Chapter 6

HEÏ-SONG-CHÉ-TCHOO.--"One day when the Emperor Hiuan-tsong of the Thang dynasty," says the _Tao-kia-ping-yu-che_, "was at work in his study, a tiny Taoist priest, no bigger than a fly, rose out of the inkstand lying upon his table, and said to him: 'I am the Genius of ink; my name is Heï-song-ché-tchoo [_Envoy of the Black Fir_]; and I have come to tell you that whenever a true sage shall sit down to write, the Twelve Divinities of Ink [_Long-pinn_] will appear upon the surface of the ink he uses.'" See "L'Encre de Chine," by Maurice Jametel. Paris. 1882.

HOA-TCHAO.--The "Birthday of a Hundred Flowers" falls upon the fifteenth of the second spring-moon.

JADE.--Jade, or nephrite, a variety of jasper,--called by the Chinese _yuh_,--has always been highly valued by them as artistic material.... In the "Book of Rewards and Punishments," there is a curious legend to the effect that Confucius, after the completion of his _Hiao-King_ ("Book of Filial Piety"), having addressed himself to Heaven, a crimson rainbow fell from the sky, and changed itself at his feet into a piece of yellow jade. See Stanislas Julien's translation, p. 495.

KABIT.--A poetical form much in favor with composers of Hindoo religious chants: the _kabit_ always consists of four verses.

KAO-LING.--Literally, "the High Ridge," and originally the name of a hilly range which furnished the best quality of clay to the porcelain-makers. Subsequently the term applied by long custom to designate the material itself became corrupted into the word now familiar in all countries,--kaolin. In the language of the Chinese potters, the _kaolin_, or clay, was poetically termed the "bones," and the _tun_, or quartz, the "flesh" of the porcelain; while the prepared bricks of the combined substances were known as _pe-tun-tse_. Both substances, the infusible and the fusible, are productions of the same geological formation,--decomposed feldspathic rock.

KASÍ (_or_ VARANASI).--Ancient name of Benares, the "Sacred City," believed to have been founded by the gods. It is also called "The Lotos of the World." Barth terms it "the Jerusalem of all the sects both of ancient and modern India." It still boasts two thousand shrines, and half a million images of divinities. See also Sherring's "Sacred City of the Hindoos."

KIANG-KOU-JIN.--Literally, the "tell-old-story-men." For a brief account of Chinese professional story-tellers, the reader may consult Schlegel's entertaining introduction to the _Mai-yu-lang-toú-tchen-hoa-koueï_.

KIN.--The most perfect of Chinese musical instruments, also called "the Scholar's Lute." The word _kin_ also means "to prohibit"; and this name is said to have been given to the instrument because music, according to Chinese belief, "_restrains evil passions, and corrects the human heart_." See Williams's "Middle Kingdom."

KOUEI.--Kouei, musician to the Emperor Yao, must have held his office between 2357 and 2277 B.C. The extract selected from one of his songs, which I have given at the beginning of the "Story of Ming-Y," is therefore more than four thousand years old. The same chant contains another remarkable fancy, evidencing Chinese faith in musical magic:--

"When I smite my [_musical_] stone,-- Be it gently, be it strongly,-- Then do the fiercest beasts of prey leap high for joy. And the chiefs among the public officials do agree among themselves."

KWANG-CHAU-FU.--Literally, "The Broad City,"--the name of Canton. It is also called "The City of Genii."

LÍ.--A measure of distance. The length of the _li_ has varied considerably in ancient and in modern times. The present is given by Williams as ten _li_ to a league.

LI-SAO.--"The Dissipation of Grief," one of the most celebrated Chinese poems of the classic period. It is said to have been written about 314 B.C., by Kiu-ping-youen, minister to the King of Tsou. Finding himself the victim of a base court-intrigue, Kiu-ping wrote the _Li-Sao_ as a vindication of his character, and as a rebuke to the malice of his enemies, after which he committed suicide by drowning.... A fine French translation of the _Li-Sao_ has been made by the Marquis Hervey de Saint-Denys (Paris, 1870).

LI-SHU.--The second of the six styles of Chinese writing, for an account of which see Williams's "Middle Kingdom." ... According to various Taoist legends, the decrees of Heaven are recorded in the "Seal-character," the oldest of all; and marks upon the bodies of persons killed by lightning have been interpreted as judgments written in it. The following extraordinary tale from the _Kan-ing-p'ien_ affords a good example of the superstition in question:--

Tchang-tchun was Minister of State under the reign of Hoeï-tsong, of the Song dynasty. He occupied himself wholly in weaving perfidious plots. He died in exile at Mo-tcheou. Sometime after, while the Emperor was hunting, there fell a heavy rain, which obliged him to seek shelter in a poor man's hut. The thunder rolled with violence; and the lightning killed a man, a woman, and a little boy. On the backs of the man and woman were found red characters, which could not be deciphered; but on the back of the little boy the following six words could be read, written in Tchouen (_antique_) characters: TSÉ-TCH'IN-TCHANG-TCHUN-HEOU-CHIN,--which mean: "Child of the issue of Tchang-tchun, who was a rebellious subject."--_Le Livre des Récompenses et des Peines, traduit par Stanislas Julien_, p. 446.

PAGAL.--The ankle-ring commonly worn by Hindoo women; it is also called _nupur_. It is hollow, and contains loose bits of metal, which tinkle when the foot is moved.

SAN-HIEN.--A three-stringed Chinese guitar. Its belly is usually covered with snake-skin.

