Part 1
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TRAVELS
IN
_CHINA_,
CONTAINING
DESCRIPTIONS, OBSERVATIONS, AND COMPARISONS, MADE AND COLLECTED IN THE COURSE OF A SHORT RESIDENCE AT THE IMPERIAL PALACE OF YUEN-MIN-YUEN, AND ON A SUBSEQUENT JOURNEY THROUGH THE COUNTRY FROM
PEKIN TO CANTON.
_IN WHICH IT IS ATTEMPTED TO APPRECIATE THE RANK THAT THIS EXTRAORDINARY EMPIRE MAY BE CONSIDERED TO HOLD IN THE SCALE OF CIVILIZED NATIONS._
"NON CUIVIS HOMINI CONTINGIT ADIRE _CORINTHUM_."
_It is the lot of few to go to_ PEKIN.
By JOHN BARROW, Esq.
LATE PRIVATE SECRETARY TO THE EARL OF MACARTNEY, AND ONE OF HIS SUITE AS AMBASSADOR FROM THE KING OF GREAT BRITAIN TO THE EMPEROR OF CHINA.
_ILLUSTRATED WITH SEVERAL ENGRAVINGS._
_LONDON_: Printed by A. Strahan, Printers-Street, FOR T. CADELL AND W. DAVIES, IN THE STRAND. 1804.
TO
_THE EARL OF MACARTNEY, K. B._
ONE OF HIS MAJESTY'S MOST HONOURABLE PRIVY COUNCIL, _&c. &c. &c._
THIS VOLUME OF TRAVELS IN CHINA, _&c._
IS RESPECTFULLY INSCRIBED,
BY
HIS MOST FAITHFUL
AND OBLIGED HUMBLE SERVANT,
JOHN BARROW.
CONTENTS.
CHAP. I.
PRELIMINARY MATTER.
_Introduction.--General View of what Travellers are likely to meet with in China.--Mistaken Notions entertained with regard to the British Embassy--corrected by the Reception and Treatment of the subsequent Dutch Embassy.--Supposed Points of Failure in the former, as stated by a French Missionary from Pekin, refuted._--Kien Long's _Letter to the_ King _of Holland.--Difference of Treatment experienced by the two Embassies explained.--Intrigues of Missionaries in foreign Countries.--Pride and Self-Importance of the Chinese Court.--List of European Embassies, and the Time of their Abode in Pekin.--Conclusion of Preliminary Subject._ Page 1
CHAP. II.
Occurrences and Observations in the Navigation of the Yellow Sea, and the Passage up the Pei-ho, or White River.
_Different Testimonies that have been given of the Chinese Character.--Comparison of China with Europe in the sixteenth Century.--Motives of the Missionaries in their Writings.--British Embassy passes the Streights of Formosa.--Appearance of a_ Ta-fung.--_Chu-san Islands.--Instance of Chinese Amplification.--Various Chinese Vessels.--System of their Navigation--their Compass, probably of Scythian Origin--foreign Voyages of.--Traces of Chinese in America--in an Island of the Tartarian Sea--in the Persian Gulph--traded probably as far as Madagascar.--Commerce of the Tyrians.--Reasons for conjecturing that the Hottentots may have derived their Origin from China.--Portrait of a Chinese compared with that of a Hottentot.--Malays of the same descent as the Chinese.--Curious coincidences in the Customs of these and the Sumatrans.--Cingalese of Chinese Origin.--One of the Brigs dispatched to_ Chu-san _for Pilots.--Rapid Currents among the Islands.--Visit to the Governor.--Difficulties in procuring Pilots.--Arbitrary Proceeding of the Governor.--Pilots puzzled with our Compass--Ignorance of--Arrive in the Gulph of_ Pe-tche-lee.--_Visit of two Officers from Court, and their Present--enter the_ Pei-ho, _and embark in convenient Yachts.--Accommodating Conduct of the two Officers.--Profusion of Provisions.--Appearance of the Country--of the People.--Dress of the Women.--Remarks on their small Feet.--Chinese an uncleanly and frowzy People.--Immense Crowds of People and River Craft at_ Tien-sing.--_Decent and prepossessing Conduct of the Multitude.--Musical Air sung by the Rowers of the Yachts.--Favourable in the Chinese Character.--Face and Products of the Country.--Multitudes of People Inhabitants of the Water.--Another Instance of arbitrary Power.--Disembark at_ Tong Tchoo, _and are lodged in a Temple._ 25
CHAP. III.
Journey through the Capital to a Country Villa of the Emperor. Return to Pekin. The Imperial Palace and Gardens of Yuen-min-yuen, and the Parks of Gehol.
