Clumsy as may be the jingall, it appears to be the most efficient

of the Chinese firearms. It looks something like a duck-gun, and is

supposed to carry an ounce ball, though the missiles sent from it are

generally of a very miscellaneous character. Some of these guns are

pivoted and fixed on tripod stands, while others are either supported

on the shoulder of an assistant gunner while the firer takes aim, or

rest upon two supports which are pivoted to the stock not very far from

the muzzle of the gun. Of the manner in which the jingall is fired,

Captain Blakiston gives a very amusing account, the whole proceeding

having a very ludicrous aspect to an English artillery officer.

“We explained to them that we should like to see some practice with

their artillery, on which the bombardier, as he seemed to be, went to

the powder magazine, which was an old sack carefully tied up and lying

under a bed in the hut, and brought forth the charge in a tea-cup. Then

he mounted on a stool, and poured the powder in at the muzzle; the

jingall was thumped on the ground, and with a long bamboo, which served

as a ramrod, they rammed the powder home. A little of the already soft

powder was then mealed, and the touch-hole filled with it.

“One man then held on tight to the butt, while another, coming out

with a hot poker, discharged the weapon, the effect of which in noise

and smoke was marvellous; but the poor fellow who was doing the

marksman was knocked heels over head backward. He seemed, however,

quite accustomed to that sort of thing, for, picking himself up in a

minute, he performed what I certainly took for the _coup d’état_ of the

whole proceeding. Suddenly swinging round the jingall on its pivot,

he applied his mouth to the muzzle, and blew violently down it, which

sent the remaining sparks flying out of the vent, and then swung it

back into its former position, by which manœuvre he nearly knocked my

companion off his legs.

“The piece was then left with its muzzle inclined well upward, so that

any rain which might fall would trickle nicely down the barrel and

accumulate at the breech. The picket seemed to be without any shot

for their jingall, for we tried to get them to put one in, so that we

might fire across the bows of our junks, in order to test the courage

of the boat coolies. Probably shot are not used in the warfare of the

interior: our after experience was favorable to this supposition.”

Captain Blakiston rather maliciously adds, that the picket was placed

there for the purpose of giving an alarm by running away as soon as any

body of rebels might come in sight.

I possess a specimen of the jingall. It is exactly seven feet in

length, and is, in fact, nothing more than a heavy iron tube mounted on

a stock, and supplied with the rudest imaginable arrangement for the

match. Altogether, I think that the risk of firing it would be rather

greater than that of being fired at with it.

As for the bow and arrow, they are substantially the same as that which

has been described when treating of the Tartars, the weapon having been

taken up by the Chinese, and its use carefully learned after the same

fashion as has been mentioned.

The most characteristic Chinese weapon with which I am acquainted is

the repeating crossbow (shown on page 1425), which, by simply working a

lever backward and forward, drops the arrows in succession in front of

the string, draws the bow, shoots the missile, and supplies its place

with another. The particular weapon from which the drawings are taken

was said to have been one of the many arms which were captured in the

Peiho fort.

It is not at all easy to describe the working of this curious bow, but,

with the aid of the illustration, I will try to make it intelligible.

The bow itself is made of three strong, separate pieces of bamboo,

overlapping each other like the plates of a carriage-spring, which

indeed it exactly resembles. This is mounted on a stock, and, as the

bow is intended for wall defence, it is supported in the middle by a

pivot. So far, we have a simple crossbow; we have now to see how the

repeating machinery is constructed. Upon the upper surface of the stock

lies an oblong box, which we will call the “slide.” It is just wide and

long enough to contain the arrows, and is open above, so as to allow

them to be dropped into it. When in the slide, the arrows necessarily

lie one above the other, and, in order to prevent them from being

jerked out of the slide by the shock of the bowstring, the opening can

be closed by a little wooden shutter which slides over it.

Through the lower part of the slide a transverse slit is cut, and the

bowstring is led through this cut, so that the string presses the slide

upon the stock. Now we come to the lever. It is shaped like the Greek

letter π, the cross-piece forming the handle. The lever is jointed to

the stock by an iron pin or bolt, and to the slide by another bolt.

Now, if the lever be worked to and fro, the slide is pushed backward

and forward along the stock, but without any other result.

Supposing that we wish to make the lever draw the bow, we have only

to cut a notch in the under part of the slit through which the string

is led. As the slide passes along the stock, the string by its own

pressure falls into the notch, and is drawn back, together with the

slide, thus bending the bow. Still, however much we may work the lever,

the string will remain in the notch, and must therefore be thrown out

by a kind of trigger. This is self-acting, and is equally simple and

ingenious. Immediately under the notch which holds the string, a wooden

peg plays loosely through a hole. When the slide is thrust forward and

the string falls into the notch, it pushes the peg out of the hole. But

when the lever and slide are drawn backward to their full extent, the

lower end of the peg strikes against the stock, so that it is forced

violently through the hole, and pushes the string out of the notch.

We will now refer to the illustration. Fig. 1 represents the bow as it

appears after the lever and slide have been thrust forward, and the

string has fallen into the notch. Fig. 2 represents it as it appears

when the lever has been brought back, and the string released.

A is the bow, made of three layers of male bamboo, the two outer being

the longest. B is the string. This is made of very thick catgut, as is

needed to withstand the amount of friction which it has to undergo, and

the violent shock of the bow. It is fastened in a wonderfully ingenious

manner, by a “hitch” rather than a knot, so that it is drawn tighter in

proportion to the tension. It passes round the end of the bow, through

a hole, and then presses upon itself.

C C show the stock, and D is the slide. E is the opening of the slide,

through which the arrows are introduced into it, and it is shown as

partially closed by the little shutter F. The lever is seen at G,

together with the two pins which connect it with the stock and the

slide. H shows the notch in the slide which receives the string. I is

the pivot on which the weapon rests, K is the handle, and L the place

whence the arrows issue.

If the reader should have followed this description carefully, he will

see that the only limit to the rapidity of fire is the quickness with

which the lever can be worked to and fro. As it is thrust forward,

the string drops into its notch, the trigger-peg is set, and an arrow

falls with its butt just in front of the string. When it is drawn

sharply back, the string is released by the trigger-peg, the arrow is

propelled, and another falls into its place. If, therefore, a boy be

kept at work supplying the slide with arrows, a constant stream of

missiles can be poured from this weapon.

The arrows are very much like the “bolts” of the old English cross-bow.

They are armed with heavy and solid steel heads, and are feathered in a

very ingenious manner. The feathers are so slight, that at first sight

they appear as if they were mere black scratches on the shaft. They

are, however, feathers, projecting barely the fiftieth of an inch from

the shaft, but being arranged in a slightly spiral form so as to catch

the air, and impart a rotatory motion to the arrow. By the side of the

cross-bow on Fig. 2 is seen a bundle of the arrows.

The strength of this bow is very great, though not so great as I have

been told. It possesses but little powers of aim, and against a single

and moving adversary would be useless. But for the purpose for which it

is designed, namely, a wall-piece which will pour a series of missiles

upon a body of men, it is a very efficient weapon, and can make itself

felt even against the modern rifle. The range of this bow is said to be

four hundred yards, but I should think that its extreme effective range

is at the most from sixty to eighty yards, and that even in that case

it would be almost useless, except against large bodies of soldiers.

Of swords the Chinese have an abundant variety. Some are single-handed

swords, and there is one device by which two swords are carried in the

same sheath, and are used one in each hand. I have seen the two-sword

exercise performed, and can understand that, when opposed to any

person not acquainted with the weapon, the Chinese swordsman would

be irresistible. But in spite of the two swords, which fly about the

wielder’s head like the sails of a mill, and the agility with which the

Chinese fencer leaps about and presents first one side and then the

other to his antagonist, I cannot but think that any ordinary fencer

would be able to keep himself out of reach, and also to get in his

point, in spite of the whirling blades of his adversary.

Two-handed swords are much used. One of these weapons in my collection

is five feet six inches in length, and weighs rather more than four

pounds and a quarter. The blade is three feet in length and two inches

in width. The thickness of metal at the back is a quarter of an inch

near the hilt, diminishing slightly toward the point. The whole of the

blade has a very slight curve. The handle is beautifully wrapped with

narrow braid, so as to form an intricate pattern.

There is another weapon, the blade of which exactly resembles that

of the two-handed sword, but it is set at the end of a long handle

some six or seven feet in length, so that, although it will indict a

fatal wound when it does strike an enemy, it is a most unmanageable

implement, and must take so long for the bearer to recover himself,

in case he misses his blow, that he would be quite at the mercy of an

active antagonist.

Should they be victorious in battle, the Chinese are cruel conquerors,

and are apt to indict horrible tortures, not only upon their prisoners

of war, but even upon the unoffending inhabitants of the vanquished

land. They carry this love for torture even into civil life, and

display a horrible ingenuity in producing the greatest possible

suffering with the least apparent means of indicting it. For example,

one of the ordinary punishments in China is the compulsory kneeling

bare-legged on a coiled chain. This does not sound particularly

dreadful, but the agony that is caused is indescribable, especially as

two officers stand by the sufferer and prevent him from seeking even a

transient relief by shifting his posture. Broken crockery is sometimes

substituted for the chain.

The most common punishment in China is that of the cangue, a sort of

moveable pillory. A piece of wood, some four feet square and nearly

four inches in thickness, has a hole in the middle, through which the

culprit’s head is passed. The machine opens with a hinge, and when

closed is locked, and a placard designating the offence is pasted on

it. As long as the cangue is worn, the unhappy delinquent cannot feed

himself, so that he would be starved to death were he not fed by casual

contributions. Fortunately, it is considered a meritorious action to

feed a prisoner in the cangue, so that little risk of actual starvation

is run, and the principal terror of the cangue lies in the pain caused

by carrying such a weight upon the neck and shoulders. This instrument

is often worn for weeks and sometimes for three months, which is the

extent of its legal use.

Finger squeezing is another torture which is frequently used. Four

pieces of bamboo are tied loosely together at one end, and a string

passes through the other ends, so arranged that by drawing it they

can be pulled closely together. The fingers are introduced between

the bamboos, and by pulling at the string they can be crushed

almost to pieces. This torture is often employed by the mandarins,

when endeavoring to extort money from persons whom they suspect of

concealing their wealth. The ankles are squeezed after a similar

fashion, only in this case the bamboos are much larger. Both these

modes of torture are shown in the illustration on the next page.

Most of the so-called minor tortures, _i. e._ those which are not

directly aimed at life, are employed for the purpose of extorting

money. The fact is, the mandarins who are set over districts only

have a limited term of office, and may, indeed, be transferred at any

time. As during their term of office they have to make up a certain

sum demanded by their superiors, and have also to keep up considerable

state on a nominal salary, it follows that they oppress the people to

the utmost of their power, looking upon them merely in the light of

tax-producing animals. It is, therefore, no wonder that a Chinaman of

any ability strives for literary rank, and the privilege of wearing the

button, which exempts him from arrest except by imperial order.

Beating with the bamboo is another common punishment. There are two

kinds of bamboo for this purpose, the small and the large; the latter

being capable of producing death if used with severity. Indeed, even

the lesser bamboo, if the blows be struck with the edge, instead of the

flat, bruises the flesh so completely as to bring on mortification, of

which the sufferer is sure to die in a few days. This punishment is

chiefly used by the peculative mandarins, in order to extort money, and

is employed for men and women alike; the only difference being that the

man is thrown prostrate on the ground, while the woman suffers in a

kneeling posture.

A man of forethought, however, never suffers much from the bamboo,

and, if possible, nothing at all. In the former case, he bribes the

executioner, who strikes so as to produce a very effective sounding

blow, but in reality inflicts very little injury. In the latter case,

he bribes a man to act as a substitute, and, just as the first blow

is about to be struck, some of the officers, who are also bribed, get

between the judge and the culprit, while the latter rolls out of the

way, and the substitute takes his place. A similar ruse is enacted at

the completion of the punishment. It may seem strange that any one

should act as a substitute in such a business; but in China men care

little for their skins, or even for their lives, and it is possible to

purchase a substitute even for capital punishment, the chief difficulty

being not to bribe the substitute, but to find enough money to bribe

all the officials, who must act in concert.

