WE have not much to observe with respect to the annexed figure. He is
the page or body servant of a mandarin, to carry his papers, his writing
apparatus, the cushion on which he sits, or lays his head; he takes care
of his areca-box and his tobacco pipe, attends him on all occasions,
fans him while asleep; and, if report speaks truth, serves him for other
unworthy purposes. Every mandarin has one or more of these kind of boys
whom, even in public, they treat with a familiarity which is not quite
decorous. The upper vest, worn by the person in the annexed figure, is
of fur, which in all the northern provinces is found to be absolutely
necessary in the severe cold of the winter months.
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[Illustration:
CHINA—PLATE 27
]
Plate XXVII.