_Order of Procession from_ Tong-choo _to the Capital.--Crowd assembled on the Occasion.--Appearance of Pekin without and within the Walls.--Some Account of this City.--Proceed to a Country Villa of the Emperor.--Inconveniences of.--Return to Pekin.--Embassador proceeds to Tartary.--Author sent to the Palace of_ Yuen-min-yuen.--_Miserable Lodgings of.--Visit of the President and Members of the Mathematical Tribunal.--Of the Bishop of Pekin, and others.--Gill's Sword-blades.--Hatchett's Carriages.--Scorpion found in a Cask packed at Birmingham.--Portraits of English Nobility.--Effects of Accounts from Tartary on the Officers of State in Pekin.--Emperor's return to the Capital.--Inspects the Presents.--Application of the Embassador for Leave to depart.--Short Account of the Palace and Gardens of_ Yuen-min-yuen.--_Lord Macartney's Description of the Eastern and Western Parks of Gehol.--And his general Remarks on Chinese Landscape Gardening._ 87
CHAP. IV.
Sketch of the State of Society in China.--Manners, Customs, Sentiments, and Moral Character of the People.
_Condition of Women, a Criterion of the State of Society.--Degraded State of in China.--Domestic Manners unfavourable to Filial Affection.--Parental Authority.--Ill Effects of separating the Sexes.--Social Intercourse unknown, except for gaming. Their Worship solitary.--Feasts of New Year.--Propensity to gaming. Influence of the Laws seem to have destroyed the natural Character of the People.--Made them indifferent, or cruel.--Various Instances of this Remark in public and in private Life.--Remarks on Infanticide.--Perhaps less general than usually thought.--Character of Chinese in Foreign Countries.--Temper and Disposition of the Chinese. Merchants. Cuckoo-Clocks.--Conduct of a Prince of the Blood. Of the Prime Minister. Comparison of the Physical and Moral Characters of the Chinese and_ Mantchoo _Tartars. General Character of the Nation illustrated._ 138
CHAP. V.
Manners and Amusements of the Court--Reception of Embassadors.--Character and private Life of the Emperor--His Eunuchs and Women.
_General Character of the Court--Of the buildings about the Palace_--Lord Macartney's _Account of his Introduction--Of the Celebration of the Emperor's Anniversary Festival--Of a Puppet-Shew--Comedy and Pantomime--Wrestling--Conjuring and Fire-Works--Reception and Entertainment of the Dutch Embassadors from a Manuscript Journal--Observations on the State of the Chinese Stage--Extraordinary Scene in one of their Dramas--Gross and indelicate Exhibitions--Sketch of_ Kien-Long's _Life and Character--Kills his Son by an unlucky Blow--conceives himself immortal--Influence of the Eunuchs at the Tartar Conquest--their present State and Offices--Emperor's Wife, Queens, and Concubines--How disposed of at his Death._ 191
CHAP. VI.
Language.--Literature, and the fine Arts.--Sciences.--Mechanics, and Medicine.
_Opinion of the Chinese Language being hieroglyphical erroneous.--Doctor Hager's mistakes.--Etymological Comparisons fallacious.--Examples of.--Nature of the Chinese written Character.--Difficulty and Ambiguity of.--Curious Mistake of an eminent Antiquarian.--Mode of acquiring the Character.--Oral Language.--Mantchoo Tartar Alphabet.--Chinese Literature.--Astronomy.--Chronology.--Cycle of sixty Years.--Geography.--Arithmetic.--Chemical Arts.--Cannon and Gunpowder.--Distillation.--Potteries.--Silk Manufactures.--Ivory.--Bamboo.--Paper.--Ink.--Printing.--Mechanics. --Music.--Painting.--Sculpture.--Architecture.--Hotel of the English Embassador in Pekin.--The Great Wall.--The Grand Canal.--Bridges.--Cemeteries.--Natural Philosophy.--Medicine.--Chinese Pharmacopoeia.--Quacks.--Contagious Fevers.--Small-pox.--Opthalmia. --Venereal Disease.--Midwifery.--Surgery.--Doctor Gregory's Opinion of their Medical Knowledge.--Sir William Jones's Opinion of their general Character._ 236
CHAP. VII.
Government--Laws--Tenures of Land and Taxes--Revenues--Civil and Military Ranks, and Establishments.