Powerful as they may be, the mandarins have not all the power of life

and death, though they can inflict punishments which practically lead

to the same result. Mr. Milne mentions a case of this kind. Two men

had been arrested in the act of robbing a house during a fire. This is

rightly held to be the most heinous kind of theft, and is generally

punished with decapitation. The mandarin of the district had not the

power to inflict death, but contrived to manage that the men should

die. Accordingly, he had two tall bamboo cages made, placed a man

inside each, and tied him by his tail to the top bars of the cage. The

cages were placed in the open air, in charge of officers, who would not

allow any communication with the offenders. The natural consequence

was, that privation of food, drink, sleep, and rest of any kind,

together with exposure to the elements, killed the men as effectually

as the sword of the executioner.

A modification of this mode of punishment is by covering the top of

the cage with a board through a hole in which the head of the sufferer

passes. It is, in fact, a fixed cangue. The top of the cage is adjusted

so that the man is forced to stand on tiptoe as he is suspended by the

neck. His hands being bound behind him, relief is impossible. This mode

of punishment is shown in the last figure but one, on the right-hand

side.

The other figures speak for themselves, except that of the kneeling

figure with snakes coiled round his body. These snakes are tubes of

soft metal, fashioned in the shape of snakes with open mouths. They

are coiled round the naked limbs and body of the sufferer, and boiling

water is then poured into them, producing the most horrible torture.

As to capital punishments, they are inflicted in various ways. The

mode that is thought to be the least terrible is the command to commit

suicide, because in that case they can avoid the mangling of the body,

and so make their appearance in the spirit world whole and entire.

This is a privilege only accorded to officers of very high rank, and

is conferred upon them by sending the “silken cord.” No cord is really

sent, but the mandate implies the instrument of death. When it is

received, the doomed man takes some of his nearest relatives and most

valued friends to his house, fastens the silken cord to a beam, places

himself on a stool, passes the noose round his neck, and then leaps

off the stool, and so dies. Officers of lower rank, when they see that

they will probably be condemned to death, generally anticipate their

sentence by hanging themselves on their own responsibility.

For criminals of no status, strangulation is the mode of death most

preferred. It is accomplished in a manner exactly resembling the

Spanish garrote. The criminal stands with his back to a post, through

which a hole is bored at the level of his neck. The two ends of a

cord are passed through the hole, the loop embracing the man’s neck.

The ends are then twisted round a stick, and, by a few rapid turns

of the stick, the man is killed. The rapidity of the process is such

that Mr. Lockhart mentions an instance where he and a friend saw a

file of soldiers coming along, carrying a pole and a pinioned man in a

basket. They stopped, lashed the pole to an upright post, took the man

out of the basket, tied him to the pole, and strangled him before the

foreigners could find out what they were doing. The strange part of the

business was that the officials had bribed the apparent culprit and his

friends, as they wanted to make the foreigners believe that he was an

opium smuggler, and that they were doing their best to stop the trade.

Truly it is a strange country.

[Illustration: (1.) MANDARIN AND WIFE. (See page 1429.)]

[Illustration: (2.) MODES OF TORTURE. (See page 1436.)]

To beheading the Chinese have the strongest aversion, because they

shrink from the idea of appearing headless in the next world, and

they will therefore do all in their power to avoid it. A most

remarkable instance of the extent to which a Chinaman will go to avoid

decapitation is given in the following extract from a letter to an

Indian newspaper. The man was a well-known and most abandoned criminal,

who with his wife had been arrested.

“On his trial before his judge he refused to criminate himself,

although repeatedly scourged until his back was raw. If a female

witness fails in giving satisfactory evidence in a court of justice,

she is beaten with a leather strap across the mouth. His wife, desirous

of sparing her husband, refused to give evidence, but after two or

three applications of strap her courage gave way. She confessed his

guilt. The prisoner was then sentenced to decapitation,--deemed by the

Chinese to be the most severe of punishments, because they imagine that

if a man leaves this world _minus_ any of his members, he appears in

the same condition in the next. The culprit, therefore, prayed to be

crucified instead of being beheaded.

“The cross was of the Latin form, the foot being inserted in a stout

plank, and the criminal, standing on a board, had nails driven through

his feet, and his hands stretched and nailed to the cross-beam. His

legs were fastened to the cross with an iron chain, and his arms bound

with cords, and on the cord round his waist was inserted a piece of

wood on which was written his name and offence; a similar piece on his

right arm contained his sentence, namely, to remain on the cross night

and day until he died; another on his left arm had the name of the

judge, with his titles and offices.

“The criminal was nailed to the cross inside the Yamun in the presence

of the magistrate, and then carried by four coolies to one of the

principal thoroughfares leading from the city, where he was left during

the day, but removed at night inside the prison for fear of his friends

attempting to rescue him, and again carried forth at daylight in charge

of two soldiers. He was crucified at noon on the Wednesday, and Mr.

Jones conversed with him at five in the evening. He complained of a

pain in the chest, and thirst. On Thursday he slept for some hours,

when the cross was laid down within the jail compound. No one was

allowed to supply him with food or drink, and during the day there

was quite a fair in front of the cross, people being attracted from a

distance, and the sweetmeat venders driving a large trade.

“On Saturday he was still alive, when the Taotai was appealed to by a

foreigner to put an end to the wretch’s sufferings, and he immediately

gave orders that the vinegar should be administered, which he expected

would produce immediate death; but the result was otherwise, and at

sunset, when the cross was taken within the jail, two soldiers with

stout bamboos broke both his legs, and then strangled him.”

It is no matter of wonder that the woman confessed her husband’s guilt,

for the face is sometimes beaten with a hard leather strap until the

jaws are broken, and the whole of the lips fall from them. In all

probability she was quite as guilty as her husband, so that she was not

altogether deserving of pity.

Decapitation is always conducted with much judicial solemnity, and,

as a rule, is restricted to certain seasons of the year, when large

batches of criminals are executed. There are, however, occasional

exceptions to the rule. The instrument employed is a sword made

expressly for the purpose. It is a two-handed weapon, very heavy, and

with a very broad blade. The executioners pride themselves on their

skill in its management, and, in order to show their powers, will draw

a black-ink line round a turnip, and sever it at a blow, the cut never

passing on either side of the line. Before a man is admitted to be an

executioner, he is obliged to prove his ability by this test.

The criminal is carried to the place of execution in a bamboo cage,

and by his side is the basket in which his head will be removed. He

is pinioned in a very effective manner. The middle of a long and thin

rope is passed across the back of his neck, and the ends are crossed on

the chest, and brought under the arms. They are then twisted round the

arms, the wrists tied together behind the back, and the ends fastened

to the portion of rope upon the neck. A slip of paper containing his

name, crime, and sentence is fixed to a reed, and stuck at the back of

his head. See illustration No. 1, on page 1451.

On arriving at the place of execution, the officials remove the paper,

and take it to the presiding mandarin, who writes on it in red ink

the warrant for execution. The paper is then replaced, a rope loop is

passed over the head of the culprit, and the end given to an assistant,

who draws the head forward so as to stretch the neck, while a second

assistant holds the body from behind; and in a moment the head is

severed from the body. The head is taken away, and generally hung up

in a bamboo cage near the scene of the crime, with a label announcing

the name and offence of the criminal, and the name of the presiding

mandarin by whose order he was executed. In some places these heads are

unpleasantly numerous. In many cases the rope and assistants are not

employed.

There is even a lower depth of degradation than mere beheading. This

is called “cutting into small pieces.” Before striking the fatal blow,

the executioner makes long but not deep cuts on the face and in all the

fleshy parts of the body, taking care to avoid the chief blood-vessels,

so that when the culprit is released by the loss of his head, he may

enter the next world not only without a head, but with scarcely any

flesh on his bones.

The last of the punishments which will be mentioned in this work is

that of sawing asunder, a punishment which of late years has been but

rarely inflicted, and we may hope is dying out, though in reality it

does not cause nearly as much pain to the sufferer as many of the minor

punishments. The mode in which it is performed may be seen from an

anecdote related by Mr. Fleming, in the work which has been already

quoted. There was a distinguished Imperial officer named Sun-kwei who

was taken prisoner by the rebel leader Kih-yung. Knowing the ability

of his prisoner, the rebel leader offered to spare his life on the

condition that he would accept a command in his army. Sun-kwei flatly

refused to do so, saying that as he was defeated he must die, for that

to take service against his emperor was impossible. Bribes, threats,

and promises were of no avail, and at last Kih-yung ordered his

prisoner to be sawn asunder.

The executioners began to exercise their dreadful office, but with all

their endeavors could not make the saw enter the body of their victim,

who only jeered at them for their ignorance in not knowing how to saw a

man asunder. At last Sun-kwei was good enough to instruct them in their

business. “You dead dogs and slaves,” said he, “if you would saw a man

asunder, you should compress his body between two planks; but how could

_you_ know it?” The men followed his advice, and sawed him and the

planks asunder at the same time, he never relenting, but scoffing at

them to the last moment.

It is with some reluctance that I describe, however briefly, these

horrible scenes, but to pass over them would be to omit some of the

most characteristic traits of this strange people. Those who know the

Chinese nation will be aware that I have touched the subject very

lightly, and that the most revolting modes of punishment have not

been, and for obvious reasons cannot be mentioned at all.

Although the mandarins are generally hated by those over whom they are

placed, there are exceptions to the usual rule, and men are found who

resist the temptation of extorting money from the people,--a temptation

which is rendered the stronger because a mandarin who can report that

his district has paid a very large sum into the Imperial treasury is

sure of promotion, and if he has “squeezed” a large tribute out of a

district that previously had paid but a small sum, he may almost reckon

on obtaining the coveted peacock’s feather, with all its privileges.

When an honest and kind-hearted mandarin vacates his post at the

expiration of his term of office, the people subscribe to present him

with an umbrella of state, called “The Umbrella of Ten Thousand of the

People.” It is made of red silk and satin, with three rows of flounces,

and bears upon it the names of the chief donors written in golden

characters. When he takes his formal leave of office, the umbrella

is carried in procession by his attendants, and he is followed for a

certain distance by those who presented it.

The highest honorary reward of this kind that can be given is an outer

garment made of the same material as the umbrella, and also decorated

with the names of the principal donors. This robe of honor is carried

in procession, hung within a kind of pavilion that all may see it, and

accompanied by a band of music. Such a robe is very seldom presented,

and the recipient naturally values it very highly.

While treating of honorary rewards, one particular kind must be

mentioned. If a man distinguishes himself greatly, and feels that he is

under great obligation to some person who has no real claim on him, he

will solicit some high title from the emperor, and then ask permission

to transfer it to his benefactor. Thus it has frequently happened

that a man, without any rank of his own, has taken upon himself the

education of a young lad of promising abilities, and has been afterward

rewarded by finding himself raised even to a higher rank than that of

his _protégé_. Sometimes, when a man who has been thus educated is

presented to a higher title, the emperor bestows on his benefactor the

lower rank from which he has been raised. Thus it will be seen that in

this country every incentive is employed to promote education among the

people, and that not only the educated man obtains the reward which his

powers have earned, but that those by whom he was educated have their

share in his honors.

CHAPTER CLV.

CHINA--_Continued_.

SOCIAL CHARACTERISTICS.

OPIUM SMOKING -- SINGULAR RESULT OF THE HABIT -- MODE OF USING THE

OPIUM PIPE -- TOBACCO SMOKING -- THE WATER PIPE -- WEIGHTS AND

MEASURES -- THE STEELYARD AND ITS USES -- BOAT-LIFE IN CHINA --

CORMORANT FISHING -- FISH SPEARING -- CATCHING FISH WITH THE FEET --

THE DUCK BOATS -- AGRICULTURE -- MODE OF IRRIGATION -- CHINESE MUSIC

AND INSTRUMENTS -- A SKILFUL VIOLINIST -- CHINESE SINGING -- ART IN

CHINA -- PORCELAIN -- CARVING IN IVORY AND JADE -- MAGIC MIRRORS --

RESPECT TO AGE.

We will conclude this subject with a short account of the miscellaneous

manners and customs of the Chinese.

Among the chief of their characteristic customs is opium smoking, a

vice which is terribly prevalent, but which is not so universally

injurious as is often stated. Of course, those who have allowed

themselves to be enslaved by it become gradually debased, but the

proportion of those who do so is very small, though, by the terrible

sight which they present, they are brought prominently into notice. It

seems, moreover, that the quantity consumed at a time is not of so much

importance as the regularity of the habit.

Let a man once fall into the way of smoking opium, though it be but

one pipe, at a certain hour of the day, that pipe will be an absolute

necessity, and he takes it, not so much to procure pleasure, as to

allay the horribly painful craving from which he suffers. In fact, a

man destroys his health by opium smoking in China, much as a drunkard

does in England, not so much by taking immoderate doses occasionally,

but by making a habit of taking small doses repeatedly. From such a

habit as this very few have the courage to break themselves, the powers

of their mind being shattered as well as those of the body.

