In the earliest ages of which history professes to take cognizance,
persons who wished to dispose of their goods were obliged to have
recourse to barter. By and by shells were adopted as a medium of
exchange, and then pieces of stamped silk, linen, and deerskin. These
were followed by circular discs of copper, pierced with a round hole,
the forerunners of the ordinary copper coins of a century or two later,
which had square holes, and bore inscriptions, as they still do in
the present day. Money was also cast in the shape of "knives" and of
"trouser," by which names specimens of this early coinage (mostly fakes)
are known to connoisseurs. Some of these were beautifully finished, and
even inlaid with gold. Early in the ninth century, bills of exchange
came into use; and from the middle of the twelve century paper money
became quite common, and is still in general use all over China, notes
being issued in some places for amounts less even than a shilling.
Measures of length and capacity were fixed by the Chinese after an
exceedingly simple process. The grain of millet, which is fairly uniform
in size, was taken as the unit of both. Ten of these grains, laid
end-ways, formed the inch, ten of which made a foot, and ten feet a
_chang_. The decimal system has always prevailed in China, with one
curious exception: sixteen ounces make a pound. How this came to be so
does not appear to be known; but in this case it is the pound which is
the unit of weight, and not the lower denomination. The word which
for more than twenty centuries signified "pound" to the Chinese, was
originally the rude picture of an axe-head; and there is no doubt
that axe-heads, being all of the same size, were used in weighing
commodities, and were subsequently split, for convenience's sake, into
sixteen equal parts, each about one-third heavier than the English
ounce. For measures of capacity, we must revert to the millet-grain, a
fixed number of which set the standard for Chinese pints and quarts.
The result of this rule-of-thumb calculation has been that weights and
measures vary all over the empire, although there actually exist an
official foot, pound and pint, as recognized by the Chinese government.
In one and the same city a tailor's foot will differ from a carpenter's
foot, an oilman's pint from a spirit-merchant's pint, and so on. The
final appeal is to local custom.
With the definitive establishment of the monarchy, two hundred years
before the Christian era, a system of government was inaugurated which
has proceeded, so far as essentials are concerned, upon almost uniform
lines down to the present day.
It is an ancient and well-recognized principle in China, that every
inch of soil belongs to the sovereign; consequently, all land is held on
consideration of a land-tax payable to the emperor, and so long as this
tax is forthcoming, the land in question is practically freehold, and
can be passed by sale from hand to hand for a small conveyancing fee to
the local authorities who stamp the deeds. Thus, the foreign concessions
or settlements in China were not sold or parted with in any way by the
Chinese; they were "leased in perpetuity" so long as the ground-rent
is paid, and remain for all municipal and such purposes under the
uncontrolled administration of the nation which leased them. The
land-tax may be regarded as the backbone of Chinese finance; but
although nominally collected at a fixed rate, it is subject to
fluctuations due to bad harvests and like visitations, in which cases
the tax is accepted at a lower rate, in fact at any rate the people can
afford to pay.
The salt and other monopolies, together with the customs, also
contribute an important part of China's revenue. There is the old native
customs service, with its stations and barriers all over the empire, and
the foreign customs service, as established at the treaty ports only, in
order to deal with shipments on foreign vessels trading with China. The
traditional and well-marked lines of taxation are freely accepted by the
people; any attempt, however, to increase the amounts to be levied,
or to introduce new charges of any kind, unless duly authorized by the
people themselves, would be at once sternly resisted. As a matter of
fact, the authorities never run any such risks. It is customary, when
absolutely necessary, and possibly desirable, to increase old or to
introduce new levies, for the local authorities to invite the leading
merchants and others concerned to a private conference; and only when
there is a general consent of all parties do the officials venture
to put forth proclamations saying that such and such a tax will be
increased or imposed, as the case may be. Any other method may lead to
disastrous results. The people refuse to pay; and coercion is met at
once by a general closing of shops and stoppage of trade, or, in more
serious cases, by an attack on the official residence of the offending
mandarin, who soon sees his house looted and levelled with the ground.
In other words, the Chinese people tax themselves.
