Part 38

Before our barges launched into the stream of the Yellow River, which rolled in a very rapid torrent, certain ceremonies were conceived to be indispensably necessary. In the practical part of religion (which indeed may be considered as nearly the whole) a Chinese is not less solicitous to avert a possible evil, than to procure an eventual good; and of all evils personal danger is most apprehended. It was therefore deemed expedient, that an oblation should be made in every vessel of the fleet to the genius of the river. The animals that were sacrificed, on this occasion, were different in different yachts, but they generally consisted of a fowl or a pig, two animals that were very common in Grecian sacrifices. The blood, with the feathers and the hair, was daubed upon the principal parts of the vessel. On the forecastle of some were placed cups of wine, oil and salt; in others, tea, flour and salt; and in others, oil, rice and salt. The last article appears to be thought by the Chinese, as well as by the Hebrews, a necessary accompaniment to every sacrifice. "Every oblation of thy meat-offering shalt thou season with salt: neither shalt thou suffer the salt of the Covenant of thy God to be lacking from thy _meat_-offering." As, however, the high priest and his friends were to feast on those parts of the meat-offering, which were considered as unworthy the acceptance of heaven, which parts, by the way, were always the best of the victim, one might, perhaps, assign a reason for the strong injunction of offering salt, this being a scarce article in many countries of the East and the best preservative of meat against putrefaction[55].

[55] The _Far et mica salis_ were parts of most of the Roman sacrifices, and salt, in particular, was held in such veneration, and in such general use, that when any one obtained a salary or pension, he was said to have got his _Salarium_, or something to procure his salt, in the same sense, as we say, to get one's bread, and a common expression in India, denoting service, is, _I eat the salt of such a one_, and the Dutch in speaking of a dependent say, _he owes his salt to such a one_. These coincidences of opinion, or custom, among remote nations, however difficult they may be to explain, are nevertheless extremely interesting and are on that account here noticed.

The cups, the slaughtered animal and several made-dishes remained on the forecastle, the Captain standing over them on one side and a man with a gong in his hand on the other. On approaching the rapid part of the stream, at the signal given by the gong, the Captain took up the cups one by one, in order that, like the Greeks of old, he might "perform the rites and pour the ruddy wine," which he did by throwing their contents over the bow of the vessel into the river. The libation performed, a quantity of crackers and squibs and gilt tin foil were burnt, with uplifted hands, whilst the deep-sounding gong was incessantly struck with increasing violence as the vessels were swept along with the current. The victim and the other dishes were then removed for the use of the Captain and crew, and the ceremony ended by three genuflexions and as many prostrations. The Emperor is never satisfied with less than nine.

Our fleet consisted of about thirty sail, and from each vessel there proceeded, on its launching into the stream, such a din of gongs and crackers and such volumes of smoke from the burnt offerings, that the deity of the river must have been in a very surly humour if he was not pleased with such a multitude of oblations. The safe arrival, on the opposite bank, of the whole squadron was a proof of his having accepted the homage, and accordingly he was again addressed in a volley of crackers as a token of thanks for his propitious and friendly aid.

The width of the river at this place was full three quarters of a mile; and the stream, where strongest, ran with the rapidity of seven or eight miles an hour; and the water was as thick and muddy as if the heaviest torrents of rain had just descended, whereas, in fact, there had not fallen a shower for many months.