A confirmed opium smoker really cannot exist beyond a certain time

without the deadly drug, and those who are forced to exert themselves

are generally provided with some opium pills, which they take in order

to give them strength until they can obtain the desired pipe. An

anecdote illustrative of this practice is narrated by Mr. Cobbold in

his “Pictures of the Chinese”:--

“A small salesman, or pedler, was seen toiling along with great

difficulty through the gates of Ningpo, as if straining every nerve

to reach some desired point. He was seen to stagger and fall, and his

bundle flew from him out of his reach. While many pass by, some good

Samaritan comes to him, lifts up his head, and asks what is the matter,

and what he can do for him. He has just strength to whisper, ‘My good

friend, please to untie that bundle; you will find a small box in the

centre; give me two or three of the pills which are in it, and I shall

be all right.’ It was soon done; the opium pills had their desired

effect, and he was soon able to rise and pursue his journey to his inn.”

This most graphically describes the extreme state of exhaustion which

comes on if the usual period of taking the pipe has passed by. The

pedler thought, no doubt, he had strength just to reach his inn, where

he would have thrown himself upon a bed and called for the opium

pipe; but he miscalculated by a few minutes his power of endurance,

and the pills (often resorted to in like cases of extremity), when

supplied him by his friend, perhaps saved him from an untimely end.

Very similar scenes have happened to foreigners travelling in sedan

chairs through the country, the bearers having been obliged to stop and

take a little of the opium, in order to prevent complete exhaustion.

A long hour or more, in the middle of the day, has frequently to be

allowed, nominally for the sake of dinner and rest, but really, in some

instances, for the opium pipe.

The pipe which is used for smoking opium is not in the least like

that which is employed for tobacco. The stem is about as large as an

ordinary office-ruler, and it has a hole near one end, into which the

shank of the bowl is fixed. The bowl itself is about as large as a

Ribstone pippin, and nearly of the same shape, the bud representing

the tiny aperture in which the opium is placed, and the stalk

representing the shank which fits into the stem. These pipes are made

of various materials, some being mere bamboo and wood, while others

have bowls of the finest porcelain, and the stem richly enamelled. My

own specimen has the stem twenty inches in length, and an inch and a

half in diameter, the bore not being large enough to admit an ordinary

crowquill. The bowl is of some light-colored wood, well varnished, and

covered with landscape scenes in black lines. Although it has not been

in use for many years, it still smells strongly of opium, showing that

it had been saturated with the fumes of the drug before it came into my

possession.

The mode of using it is as follows: The smoker has a couch prepared,

together with a little lamp, and his usual supply of the prepared

opium. He lays his head on the pillow, with a long, needle-like

implement places over the aperture of the bowl a little piece of the

opium, about as large as a mustard seed, holds it to the flame of the

lamp, and, with a long and steady inspiration, the whole of the opium

is drawn into the lungs in the state of vapor. The smoke is retained

for a few seconds, and then expelled. The generality of opium smokers

are content with one pipe, but the votary of the drug will sometimes

take as many as twelve in succession before he is completely under the

influence of the opium. As he finishes the last morsel of opium, the

pipe falls from his hand, and he passes into that dreamland for which

he has bartered everything that makes life precious.

The terrible scenes which have so often been related take place for

the most part at the opium shops, places which are nominally illegal,

but which carry on their trade by payment of periodical bribes to the

ruling official of the place. In Tien-tsin alone there were upwards

of three hundred of these shops, in which opium could be purchased or

sold wholesale, or could be refined for smoking, and consumed on the

premises.

There is only one redeeming point in opium smoking, namely, that it

does not produce the brutal scenes which too often take place in the

gin palaces of this country. Mr. Fleming remarks of this vice: “If

opium smoking is a great evil among the Chinese people, as it is no

doubt, yet they endeavor to hide it, they are ashamed of it, and it

offends neither the eyes nor the hearing by offensive publicity. It is

not made a parade of by night and by day, neither does it give rise to

mad revels and murderous riots. Its effects on the health may be more

prejudicial than our habits of alcohol drinking, but yet it is hard to

see any of those broken-down creatures that one reads about.”

Indeed, the Chinese themselves, who are apt to drink more than they

ought of a fiery liquid called samshu, say that the spirit is far more

injurious than the drug.

We will now see how the Chinese smoke tobacco. The pipe which is

ordinarily used has a very little bowl of brass, at the end of a

slight stem about as large as a drawing pencil. The bowl is scarcely

large enough to hold the half of a boy’s playing marble, and is almost

exactly like the Japanese pipe, which will be presently described.

A pipe that is very much in fashion, especially with the women, is a

kind of water-pipe made of brass, and enlarged at the bottom so as to

stand upright. The enlarged portion is filled with water, through which

the smoke passes, as in a hookah. The little brass tube which serves

the purpose of a bowl can be drawn out of the body of the pipe, so as

to be charged afresh; and in most cases each pipe is supplied with

several bowls, so that they can be used successively as wanted. Only

three whiffs are taken at a time; and indeed the quantity of tobacco

used is so small, that more would be almost out of the question. For

this pipe, tobacco is prepared in a peculiar manner, a minute quantity

of arsenic being mixed with it.

One peculiarity about the Chinese is their almost universal employment

of weight as a measure. With the exception of objects of art, nearly

everything is bought by weight, and the consequence is, that the most

absurd modes of increasing the weight are often employed. Fowls and

ducks, for example, are sold alive by weight, so that the dishonest

vendor has a habit of cramming with stones before he brings them to

market. Fish are also taken to market while still living, and are

improved in appearance by being blown up with bellows, and in weight

by being crammed with stones. Through the lips of each fish a ring is

passed, so that it may be at once taken from the water and hung upon

the hook of the balance. Nor is the fish dealer particular as to the

sufferings of the creatures which he sells, and he has not the least

hesitation in cutting off a pound or two in case his customer does not

wish to purchase an entire fish.

In these transactions the Chinese do not use scales, but employ a

“steelyard” balance, made of various materials and various sizes,

according to the object for which it was intended. That which is meant

for ordinary market use is made of wood, and is marked at regular

distances by small brass studs, so as to designate the exact places on

which the weight should be hung. Those which are intended for finer

work are of ivory.

It is kept in a case, which looks something like two wooden spoons laid

upon each other, so that their bowls enclose any object placed between

them. They are united by a rivet or pivot, which passes through the

ends of the handles, enabling them to be separated at will by drawing

them sideways. In order to prevent them from coming apart needlessly,

a ring of bamboo is plaited loosely round the stem, so that when it is

slipped toward the bowl, the two halves of the case are kept together,

and when it is slid to the end of the stem, they can be separated. In

one of the halves of the bowl a large hole is scooped, in which the pan

of the balance lies, and a smaller hole is cut for the reception of

the weight. The steelyard itself lies in a groove cut along the inside

of the stem. The reader will see that when the apparatus is closed, it

lies very compactly, and can be stuck into the girdle ready for use at

any moment.

The “yard” of this balance is of ivory, and is longer and more slender

than the chopsticks which have already been described. In my specimen

it is eleven inches in length, and the sixth of an inch in diameter

in the thickest part. Three distinct sets of marks are made upon it,

and there are three separate fulcra, so that when the weight exceeds

the amount which can be measured with one fulcrum, the second or third

fulcrum can be used with its own set of marks.

The arrangement of these marks is a fertile source of dispute among

the Chinese. There is no standard by which all the balances can be

regulated, but each dealer has his own balance, and his own arrangement

of the gradations upon it. The natural consequence is, that quarrels

take place with every purchase. A vast amount of time is wasted

upon disputes which might easily be avoided, were the government to

establish a standard balance, by which all others might be graduated.

Time, however, is not of the least importance to a Chinese, and as a

prolonged bargain has a positive fascination for him, it is probable

that such a regulation would not be popular, and would indeed be

evaded in every mode which Chinese ingenuity could invent. The larger

steelyards have a hook whereon to hang the article to be weighed, but

those which are intended for weighing small and valuable objects are

furnished with a shallow brass pan, attached to the end of the balance

by four silken threads.

The extraordinary economy which distinguishes the Chinese is

characteristically shown in the population which crowds the rivers near

the principal towns. A vivid picture of Chinese boat-life is given by

Mr. Tiffany, in his “American’s Sojourn in the Celestial Empire.” After

describing the various kinds of boats that he has seen, he proceeds as

follows:--

“We have passed through several miles of boats, and have not seen the

quarter of them. It is, indeed, impossible to give an idea of their

number. Some say that there are as many as seventy thousand of them at

the city of Canton alone. But let us be content with forty thousand.

Then fancy forty thousand wild swans, closely packed together, floating

on some wide pond, and mostly restless, and you would say that they

would cover many acres of their element. Now, by the enchantment of

imagination, convert the pond into the roaring Pekiang River, the swans

into boats of every shape and size, the notes of the birds into the

yells, the shrieks, the piercing voices of the river people, and you

may have the actual scene before you.

“And all these boats, miles upon miles, from border to border, are

densely packed with human beings in every stage of life, in almost

every occupation that exists upon the shore that they seldom trespass

upon; and there they are born and earn their scanty bread, and

there they die. The boats are moored side by side, in long-reaching

thousands, so that the canal which they form stretches to a point in

the distance. In the Shaneem quarter, above the foreign factories,

they form large squares and avenues. Forty thousand floating tenements

would, under any circumstances, be considered a singular sight, but

here the swarming occupants give them the appearance of a mighty

metropolis.”

It seems strange that so vast a population should live on the river,

within pistol shot of the land, and yet that the greater number of

them, from their birth to their death, have never known what it is to

put a foot on the shore. When one of the older boatmen does so for the

first time, he can hardly walk, the firm land being as difficult for

him to tread as the deck of a tossing vessel is to a landsman.

Though the smallest of all the vessels that traverse a Chinese river,

the sampans are perhaps the most conspicuous. They are rather small

boats, drawing but little water, and for the most part propelled by two

women, one sitting in the bow with her oar, and the other stationed in

the stern, working the huge implement, half oar, half rudder, by which

the boat is at once propelled and guided. Many of the boat-steerers

are quite young girls, but they manage their craft with wonderful

skill and power, hardly ever touching another boat, no matter how many

may be darting about the river, and, with one mighty sweep of the

huge scull, sending the boat clear of the obstacle from which escape

seemed impossible but a second before. To the eye of a foreigner,

the boatwomen are more pleasing in appearance than their sisters of

the land, inasmuch as their feet are allowed to assume their proper

shape, and exposure to the air and exercise take away the sickly,

pasty complexion which often distinguishes the better-class women on

shore, and is heightened by the white powder with which they persist in

disfiguring themselves.

Some of the mandarin boats present the greatest possible contrast to

the little sampans. They are, in fact, floating palaces, decorated in

the most picturesque and sumptuous manner, and furnished with every

luxury that a wealthy Chinaman can command. They often have thirty

or forty oars of a side, are gaily bedecked with flags and brilliant

lanterns, and mostly carry several cannon, together with abundance of

fire-arms, in order to deter the pirates, who would be likely to swoop

down upon an unarmed vessel, kill the passengers, and seize the boat

for their own purposes.

In connection with the river life of the Chinese may be mentioned the

various modes of fishing. The most celebrated method is that in which

the fish are caught by cormorants. The fisherman has several of these

birds, which are trained to the sport, and indeed are bred from the egg

for the purpose, and sold at high prices when fully trained. The man

goes out in a boat or on a raft, accompanied by his birds, and when he

comes to a favorable spot, sends them into the water. They immediately

dive, and dart upon the fish, which they are taught to bring to the

boat.

Should the fish be too large, the man generally takes both fish and

bird into his boat by means of a net at the end of a handle; and often

when a bird has captured a very large fish, and is likely to lose it,

one or two of its companions will come to its assistance, and by their

united efforts hold the fish until their master can come up. A ring

is put loosely round the throats of the birds, so that they cannot

swallow the fish even if they desire to do so; but a well-trained

cormorant will no more eat a fish than a well-trained pointer will eat

a partridge. Each time that the cormorant brings a fish to the boat, it

is rewarded with a mouthful of food, generally a mouthful of eel, its

master raising the ring to allow it to swallow.

Fishing with cormorants is almost invariably carried on at high tide,

and near bridges, as fish always love to congregate under shelter. At

such times the bridges are always crowded with spectators watching the

feats of the cormorants.

