custom-house of Canton. In this extract foreigners are in general very
unfavourably spoken of. Amongst other things we are told, "that
foreigners or barbarians drink so much strong liquor that they are not
able to stand on their feet; they fall down intoxicated, and before
having had a sound sleep, they cannot rise again." It is also remarked
in the same article that many people assemble together at Whampo, to
attend the trade with the foreigners; the reason probably why our
author calls it "the Great." The reader will remember what has been
said on Hëang shan in a former note; I will only here add the remark
of Martini, "that in his time the principal and most wealthy merchants
lived in that place." (Thévenot, Rélations de divers voyages, iii.
167.)
[80] It is well known that a great part of the population of China
live on the water, and they are generally called _Tan_ (9832)
people;--a word which in the Canton dialect is pronounced _Tanka_.
They are quite a separate race, and harshly dealt with by the Chinese
government. There exist particular works concerning the history, the
customs and laws of these boat-people. They more than once opposed the
despotic regulation of their masters, and government was always afraid
they might join the pirates. The history of the southern barbarians in
the often quoted _Memoirs_, &c. begins with a description of the _Tan
jin_, or _Tanka_ people, and it is there said that they are divided
into three different classes. The description of their customs and
manners is very interesting, and I hope soon to lay it before the
English reader. It has been supposed that the name _Tanka people_ is
derived from the form of their boats, which is similar to an _egg_;
but _Shw[)o] w[)a]n_, as quoted in Kang he, explains the word only by
_Nan fang e yay_, Barbarians of the southern region. There exist
different forms of this character, but I think we should not presume
to make an etymology of a Chinese character without being authorized
by the Shw[)o] w[)a]n, the oldest and most genuine source of Chinese
lexicography.
[81] In the Chinese text is _King king_ (the character is composed out
of radical _fire_ and _ear_), on which is to be found an interesting
critical observation in Kang he, s. v. b. viii. p. 119r. In no other
oriental language has there been so much done by the natives for the
foreign student as by the Chinese.
[82] The most common denomination for Portugal is now Se yang kw[)o],
or more correctly _Siao se yang kw[)o]_. "The small realm in the
western ocean; Europe is called _Ta se yang_." (See Preface.) I thought
it here more proper to translate _E_ by _foreigner_, than by
_barbarian_. In a Chinese history of Macao, we find various
particulars regarding the Portuguese. The description of the
Portuguese clergy and the Roman Catholic religion is the most
interesting part of this curious publication. It consists of two
parts, or volumes.
[83] It would be interesting to read the Portuguese version of these
skirmishes. A history of these skirmishes was printed at Lisbon, but I
could not procure this publication. The reader may compare the
statements of Richard Glasspoole in the Appendix.
[84] The Chinese are very much accustomed to consult the P[)u]h, or
sort. There exists various ways, according to the ideas of the
Chinese, of asking the divinity whether any undertaking shall prove
either fortunate or not. The translator has seen different modes of
casting lots in the temples of the suburbs of Canton. The reader may
find an interesting description of casting lots in the "Histoire du
grand Royaume de la Chine;" à Rouen 1614-8, p. 30. There is much
useful information to be found in this work; but it would be curious
to learn in what Armenian works ("escritures des Armeniens") it is
stated, that "St. Thomas came through China in his voyage to the
East-Indies" (l. c. p. 25)!
[85] _Woo_ (11753) _how_; _Woo_ is the time between eleven and one
o'clock of the day. The Chinese divide the day into twelve _she shin_,
or great hours; the European twenty-four hours of the day are called
_seaou she shin_, little hours. We learn by a passage of Herodotus
(Euterpe 109), that the Greeks in his time also divided the day into
twelve parts; Herodotus also adds that the Greeks received this
division of time from the Babylonians.--See Visdelou in the Supplement
to the "Bibliothèque Orientale," by Herbelot, under the word _Fenek_.
[86] _Me teng_ is a particular sort of junk.
[87] These speeches seem to be rhetorical exercises of the Chinese
historian; the antithesis is a figure very much used in Chinese
rhetoric and poetry, and a great part of their poetry consists merely
of such antitheses.
[88] That is--they are of no effect at all. I, however, thought it
proper to retain the strong figure of the original.
[89] The author forgets in his rhetorical flourishes, that it is a
pirate himself who speaks to pirates. The Chinese characters for "sea
monster" are to be found in M 2057; "_King e_ is used figuratively for
a devouring conqueror of men," says Dr. Morrison.
