characters. By far the greater part of them are now formed, either of
the original pictorial symbols, greatly modified, indeed, and changed
from their likeness to the things they stand for, or of those joined to
each other in a compound character, partly symbolical and partly
phonetic. The former part is called the _radical_, the latter the
_primitive_. The Chinese divide the characters into six classes, viz.,
imitative symbols, or those original figures which bore a resemblance to
the forms of material objects; indicative symbols, where the position of
the two parts point out the idea; symbols combining ideas, a class not
very unlike the preceding, but more complex; inverted symbols;
metaphoric symbols, as that of the natural heart, denoting the
affections; and lastly, phonetic symbols. Out of twenty-four thousand
two hundred and thirty-five characters, (nearly all the different ones
there are in the language), twenty-one thousand eight hundred and ten of
them are phonetic, or as much so as the nature of their composition
would allow, though there is no other clue to the sound than to learn
the sound of the parts or of the whole, either from the people
themselves or from a dictionary. The Chinese tyro learns the sounds of
most of the characters, as boys do the names of minerals, by tradition.
As he stands before his master, he and the whole class hear from his
mouth their names, and repeat them until they are remembered.
Consequently, almost an infinite variety in the sounds of the characters
arise from this mode of learning them, while the meanings remain fixed;
though there still remains enough resemblance in the sounds to show
their common origin, as, _bien_, _meen_, _mien_, and _meeng_, all
meaning _the face_, and written with the same character. The local
differences in pronunciation are so great within a few hundred miles, in
some parts of China, that the people barely understand each other when
they speak; and even in two towns fifty miles apart, the local patois
can be detected, though the dissimilarity is not so great as to prevent
their inhabitants conversing together. For purposes of intercourse among
civilians, who being from distant parts of the empire, might otherwise
find considerable difficulty in making themselves understood if each
spoke his own local patois, there is a court dialect which not only
civilians, but all educated men are obliged or expected to understand.
This is the common pronunciation over the northeastern provinces of
Chihli, Shantung, Nganhwui, and Kiangsu, and somewhat in the contiguous
provinces also, though everywhere in these regions with some slight
local variations. This dialect is called _kwan hwa_, and has been
usually termed the _mandarin[109] dialect_, but it is properly the
Chinese spoken language, and the variations from it are the dialects and
patois. It is evident, however, that one sound of a character is no
more correct than another; for there being no sound in any character,
each one calls it as he has been taught, while all give it the same
meaning, exactly as Europeans do with the numerals. Of course, no one
can read or write Chinese before he has studied it, and the apparent
singularity of people from China, Japan, and Annam all being able to
communicate by writing but not converse by speech, is easily explained
by the different sounds they give the characters. It is, however, really
no more singular than that scholars in all Christian nations understand
each others' music and arithmetic, after they have learned those
sciences and the mode of notation.
The diversity of pronunciations tends naturally to break up the nation
into small communities, and the Chinese owe their present homogeneity
and grandeur in no small degree to their written language; for, however,
a man may differ in his speech, he is sure that he will be everywhere
understood when he writes, and will understand every one who writes to
him. It has also been a bond of union from its extensive literature, at
once the pride of its own scholars, and the admiration of surrounding
nations. It is perhaps owing to the fact that the literature of China
contains the canons of the Budhist religion and the ethics of Confucius,
that it was adopted by the Japanese, Coreans and Annamese. These nations
have taken the characters of the Chinese language, and given them such
names as pleased them. In Japan and Corea, there has been no uniform
rule of adoption, but the Annamese, who formerly had more intimate
connexions with China than at present, approach much nearer to the
sounds spoken by the Chinese.
The nature of the relations between these three nations and China,
therefore, somewhat resembles that which European nations, we may
suppose, now would have towards ancient Greece and Rome, if they still
existed as independent powers, and should be visited by scholars from
the shores of the Baltic, whose native countries, however, had risen no
higher in civilization and morals than their source. The comparison is
not complete in all respects, but near enough for analogy. The Japanese
have never paid tribute to China, but have been invaded by her armies,
and in their turn have ravaged the eastern coasts of the continent. The
isolated policy their rulers have adopted, has prevented our tracing
those philological comparisons between their original language and those
of Siberia or central Asia, which would elucidate its origin. The
Japanese up to the time of the sixteenth dairi, named Ouzin Tenwo, had
no written character, all the orders of government being proclaimed viva
voce. In the year B.C. 284, this monarch sent an embassy to the
southern part of Corea, to obtain learned persons who could introduce
the civilization and literature of China into his dominions, and
obtained Wonin, who fulfilled the royal wishes so satisfactorily, that
the Japanese have since accorded him divine honors. Since his day, the
Chinese characters have been employed among the Japanese. However, as
the construction of the Japanese language differs materially from that
of the Chinese, and as the same Chinese character has many meanings,
which would be expressed by different words in the native Japanese,
confusion and difficulty arose in the use of the symbolic characters.
But it was not until the eighth century, that a remedy was provided by
the invention of a syllabary, a middle contrivance, partaking chiefly of
the nature of an alphabet but containing some traces of hieroglyphics.
