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highly improved husbandry of Europe. There are no large farms, few families cultivating more than is necessary for their own subsistence; there is no rotation of crops; the plough is a wretched instrument; and in many places the spade and the hoe are the chief means of cultivation. The most remarkable circumstance in Chinese agriculture is the care taken to bring every spot under cultivation; even steep hills and mountains being converted into terraces, one above another, each supported by a mound of stone, while reservoirs are made at the top, in which rain is collected, and conveyed down the sides to water the plants. Great pains are also taken to collect manure; and in some parts of the country old men, women and children are constantly seen, with a basket in one hand and a small rake in the other, collecting from the roads and canals every particle of filth.

Minerals.] The large peninsula which juts into the Yellow sea in the province of Shantung is almost entirely composed of rocks of the coal formation, which supply the greater part of China with fuel. Copper abounds in the southwestern provinces. The mines of gold and silver are said to be copious, but these metals have for centuries been continually imported from Europe.

Chief Towns.] Pekin, the capital, and residence of the emperor, is situated near the N. E. corner of the kingdom, within 50 miles of the great wall. Like most other Chinese cities it is regularly laid out. A street four miles long and 120 feet broad reaches from one gate to the other, and is crossed by another of similar length and breadth. The other streets are narrow, and many of them can only be considered as lanes. They are all unpaved, and covered with sand and dust; but they are kept very clean and frequently, watered. The principal streets consist almost entirely of rows of shops, which are painted, gilded, and adorned with much magnificence. Blue and green mixed with gold are the prevailing colors upon the walls. The regular form of the streets, the flat roofs and the various signs with which they are decorated, give Pekin very much the appearance of a large encampment. The streets are peculiarly crowded, in consequence of the number of trades that are carried on in the open air. The numerous moveable workshops of tinkers and barbers, cobblers and blacksmiths; the tents and booths where tea, fruit, rice and other eatables are exposed to sale; the troops of dromedaries laden with coals from Tartary, and the hand-carts stuffed with vegetables leave only a small space unoccupied.

Pekin, according to Chinese ideas, is strongly fortified. It is surrounded with walls about 30 feet high and 25 feet thick at their base, with square towers placed at every interval of 70 yards. The imperial palace is an inclosure within the city formed by what is called the Yellow wall. The space included within it, about a mile long and three-fourths of a mile broad, is artificially formed into an imitation of rude and romantic nature.

The palace without the city presents the same scene on a much more extended scale, the grounds here covering an area of 100 square miles. The population of Pekin is estimated at 3,000,000. Lon. 116° 28' E. Lat. 39° 55′ N.

Nankin is advantageously situated for trade on the S. bank of the great river Yang-tse-kiang near its mouth. It was formerly the capital of the empire, but since the removal of the seat of government to Pekin it has much declined. The city is still distinguished, however, for its manufactures and commerce. Its principal ornaments are the gateways, which are very lofty and splendid; and the porcelain tower, which is of an octagonal form, 9 stories high, and mounted by 884 steps. The population is estimated at between 1 and 2,000,000.

Canton is situated at the southern extremity of the empire, near the mouth of a river of the same name. The river for four or five miles is covered with innumerable boats, containing whole families that have no other residence and seldom visit the land. They are ranged in parallel rows, with a narrow interval between each line to admit the passage of other vessels. The city is a place of very great trade, and the only port of the whole Chinese dominions which is open to Europeans. Vast quantities of merchandize are continually exported and imported by the Chinese themselves, in the traffic with various eastern nations, and a very extensive commercial intercourse is now carried on by Europeans, especially the British. The population is variously estimated from 1,500,000 to 2,000,000.