The length of that part of the canal which lies between the _Eu-ho_ and the Yellow River, and which we had now sailed over, is about two hundred English miles. The natural slope of the country being from North to South, the projectors of this work seem to have fixed upon the middle point, or nearly so, between these two rivers for the commencement of their operations: so that from this middle point to the northward, or rising part of the country, they have been under the necessity, in order to preserve their level, of cutting down to the depth of thirty, forty, and even to seventy feet, below the surface; whilst from the same point to the southward, or descending part of the country, they have been obliged to force up the water between immense banks of earth and stone, far above the level of the flat surface; consisting almost entirely of lakes, swamps, and morass. The quantity of human labour that must have been employed, in amassing together the different materials that compose this immense aqueduct, could not have been supplied, in any reasonable length of time, except in a country where millions could be set to work at the nod of a despot. The greatest works in China have always been, and still continue to be, performed by the accumulation of manual labour, without the assistance of machinery, except on very particular occasions, where some mechanical power may be absolutely necessary to be brought in aid of human strength. Thus, where canals are carried over surfaces that are too hilly and uneven to admit of one continued level, they descend from place to place, as it were by steps, at each of which is an inclined plane; the height from the upper canal to the lower being generally from six to ten feet; and the angle of the plane from forty-five to fifty degrees. All vessels navigating such canals must be hoisted up these planes by the assistance of upright capstans, without which it would scarcely be possible to get those of large demensions, together with their cargo, out of one canal into the other; and they are gently lowered in the same manner. This awkward contrivance may, perhaps, less imply the ignorance of locks or other methods practised elsewhere, than the unwillingness of the government to suffer any innovation that might be the means of depriving many thousands of obtaining that scanty subsistence, which they now derive from their attendance at these capstans. However slightly such a notion may be held in Europe, there can be no doubt that a general introduction of machinery into China, for the purpose of facilitating and expediting labour would, in the present state of the country, be attended with the most pernicious and distressing consequences; were it only for this simple reason that, despising, as they affect to do, all foreign commerce, the demand for the products of machinery, however much they might be reduced in price, would not be encreased, whilst that of manual labour would considerably be diminished.

Sensible as the Chinese seem to be of the advantages derived from an easy communication between the different parts of the empire, by means of canals, it is the more surprizing what the motives could have been that, till this moment, have restrained them from facilitating an intercourse by means of good roads, in such parts of the country as have no inland navigations. In this respect they fall short of most civilized nations. Except near the capital, and in some few places where the junction of the grand canal with navigable rivers is interrupted by mountainous ground, there is scarcely a road in the whole country that can be ranked beyond a foot-path. Hence it happens that in the northern provinces, during winter, it is impossible to travel with any degree of ease, convenience, or safety; all the canals to the northward of the Yellow River, which runs from 34° to 35° latitude being frozen up. It is equally surprizing that their ingenuity has not extended itself to the invention of sledges or some sort of carriages suitable for travelling on ice, which other nations have converted into the best of roads[56].

[56] I infer that such is not the practice in China, from the manner in which the Dutch Embassadors were conveyed to and from the capital in the middle of winter. The inconveniences they suffered on this occasion are such as can scarcely be conceived to have happened in a civilized country. The perusal of the manuscript journal I have elsewhere noticed conveyed to my mind the idea of a country dreary and desolate, and of a people indigent and distressed; without humanity, and without hospitality. They travelled in little bamboo chairs, carried by four men, who were generally so weak and tottering that they could not go through the day's journey, but were obliged, frequently, in the middle of the night, to halt in an open uninhabited part of the country, where not a hovel of any description was to be met with to shelter them from the inclemency of the weather. And it most commonly happened, that the lodgings appointed for their reception, at the different stages were in such a miserable condition, admitting on every side the wind, rain, or snow, that they generally preferred taking a little rest in their bamboo chairs. They were surprized to find so few cities, towns, or villages in their route, and not less surprized at the ruinous condition in which these few appeared to be. Near the capital a whole city exhibited only a mass of ruins. In many places they found the country under water, and the mud hovels completely melted down. Sometimes they passed extensive wastes, where not a trace was visible of any kind of cultivation, nor a single dwelling occurred in the distance of eight or ten English miles. And it was not before they had crossed the Yellow River that they perceived the marks of wheel-carriages imprinted on the roads, which were so little travelled upon that they could with difficulty be traced. Here they met old men and young women travelling in wheelbarrows; and litters carried by asses, one being fixed between the poles before, and one behind. The rivers had no bridges over them; and such as were too deep to be forded, they were under the necessity of crossing on rafts of bamboo. In short, before they arrived at the capital, the fatigue and hardships they had undergone considerably impaired their health, and the condition of their clothing was such as to excite the compassion of the mandarines, who made them a present of twenty sheep-skin jackets, dressed with the wool upon them; which, like the Hottentots, they wore inwards. One of these gentlemen assured me, that having satisfied his curiosity, no earthly consideration should tempt him to undertake a second journey by land to the capital; for that he believed the whole world could not furnish a like picture of desolation and misery. What a contrast is here exhibited to the ease and convenience with which our journey was made! But the whole treatment of the Dutch embassy seems to have been proportioned to the degree of importance which the Chinese attached to the political condition of this nation.