The raft on which the fisherman stands is made of five or six bamboos,

about twenty feet in length. Now and then a cormorant which has not

completed its course of training is so delighted when it catches a

fish, that it swims away from its master as fast as it can. The

fisherman, however, can propel his light raft faster than the cormorant

can swim, and soon brings the truant to reason. This sport has recently

been introduced into England, and bids fair to be successful.

Though caring little for sport, and pursuing game merely for the

“pot,” the Chinese employ one or two methods of fishing which have the

sporting element in them,--_i. e._ which give the quarry a fair chance

of escape. Such, for example, is fish spearing, which is practised

after rather a curious manner. The fisherman generally takes his stand

upon a low bridge, and is furnished with a trident spear and a decoy

fish. The decoy fish is prepared by lacing a strip of wood to either

side of its dorsal fin, and to these sticks a slight line is fastened.

All being prepared, the fisherman takes his place on the bridge, drops

the decoy into the water, and ties the end of the line to a stick like

a fishing-rod, while he holds the three-pronged spear in his right

hand. As large a fish as the sportsman can procure is used for the

decoy; and as it swims about, its fellows come up to it, apparently

attracted by its peculiar movements. As they come within reach, they

are struck with the trident, and deposited in the fisherman’s basket.

A very inferior kind of fishing is carried on in places where the bed

of the river is muddy. The fisherman wades into the river up to his

knees or deeper, and every now and then strikes the surface of the

water violently. As he does so, the fish which love such localities

dive under the mud, where they are felt and held down by the bare feet

of the man. As soon as he feels the wriggling of a fish under his foot,

he stoops down, often having to plunge entirely under water, draws the

fish from under his foot, and drops it into his basket. It is evident

that only small fish can be caught by this method. I have tried it

myself, and found that after a little trouble it was easy to catch any

quantity of small flounders and similar fish,--too small, indeed, to

be of any use, except to the thrifty Chinese, two of whom will buy a

duck’s head and divide it for their dinner.

Among other river industries may be mentioned the system of duck

feeding that is there carried on. Vast quantities of ducks’ eggs are

hatched by artificial heat, and are purchased, when only a day or two

old, by the persons who make their living by feeding and selling the

birds. One favorite mode of duck feeding is to keep the birds in a boat

fitted up for the purpose, and to take the boat along the banks of the

river. At low water the keeper lets out the ducks, which find abundance

of food in the multitudinous creatures that swarm in the mud, and when

he thinks fit, he recalls them by a signal. As soon as they hear the

signal, they hurry to the boat with an alacrity that seems rather

ludicrous, unless the spectator knows that the last duck always gets a

sharp blow from a switch.

The characteristic thrift of the Chinese is well shown in their various

agricultural operations, which are marvellously successful, not only

on account of the real skill and knowledge possessed by the Chinese,

but by reason of the systematic and ceaseless labor bestowed upon the

various crops. Not a weed is allowed to absorb the nutriment which

ought to go to the rice, and between the rows of plants the laborer

creeps on his hands and knees, searching for every weed, and working

with his fingers the earth round every root. Taken alone, this is hard

and disagreeable work, but, as the rice is planted in mud, as sharp

stones are often hidden under the mud, and as leeches abound in it, the

hardships of a rice-weeder’s life may be conceived.

The water which is so necessary for the crop is mostly supplied by

mechanical means. If the agriculturist is fortunate enough to have land

near the river or canal, his task is comparatively easy. He has only to

erect a certain number of water-engines. These are almost all on the

same principle,--_i. e._ an endless chain passing over two wheels, and

drawing the water through an inclined trough. The wheels are generally

worked by men, who turn them with their feet, supporting themselves on

a horizontal bamboo. A larger and more complicated apparatus is worked

by a buffalo.

At the smaller wheels all labor, as Mr. Milne observes: “In working

them the energies of every household appeared taxed to the utmost

vigor, as if each individual felt convinced of the necessity of his

personal aid in securing a good and plentiful crop. I saw both young

and old leaning on the same frame, treading the same wheel, and humming

together their rustic song as they trod. Boys six years of age kept the

step very well with men of fifty, and if too small to mount the wheel,

they were placed on the ground to work the paddles with their little

hands; and women, too, whose tiny and compressed feet disable them from

treading the mill, stood at the feet of the men, keeping time with

their hands.... None were indolent. There was no cessation, nor was

there exemption from labor; and, while they fought among the thorns and

thistles with which the ground had been cursed, and with the sweat of

the brow under a blazing sun sowed, weeded, and watered the earth, no

murmurs were heard, save the undulating sound of the husbandman’s song

as it waved over the field.” Those women who are fortunate enough to

possess feet of the natural size work as hard in the field as the men

do, and are then almost as scantily attired, a wide and short pair of

trousers, and a wide hat to shelter them from the sun, being all the

clothing they care for.

Though the earth be poor, the Chinese agriculturist forces it to bear,

for every substance which can serve as manure is carefully saved for

that purpose. Not only do the Chinese dispose of all the refuse of

their houses and streets in the fields, but, as we have seen, even the

little scraps of hair that are shaved from the head are saved and used

as manure. Indeed, it is only by means of this exceeding economy that

the inhabitants of so densely populated a country can sustain life.

Our concluding notes on Chinese life must be few and short.

According to their own ideas, they are as much adepts in music as

in the other arts and sciences, which, as they believe, have placed

them at the very summit of humanity. They have a tolerable variety

of musical instruments, the most common of which is the San-hien,

a sort of three-stringed guitar, with a very long neck and a very

little cylindrical body. The strings are of silk, and are struck with

a thin slip of bamboo at the end of the finger. Then, as a type of

stringed instruments played with a bow, may be mentioned the Urh-heen,

or two-stringed fiddles, the sounds of which are generally very

disagreeable,--that is, when produced for Chinese ears; but when the

player desires to imitate the characteristics of European music, he can

do so very perfectly, as is shown by Mr. Fleming:--

“In one of the most thronged streets I was, on one afternoon, elbowing

my way along, exploring the ‘Heavenly Ford,’ when the sound of a violin

playing a well-known waltz fixed my attention in a bylane; and there,

instead of a hairy Briton flourishing a bow over a Cremona, was a blind

beggar eliciting those pleasant notes with as great precision and tone

from the rude and weighty mallet-shaped urh-heen, as if he had been all

his public life first violin at the opera.”

[Illustration: MOUTH ORGAN.]

The same traveller remarks of the vocal music of the Chinese, that “a

Chinaman rehearsing a song looks and gives utterance to such goat-like

bleats, that it is impossible to avoid the conclusion that he is

laboring under a violent attack of chronic whooping-cough, combined

with intermittent seizures of hiccough,--the ‘dying falls’ of the

inhuman falsetto at the end of each verse finishing in the most

confounding hysterical perturbations of the vocal chords.”

There are several Chinese wind instruments. For instance, there is a

clarionet, called Shu-teh, an instrument with a very loud and piercing

note, and a peculiar “mouth-organ,” in which are a number of pipes. One

of these instruments, drawn from a specimen in my collection, is shown

on page 1445. It contains sixteen pipes, of different lengths, arranged

in pairs. Some of the pipes, however, are “dummies,” and are only

inserted to give the instrument an appearance of regularity. The length

of the pipes has nothing to do with the pitch of the note, as they

speak by means of brass vibrators inserted into the lower end, exactly

like those of harmoniums. The pipes are bound together by means of a

horn band that passes around them. When it is used, the player blows

into the projecting mouthpiece, and with his fingers stops or opens the

apertures in the pipes. The tone of this instrument is not pleasing to

European ears.

Strange as Chinese music seems to us, and unpleasant as are the odd

and unexpected intervals of their melodies, the art is evidently

cultivated among the people, and there is scarcely a house without

its musical instrument of some kind. In the evening, according to Mr.

Fleming, “in passing through the narrow streets, one is sure to hear

from the dimly lighted houses the squealing, incoherent, and distorted

vibrations tumbling out on the night air with a spasmodic reality and a

foreignness of style that at once remind the listener of the outlandish

country he is in.” The preference of the Chinese for the strange,

wild, abrupt intervals of their own music is not, as the reader may

see, merely occasioned by ignorance of a more perfect scale, but is

the result of deliberate choice on their part. They have no objection

to European music. On the contrary, they are pleased to express their

approbation of it, but with the proviso that it is decidedly inferior

to their own.

From Music we turn to Art. In their own line of art the Chinese are

unsurpassed, not to say inimitable. Ignorant of perspective as they may

be, there is a quaint force and vigor about their lines that is worthy

of all praise, while their rich softness of color can scarcely be

equalled. From time immemorial they have been acquainted with the art

of color printing from wooden blocks, and some of their oldest examples

of color printing are so full of life and spirit, despite their

exaggeration of gesture, and their almost ludicrous perspective, that

the best English artists have admired them sincerely.

Of their porcelain, in which they simply stand alone, it is impossible

to treat fully in such a work as this, as the subject would demand

a volume to itself. Their carved work in ivory is familiarly known

throughout the greater part of the civilized world. In many of these

carvings the object of the artist seems to have been, not to develop

any beauties of form, but to show his power of achieving seeming

impossibilities. Among the best-known forms of Chinese carving may

be reckoned the sets of concentric balls, which are cut out of solid

ivory, or at least are said to be so made.

[Illustration: SPECIMENS OF CHINESE ART. (From Sir Hope Grant’s

Collection.)]

There is quite a controversy about the mode of cutting these balls,

and even those who have spent much time in China, and are thoroughly

acquainted with the arts and manufactures of the country, disagree on

this subject, some saying that the balls are really cut from solid

ivory, and others that each ball is made of two separate portions,

which are joined very artificially by cement, and can be separated by

steeping in boiling water. Of the two explanations I am rather inclined

to believe the former, as none of those who say that the balls can be

separated seem to have tried the experiment for themselves. The mode of

cutting these curious specimens of art is said to be by boring conical

holes from the circumference of the ball to its centre with a spherical

piece of ivory, and then detaching each ball in succession with curved

tools.

The jade carving of China is also celebrated. This material is

remarkable for the beautifully soft polish which can be given to it,

and, as it is a rare mineral and exceedingly hard, coming next in that

respect to the ruby, articles made of jade are valued very highly

by the Chinese. In the accompanying illustration are shown a number

of jade carvings belonging to Sir Hope Grant, who kindly allowed

me to have them engraved for this work. The bowl in the front is

carved in imitation of a water-lily, the handle being formed from the

flower-stem. The ring which hangs from the handle is cut from the same

piece of jade. Just behind it is a jar of the same material, which is a

wonderful specimen of carving, and admirably shows the patient industry

of the Chinese worker. The second small bowl in the front, and the jar

behind it, are also of jade.

The elegant jar which occupies the centre of the group is a splendid

specimen of enamel, and beside it is a large piece of _lapis lazuli_,

on which is engraved a poem written by the emperor himself.

The celebrated Summer Palace or Yuenming-yuen, which was sacked and

burned by the English and French forces, was filled with splendid

specimens of jade carving, some of which are shown in the preceding

illustration. There are three kinds of jade, the cream-colored, the

clear white, and the bright green. This last is the most esteemed, and

is so valuable that a single bead, not so large as a boy’s playing

marble, is worth a pound, or even more. Some necklaces made of these

beads were sold after the destruction of the Summer Palace, and though

they only contained about a hundred and fifty beads, a hundred and

twenty pounds were given for them, the Chinese commissioners thinking

that they were sold at a very cheap rate. The Chinese name for this

jade is “feh-tsui.”

One of the most remarkable instances of Chinese art is the magic

mirror. This article is a circular plate of metal rather more than a

quarter of an inch thick, having its face smooth and highly polished,

and its back dark and ornamented with various patterns, among which

four Chinese characters are conspicuous. These characters are in honor

of literature, and seem to be generally employed for the decoration of

these mirrors.

When used simply for the purpose of reflecting the face, the mirrors

present nothing worthy of notice, but when they are held to the sun,

and the beams thrown upon a white surface, the whole of the characters

on the back are shown in the reflection. The mirror will even show its

powers when used with a lamp, but the sun is required to bring out

the characters clearly. A small but excellent specimen of this mirror

was presented to me by Dr. Flaxman Spurrell, and always excites great

admiration wherever it is shown. Not the least trace of any figure is

to be found in the face of the mirror, and the higher the polish given

to the face, the clearer is the representation of the figures on the

back.

Several theories have been promulgated respecting the mode of making

these extraordinary mirrors, the most probable one being that the

characters and patterns on the back are made of a harder and more

condensed metal than that of the rest of the mirror, and that, when a

high polish is given to the face, the difference of the metal is not

perceptible, except by the mode in which it reflects light.

