THE military of China differs, as every thing else differs, from that of
all other nations, in the nature of its establishment, its occupation,
and its dress. They have two distinct armies, if they may be so called;
the one composed entirely of Tartars, who are stationed in the several
provinces on the Tartar frontier, and occupy all the garrison towns of
the empire; the other composed of Chinese, who are parcelled out in the
smaller towns and hamlets to keep the peace, by acting as constables,
subordinate collectors of the taxes, guards to the granaries, and
assisting in various ways the civil magistrate. Along the public roads,
canals and rivers, are placed, at certain intervals, small square
guard-houses, at which are stationed from six to twelve men, who are
employed in settling disputes upon the rivers or roads, and also in
conveying the public dispatches. When a foreign ambassador or any of
their own mandarins travel, these soldiers turn out in their holiday
dresses with their streamers stuck in the back, as in the annexed
figure. The breast-plate and shoulder-guards are nothing more than
cotton stuffed with wadding, and the helmet, which looks so fierce, is
made only of paste-board. The Chinese matchlocks resemble so much the
old common matchlock of the Portuguese, that it has been supposed these
people first introduced them into China, where however it is
sufficiently determined, gunpowder was in familiar use many centuries
before any communication was known to exist between this country and
Europe. In some of the larger matchlocks there is a fork to support the
piece, and by sticking it in the ground to give it the degree elevation
that may be required.
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[Illustration:
CHINA—PLATE 14
]
Plate XIV.