The nominal form of government, speaking without reference to the new
constitution which will be dealt with later on, is an irresponsible
autocracy; its institutions are likewise autocratic in form, but
democratic in operation. The philosopher, Mencius (372-289 B.C.), placed
the people first, the gods second, and the sovereign third, in the scale
of national importance; and this classification has sunk deep into the
minds of the Chinese during more than two thousand years past. What the
people in China will not stand is injustice; at the same time they will
live contentedly under harsh laws which they have at one time or another
imposed upon themselves.
Each of the great dynasties has always begun with a Penal Code of its
own, based upon that of the outgoing dynasty, but tending to be more and
more humane in character as time goes on. The punishments in old days
were atrocious in their severity; the Penal Code of the present dynasty,
which came into force some two hundred and fifty years ago, has been
pronounced by competent judges to take a very high rank indeed. It was
introduced to replace a much harsher code which had been in operation
under the Ming dynasty, and contains the nominally immutable laws of the
empire, with such modifications and restrictions as have been authorized
from time to time by Imperial edict. Still farther back in Chinese
history, we come upon punishments of ruthless cruelty, such as might
be expected to prevail in times of lesser culture and refinement. Two
thousand years ago, the Five Punishments were--branding on the forehead,
cutting off the nose, cutting off the feet, mutilation, and death; for
the past two hundred and fifty years, these have been--beating with
the light bamboo, beating with the heavy bamboo, transportation for a
certain period, banishment to a certain distance, and death, the last
being subdivided into strangling and decapitation, according to the
gravity of the offence.
Two actual instruments of torture are mentioned, one for compressing
the ankle-bones, and the other for squeezing the fingers, to be used
if necessary to extort a confession in charges of robbery and homicide,
confession being regarded as essential to the completion of the record.
The application, however, of these tortures is fenced round in such a
way as to impose great responsibility upon the presiding magistrate;
and in addition to the risk of official impeachment, there is the more
dreaded certainty of loss of influence and of popular esteem. Mention is
made in the code of the so-called "lingering death," according to which
first one arm is chopped off, then the other; the two legs follow in the
same way; two slits are made on the breast, and the heart is torn
out; decapitation finishes the proceedings. It is worthy of note that,
although many foreigners have been present from time to time at public
executions, occasionally when the "lingering death" has been announced,
not one has established it as a fact beyond a doubt that such a process
has ever been carried out. Not only that; it is also well known that
condemned criminals are allowed to purchase of themselves, or through
their friends, if they have any, spirits or opium with which to fortify
their courage at the last moment. There is indeed a tradition that
stupefying drinks are served out by the officials to the batches of
malefactors as they pass to the execution ground at Peking. It would
still remain to find executioners capable of performing in cold blood
such a disgusting operation as the "lingering death" is supposed to be.
The ordinary Chinaman is not a fiend; he does not gloat in his peaceful
moments, when not under the influence of extreme excitement, over
bloodshed and cruelty.
The generally lenient spirit in which the Penal Code of China was
conceived is either widely unknown, or very often ignored. For instance,
during the excessive summer heats certain punishments are mitigated, and
others remitted altogether. Prompt surrender and acknowledgment of an
offence, before it is otherwise discovered, entitles the offender, with
some exceptions, to a full and free pardon; as also does restitution
of stolen property to its owner by a repentant thief; while a criminal
guilty of two or more offences can be punished only to the extent of the
principal charge. Neither are the near relatives, nor even the servants,
of a guilty man, punishable for concealing his crime and assisting him
to escape. Immense allowances are made for the weakness of human nature,
in all of which may be detected the tempering doctrines of the great
Sage. A feudal baron was boasting to Confucius that in his part of
the country the people were so upright that a son would give evidence
against a father who had stolen a sheep. "With us," replied Confucius,
"the father screens the son, and the son screens the father; that is
real uprightness." To another questioner, a man in high authority, who
complained of the number of thieves, the Master explained that this was
due to the greed of the upper classes. "But for this greed," he added,
"even if you paid people to steal, they would not do so." To the same
man, who inquired his views on capital punishment, Confucius replied:
"What need is there for capital punishment at all? If your aims are
worthy, the people also will be worthy."