[90] The author has here the expression _tung-leang_ (11399) _pillar_,
in its proper and figurative sense. He probably chose this expression
to make, according to Chinese sentiments, a fine rhetorical phrase.
_Leang_ in the beginning of the phrase corresponds to the sound and
the form of the character to _Leang_ at the end: Leang shan san kë[)e]
ching y[)i]h, mung g[)a]n shay url king ts[)o] tung-leang. There is
also something like a quibble in the second phrase; Wa kang, _Bricks
and mountain ridge_ is transformed into Choo sh[)i]h (1223) or a
_corner-stone_, just as Leang-shan, _mountain bridge_ is into
tung-leang, or _pillar_.
[91] O po tae alludes to well known events in Chinese history. On
Tsaou tsaou see Dr. Morrison, 10549 in the tonical part of the
Dictionary.
[92] I confess that it was not an easy matter to translate these
rhetorical exercises and poetical phrases, by which the author is
evidently anxious to draw a veil over the weakness of the empire. The
Chinese scholar will certainly pardon any mistake which might occur in
this poetical or furious prose--to use the expression of Blair in his
_Lectures on Rhetoric_.
[93] _Kwei shen_ is a Hëen or town of the third rank, and dependent on
the district metropolis Hwy chow foo; it is near to Hwy. Its area
amounts to thirty-seven le, and pays in taxes 26,058 leang. It is
stated in the _Itinerary of Canton_ (Kwang tung tsuen too, p. 5. v.)
that the situation of this great town makes it a place of danger;
being close to the sea, Kwei shen is exposed to sudden attacks from
pirates.
[94] _Yang keang_ is a town of the third rank, and dependent on its
district metropolis Chow king foo; distant from Chow king foo in a
southerly direction 340 le. Its area amounts to twenty-nine le, and it
pays 12,499 leang in taxes.
_Sin gan_ is a town of the third rank, and dependent upon Kwang chow
foo; distance from Canton in a north-east direction 200 le. Its area
amounts to fifty le, and pays in taxes 11,623 leang. There are three
towns in the district of Canton, whose names begin with _Sin_, new;
_Sin hwy_, _The New Association_; _Sin ning_, _The New Repose_; and
_Sin gan_, _The New Rest_. Kwang tung tsuen too p. 3 v. 4 v et r. 8 r,
_Ning_ (8026) is now always written without sin or heart, being the
_ming_ or proper name of the reigning emperor. By a mistake it is
stated in the Indo-Chinese Gleaner (iii. 108.), that _Ning_ was the
proper name of Këa king. The proper name of the reigning emperor is
considered sacred, and must be spelled differently during his
life-time.
[95] A Pa tsung, a kind of inferior military officer, says Dr.
Morrison, under the word pa, (8103.)
[96] _Laou ya_, _Laou ya kang_, the mountain ridge of Laou ya, is
fifteen le from the town of the third rank called _Sh[)i]h ching_.
Shih ching hëen belongs to the district Kaou chow foo. Kwang tung
tsuen too, 16v. 9r.
[97] Crackers made of gunpowder, and the gong, are used at every
Chinese festival.
[98] The name of a temple which Europeans commonly call a Pagoda.
[99] Keun in Chinese, Kwa according to the Canton pronunciation. It is
true it is somewhat awkward to speak of Madam Ching and Mr. Paou, but
it may be remarked that the Chinese use their familiar expressions
_foo_ or _keun_ in the same manner as we use Mr. and Mrs.
[100] In the text is only Chow (1355); but I think it must here be
taken for the city or town of Canton.
[101] About the towns which are mentioned in our text, the reader may
compare the notes to the first book. It is quite impossible to
ascertain by the text alone if there was only one military officer
appointed for all these places or not. In the latter case it would be
necessary to read Chuh url and Kang g[)i]h; but we see by p. 95 that
Chuh url kang g[)i]h is the name of _one_ commander.
[102] Tung king and Cochin-China now form one empire, under the name
of Annam or Annan. The king of this country acknowledges the supremacy
of the Chinese emperor, and sends every year a tribute to Pekin. The
time of the reign of every king is known by an honorary title, like
that of the emperors of China. The honorary title of the period of the
reigning king, to whom the message was sent, was _Kea lung_ (good
fortune), the younger brother of _King ching_, called by his proper
name _F[)u]h ying_ (according to the Chinese Mandarin pronunciation):
he is often mentioned in the beginning of the first book of our
_History of the Pirates_. The king, commonly called Kea lung, died
Feb. 1820, in the 19th year of his reign. His son, who still reigns,
mounted the throne on the third day after his father's death, assuming
the words _Ming ming_ (Illustrious fortune), as the designation of his
reign. See the "Indo-Chinese Gleaner," vol. i. p. 360. It was falsely
reported that Ming ming was murdered some days after his succession to
the throne (Indo-Chinese Gleaner, l. c. p. 416), and this report is
stated as a fact in the generally very accurate work, Hamilton's
East-India Gazetteer, vol. i. p. 430. The reader may find some
interesting particulars concerning the present state of Cochin-China,
in the Canton Register 1829, No. 13. Chinese influence seems to be now
predominating in that country.