There is much to say respecting the customs of the Chinese. The small

space, however, which remains will not permit us to treat fully of such

wide subjects as religion, marriage, and disposal of the dead, and

that they should be cursorily treated is impossible. We will therefore

conclude with one of the most pleasing traits in the Chinese character,

namely, the respect paid to old age.

According to Mr. Milne, “The sacred regard which Chinese pay to the

claims of kindred secures to the patriarchs of respectable families

ample support in the advanced and helpless stage of their pilgrimage;

and charity often relieves poor septuagenarians whose relations may be

unable to supply them with comforts or necessaries at their mature age.

In China one’s feelings are not harrowed with the sad spectacle of an

aged parent discarded by his children, and left to perish, unattended

and unnursed, under a scorching sun, or on the banks of a rolling

river. But you will see the tottering senior, man or woman, who has not

the means to hire a sedan, led through the alleys and streets by a son

or a grandchild, commanding the spontaneous respect of each passer-by,

the homage of every junior.

“The deference of the _polloi_ to the extreme sections of old age

is manifest likewise from the tablets and monuments you may any day

stumble upon, that have been erected by public subscription to the

memory of octogenarians, nonagenarians, and centenarians. Nor is the

government backward in encouraging this, but the reverse. Hence I have

often seen very aged men and women in the streets, arrayed in yellow,

_i. e._ imperial, robes, the gift of the emperor, in mark of honor, and

out of respect to their gray hairs.” The reader will remember that an

honorary degree is given to competitors who have reached an advanced

age.

On one occasion, the emperor called together about four thousand old

men at his palace, entertained them with a banquet, at which they were

served by his own children and grandchildren, presented each of them

with money and a yellow robe, and conferred upon the oldest of the

assembly, a man aged one hundred and eleven years, the rank and dress

of a mandarin.

Family festivals are held, something like the silver and golden wedding

of the Germans, to celebrate each decade of life; and so important

do the Chinese consider these festivals that they are often held by

children even after the death of their parents, the only difference

being that they have somewhat of a funeral cast, white, the color

of mourning, being substituted for red, the color of joy. On those

occasions the children offer gifts, and no present is thought to be

more grateful to the recipient than a very handsome coffin. All Chinese

who can afford it purchase during their lifetime a coffin as handsome

as their means will permit, and so, should they not have been able to

purchase this their last resting-place, their children think themselves

honored by taking the purchase into their own hands. These coffins are

nearly square, are made of immense thickness, and are so carefully

cemented that the body may be kept in them without needing burial.

Filial respect is inculcated into the Chinese with their earliest

breath, and their youthful minds are filled with legends of pious

children. For example: Wu Mang was the son of parents who were too poor

to possess mosquito curtains. So at night Wu Mang used to allow the

mosquitoes to feed upon him, hoping that they would prefer a young boy

to aged people. Wang Liang lost his mother, and had a step-mother who

disliked him. Still he behaved to her as though she had been his own

mother, and once, when she wished for some fresh fish and the river was

frozen, Wang Liang went to the river, took off his clothes, and lay on

the ice, hoping to melt it. Suddenly, in reward for his filial conduct,

the ice opened, and out leaped two fine carp, which he took to his

step-mother. Again, Lae, when he was seventy years of age, dressed and

behaved like a child, in order that his parents should not be troubled,

when looking at him, with the idea of their own age.

In every town or village, the oldest persons are treated with the

greatest consideration, not on account of their rank or wealth, but

of their age. Every one gives way to them, they have the best places

in the theatres, are brought forward at every public spectacle, and

are indulged in every possible way. Such has been the custom from

time immemorial in this great nation, which was civilized when the

inhabitants of England were naked savages. The oldest civilized nation

in the world, they have honored their fathers and their mothers, and

their days have been long in the land.

CHAPTER CLVI.

JAPAN.

DRESS--ART--AMUSEMENTS.

POSITION AND NAME OF JAPAN -- APPEARANCE OF THE JAPANESE -- DRESS

OF THE MEN -- USE OF SLEEVES -- HAIR-DRESSING -- COURT DRESS --

THE TATTOO AND ITS USES -- A STREET SCENE IN JAPAN -- DRESS OF THE

WOMEN -- ARRANGEMENT OF THE HAIR -- THE ANCIENT HAIR-PINS -- USE OF

PAINT -- BLACKENING TEETH AND PULLING OUT EYEBROWS -- MR. OLIPHANT’S

OPINION UPON THE CUSTOM -- DISREGARD OF CLOTHING -- THE PUBLIC BATHS

-- HOMERIC SIMPLICITY -- JAPANESE DRAWINGS -- TRAVELLING IN JAPAN --

A LADY ON HORSEBACK -- JAPANESE RIDERS -- THE GAME OF MALL -- HORSE

ACCOUTREMENTS -- A SINGULAR HORSESHOE -- THE NORIMON, OR PALANQUIN --

FASHION OF THE POLE -- THE CANGO, OR CHAIR -- A NOBLE IN HIS NORIMON

-- ATHLETIC POWERS OF THE JAPANESE -- THE LADDER BALANCING, TOP

SPINNING, AND BUTTERFLY TRICK.

The Empire of JAPAN extends over a vast cluster of Islands, of

different sizes, situated on the north eastern coast of Asia. There

are nearly four thousand of these islands, but the kingdom practically

consists of three chief Islands, Niphon, Kiou-siou, or Kew-sew, and

Sikok, or Sitkokf. The first of these islands gives its name to the

entire empire, our word Japan not having even a Japanese origin, but

being a corruption of the Chinese rendering of the word Niphon, _i. e._

Land of the Sunrise. As might be inferred, it is within the island of

Niphon that the capital, Jeddo or Yedo, is placed.

The complexion of the Japanese is yellowish, with a little brown,

and in many cases is no darker than that of a Portuguese or southern

Italian. The eyes are small, and not so much sunk in the head as those

of the Chinese; the hair is black, straight, and coarse, and the nose,

though thick, is well formed. Their stature is about equal to that of

ordinary Europeans, and their limbs, though not large, are often very

powerful, a slightly-made Japanese being able to lift easily a weight

which a stalwart Englishman would find a heavy burden.

The dress of the Japanese is very peculiar, and well suited to their

features and complexion. Although it has about it something of a

Chinese aspect, it is as distinct from the Chinese as is the character

of the two people. As in China, the dress consists of much the same

articles with both sexes, that of the women differing from male apparel

chiefly in the comparative length of the robes and the mode of dressing

the hair. A male Japanese may or may not wear trousers, his liberty

in this point being absolute, sometimes amounting to a practical

dispensation with all dress whatever.

The chief articles of male dress are robes of differing lengths, one

being worn upon the other, until a man will sometimes carry four or

five robes at once. They are girt round the waist with a broad sash,

so that if the wearer wishes to remove his dress, he has only to

loosen the sash, and draw his arms out of the sleeves, when all the

garments fall to the ground together. The sleeves are very large, and,

being partly closed at the ends, are used as pockets, in which are

carried various little articles of portable property. In the sleeves,

for example, are carried the squares of white paper which serve as

pocket handkerchiefs, and which are always thrown away when used; and

in the same convenient receptacle the Japanese guest will carry off

the remains of the feast to which he has been invited, such being the

custom of this strange country.

The material of these robes differs according to the wealth and quality

of the wearer, some being of simple cotton, while those of the higher

classes are made of the finest silks, and ornamented with the device

or arms of the family, embroidered on the breast and back of the outer

robe.

The hair of the men is dressed in a very singular manner. The front

and temples of the head are shaved, as in China, and the remaining

hair is made into a tail, as is the case with the Chinese. The hair,

however, is not allowed to grow to its utmost length, and to hang down

the back, but is made into a short queue, about three inches in length,

and as thick as the finger, and is turned up over the top of the head.

Generally the head is bare, but it is sometimes covered with a hat.

The hats differ much in shape. That which is in general use is nearly

flat, and is fastened to the head by six strings, two of which pass

under the chin, two are crossed at the back of the head, and two more

are passed under the nose. A hat thus fastened gives to the head a

very singular aspect, making the face look as if it had suffered from

a severe accident, and was covered with bandages. Some hats look like

beehives, and entirely conceal the features, and are worn by outlaws,

or “lonins,” and disgraced nobles. Sometimes the men pass a piece of

stuff over their heads in such a way as to hide the forehead and chin,

and only to leave the eyes, nose, and mouth exposed; and in winter they

throw over the hat a piece of cloth, which is tied over the nose so as

to shield that member from the cold blasts.

Men of consideration also wear a scarf over the shoulders, its length

being regulated by the rank of the wearer, and thus serving to indicate

the amount of courtesy which is due from one man to another. When two

Japanese gentlemen meet, they bow until the ends of the scarf touch the

ground. It is evident, therefore, that the man who, in virtue of his

rank, wears the longest scarf, has the less distance to bow.

In addition to the ordinary costume, the dress of ceremony has two

extraordinary additions. The first is the “kami-samo,” respecting which

the Japanese are exceedingly punctilious. It consists of a piece of

stuff which is folded back over the shoulders in a fan-like form, and

gives a most extraordinary and awkward look to the wearer. Courtiers

wear another article of dress which is exactly opposed to our customs.

In European courts the nether garments are abbreviated, and only come

to the knee; in Japan the custom is reversed. When the nobles appear

before the emperor, they wear a pair of trousers with legs fully twice

as long as those of the wearer, so that in walking they trail a yard

or so on the ground. Walking in such garments is an art which can only

be attained by long practice, and which, even when learned, is nothing

more than an ungainly shuffle, threatening every moment to throw the

courtier on his face. The attitudes which are assumed by fashionable

courtiers are so absurd that the Japanese picture books abound in

caricatures of noblemen at court. The object of this curious custom is

probably to give the wearer of the court dress an aspect as if he were

kneeling instead of standing.

Men of the better classes always appear in public carefully dressed,

but those of the lower orders consider themselves sufficiently clothed

if they have a mere strip of cloth like the “languti” of India.

Coolies, for example, laborers of various kinds, post-runners, etc.,

wear nothing but the cloth strip while at work.

Mr. Oliphant, in his “Narrative,” mentions this fact in connection

with the custom of tattooing, which is carried out in Japan to as

much perfection as in Polynesia. “Some, however, denied themselves

the benefit of dress, apparently for the purpose of exhibiting the

brilliant patterns in which their skins were tattooed. One man had

a monster crab on the small of his back, and a pretty cottage on

his chest. It is rather fashionable to have scarlet fish playing

sportively between your shoulders. The scarlet tattooing presents a

very disgusting appearance. The skin looks as if it had been carefully

peeled off into the required pattern.

“On a really well-tattooed man there is not an inch of the body which

does not form part of a pictorial representation. If the general effect

is not agreeable, it is perfectly decent, for the skin ceases to look

bare, or like skin at all; it rather resembles a harlequin’s costume.

It must be dreadful to feel that one can never undress again. Yet what

anguish does not the victim undergo, in order to put himself into a

permanent suit of red dye and gunpowder!” The Japanese are very fond

of their children, and in summer time a man may often be seen in the

streets, wearing nothing but the cloth strip, and carrying in his arms

his infant child, who has no clothing whatever.

Sometimes a man will appear in a costume which even seems more absurd

than the almost entire nudity which has just been mentioned, and will

walk about in a hat, a short jacket, and nothing else but the cloth.

In an illustration on the next page, the artist has shown a number of

the ordinary costumes as they appear when the wearers are gathered

round a ballad-singer. The most conspicuous figure is that of a

Samourai or Yaconin, an armed retainer of a nobleman, swaggering along

with the two swords emblematic of his office, and his features nearly

hidden under his hat. The men wearing the extraordinary piebald dresses

are a sort of street constable, who accompany a man of rank on his

journey, and who jingle an iron rod laden with rings, in order to warn

people to get out of the way of the great man. The other figures of men

are arranged so as to show the mode of dressing the hair, and one or

two varieties of costume.

[Illustration: (1.) DECAPITATION OF CHINESE CRIMINAL. (See page 1440.)]

[Illustration: (2.) THE STREET BALLAD-SINGER. (See page 1450.)]

