W. Cecil, _Changing China_, 1910, ch. i.)

[52] The diary of a Manchu noble printed in _China under the Empress Dowager_ (1910) by J.O. Bland and E. Backhouse throws light on the subject. It was to Jung-Lu, father-in-law of Prince Chin, that the legations owed their escape from extermination.

[53] It was at this time (July 17th) that the intense anxiety of the civilized world with regard to the fate of the besieged reached its culminating point. Circumstantial accounts of the fall of the legations and the massacre of their inmates were circulated in Shanghai and found general credence. It was not till near the end of the month that an authentic message from the American minister proved these fears to be premature.

[54] In negotiating this agreement Lord Salisbury appears to have been largely influenced by the aggressive features of Russia's action in North China, while Germany appears to have been actuated by a desire to forestall isolated action by Great Britain in the Yangtsze basin. In Germany the agreement was known as the Yangtsze Agreement. Great Britain held, however, that it applied equally to Manchuria.

[55] Liu Kun-yi died in 1902. In the same year died Tao-mu, the viceroy of Canton. In these men China lost two of her most capable and enlightened officials.

[56] Prince Chun was born in 1882. He was the first member of the imperial family to be sent on a foreign mission.

[57] Tung Fu-hsiang died in 1908. A sum of some £80,000 belonging to him, and left in the provincial treasury, was appropriated for works of public utility (see _The Times_, April 9th, 1910).

[58] Lord W. Cecil, op. cit. p. 9.

[59] This institution was nominally a private concern which financed the Manchurian railway, but it acted as part of the Russian government machinery. The existence of the contract of the 27th of August 1896 was frequently denied until expressly admitted by the Russo-Chinese agreement of the 8th of April 1902.

[60] On the 8th of October the Russian troops had been withdrawn from Mukden, but they reoccupied the town on the 28th of the same month, Admiral Alexeiev, the viceroy of the Far East, alleging that the inertia of the Chinese officials seriously hindered the work of extending civilization in Manchuria.

[61] The form of outrage, probably the first of its kind in China, was itself a symptom of the changed times. The bomb injured Prince Tsai Tse and another commissioner, and the departure of the commission was consequently delayed some months.

[62] In 1907 further commissions were appointed, on the initiative of Yuan Shih-kai, to study specifically the constitutions of Great Britain, Germany and Japan.

[63] This department was organized at Shanghai in 1854. The Taiping rebels being in possession of the native city, the collection of customs dues, especially on foreign ships, was placed in the hands of foreigners. This developed into a permanent institution, the European staff being mainly British.

[64] The British official view, as stated in parliament on the 27th of April 1910, was that the changes resulting from the creation of the Board of Control had, so far, been purely departmental changes of form, and that the position of the inspector-general remained unaltered.

[65] See _The Times_ of the 21st of April and 11th of May 1910.

[66] A chest contained from 135 lb to 160 lb.

[67] A picul = 133-1/2 lb.

[68] _Changing China_, p. 118.

[69] See _The Times_ of 7th and 8th of March and 8th of April 1910.

[70] The first recorded importation of morphia into China was in 1892, and it is suggested that it was first used as an anti-opium medicine. Morphia-taking, however, speedily became a vice, and in 1902 over 195,000 oz. of morphia were imported (enough for some 300,000,000 injections). To check the evil the Chinese government during 1903 imposed a tax of about 200% _ad valorem_, with the result that the imports declared to the customs fell in 1905 to 54 oz. only. The falling off was explained "not by a diminished demand, but by smuggling" (Morse's _Trade and Administration of the Chinese Empire_, p. 351).

[71] A regulation by the ministry of education, dated the 14th of January 1910, ordered that no girl should be admitted to school dressed in foreign clothes or with unnatural (i.e. bound) feet.

[72] For the growth of the education movement see _The Times_, 4th of September 1909.

[73] The Dalai Lama left Peking in December 1908 on his return to Lhassa, which he reached in November 1909. Differences had arisen between him and the Chinese government, which sought to make the spiritual as well as the temporal power of the Dalai Lama dependent on his recognition by the emperor of China. Early in 1910 the Dalai Lama, in consequence of the action of the Chinese amban in Lhassa, fled from that city and sought refuge in India.

[74] Chang Chih-tung died in October 1909. He was a man of considerable ability, and one whose honesty and loyalty had never been doubted. He was noted as an opponent of opium smoking, and for over thirty years had addressed memorials to the throne against the use of the drug.

[75] See _The Times_ of the 7th of September 1909.

[76] Proposals made early in 1910 by the American secretary of state for the neutralization of the Manchurian railway received no support.

[77] By a convention signed on July 4th, 1910, Russia and Japan agreed to "maintain and respect" the _status quo_ in Manchuria.

[78] See the _Quinzaine coloniale_ of the 10th of December 1909.

[79] See _The Times_ of the 20th of January 1910.

[80] See for the prospects of reform _The Times_ of 30th May 1910.

[81] _La Sculpture sur pierre en Chine ait temps des deux dynasties Han_ (Paris, 1893).

CHINA, the common name for ware made of porcelain, given because it came from China, where the first vitrified, translucent, white ware was produced. The Portuguese or Italians gave it the name of "porcelain" (q.v.). English usage was influenced by India and the East, where the Persian _ch[=i]n[=i]_ was widely prevalent as the name of the ware. This is seen also in some of the earlier forms and pronunciations, e.g. _chiney_, _cheney_, and later _chaney_ (see CERAMICS; and for "china-clay" KAOLIN).