The continuation of the Grand Canal, from the Yellow River to the _Yang-tse-kiang_, was constructed upon the same principles as that part between the Yellow River and the _Eu-ho_. The country being level and abounding with lakes and marshy grounds, it was carried upon a mound of earth kept together by retaining walls of stone the whole distance, which is about ninety miles, being in parts not less than twenty feet above the general level of the country; and the sheet of water it contained was two hundred feet in width, running sometimes at the rate of three miles an hour. Canals of communication supplied it from the westward; and the superfluous water was let off upon the low marshes. The tops of the walls of _Pao-yng-shien_ were just on a level with the surface of the water in the canal, so that if the bank opposite to it were to burst, the whole city must inevitably be inundated. Very little cultivation appeared in this low marshy country, but abundance of towns and villages, the inhabitants of which subsisted by fishing. A prodigious extent of low country on each side of the Yellow River, perhaps not much less than the surface of all England, is liable to inundations. The Chinese say, the overflowing of this river has been more fatal to the country than war, pestilence, or famine. The Emperor _Kaung-shee_, in order to distress a rebel in the province of _Honan_, ordered a bank to be broken down behind a city he had got possession of; but the inundation was so great, that not only the rebel forces were destroyed, but almost half a million of people were completely swept away; and among these were several European missionaries. Vast sums of money are expended in confining this river within its banks. The same Emperor in his last will declares, that the sums of money issued annually from the Imperial treasury for the embankments to prevent inundations, were never less, during his whole reign, than 3,000,000 ounces of silver, equivalent to one million sterling.

On approaching the _Yang-tse-kiang_ the appearance of the country improved, just as it had done in the vicinity of the Yellow River. The town of _Sau-poo_, extending along the quay of the canal, consisted of houses that were generally two stories high, apparently well built, white-washed with lime and kept in neat and clean order. The inhabitants were also better cloathed than we had hitherto been accustomed to see them. The women were less shy in their advances; their complexions were much fairer and their features more soft and handsome than any we had yet observed in the northern provinces.

The walls and gates of _Yang-tchoo-foo_ bore marks of great antiquity, being partly in ruins and almost entirely overgrown with moss and creeping plants. A thousand vessels, at least, of different descriptions were lying under its walls. Here we remained for the night; and the following morning, being the 5th of November, we launched into the grand and beautiful river called the _Yang-tse-kiang_, which at this place was about two miles in width; but the current was so gentle, that no oblation to the presiding deity was thought to be necessary. The numerous islands rising out of the river and covered with verdure, the multitude of ships of war, of burden and of pleasure, some gliding down the stream, others sailing against it; some moving by oars and others lying at anchor; the banks on either side covered with towns and houses, as far as the eye could reach, presented a prospect more varied and cheerful than any that had hitherto occurred. Nor was the canal, on the opposite side, less lively; for two whole days we were continually passing among fleets of vessels of different constructions and dimensions, those belonging to the revenue department being the largest, each capable of carrying, at least, two hundred tons. Cities, towns and villages were continued along the banks without intermission: and vast numbers of stone bridges were thrown across the canal, some having one, some two, and others three arches. The face of the country was beautifully diversified with hill and dale and every part of it in the highest state of cultivation. The chief produce was that particular species of cotton, of a yellowish tinge, known in Europe by the name of nankin.