_Opinions on which the Executive Authority is grounded.--Principle on which an Emperor of China seldom appears in public.--The Censorate.--Public Departments.--Laws.--Scale of Crimes and Punishments.--Laws regarding Homicide.--Curious Law Case.--No Appeal from Civil Suits.--Defects in the Executive Government.--Duty of Obedience and Power of personal Correction.--Russia and China compared.--Fate of the Prime Minister_ Ho-chang-tong.--_Yearly Calendar and Pekin Gazette, engines of Government.--Freedom of the Press.--Duration of the Government attempted to be explained.--Precautions of Government to prevent Insurrections.--Taxes and Revenues.--Civil and Military Establishments.--Chinese Army, its Numbers and Appointments.--Conduct of the Tartar Government at the Conquest.--Impolitic Change of late Years, and the probable Consequences of it._ 357
CHAP. VIII.
Conjectures on the Origin of the Chinese.--Their Religious Sects,--Tenets,--and Ceremonies.
_Embassy departs from Pekin, and is lodged in a Temple.--Colony from Egypt not necessary to be supposed, in order to account for Egyptian Mythology in China.--Opinions concerning Chinese Origin.--Observations on the Heights of Tartary.--Probably the Resting-place of the Ark of Noah.--Ancients ignorant of the Chinese.--Seres.--First known Intercourse of Foreigners with China.--Jews.--Budhists.--Nestorians.--Mahomedans.--Roman Catholics.--Quarrels of the Jesuits and Dominicans.--Religion of Confucius.--Attached to the Prediction of future Events.--Notions entertained by him of a future State.--Of the Deity.--Doctrine not unlike that of the Stoics.--Ceremonies in Honour of his Memory led to Idolatry.--Misrepresentations of the Missionaries with regard to the Religion of the Chinese.--The_ Tao-tze _or_ Sons of Immortals.--_Their Beverage of Life.--The Disciples of_ Fo _or Budhists.--Comparison of some of the Hindu, Greek, Egyptian, and Chinese Deities.--The_ Lotos _or_ Nelumbium.--_Story of_ Osiris _and_ Isis, _and the_ Isia _compared with the Imperial Ceremony of Ploughing.--Women visit the Temples.--Practical Part of Chinese Religion.--Funeral Obsequies.--Feast of Lanterns.--Obeisance to the Emperor performed in Temples leads to Idolatry.--Primitive Religion lost or corrupted.--Summary of Chinese Religion._ 418
CHAP. IX.
Journey from Tong-choo-foo to the Province of Canton.--Face of the Country, and its Productions.--Buildings and other Public Works.--Condition of the People.--State of Agriculture.--Population.
_Attentions paid to the Embassy.--Observations on the Climate and Plains of_ Pe-tche-lee.--_Plants of.--Diet and Condition of the People.--Burying-place.--Observation on Chinese Cities.--Trackers of the Yachts.--Entrance of the Grand Canal. The Fishing Corvorant.--Approach to the_ Yellow River.--_Ceremony of crossing this River.--Observations on Canals and Roads.--Improvements of the Country in advancing to the Southward.--Beauty of, near_ Sau-choo-foo.--_Bridge of ninety-one Arches.--Country near_ Hang-choo-foo.--_City of.--Appearance of the Country near the_ Po-yang _Lake.--Observations in Proceeding through_ Kiang-see.--_The_ Camellia Sesanqua.--_Retrospective View of the Climate and Produce, Diet and Condition of the People, of_ Pe-tche-lee.--_Some Observations on the Capital of China.--Province of_ Shan-tung.--_Of_ Kiang-nan.--_Observations on the State of Agriculture in China.--Rice Mills.--Province of_ Tche-kiang.--_Of_ Kiang-see.--_Population of China compared with that of England.--Erroneous Opinions entertained on this Subject.--Comparative Population of a City in China and in England.--Famines accounted for.--Means of Prevention.--Causes of the Populousness of China._ 488
CHAP. X.
Journey through the Province of Canton.--Situation of Foreigners trading to this Port.--Conclusion.
_Visible Change in the Character of the People.--Rugged Mountains.--Collieries.--Temple in a Cavern.--Stone Quarries.--Various Plants for Use and Ornament.--Arrive at Canton.--Expence of the Embassy to the Chinese Government.--To the British Nation.--Nature and Inconveniences of the Trade to Canton.--The Armenian and his Pearl.--Impositions of the Officers of Government instanced.--Principal Cause of them is the Ignorance of the Language.--Case of Chinese trading to London.--A Chinese killed by a Seaman of His Majesty's Ship Madras.--Delinquent saved from an ignominious Death, by a proper Mode of Communication with the Government._--Conclusion. 591
LIST OF PLATES.
_Portrait of Van-ta-gin_--the Frontispiece. (_v. p. 184_)
_Trading Vessel_ and _Rice Mill_ to face page 37.
