WHENEVER the Emperor of China goes in state to transact public business,
to receive ambassadors, or to hold a court, he is carried in the same
kind of a sedan chair as are commonly used in Europe, and which, as well
as umbrellas, have obviously been first introduced from China. The soft
luxury of an Indian palanquin is unknown to the Chinese. By means of
poles attached to each other the Emperor’s chair, on grand occasions, is
carried by eight pair of bearers, sometimes by four pair, but on
ordinary occasions he has no more than two pair. They are generally the
stoutest and tallest men that can be found, and are dressed in a long
yellow vest, which is the colour assumed by the imperial family.
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[Illustration:
CHINA—PLATE 32
]
Plate XXXII.