The general appearance of the women’s dress is well shown by a figure

opposite to that of the Samourai. The dress is almost exactly like that

of the men, except that the materials are generally finer, and the sash

which confines the garments to the waist is very broad, and gathered

up into a large and peculiar knot, almost exactly like the “panier”

of European fashion. Both sexes wear stockings made like mittens, and

having a separate place for the reception of the great toe. Without

this provision they would not be able to wear the peculiar sandals and

clogs of the country, which are held on the foot by a Y-shaped strap,

the fork of which passes between the great and the second toe. The

clogs that are worn by the women very much resemble those of the Malays

in general shape, and, awkward as they look, are easily manageable

after a little practice. Some clogs in my collection elevate the foot

of the wearer six inches above the ground, but I have found that

walking, or rather shuffling, in them is not at all difficult.

The chief distinction between masculine and feminine attire lies in

the hair. Whereas the men shave nearly the whole of the head, the

women allow their hair to grow, and even add to it when they do not

possess a sufficient amount to produce the extraordinary forms into

which they twist their locks. Various fashions of hair-dressing

prevail in different parts of the country, but in all cases the women

take extraordinary pains with their heads, and twist their hair

into elaborate and fantastic patterns, which scarcely any European

hairdresser could equal.

Hair-pins are very fashionable, not so much for the purpose of

confining the locks in their places, as of mere adornment. The pins

are of enormous size, seven or eight inches in length, and half an

inch wide, and are made of various substances, such as tortoise shell,

carved wood, and ivory. Some of the most characteristic hair-pins are

made of glass. They are hollow, and nearly filled with some colored

liquid, so that at every movement of the wearer an air bubble runs from

one end of the pin to the other. Sometimes a woman will wear a dozen or

more of these pins in her hair, so that at a little distance her head

looks as if a bundle of firewood had been stuck loosely into it.

Having pleasing features by nature, it may be expected that the women

do their best to disfigure them by art. The soft pale brown of their

complexions is made ghastly and hideous by white paint, with which the

face, neck, and bust are thickly covered. The natural pink of the lips

is rendered disgusting by a layer of red paint, the white teeth are

blackened, and the eyebrows are pulled out. This style of adornment

belongs only to the married women, so that a really pretty girl will in

a few hours transform herself into a repulsive hag.

Mr. Oliphant, in the work which has already been mentioned, gives

rather a humorous reason for this strange custom. “The first impression

of the fair sex which the traveller receives in a Japanese crowd is in

the highest degree unfavorable; the ghastly appearance of the faces and

bosoms, thickly coated with powder, the absence of eyebrows, and the

blackened teeth, produce a most painful and disagreeable effect. Were

it not for this abominable custom, Japanese women would probably rank

high among Eastern beauties, certainly far before Chinese.

“All Japanese writers whom I have read upon the subject affirm that to

have no eyebrows and black teeth is considered a beauty in Japan, and

that the object of the process is to add to the charms of the fair one.

The result of my inquiry and observation, however, rather led me to

form an opposite conclusion.

“In the first place, young ladies do not, as a rule, neglect any

opportunity of improving their looks; but no Japanese young ladies,

even after they are ‘out,’ think of taking this method of increasing

their powers of fascination; they color their lips and cheeks, and deck

their hair, but it is not until they have made a conquest of some lucky

swain, that, to prove their devotion to him, they begin to blacken

their teeth and pull out their eyebrows.

“He, privileged being, is called upon to exhibit no such test of his

affection: on the contrary, his lawful wife having so far disfigured

herself as to render it impossible that she should be attractive to

any one else, seems to lose her charms for her husband as well. So

he places her at the head of his establishment; and adds to it an

indefinite number of handmaidens, who neither pull out their eyebrows

nor blacken their teeth. Hence it seems not difficult to account for

the phenomenon which is universally admitted, that while Japanese wives

are celebrated for their virtue, their husbands are no less notorious

for their licentiousness.”

While upon the subject of dress, we must not pass unnoticed the

extraordinary ideas which the Japanese have on the subject. Possessed

as they are of much taste in dress, and having certain complete

costumes for various ranks, it seems very remarkable that they are

utterly indifferent to clothing considered in the light of covering.

They attach no sense of indelicacy to exposure of the person, and men,

women, and children may be seen bathing exposed to the sight of every

passer-by.

Even their public baths, though some of them have two doors, one for

men and one for women, are common to both sexes, and in those baths

which are specially set apart for women the attendant is often a man.

Sometimes there is a partition, about breast high, to separate the

sexes, but the usual baths have no such refinement. The baths are

merely shallow pans or depressions in the floor, in which the bathers

sit while they pour over themselves abundant supplies of hot and cold

water. Baths of this nature are attached to all the “tea-houses,” so

that travellers can refresh themselves with a bath, in true Homeric

style, before they take their meals. And, in Homeric style also, the

attendants are women. The baths are known by a dark blue strip of

cloth which hangs like a banner over the doorway. Europeans, when they

first visit the country, are rather surprised when they pass along the

streets to see a whole family “tubbing” in front of their houses, or,

when they pass a public bath, to see the inmates run out to look at the

strangers; but they very soon become used to such spectacles, and think

no more of them than do the Japanese themselves.

Sir Rutherford Alcock, in dealing with this subject, and illustrating

it by a Japanese drawing representing a bath tenanted by a man, a boy,

and five women, makes the following remarks: “Men and women steaming

in the bathing-houses raise themselves to the open bars of the lattice

fronts to look out, the interior behind them presenting a view very

faithfully represented in the following sketch by a native artist.

“In reference to which, I cannot help feeling there is some danger of

doing injustice to the womanhood of Japan if we judge them by _our_

rules of decency and modesty. Where there is no _sense_ of immodesty,

no consciousness of wrong-doing, there is, or may be, a like absence

of any sinful or depraving feeling. It is a custom of the country.

Fathers, brothers, and husbands all sanction it; and from childhood the

feeling must grow up as effectually shielding them from self-reproach

or shame, as their sisters in Europe in adopting low dresses in the

ball-room, or any other generally adopted fashion of garments or

amusements. There is much in the usual appearance and expression

of Japanese women to lead to this conclusion. Any one of the real

performers in the above scene,--a bathing saturnalia as it may appear

to us,--when all is over, and the toilet completed, will leave the

bath-door a very picture of womanly reserve and modesty.”

Certainly, no women can be more decently clad than those of Japan, as

we may see by any of the multitudinous native drawings; and that they

should attach no sense of decency to the dress, or indecency to its

absence, is one of the many strange characteristics of this remarkable

and enigmatic country.

The travelling dress of the women is little more than their ordinary

costume, _plus_ a large flat hat, which serves as a parasol. Japanese

picture books abound with illustrations of women travelling, and,

multitudinous as they are, each has always some characteristic point,

and no two are exactly alike. Sometimes we see the women sauntering

quietly along the river bank, sometimes they are being carried across

the river on the shoulders of men, or, if they be of importance,

in “norimons” or chairs borne by six or eight coolies. Some of the

drawings depict women as sitting in boats, as being caught in a heavy

snow or rain storm (see illustration), as walking by moonlight, and as

they appear when riding.

[Illustration]

The attitude and general appearance of a female equestrian in Japan

differ considerably from those of an European. Side-saddles are

unknown, the fair rider perching herself upon a saddle which lifts

her high above the back of the animal, concealing her body downward,

holding on tightly by the front part of the saddle, and, in fact,

giving herself a look very much resembling that of a gayly attired

monkey on horseback, as shown on the next page. This mode of riding is

even followed by the opposite sex, the retainers of the high nobles

sitting in their lofty saddles in very much the same attitude as that

employed by the women, and being in consequence absolutely useless,

except in looks, as cavalry.

Yet, when they choose, the Japanese can ride tolerably, as is shown by

the fact of a game which is played among them, in which the competitors

are all mounted. In this game the players have to contend against

very great disadvantages. In the first place, the horses which they

bestride are wretched animals, mere rough ponies, and the accoutrements

are so clumsy, that it is a wonder how the horse can be guided at

all. According to our ideas, a horse is guided by the pressure of the

leg and the touch of the rein, but the Japanese saddles render such

guidance impossible.

The former mode is prevented by the shape of the saddle, which has

large flaps of stiff leather hanging so low that the heel or knee of

the rider has no effect upon the animal; and the latter mode is nearly

as impossible as the former, by reason of the bit and the fashion of

riding. The bit is a mere light snaffle placed loosely in the mouth,

and the reins are used, not so much for the purpose of guiding the

horse, as of keeping the rider in his seat. The horsemen grasp a rein

tightly in each hand, and so hang to the bit. The natural consequence

is, that the mouths of the horses are nearly as tough as the leather

saddle-flaps, and the animals always go with their noses in the air, so

as to counteract the perpetual haul on the bridle.

The game which is played under these untoward conditions is a sort of

mall. A large space is marked out, and at each end is a curtain. At

some few feet from the ground a circular hole is cut in the curtain.

Each player is furnished with a long-handled, small-headed racket,

almost exactly resembling that which is employed by the North American

Indians in their ball play, described on page 1324. The object of the

game is to pick up the ball from the ground with the racket, and to

throw it through the hole. In order that there may be no doubt whether

the ball has really passed through the hole, a net is hung loosely

on the opposite side of the hole, and receives the ball. The players

arrange themselves in two parties, distinguished by colors, and the

chief point of the game is to pursue the opponent as he is galloping

triumphantly toward the goal, and knock the ball out of the racket just

as he is going to throw it through the hole.

[Illustration]

The stirrups used by the Japanese are very curious in shape, and not

at all like the ordinary models. Their general outline resembles that

of the letter S, the foot being thrust into the opening as far as it

will go. The comparatively small stirrups used by Europeans are as

troublesome to the Japanese as would be the tiny triangular stirrups of

Patagonia to an English rider.

The strangest part of horse equipment in Japan is, however, the shoe.

Our idea of a horseshoe is a metallic plate to protect the horse

against hard ground. The Japanese shoe is made of plaited straw, and

is, in fact, nothing more than a straw sandal tied to the foot, giving

it a very clumsy appearance. As may be imagined, their shoes never

last very long, and on a stony road are soon cut to pieces. The rider,

therefore, takes a supply of shoes with him, and renews them as fast as

they are worn out. Indeed, a journey is often roughly calculated as a

distance of so many shoes.

Under such circumstances, it is not surprising that the horse is seldom

used in travelling. None but a poor noble will condescend to ride from

one place to another, as it might be supposed that he could not afford

the retinue which is required to carry him. Sometimes a nobleman will

condescend to ride in public, but then his horse must be held by two

grooms, who tug continually at the poor animal’s mouth, and shout

continually, “Chai! chai!” _i. e._ gently, for haste is always thought

undignified by the Japanese, and a person of consideration would suffer

a great infraction of dignity if he allowed himself to hurry over the

road.

For those who can afford so expensive a luxury, the usual mode of

conveyance is a sort of palanquin called a Norimon. It is a square

cage, hung from a pole, and carried by four men, two in front and two

behind. For Japanese travellers this is a very comfortable conveyance,

but for Europeans, who are not accustomed to the crouching attitude so

characteristic of the Japanese, even a short journey in a norimon is a

source of torture, the unfortunate passenger finding great difficulty

in getting into the machine, and, when the journey is over, almost as

much difficulty in getting out again, his limbs being stiff and cramped

by the position into which they have been forced.

The pole of the norimon is stout, and very long; and it is a matter of

rivalry between young and fashionable men to have their norimon poles

as long and as profusely decorated as possible. When the coolies carry

the norimon, they hoist it on their shoulders at a signal from their

master, and step along at some three miles an hour. In many parts the

coolies much resemble the palanquin bearers of India, but are in this

respect superior, that they travel in silence, and do not weary the

soul of their master by the perpetual grunts and moans with which the

Indian bearers are accustomed to lighten their journey.

Uncomfortable as is the norimon, there is a popular conveyance which

is even more painful to European limbs. This is called the Cango, and

it bears about the same relationship to the norimon as a wheelbarrow

does to a carriage. Indeed, if the reader can imagine the wheel, the

legs, and handle of a wheelbarrow to be removed, and the body of the

machine to be hung from a pole, he can form some idea of a cango. In

the norimon the inmate has to crouch, in the cango he has almost to tie

himself in a knot. Yet the Japanese limbs are so supple, that cango

employers travel for many successive hours without being in the least

oppressed by the attitude which they are compelled to assume. Cangos

are largely used in Japan, and are indeed what cabs are to Londoners,

the norimons supplying the place of carriages.