Canals and Roads.] No nation can produce a parallel to the great canal, which runs in a continuous line from Pekin for 500 miles in a southerly direction, and meets the Yang-tse-kiang a little below Nankin. By means of the Yang-tse-kiang and one of its tributaries from the south, the navigation is continued to the frontier of the province of Canton. It is here interrupted by a range of mountains which runs across China, and which must be passed by land, but on the opposite side of the range travellers embark on another river, which falls into the sea near Canton: so that between that city and Pekin, a dis tance of 1,000 miles, the water communication is uninterrupted, except by a land journey of a single day. Smaller canals, connecting the rivers and larger canals with each other are said to be almost innumerable. The great roads and bridges of China are likewise very magnificent.

Great wall.] The most stupendous of all the public works of the Chinese is the great wall. This mighty rampart runs along the whole northern and part of the western frontier, and is car ried over rivers upon arches, over plains, vallies and mountains, through a distance of 1,000 miles. It is built of brick and stone, usually 25 feet high and so thick that 6 horsemen can ride abreast on the top. It is provided with towers at every little interval, and was designed as a barrier against the incursions of the Tartars. The period of its erection is variously stated from 600 to 2000 years ago.

Population.] The population of China has been a subject of much speculation. The number of 333,000,000, which was given by a mandarin to Lord Macartney, as founded on official data, seems abandoned on all hands as an empty vaunt. Geographers now generally place it somewhere about 150,000,000. This amount, compared with the dimensions of China, does not much exceed the proportion of 100 to the square mile, no very extraordinary density, when compared to districts and even kingdoms in Europe; yet probably no other continuous extent of land throughout the globe contains so great a population. Certainly no number nearly so great is any where united under one government.

Government.] The government is an absolute despotism, but is administered with much of the patriarchal spirit. The emperor regards himself as the father of his people, and watches over their welfare with unremitting care and anxiety. All the public proclamations and reports are filled with this sentiment. He is represented as incessantly employed in devising the means of promoting the happiness of the people, and in times of suffering, as mourning over them with the deepest sorrow. That this is the real spirit of the government, appears from the vast and useful public works which have been executed, and the immense population which is maintained in a state of profound tranquillity. Perhaps, upon the whole, China may be given as the example of a despotism administered in the best possible manner.

Army and Revenue.] The army is estimated at 810,000 men, of whom 210,000 are cavalry and 600,000 infantry. The revenue is reckoned by Barrow at £66,000,000.

Mandarins.] The officers of government are called Manda rins, and are divided into nine orders, the lowest of which are entrusted with the collection of the revenue, others are governors of cities, and the highest class are governors of provinces or viceroys. Each mandarin exercises over those placed under him an absolute authority. Great precaution is taken against the abuse of power. No mandarin can hold an office in his native city or province. Care is taken that no one be connected in office with his father, brother, or other near relation, and that he do not remain long in any one place. From time to time also a species of official spies proceed incognito through the provinces to collect the reports of the people respecting their rulers.

Literature and Education.] The Chinese are a reading people, and novels, tales, books of proverbs and other light publications are daily issuing from the press. Standard works on history, law and philosophy are also compiled under the direction of the sovereign. Education is carefully attended to, every town and village having its school. The highest rewards and honors are bestowed on the acquisition of knowledge, proficiency in learning being made the sole test of admission to all offices in the state from the highest to the lowest. An annual examination is

held when every candidate, according to the measure of learning which he has displayed, is promoted to a corresponding place in the government.

Language.] The written language of the Chinese is in some measure hieroglyphical, and to attain a knowledge of it was formerly deemed the labor of life. Travellers represented that each word had a separate character, and that these characters had no connexion with each other. Recent investigation, however, has proved that the language is of a regular and systematic formation, and scarcely more difficult of acquisition than the Greek or even the Latin. It has been discovered that the number of elementary characters is only 214, by the various combination of which all the words in the language are formed. Each element has a distinct meaning by itself, and when two or more are united, the meaning of the compound partakes of that of the several elements of which it is composed. Thus the two elementary characters signifying fire and wood when united form the Chinese word for burn, and the repetition of the character for wood forms a compound denoting forest. A dictionary of the language has recently been formed by Mr. Morrison in which these characters are used like letters, as heads, under which the different words are arranged. With respect to the pronunciation, the first thing which strikes us is that all the words are monosyllables, that the initial sounds are all consonants, and the final all vowels, liquids or nasals.