There are many other striking features of the Penal Code. No marriage,
for instance, may be contracted during the period of mourning for
parents, which in theory extends to three full years, but in practice
is reckoned at twenty-seven months; neither may musical instruments
be played by near relatives of the dead. During the same period, no
mandarin may hold office, but must retire into private life; though
the observance of this rule is often dispensed with in the case of
high officials whose presence at their posts may be of considerable
importance. In such cases, by special grace of the emperor, the period
of retirement is cut down to three months, or even to one.
The death of an emperor is followed by a long spell of national
tribulation. For one hundred days no man may have his head shaved, and
no woman may wear head ornaments. For twelve months there may be no
marrying or giving in marriage among the official classes, a term which
is reduced to one hundred days for the public at large. The theatres are
supposed to remain closed for a year, but in practice they shut only
for one hundred days. Even thus great hardships are entailed upon many
classes of the community, especially upon actors and barbers, who might
be in danger of actual starvation but for the common-sense of their
rulers coupled with the common rice-pot at home.
The law forbidding marriage between persons of the same surname is
widely, but not universally, in operation. No Smith may marry a Smith;
no Jones may marry a Jones; the reason of course being that all of the
same surname are regarded as members of the same family. However, there
are large districts in certain parts of China where the people are one
and all of the surname, and where it would be a great hardship--not to
mention the impossibility of enforcing the law--if intermarriages of the
kind were prohibited. Consequently, they are allowed, but only if the
contracting parties are so distantly related that, according to the
legal table of affinity, they would not wear mourning for one another in
case of death--in other words, not related at all. The line of descent
is now traced through the males, but there is reason to believe that in
early days, as is found to be often the case among uncivilized tribes,
the important, because more easily recognizable, parent was the mother.
Thus it is illegal for first cousins of the same surname to marry,
and legal if the surnames are different; in the latter case, however,
centuries of experience have taught the Chinese to frown upon such
unions as undesirable in the extreme.
The Penal Code forbids water burial, and also cremation; but it is
permitted to the children of a man dying at a great distance to consume
their father's corpse with fire if positively unable to bring it back
for ordinary burial in his native district. The idea is that with the
aid of fire immediate communication is set up with the spirit-world,
and that the spirit of the deceased is thus enabled to reach his native
place, which would be impossible were the corpse to remain intact. Hence
the horror of dying abroad, common to all Chinese, and only faced if
there is a reasonable probability that their remains will be carried
back to the ancestral home.
In spite of the above law, the cremation of Buddhist priests is
universal, and the practice is tolerated without protest. Priests who
are getting on in years, or who are stricken with a mortal disease, are
compelled by rule to move into a certain part of their monastery, known
as the Abode of a Long Old Age, in which they are required--not to die,
for death does not come to a good priest, but--to enter into Nirvana,
which is a sublime state of conscious freedom from all mental and
physical disturbance, not to be adequately described in words. At death,
the priest is placed in a chair, his chin supported by a crutch, and
then put into a wooden box, which on the appointed day is carried in
procession, with streaming banners, through the monastery, and out into
the cremation-ground attached, his brother priests chanting all the
while that portion of the Buddhist liturgies set apart as the service
for the dead, but which being in Pali, not a single one of them can
understand. There have, of course, been many highly educated priests at
one time and another during the long reign of Buddhism in China; but
it is safe to say that they are no longer to be met with in the present
day. The Buddhist liturgies have been written out in Chinese characters
which reproduce the sounds of the original Indian language, and these
the priests learn by heart without understanding a word of their
meaning. The box with the dead man in it is now hoisted to the top of a
funeral pyre, which has been well drenched with oil, and set alight;
and when the fire has burnt out, the ashes are reverently collected and
placed in an urn, which is finally deposited in a mausoleum kept for
that purpose.
Life is remarkably safe in China. No man can be executed until his
name has been submitted to the emperor, which of course means to his
ministers at the capital. The Chinese, however, being, as has been so
often stated, an eminently practical people, understand that certain
cases admit of no delay; and to prevent the inevitable lynching of such
criminals as kidnappers, rebels, and others, caught red-handed, high
officials are entrusted with the power of life and death, which they
can put into immediate operation, always taking upon themselves full
responsibility for their acts. The essential is to allay any excitement
of the populace, and to preserve the public peace.