When a great noble or Daimio travels, he always uses the norimon,

partly because it is the most luxurious conveyance which he knows, and

partly because it gives him an excuse for displaying the strength of

his retinue, which is about the only mode of ostentation known to the

Japanese. The norimon is preceded by some of the men called Samourais,

or Yaconins, _i. e._ men who are permitted to attach themselves

to his service, and thereby to gain the privilege of wearing two

swords. As their master passes along, they continually utter the word

“Shitanirio!” _i. e._ kneel down, whereupon every one that hears it

must at once prostrate himself on the ground, or remain erect at his

peril. The most serious quarrels that have arisen between strangers

and the natives in Japan have originated in this custom, the strangers

either not knowing the custom, or refusing to comply with it lest they

should compromise the dignity of their nation. Refusing to obey such an

order is sure to cause a quarrel, and is likely to end in loss of life,

as the Yaconins who give the order to kneel are always ready to enforce

obedience with their swords.

Around the norimon is a crowd of servants, each wearing his master’s

badge on his back, and each armed according to his rank. Some led

horses generally accompany the procession, so that the great man may

ride when he is tired of the norimon, and a number of coolies bear

umbrellas covered with waterproof cases, and large boxes on poles.

These boxes are almost invariably empty, but are conventionally

supposed to contain the stores of baggage without which so great a

man could not be expected to stir. Superior officers in norimons,

and inferior officers on horseback, accompany the procession, for

which a passage is kept by a number of men fantastically dressed in

harlequin-like suits of various colors. Each of them carries a long

iron rod, to which are attached a number of rings made of the same

metal. As they walk they strike the end of the rod against the ground

at each step, so that a clashing sort of jingle is produced, and

strikes awe into the people.

That the Japanese should be such poor horsemen is very singular,

considering the marvellous perfection to which they have brought other

athletic exercises. As “acrobats” the performers are far superior to

those of any other nation, performing the most audacious and apparently

impossible feats with an absolute precision which quite removes any

idea of danger.

Until the Japanese gymnasts came to this country, we were inclined to

treat the accounts of travellers as exaggerated, but they proved to be

capable of performing any feats which our professional athletes could

achieve, and many others which they never even dreamt of attempting.

For example, nothing seems much more difficult than for a man to lie

on his back and balance on the soles of his feet a ladder thirty feet

high. But when we add that to the top of the ladder a second ladder was

attached at right angles, like the top of the letter F, and that a boy

went up and down the ladder, and even crawled to the end of the cross

piece and there hung by his instep, while the ladder was balanced on

the soles of the reclining man’s feet, we appear to be romancing rather

than relating a fact. Yet this astonishing performance was repeated

day after day, and nothing was more wonderful than the elaborate

perfection and finish of the performance. The heavy ladder was placed

on the upturned feet, and in a moment it was as steady as if it had

been planted in the ground. Though, owing to the crosspiece, it was

considerably inclined, its steadiness was not impaired, and even when

the boy ascended and descended it, causing the centre of gravity to be

continually altered, there was not the slightest wavering perceptible.

So with the other feats achieved by these remarkable performers.

Everything was done with the deliberation which forms an essential

part of the Japanese nature, but there were no needless delays, and

whether the man was balancing the ladder on his feet, or whether he was

spinning tops and making them act as if they were rational beings, or

whether he was making two paper butterflies flutter about as if they

were real insects, the same quiet perfection characterized the whole of

the performance, and every feat was done with such consummate ease that

it looked as if it really required no skill at all. The extraordinary

life which the Japanese performers contrive to infuse into inanimate

objects is almost incredible. Had not the feat been actually seen, it

would be scarcely possible to believe that a top could be spun, and

then launched off to perform the following feats without being even

touched:--

It ascended an inclined plane to a temple, the doors of which were

closed. It knocked open one of the doors, entered the temple, waited

inside some time, and then knocked open another door at right angles

to the former, and emerged. It then went over an inclined bridge,

entered another temple, and went up stairs, emerging at an upper story.

It then proceeded along an inclined plane standing at right angles

to the temple, and passed over a drawbridge, which was immediately

lifted, leaving a gap over which the top had to pass in order to get

back again. However, by the loosing of a catch, the top was flung over

the gap, and went on as gayly as ever, finishing with entering a third

temple, ringing a bell inside, coming out again, and running over two

more bridges into the hands of the spinner, having traversed some forty

feet, besides the work in the temples.

The same man spun a top upon the edge of a sword, making it pass from

one end of the blade to the other. He flung the top in the air and

threw the string at it: the top caught the middle of the string by the

peg, wound itself up, and was again flung into the air, spinning faster

than before. It was then caught on the slender stem of a pipe, along

which it ran as if alive, was passed behind the back, and caught again

in front, and lastly, was received upon the hem of the sleeve, made to

spin up the garment, over the neck and shoulders, and down the sleeve

of the opposite side. It was also made to spin upon a slight string

stretched from the wall, and to pass backward and forward as long as

the spinner chose.

Some of these tops required no string, but were merely spun with the

hand; they could be taken up and put down again, still spinning, or

they could be stood on their heads and still spin, or they could be

built into a perfect edifice of tops, three or four spinning upon

each other, sometimes each leaning in a different direction, and then

being brought upright by a touch of the ever-ready fan. The concluding

feat was a very curious one. Some thirty feet above the heads of the

spectators was hung a model of a temple, from which depended a string.

The chief top-spinner then took a small but very heavy top, wound up

its string, and flung the top in the air, drawing back the arm so that

the top came flying into his hand. He went under the temple, gave the

pendent string a half turn round the peg, and away went the top into

the temple, bursting open its doors, and flinging out a quantity of

rose leaves, which came fluttering down round the top as it descended

the string, and fell into the hands of the performer.

CHAPTER CLVII.

JAPAN--_Concluded_.

MISCELLANEOUS CUSTOMS.

SUMPTUARY LAWS -- SYSTEM OF ESPIONAGE -- THE DUPLICATE EMPIRE --

POWERS OF THE TYCOON AND MIKADO -- THE DAIMIOS AND THEIR RETAINERS

-- THE TWO SWORDS -- LONINS, OR OUTLAWS -- JAPANESE FENCERS --

DEFENSIVE ARMOR -- ARCHERY -- THE HAPPY DESPATCH -- PUBLIC EXECUTIONS

-- ARCHITECTURE -- REASONS FOR ITS FRAGILITY -- PRECAUTIONS AGAINST

FIRE -- SIMPLE HABITS OF THE JAPANESE -- AMUSEMENTS AND GAMES --

WRESTLERS -- THEATRES IN JAPAN -- CURIOUS ARRANGEMENT OF PLAYS --

THE TEA-HOUSES AND THEIR ATTENDANTS -- JAPANESE ART -- THE PORTABLE

INKSTAND -- THE CRANE, HERON, AND STORK -- THE SNOW-CLOAK -- SILK

MADE BY NOBLES.

In Japan there is a tolerably strict code of sumptuary laws, certain

modes of dress and the power of carrying certain weapons being denied

to all except the privileged classes. We will, therefore, take a hasty

glance at the different ranks in Japan.

With regard to all official ranks a duplicate system exists throughout

the kingdom. At the head of the government there are two emperors,--the

civil emperor, or Tycoon, and the spiritual emperor, or Mikado. The

former of these potentates (whose title is sometimes spelled as

Siogoon) is the real administrator of the empire, although he is

nominally inferior to the Mikado, an inferiority which is carefully

marked by certain visits of ceremony paid to the Mikado, but is not

allowed to proceed beyond mere etiquette.

Indeed, the powers of the Tycoon himself are practically limited,

though theoretically unbounded, and the government is in fact exercised

by the nobles, through a double council, one of which is chosen by the

emperor, and the other selected by the nobles from themselves. Every

man who is employed in the duties of government has his duplicate, or

“shadow,” as he is called; he is subject to espionage on every side,

and is himself a spy on others.

This system, uncomfortable as it may appear, has its advantages.

According to Mr. Oliphant: “One most beneficial result arising from

this universal system of espionage--for it extends through all classes

of society--is the entire probity of every government _employé_. So

far as we could learn or see, they were incorruptible. When men can

neither offer nor receive bribes; when it is almost impossible, even

indirectly, to exercise corrupt influences, there is little fear of

the demoralization of public departments of the state. In this respect

Japan affords a brilliant contrast to China, and even to some European

countries. So long as this purity exists, even though purchased at the

cost of secret espial, there can be little cause to fear the decadence

of Japan.”

It is as well to mention in this place that the word Tycoon, or Tai-kû,

is not of Japanese but of Chinese origin, and that it came into use

through its insertion in an official document, the unlucky minister who

employed it having in consequence fallen into disgrace and poverty. The

name of Tycoon is never applied to him by the Japanese, who use instead

the title which has been conferred upon him by his nominal superior,

the Mikado.

The Mikado, or spiritual emperor, is held in the greatest veneration,

and many of the honors paid to him are almost identical with those

which are rendered to the Grand Lama of Thibet. He is too sacred to

touch the earth with his feet, and is carried on men’s shoulders on the

rare occasions when he moves from one part of the palace to another.

Outside it he never goes. He is too holy to wear any garment twice, or

to use any article a second time, and, should any one venture to wear

or use a garment or utensil sanctified by his touch, he would bring

down on himself the vengeance of heaven. Consequently, every garment

that he has worn or every wooden utensil which he has employed is

burned, and those which are made of earthenware are broken.

A similar rule extends to his wives, of whom he has twelve, one of

them being the head wife or queen. A curious piece of etiquette is

practised by the wives of the Mikado. All other women dress their hair

into fantastic shapes, but the Mikado’s wives are obliged to allow

their hair to flow at length down their backs. In consequence of the

innumerable restrictions to which he is subjected, the Mikado generally

becomes tired of his comfortless rank, and resigns in favor of his heir.

Next come the Daimios or nobles, who, as among ourselves, are of

different ranks, and who are the real rulers of the country. The

difficulties which foreigners have experienced in Japan have almost

invariably been caused by the Daimios, who fear that their position as

feudal nobles may be endangered by the introduction of foreigners into

the country. The greater Daimios are as formidable as were the great

barons of early English history, and in like manner keep vast numbers

of armed retainers. There is a general idea that in Japan every man

wears a pair of swords. This is far from being the case, as none are

permitted to wear even one sword unless he be in the service of the

State. Even the wealthiest merchant may not wear a sword unless he is

enrolled among the retainers of a Daimio, and, as the privilege is a

great one, it is purchased for a certain annual sum. This indirect

tribute is a lucrative source of income to the Daimios, and enables

them to maintain the enormous retinue with which they are surrounded.

The higher classes in Japan are privileged to wear a garment called

the “hakkama.” This is much like the huge petticoat trousers of the

French Zouave, and is indeed a very full and abundantly plaited

petticoat, sewed together in the middle, and gathered in at the knees.

The wearers are inordinately proud of this garment, and, though one of

the unprivileged classes may purchase the right to carry a sword, no

expenditure of money will enable a man to wear the hakkama.

The most troublesome of the retainers are the Yaconins or Samourais,

men who have been admirably described by Sir Rutherford Alcock in his

“Capital of the Tycoon”:--

“All of a certain rank are armed with this formidable weapon projecting

from their belt; swords, like everything else in Japan, to our worse

confusion, being double, without much or any obvious distinction

between military and civil, or between Tycoon’s officers and Daimios’

retainers. These are the classes which furnish suitable specimens

of that extinct species of the race in Europe still remembered as

_Swashbucklers_,--swaggering, blustering bullies; many cowardly enough

to strike an enemy in the back, or cut down an unarmed and inoffensive

man; but also supplying numbers ever ready to fling their own lives

away in accomplishing a revenge, or carrying out the orders of their

chief.

“They are all entitled to the privilege of two swords, rank and file,

and are saluted by the unprivileged (professional, mercantile, and

agricultural classes) as _Sama_, or Lord. With a rolling straddle in

his gait, reminding one of Mr. Kinglake’s graphic description of the

Janissary, and due to the same cause,--the heavy, projecting blades

at his waist, and the swaddling clothes round his body,--the Japanese

Samourai or Yaconin moves on in a very ungainly fashion, the hilts of

his two swords at least a foot in advance of his person, very handy,

to all appearance, for an enemy’s grasp. One is a heavy, two-handed

weapon, pointed and sharp as a razor; the other short, like a Roman

sword, and religiously kept in the same serviceable state.

“In the use of these he is no mean adept. He seldom requires a second

thrust with the shorter weapon, but strikes home at a single thrust,

as was fatally proved at a later period; while with the longer weapon

he severs a limb at a blow. Such a fellow is a man to whom all

peace-loving subjects and prudent people habitually give as wide a

berth as they can. Often drunk, and always insolent, he is to be met

with in the quarters of the town where the tea-houses most abound; or

returning about dusk from his day’s debauch, with a red and bloated

face, and not over-steady on his legs, the terror of all the unarmed

population and street dogs. Happy for the former, when he is content

with trying the edge of a new sword on the quadrupeds; and many a poor

crippled animal is to be seen limping about, slashed over the back, or

with more hideous evidences of brutality. But, at other times, it is

some coolie or inoffensive shopkeeper, who, coming unadvisedly between

‘the wind and his nobility,’ is just as mercilessly cut down at a blow.”