Printing The art of printing was known and practised in China for a long period prior to its discovery in Europe. It is not performed, however, with moveable types, but with blocks of wood, to which the impression is transfered from the writing, and the word then cut out. They are not unacquainted, how ever, with the use of moveable types, which are sometimes used for the purpose of altering their compositions, and Mr. Morrison has employed them exclusively in printing his dictionary.

Science] In most of the sciences the Chinese seem to be be hind even the Hindoos. Medicine remains still in a crude and empirical state. Surgery is in the hands of the barbers. Of arithmetic and geometry, they possess merely what is necessary for the common business of life. Astronomy is cultivated with a good deal of attention, as the keeping of the calendar, and the calculation of eclipses are made important affairs of state. This department, however, has never been managed by native Chinese, and for several centuries has been exclusively in the hands of the Jesuists who have been allowed to reside at Pekin.

Fine Arts.] The fine arts cannot be considered as in a flourishing state. The public buildings throughout the empire are constructed almost solely with a view to utility. The only edifices in which ornament is studied are the pagodas, which are found in almost every village, but are not remarkable for correct taste. The porcelain tower at Nankin holds an undisputed preeminence; but this, polished over like china ware, and with

bells at every corner, which jingle with the wind, can scarcely be considered as any thing but a huge toy. The paintings of the Chinese are distinguished for rich coloring and close imitation of nature, but the design is poor, and they have not the least idea of perspective. The drama is a favourite amusement, and Pekin alone is supposed to contain a hundred compan ies of players. These, however, do not perform on public theatres, but are hired by individuals to enliven the scene of domestic festivity, and their exhibitions are of the most grotesque and ridiculous nature.

Religion.] There is no established religion connected with the state. The rulers bave even been accused of atheism, but without foundation. China has no congregational worship, the gov ernment studiously avoiding and prohibiting every thing by which men can be assembled together. The system almost exclusively professed is that of Fo, a modification of the religion of Boodh, which is almost universally prevalent in Eastern Asia, and is dis tinguished here, as elsewhere, by numerous images of departed worthies, some of gigantic size; by processions, bells, beads, and tapers, forming a striking resemblance to the Catholic rites. The Christian religion has been introduced by the Jesuists, who at one time boasted of 300,000 converts, but their career has been stopped by that hostility to change which is so deeply fixed in the ruling powers,

Manners and Customs.] The excessive populousness of this country has given rise to the cruel custom of exposing infants. Every morning persons are employed to go through the streets of Pekin to collect the infants thus abandoned by their parents, and the number exposed in that city alone is supposed to amount to 9,000 annually. In the provinces the practice is less common. The children exposed are chiefly females.-A custom prevails of binding the feet of female children in tight bandages till they cease to grow, a small foot being deemed the chief ornament of a Chinese beauty. The foot of a full sized woman is not more than six inches long. Various stories are related concerning the design of this singular custom, but whatever may have been its origin, it is certain that the Chinese ladies experience very considerable inconvenience from it in moving from place to place, The most prudent observe the caution of keeping close to the wall, and resting against it. Where this prop fails, they can walk only with a timid and tottering step, and with the hazard of being frequently overturned, when the replacing themselves in an erect position is no easy task; nor do their lords ever deign to afford the smallest assistance.

It is not allowed to bury the dead in towns, but the sepulchres are commonly on barren hills and mountains. Mourners clothe themselves in white. The condition of the female sex is very degraded. They are excluded from society and seem generally to be held in very low estimation. Travellers have occasionally observed them yoked in the plough along with an ass, and bearing the chief part of the labor.

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