In the general administration of the law great latitude is allowed, and
injustice is rarely inflicted by a too literal interpretation of the
Code. Stealing is of course a crime, yet no Chinese magistrate would
dream of punishing a hungry man for simple theft of food, even if such
a case were ever brought into court. Cake-sellers keep a sharp eye on
their wares; farmers and market-gardeners form associates for mutual
protection, and woe to the thief who gets caught--his punishment is
short and sharp. Litigation is not encouraged, even by such facilities
as ought to be given to persons suffering wrongs; there is no bar, or
legal profession, and persons who assist plaintiffs or defendants in
the conduct of cases, are treated with scant courtesy by the presiding
magistrate and are lucky if they get off with nothing worse. The
majority of commercial cases come before the guilds, and are settled
without reference to the authorities. The ordinary Chinese dread a court
of justice, as a place in which both parties manage to lose something.
"It is not the big devil," according to the current saying, "but the
little devils" who frighten the suitor away. This is because official
servants receive no salary, but depend for their livelihood on
perquisites and tips; and the Chinese suitor, who is a party to the
system, readily admits that it is necessary "to sprinkle a little
water."
Neither do any officials in China, high or low, receive salaries,
although absurdly inadequate sums are allocated by the Government for
that purpose, for which it is considered prudent not to apply. The
Chinese system is to some extent the reverse of our own. Our officials
collect money and pay it into the Treasury, from which source fixed sums
are returned to them as salaries. In China, the occupants of petty posts
collect revenue in various ways, as taxes or fees, pay themselves as
much as they dare, and hand up the balance to a superior officer, who in
turn pays himself in the same sense, and again hands up the balance to
his superior officer. When the viceroy of a province is reached, he too
keeps what he dares, sending up to the Imperial exchequer in Peking just
enough to satisfy the powers above him. There is thus a continual check
by the higher grade upon the lower, but no check on such extortion
as might be practised upon the tax-payer. The tax-payer sees to that
himself. Speaking generally, it may be said that this system, in spite
of its unsatisfactory character, works fairly well. Few officials
overstep the limits which custom has assigned to their posts, and those
who do generally come to grief. So that when the dishonesty of the
Chinese officials is held up to reprobation, it should always be
remembered that the financial side of their public service is not
surrounded with such formalities and safeguards as to make robbery of
public money difficult, if not almost impossible. It is, therefore, all
the more cheering when we find, as is frequently the case, retiring or
transferred mandarins followed by the good wishes and affection of the
people over whom they have been set to rule.
Until quite recently, there has been no such thing in China as municipal
administration and rating, and even now such methods are only being
tentatively introduced in large cities where there are a number of
foreign residents. Occupants of houses are popularly supposed to "sweep
the snow from their own doorsteps," but the repair of roads, bridges,
drains, etc., has always been left to the casual philanthropy of wealthy
individuals, who take these opportunities of satisfying public opinion
in regard to the obligations of the rich towards the poor. Consequently,
Chinese cities are left without efficient lighting, draining, or
scavengering; and it is astonishing how good the health of the people
living under these conditions can be. There is no organized police
force; but cities are divided into wards, and at certain points barriers
are drawn across the streets at night, with perhaps one watchman to
each. It is not considered respectable to be out late at night, and it
is not safe to move about without a lantern, which is carried, for those
who can afford the luxury, by a servant preceding them.
One difference between life in China and life in this country may
be illustrated to a certain extent in the following way. Supposing a
traveller, passing through an English village, to be hit on the head by
a stone. Unless he can point out his assailant, the matter is at an
end. In China, all the injured party has to do is to point out the
village--or, if a town, the ward--in which he was assaulted. Then the
headman of such town or ward is summoned before the authorities and
fined, proportionately to the offence, for allowing rowdy behaviour in
his district. The headman takes good care that he does not pay the fine
himself. In the same way, parents are held responsible for the acts of
their children, and householders for those of their servants.