In some sort of a way, each noble is responsible for the acts of his

retainers. Therefore, if any of these men determine upon some act

which they know will compromise their master,--say the assassination

of some one whom he dislikes,--they formally divest themselves of his

protection, and become “lonins,” or outlaws, or almost exactly the

same as the “masterless-men” of the feudal English days. Each of them

carries with him a paper on which his renunciation is written, and to

perform such an act is thought extremely honorable. Nearly all the men

who murdered Europeans were lonins.

The swords which these men wear in virtue of their rank are most

formidable weapons, the temper of the steel, the balance of the weapon,

and the slight curve of the edge, being all that can be desired.

They are finished with the utmost care, and every part receives the

minutest attention. A very beautiful specimen of the shorter sword

was presented to me by C. Allen, Esq., of Blackheath. It measures

two feet four inches in total length, of which the handle occupies

nearly nine inches. This roomy handle of the Japanese sword presents

a remarkable contrast with the small and cramped hilts of the Indian

weapons. It affords an admirable grasp for the hand, being covered with

diamond-shaped patterns of silken cord twisted over a basis of rough

skate-skin. The blade is a little more than an inch in width, and even

after a stay of many years in this country, is as bright as a mirror

and sharp as a razor.

Indeed, for a hand-to-hand encounter, it would be difficult to find a

more formidable weapon, even the kookery of India being inferior to

it, as being heavier and less manageable. It is equally adapted for

thrusting or cutting, and is so effective for the former purpose that

one of these swords has been driven completely through a man’s body by

a single thrust. The balance of the weapon is admirable, and, though it

is somewhat unsightly, it can be managed with perfect ease.

The amount of labor that has been bestowed on this particular weapon is

really astonishing. The effect is not in the least obtrusive, and it

is only by close examination that its beauties can be seen. The blade

is left entirely without ornament, its excellence being shown by its

high polish and sharp edge. But, with the exception of the blade, every

portion of the weapon has its ornament. On the guard is represented a

buffalo grazing under a tree, the groundwork being of bronze, and the

leaves of the tree and the herbage being gold. Between the silken cords

of the hilt and the skate-skin are inserted two beautifully executed

models, in bronze, of a bow and arrows, the feathers of the arrows

and wrappings of the head being gilt. One of these models is inserted

on either side of the hilt, which is terminated by a richly engraved

bronze ornament.

In the upper part of the sheath is kept a small knife, somewhat similar

in shape to that which is kept in the chopstick-case of the Chinese.

The handle of the knife is bronze, and is adorned with the figure of

a crayfish, beautifully wrought in gold, together with a banner and

one or two other devices. The sheath itself is a wonderful piece of

workmanship. At a little distance it looks as if it were covered with

dark-brown leather; but a closer inspection shows that it is entirely

covered with a minute and delicate pattern that looks as if it had

been traced with a needle’s point, and must have cost the artist a very

considerable expenditure of labor.

The larger sword is made after precisely the same pattern, except that

it is four feet in length, and must be used with both hands. With one

of these swords a Japanese will strike off a limb at a single blow;

and so sharp are they, that an executioner, in beheading a criminal,

scarcely raises the sword a foot for his stroke. The Japanese swordsmen

practise the use of their weapon by means of sham swords, with which

they fence, the combatants padding their limbs and sides, and covering

their faces with wire masks. They have a very dangerous cut, which is

made by the mere motion of unsheathing the sword, and takes effect at a

distance where an inexperienced person would think himself safe.

So good is the temper of these weapons, that a Japanese has been known

to sever a thick iron bolt with a single blow, the edge of the sword

not showing the slightest indication of the severe test to which it had

been put. The Japanese name for the large sword is “ken”; that of the

shorter, “kattan.”

Defensive armor was at one time much worn by the Japanese, though

at the present day the introduction of improved firearms has caused

them to abandon armor, except for purposes of show. A complete suit

of Japanese armor is shown on page 1469. It is made of multitudinous

plates hung upon cloth, and profusely ornamented by gilding. Though

very light, it is strong enough to resist the blow of the long sword,

though it is worse than useless against rifled fire-arms. Indeed,

had it not been for the recent disuse of protective armor, we should

scarcely have been able to procure a suit; but, finding their suits of

mail to be practically useless, the Japanese nobles very generously

presented many of them to their foreign guests, and allowed others to

be sold.

The oddest part of the suit is the helmet, with its appendages. The

fantastic crest is very light, being made of exceedingly thin material,

covered with gilding; and is so slight that a blow with a stick would

crush it. Perhaps the reader may wonder at the beards which apparently

depend from the chins of the soldiers. The fact is, the helmet is

furnished with a very complete visor, shaped like a mask, which covers

the whole of the face, and is decorated with a large gray beard and

mustache, in order to strike terror into the beholders.

The bow is a favorite weapon with the Japanese, who expend nearly as

much labor upon it as they do upon the sword. It is mostly japanned in

black, and adorned with various decorations. Some of these bows are

very powerful, and are strung in rather a peculiar manner, the archer

placing the lower end of the bow on the ground, and grasping the upper

end with his right hand. He plants his right foot on the middle of the

bow, bends it with the united powers of his foot and right hand, and

with his left slips the string into its place. The arrows are made like

those of China, but, in accordance with the national character of the

people, are more highly finished.

One of the strangest weapons used by the Japanese is the war fan. Like

the Chinese, the Japanese are never without the fan, and are obliged,

by force of long habit, to take it into battle. The fan which is kept

for this purpose has its sheath made of iron, and is of very large

size, so that if the warrior be surprised without his sword, he is sure

to have his fan ready by way of a club. These fans are decorated with

the national emblem, a red sun on a black ground.

In connection with the Japanese weapons must be mentioned some of their

modes of punishment. The first is the celebrated Hara-kiri, or Happy

Despatch, and consists of suicide by ripping open the abdomen with two

cuts in the form of a cross. Only the upper classes are privileged to

perform the Happy Despatch, and to them it is in reality a privilege.

If a Japanese official has failed in some duty, or committed some

act which is likely to call upon him the anger of his superiors, he

applies for permission to perform the Hara-kiri. At the appointed time,

he assembles his friends, dresses himself in white, as a token of

innocence, gives an entertainment, and makes a speech upon the position

in which he is placed. He then takes the fatal knife, and as he raises

his clothing for the purpose of inflicting the wounds, a good swordsman

comes behind him, bearing a two-handed sword or “ken.” The victim

begins the Hara-kiri, but, as soon as he has made a slight incision,

his head is swept off, so that death is not the result of the horrid

wounds in the abdomen.

Sometimes, however, when time presses, the victim is obliged to perform

the Hara-kiri as he can, and in that case dies from the self-inflicted

wounds. For example, in several cases where assassination has been

attempted, and notably in the celebrated attack on the British

Legation, when the would-be assassins were chased on the succeeding

day, it was found that three of them had committed the Hara-kiri, two

of whom were already dead, but one was still living and was captured.

In these cases the weapon used for the purpose is the shorter sword, or

“kattan.”

When a man has committed the Hara-kiri, he is supposed to have died an

honorable death, and so to have earned for himself a reputation as a

brave man. His family are proud of him, and his memory is reverenced.

But should he lose his life by the hand of the executioner, his whole

property is confiscated, his family falls under ban, and his name is

held as infamous. It will be seen, therefore, that the Hara-kiri is

really a very great privilege, especially among a people so entirely

indifferent to life as the Japanese.

Public executions are very simply carried out. The criminal is taken

to the spot on a horse, and when he arrives, is bound, and made to

kneel on the ground over a hole which is to receive his head. The

executioner, who uses the “ken” above named, arranges the culprit’s

head in the proper position, and, apparently without any effort,

decapitates the man with a blow. The old traveller Purchas very neatly

expresses the mode of execution by a single word. After narrating

the preliminaries, he states that the criminal “holds out his head,

presently _wiped_ off.”

Crucifixion is employed by the Japanese as well as by the Chinese, and

is mostly reserved for high treason. Minor punishments are not much in

vogue, inasmuch as a theft above a certain sum entails the penalty of

death, and so does a theft of a smaller sum if repeated. Flogging and

banishment are sometimes employed as punishments. The dreadful tortures

to which the earlier Christian missionaries and their converts were

subjected appear to be reserved for political and religious offenders.

The architecture of the Japanese is rather peculiar. Owing to the

physical condition of the country, and its liability to earthquakes,

the houses are not remarkable for size or beauty. Private houses are

never of any great height, a little exceeding forty feet being the

utmost limit. They are built of wood, and, wherever possible, are only

one story in height. They have a very ingenious mode of dividing their

houses into rooms. Instead of using permanent walls for that purpose,

they prefer folding screens made of wood and paper, so that they can

alter at will the size and shape of the rooms.

The floors are covered with mats, which serve also as measurements.

They are beautifully made of straw and rushes, are several inches in

thickness, and by law obliged to be exactly of the same dimensions,

_i. e._ one “kin,” or seven feet four and a half inches in length, and

half as much in breadth. The window frames are movable, and, instead of

glass, are filled with oiled paper, mica, and the translucent shell of

the great pearl oyster. The partitions of the houses and all the posts

are curiously varnished and painted, and the Japanese, essentially

a cleanly people, are very careful in keeping the interior of their

houses in the best possible order. Like many Orientals, they always

remove their sandals before entering a house, and no one even enters a

shop without slipping off his shoes.

The roof is also of wood, and is generally composed of thick boards,

which are kept in their places by wooden pegs, or by heavy stones laid

upon them. The ends of the roof project considerably beyond the walls,

so that they protect the doorways from the sun. On the roof of each

house is kept a tub full of water, and near at hand is a broom, so

that, in case of a fire, all the wooden roofs are at once drenched with

water. The extremely inflammable nature of the materials renders this

precaution needful; and, in addition, there are cisterns and tubs kept

in the streets, together with tolerably effective fire-engines.

The furniture of the houses is on the same simple plan as the edifices

themselves. A Japanese, no matter what his rank or wealth, has but

little furniture. From the highest Daimio to the ordinary workman,

the furniture of the houses is much the same. The room is bare, and

floored by mats; a few shelves hold some cups and saucers, and there

are generally several small trays on stands. This, with a few coverlids

and a small pillow, made of wood and having a padding on the top,

constitutes the furniture of the living-room. As to the kitchen, one or

two small movable stoves, a few pans of metal, and some brooms, are all

that are needed.

The Japanese cannot in the least understand why their Western visitors

should encumber themselves with such quantities of furniture, which,

to them, are not only useless, but absolutely in their way. They need

neither tables, chairs, sideboards, nor bedsteads, and care nothing for

large and handsome rooms.

Some years ago, when preparations were made for the reception of a

British Consul in Hakodadi, it was almost impossible to find any place

that could accommodate him. However, after much trouble, a locality

was found. After the arrangements had been made, the Japanese Governor

rose, took Sir R. Alcock by the hand, and led him through a corridor to

a little room, or rather closet, nine feet by six, and quietly remarked

that in that room his successor would be installed.

Sir R. Alcock has some very pertinent remarks on this subject: “As

we slowly wended our way through the streets, I had full opportunity

of observing the absence of all the things _we_ deem so essential

to comfort, and which crowd our rooms almost to the exclusion, and

certainly to the great inconvenience, of the people who are intended to

occupy them, as well as to the detriment of the proprietor’s purse.

“If European joints could only be made supple enough to enable their

owners to dispense with sofas and chairs, and, _par conséquence_,

with tables; and we were hardy enough to lie on straw mats, six feet

by three, stuffed with fine straw, and beautifully made with a silk

border, so as to form a sort of reticulated carpet for rooms of any

size; the solution of that much-debated question, the possibility of

marrying on 400_l._ a year, might certainly be predicted with something

like unanimity in favor of matrimony. The upholsterer’s bill can never

offer any impediment to a young couple in Japan.

“Their future house is taken, containing generally three or four

little rooms, in which clean mats are put. Each then brings to the

housekeeping a cotton stuffed quilt, and a box of wearing apparel for

their own personal use; a pan to cook the rice, half-a-dozen larger

cups and trays to eat off, a large tub to bathe and wash in are added,

on the general account: and these complete the establishment.”