_Portraits_ of a _Chinese_ and a _Hottentot_ to face page 50.
_View_ in the _Imperial Park_ at _Gehol_ to face page 128.
_Artillery_, between pages 302 and 303 with a _guard_.
_Musical Instruments_ between pages 314 and 315 with a guard.
_Arch_ of a _Bridge_ to face page 338.
_Chinese Village_, and Mandarin's Dwelling, to face page 545.
ERRATA.
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ADVERTISEMENT.
The sentiments advanced in the present Work, and the point of view in which some of the facts are considered, being so very different from the almost universally received opinion, and some of them from the opinion of those to whose friendship the Author is particularly indebted for various literary communications, he thinks it right to declare, that they are the unbiassed conclusions of his own mind, founded altogether on his own observations; and he trusts that the Public, in considering him alone responsible, will receive them with its usual candour.
TRAVELS
IN
_CHINA_.
CHAP. I.
PRELIMINARY MATTER.
_Introduction.--General View of what Travellers are likely to meet with in China.--Mistaken Notions entertained with regard to the British Embassy--corrected by the Reception and Treatment of the subsequent Dutch Embassy.--Supposed Points of Failure in the former, as stated by a French Missionary from Pekin, refuted_.--Kien Long's _Letter to the_ King _of Holland.--Difference of Treatment experienced by the two Embassies explained.--Intrigues of Missionaries in foreign Countries.--Pride and Self-Importance of the Chinese Court.--List of European Embassies, and the Time of their Abode in Pekin.--Conclusion of Preliminary Subject_.
It is hardly necessary to observe that, after the able and interesting account of the proceedings and result of the British Embassy to the court of China, by the late Sir George Staunton (who was no less amiable for liberality of sentiment, than remarkable for vigour of intellect) it would be an idle, and, indeed, a superfluous undertaking, in any other person who accompanied the embassy, to dwell on those subjects which have been treated by him in so masterly a manner; or to recapitulate those incidents and transactions, which he has detailed with equal elegance and accuracy.
But, as it will readily occur to every one, there are still many interesting subjects, on which Sir George, from the nature of his work, could only barely touch, and others that did not come within his plan, one great object of which was to unfold the views of the embassy, and to shew that every thing, which could be done, was done, for promoting the interests of the British nation, and supporting the dignity of the British character; the Author of the present work has ventured, though with extreme diffidence, and with the consciousness of the disadvantage under which he must appear after that "Account of the Embassy," to lay before the public the point of view in which _he_ saw the Chinese empire, and the Chinese character. In doing this, the same facts will sometimes necessarily occur, that have already been published, for reasons that it would be needless to mention; but whenever that happens to be the case, they will briefly be repeated, for the purpose of illustrating some position, or for deducing some general inference. Thus, for instance, the document given to the Embassador of the population of China will be noticed, not however under the colour of its being an unquestionably accurate statement, but, on the contrary, to shew that it neither is, nor can be, correct; yet at the same time to endeavour to prove, by facts and analogy, that, contrary to the received opinion, the country is capable of supporting not only three hundred and thirty-three millions of people, but that it might actually afford the means of subsistence to twice that number. The confirmation, indeed, of new and important facts, though very different conclusions be drawn from them, cannot be entirely unacceptable to the reader; for as different persons will generally see the same things in different points of view, so, perhaps, by combining and comparing the different descriptions and colouring that may be given of the same objects, the public is enabled to obtain the most correct notions of such matters as can be learned only from the report of travellers.
With regard to China, if we except the work of Sir George Staunton, and the limited account of Mr. Bell of Antermony, which was not written by himself, it may be considered as unbeaten ground by Britons. We have heard a great deal of Chinese knavery practised at Canton, but, except in the two works abovementioned, we have not yet heard the sentiments of an Englishman at all acquainted with the manners, customs, and character of the Chinese nation. The voluminous communications of the missionaries are by no means satisfactory; and some of their defects will be noticed and accounted for in the course of this work; the chief aim of which will be to shew this extraordinary people in their proper colours, not as their own moral maxims would represent them, but as they really are--to divest the court of the tinsel and the tawdry varnish with which, like the palaces of the Emperor, the missionaries have found it expedient to cover it in their writings; and to endeavour to draw such a sketch of the manners, the state of society, the language, literature and fine arts, the sciences and civil institutions, the religious worship and opinions, the population and progress of agriculture, the civil and moral character of the people, as may enable the reader to settle, in his own mind, _the point of rank which China may be considered to hold in the scale of civilized nations_.