SIU-FAN-TI.--Literally, "the Sweeping of the Tombs,"--the day of the general worship of ancestors; the Chinese "All-Souls'." It falls in the early part of April, the period called _tsing-ming_.

TA-CHUNG SZ'.--Literally, "Temple of the Bell." The building at Pekin so named covers probably the largest suspended bell in the world, cast in the reign of Yong-lo, about 1406 A.D., and weighing upwards of 120,000 pounds.

TAO.--The infinite being, or Universal Life, whence all forms proceed: Literally, "the Way," in the sense of the First Cause. Lao-tseu uses the term in other ways; but that primal and most important philosophical sense which he gave to it is well explained in the celebrated Chapter XXV. of the _Tao-te-king_.... The difference between the great Chinese thinker's conception of the First Cause--the Unknowable,--and the theories of other famous metaphysicians, Oriental and Occidental, is set forth with some definiteness in Stanislas Julien's introduction to the _Tao-te-king_, pp. x-xv. ("Le Livre de la Voie et de la Vertu." Paris, 1842.)

THANG.--The Dynasty of Thang, which flourished between 620 and 907 A.D., encouraged literature and art, and gave to China its most brilliant period. The three poets of the Thang dynasty mentioned in the second story flourished between 779 and 852 A.D.

"THREE COUNCILLORS."--Six stars of the Great-Bear constellation ([Greek: ik--lm--nx]), as apparently arranged in pairs, are thus called by the Chinese astrologers and mythologists. The three couples are further distinguished as the Superior Councillor, Middle Councillor, and Inferior Councillor; and, together with the Genius of the Northern Heaven, form a celestial tribunal, presiding over the duration of human life, and deciding the course of mortal destiny. (Note by Stanislas Julien in "Le Livre des Récompenses et des Peines.")

TIEN-HIA.--Literally, "Under-Heaven," or "Beneath-the-Sky,"--one of the most ancient of those many names given by the Chinese to China. The name "China" itself is never applied by the Black-haired Race to their own country, and is supposed to have had its origin in the fame of the first _Tsin_ dynasty, whose founder, Tsin Chí-Houang-tí, built the Great, or "Myriad-Mile," Wall, twenty-two and a half degrees of latitude in length ... See Williams regarding occurrence of the name "China" in Sanscrit literature.

TSIEN.--The well-known Chinese copper coin, with a square hole in the middle for stringing, is thus named. According to quality of metal it takes from 900 to 1,800 _tsien_ to make one silver dollar.

TSING-JIN.--"Men of Tsing." From very ancient times the Chinese have been wont to call themselves by the names of their famous dynasties,--_Han-jin_, "the men of Han"; _Thang-jin_, "the men of Thang," etc. _Ta Tsing Kwoh_ ("Great Pure Kingdom") is the name given by the present dynasty to China,--according to which the people might call themselves _Tsing-jin_, or "men of Tsing." Williams, however, remarks that they will not yet accept the appellation.

VERSES (CHINESE).--The verses preceding "The Legend of Tchi-Niu" afford some remarkable examples of Chinese onomatopoeia. They occur in the sixth strophe of _Miên-miên_, which is the third chant of the first section of _Ta-ya_, the Third Book of the _Chi-King_.(See G. Pauthier's French version.) Dr. Legge translates the strophe thus:--

... Crowds brought the earth in baskets; they threw it with shouts into the frames; they beat it with responsive blows; they pared the walls repeatedly till they sounded strong.--_Sacred Books of the East_; Vol. III., _The She-King_, p. 384.

Pauthier translates the verses somewhat differently; preserving the onomatopoeia in three of the lines. _Hoûng-hoûng_ are the sounds heard in the timber-yards where the wood is being measured; from the workshops of the builders respond the sounds of _tông-tông_; and the solid walls, when fully finished off, give out the sound of _pîng-pîng_.

YAO.--"Porcelain." The reader who desires detailed information respecting the technology, history, or legends of Chinese porcelain-manufacture should consult Stanislas Julien's admirable "Histoire de la Porcelaine Chinoise" (Paris, 1856). With some trifling exceptions, the names of the various porcelains cited in my "Tale of the Porcelain-God" were selected from Julien's work. Though oddly musical and otherwise attractive in Chinese, these names lose interest by translation. The majority of them merely refer to centres of manufacture or famous potteries: _Chou-yao_, "porcelains of Chou"; _Hong-tcheou-yao_, "porcelains of Hong-tcheou"; _Jou-yao_, "porcelains of Jou-tcheou"; _Ting-yao_, "porcelains of Ting-tcheou"; _Ko-yao_," porcelains of the Elder Brother [Thsang]"; _Khang-hi-nien-t'sang-yao_, "porcelains of Thsang made in the reign of Khang-hi." Some porcelains were distinguished by the names of dynasties, or the titles of civic office holders; such as the celebrated _Tch'aï-yao_, "the porcelains of Tch'aï" (which was the name of the family of the Emperor Chi-tsong); and the _Kouan-yao_, or "Porcelains of Magistrates." Much more rarely the names refer directly to the material or artistic peculiarity of porcelains,--as _Ou-ni-yao_, the "black-paste porcelains," or _Pi-se-yao_, the "porcelains of hidden color." The word _khi_, sometimes substituted for _yao_ in these compound names, means "vases"; as _Jou-khi_, "vases of Jou-tcheou"; _Kouan-khi_, "vases for Magistrates."