[103] _Teaou_ (10044) in our text is written with a vulgar character.
[104] Chih (Kang he under radical 112. B. vii. p. 19 r.) seems to
indicate that they have been put to death by cutting one member after
another.
[105] Hae k[)a]ng is a town of the third rank and dependent on the
district metropolis Luy chow foo. Luy chow foo is westerly from Canton
1380 le. Hae kang is near to its district metropolis _Kwang tung tsuen
too_, p. v. 9 v. See the Notes, p. 9, of this work.
[106] _Hae fung_ is a town of the third rank, and dependent on the
district metropolis Hwy chow foo. It is in a north-east direction from
its district metropolis 300 le. Its area contains forty le, and pays
17,266 leang in taxes.
_Suy ke_ is a town of the third rank, and dependent upon the district
metropolis Luy chow foo; distance from Luy chow foo in a northerly
direction 180 le.
_H[)o] poo_ is a town of the third rank, and dependant on the district
metropolis Lëen chow foo. This town is near to the district
metropolis, has an area of thirty le, and pays 7,458 leang in taxes.
_Kwang tung tsuen too_, p. 6 r. p. 9 v.
[107] _Junk_ is the Canton pronunciation of _chuen_, ship.
[108] The pirates had many other intimate acquaintances on shore, like
Doctor _Chow_ of Macao.
[109] The pirates were always afraid of this. We find the following
statement concerning the Chinese pirates, taken from the records in
the East-India House, and printed in Appendix C. to the _Report
relative to the trade with the East-Indies and China_, in the sessions
1820 and 1821 (reprinted 1829), p 387.
"In the year 1808, 1809, and 1810, the Canton river was so
infested with pirates, who were also in such force, that the
Chinese government made an attempt to subdue them, but failed.
The pirates totally destroyed the Chinese force; ravaged the
river in every direction; threatened to attack the city of
Canton, and destroyed many towns and villages on the banks of
the river; and killed or carried off, to serve as Ladrones,
several thousands of inhabitants.
"These events created an alarm extremely prejudicial to the
commerce of Canton, and compelled the Company's supercargoes to
fit out a small country ship to cruize for a short time against
the pirates."
[110] That the whole family must suffer for the crime of one
individual, seems to be the most cruel and foolish law of the whole
Chinese criminal code.
[111] The Hoo mun, or Bocca Tigris.
[112] We know by the "History of the Chinese Pirates," that these
"wasps of the ocean," to speak with _Yuen tsze yung lun_, were
originally divided into six squadrons.
[113] In the barbarous Chinese-English spoken at Canton, all things
are indiscriminately called _chop_. You hear of a chop-house,
chop-boat, tea-chop, Chaou-chaou-chop, etc. To give a bill or
agreement on making a bargain is in Chinese called _ch[)a] tan_;
ch[)a] in the pronunciation of Canton is _chop_, which is then applied
to any writing whatever. See Dr. Morrison's English and Chinese
Dictionary under the word _chop_.
[114] The following is the _Character of the Chinese of Canton, as
given in ancient Chinese books_: "People of Canton are silly, light,
weak in body, and weak in mind, without any ability to fight on land."
The Indo-Chinese Gleaner, No. 19.
[115] _Joss_ is a Chinese corruption of the Portuguese _Dios_, _God_.
The Joss, or idol, of which Mr. Glasspoole speaks in the _San po
shin_, which is spoken of in the work of Yuen tsze.
[116] Yuen tsze reported the memorable deed of the beautiful _Mei
ying_ at the end of the first book of his history.
[117] The _Chang lung_ vessels.
[118] Probably the wife of Ching y[)i]h, whose family name was
Sh[)i]h, or stone.
[119] The Chinese in Canton only eat a particular sort of rat, which
is very large and of a whitish colour.
........
Transcriber's note:
Inconsistent hyphenation and spelling is as in the original.
In this etext a 'breve' is represented with [)i] and the same for