The suburbs of _Sou-tchoo-foo_ employed us full three hours in passing before we reached the walls of the city, where a multitude of vessels were lying at anchor. The numerous inhabitants that appeared upon and without the walls of this extensive city, were better dressed and seemed to be more contented and cheerful, than we had yet observed them in any other place. For the most part they were cloathed in silk. The ladies were here dressed in petticoats and not in trowsers, as they had hitherto appeared to the northward. The general fashion of the head-dress was a black satin cap with a triangular peak, the point descending to the root of the nose, in the middle of which, or about the centre of the forehead, was a crystal button. The whole face and neck were washed with a preparation of white lead and the cheeks highly rouged; and two vermillion spots, like wafers, were particularly conspicuous, one on the centre of the under lip and the other on the chin. Their feet were universally squeezed down to an unnatural size. Few females were seen among the immense crowds that the novelty of the sight had brought together, but great numbers had assembled in the houses and particularly on board the pleasure or passage yachts, with the intention of satisfying their curiosity. The superior style of dress and the appearance of the women in public at this place, so different from the general custom of the country, could only be explained to us by the writings of the Christian missionaries, who observe that the concubines of mandarins and men of property are chiefly procured from the cities of _Yang-tchoo_ and of _Sou-tchoo_, where they are educated in the pleasing arts of singing, music and dancing and every other accomplishment suitable to women of superior rank, in order to render them the more agreeable and fascinating. That such women are generally purchased by persons engaged in the trade, in different parts of the country, and trained in these cities, where they are disposed of to the highest bidder, "_this being the principal branch of trade that is carried on in those two cities_." How do these holy men reconcile so infamous a traffic among a people whom they have adorned with every virtue? a people whom they have rendered remarkable among nations for their filial piety! Is there on earth a crime more revolting against civilized nature, or more detestable to civilized society, than that of a parent selling his own child and consigning her, expressly and voluntarily, into a state of prostitution? Those unfortunate wretches who, in Europe, have by any accident reduced themselves to that degraded and deplorable condition of becoming subservient to the pleasures of a man, whom they probably detest, are generally the objects of pity, however their conduct may be disapproved; but a parent, who should be the cause of reducing them to such a state, would be execrated; but the assertion is as absurd as ridiculous, and the writer must have been very credulous to suppose, that the _principal trade_ of one of the largest cities in the world, whose population cannot be less than a million of souls, should consist in buying and selling ladies of pleasure. Buying females in the legal way is certainly the greatest branch of trade throughout China, as every woman there is bought and sold. These reverend gentlemen likewise inform us, with great indifference, that if a man be desirous of having a male child and his wife should happen to be barren, he will purchase one of these concubines for the sole purpose of getting an heir; and, when this is accomplished, he either provides her with a husband, or turns her adrift. Such are the moral virtues of the Chinese, compared with whom all other nations have been accounted barbarous[57].

[57] It may be observed of almost all the writings of the missionaries concerning China, that virtues of so trifling a nature as hardly to deserve the name, have met their unqualified praise, whilst enormous vices have either been palliated or passed over in silence.

To the west of _Sau-tchoo-foo_ is a range of mountains higher than any we had yet seen, well covered with wood; and an extensive lake stretches along their base, famed in China for its picturesque beauties and for its fish. We would gladly have made a party of pleasure to this delightful spot, but innumerable objections, as usual, were started by our conductors, on the score of delay that such an excursion would occasion.

The two great products of this part of the country are rice and silk; the former of which, at this time, they were busily employed in reaping. Plantations of the mulberry tree were extended on both sides of the canal and into the country beyond the reach of sight. They appeared to be of two distinct species; the one, the common mulberry, _morus nigra_, and the other having much smaller leaves, smooth and heart-shaped, and bearing a white berry about the size of the field strawberry. The latter had more the habit of a shrub, but the branches of neither were suffered to run into strong wood, being frequently pruned in order that the trunk might annually throw out young scions, whose leaves were considered to be more tender than such as grew from old branches. Another reason was also assigned for this operation. A tree, when left to itself, throws out the greatest part of its leaves at once, in the spring of the year, but if the thick wood be cut out from time to time, new leaves will continue to push below the parts so cut off during the whole season; and, accordingly, the Chinese are particularly attentive to prune afresh in the autumn, in order to obtain a supply of young leaves in the after spring. The thermometer at this place, on the 9th of November at sun-rise, stood at 64°, and at noon in the shade at 70° degrees.

It was in this part of the canal where the bridge of ninety-one arches, mentioned in the sixth chapter, was thrown across the arm of a lake that joined the canal. I lament exceedingly that we passed this extraordinary fabric in the night. It happened to catch the attention of a Swiss servant who, as the yacht glided along, began to count the arches, but finding them increase in number much beyond his expectation and, at the same time, in dimensions, he ran into the cabin calling out with great eagerness, "For God's sake, gentlemen, come upon deck, for here is a bridge such as I never saw before; it has no end." Mr. Maxwell and I hastened upon deck and, by the faint light, could sufficiently distinguish the arches of a bridge running parallel with the eastern bank of the canal, across the arm of a vast lake, with which the navigation thus communicated. From the highest point, or what appeared to us to be the central arch, I counted forty-five to the end; here they were very small, but the central arch I guessed to be about thirty feet high and forty wide; and the whole length of the bridge I calculated to be about half a mile. The construction of such a bridge, in such a situation, could obviously have been employed for no other purpose than that of opening a free communication with the lake; and, at the same time, of avoiding the labour and expence of accumulating materials sufficient for making a solid embankment.