The characters of this syllabary were formed by taking Chinese
characters, either in whole or in part, and using them phonetically, but
as indivisible syllables. Consequently, every one of them contained a
vowel sound, rendering the language very euphonous. The characters in
this syllabary were called _katakana_, i. e. "parts of letters." There
were at first forty-seven, but another was added some years after in
order to express the final _n_, as _ma-mo-ra-n_, instead of
_ma-mo-ra-nu_, making forty-eight, the present number. This syllabary
and that invented for the Cherokees by Guess, are the only two in the
world. The number of sounds has been increased from forty-eight to
seventy-three, by the addition of diacritical marks to some of the
syllables. This syllabary enabled the Japanese to express the sounds of
their vernacular without difficulty. But the long use of the Chinese had
already introduced a great number of sounds from that language into it,
besides giving the people a liking for the elegant and ingenious
combinations of that unwieldy medium of thought, so that the scholars in
the country still cultivated the more difficult language, and wrote
their books in it. The incorporation of Chinese sounds into the native
Japanese, seems to have arisen from the necessity of distinguishing
between the various meanings of the Chinese character, so that while the
native word would express one, the original sound would express another,
but the unchangeable symbol stand for both to the eye.
The admiration of the Chinese characters, led in time to the invention
of a second syllabary, having the same sounds but far more difficult to
learn from the number of characters in it and their complicated forms.
It is called _hirakana_, or "equal writing," because it is intelligible
without the addition of Chinese characters; it is now the common medium
of communication, in epistolary composition of all kinds, story books,
and other everyday uses. There are one hundred and one characters in the
_hirakana_, or nearly three modes of writing each of the forty-eight
syllables, and they are run together as rapidly and far more fancifully
than in our own running-hand, when that is compared with the Roman
character. The characters are mostly contractions of Chinese characters
used simply as phonetic symbols, without any more reference to their
meaning than in the _katakana_. The more ancient of the two is now
usually employed in dictionaries, by the side of Chinese characters in
books to explain them to the reader, or at their bottom to indicate the
case of the word. In reading a Chinese book, a good Japanese scholar
makes a kind of running translation into his own vernacular, sometimes
giving the sound, and sometimes giving the sense, and the _katakana_ is
used in the latter case, to indicate the tense, or case of the native
word. Having the Chinese language as well as its native stores to draw
from, the Japanese is both copious and flexible, and by its syllabic
construction, also euphonious and mellifluous, in these respects being
far superior to the Chinese. The following stanza is from one of the
Dutch writers; it is written with thirty-one syllables.
Kokorodani makotono,
Michi ni kanai naba,
Inorazu totemo kamiya
Mamoran.
There are still two other syllabaries, one called _Manyo-kana_, and the
other _Yamato-kana_, both of which are formed of still more complicated
Chinese characters, also used phonetically. Neither of these syllabaries
is generally used entirely alone, but the three are joined together or
interchanged somewhat according to the fancy of the writer, in a manner
similar to Archdeacon Wrangham's famous echo poem. Such a complicated
mode of writing has this unfortunate result, however, of so seriously
obstructing the avenues to the temple of science, that the greatest part
of the common people are unable to enter, and must be content with
admiring the structure afar off. Most of them content themselves with
learning to write and read in the _hirakana_, and get as much knowledge
of Chinese as will enable them to read the names of places, signs,
people, &c., for which those characters are universally used. Besides
the phonetic use of Chinese characters in these syllabaries, they are
employed very extensively as words, with their own meanings, partly
because they are more nervous and expressive in the estimation of the
writer than the vernacular, and partly to show his learning and shorten
his labor. Commonly, characters so used are called by their Japanese
meanings, but sometimes too by their Chinese names.[110]
The connection between the Chinese and Japanese, therefore, is very
intimate, and presents a curious instance of assimilation between a
symbolic and syllabic language, though at the cost of much hard study
and labor to acquire the mongrel compound. It is another example of
Asiatic toil upon the media of thought, rather than investigations in
the world of thought and science itself; for no people who possessed
invention, research, or science, would ever have encumbered themselves
with so burdensome a vehicle of communication. The Chinese do not attend
to the Japanese language, and have no knowledge of its structure, or the
principles on which it has combined with their own. Their intercourse
with Japan is entirely commercial; that of the Japanese with them,
chiefly literary.
The Coreans have also adopted the Chinese character, but without many of
the elaborate modifications in use among the Japanese. They have had
more intercourse with the Chinese, but have not been able to make their
polysyllabic words assimilate with the monosyllables of the Chinese.
They have invented an alphabet, the letters of which combine to form
syllables, and these syllabic compounds are then used like the Japanese
characters to express their own words. The original letters consist of
fifteen consonants, called _ka_, _na_, _ta_, _la_ or _ra_, _ma_ or _ba_,
_pa_, _sa_ or _sha_, _nga_, _tsa_ or _cha_, _ts'a_ or _ch'a_, _k'a_,
_t'a_, _p'a_, _ha_, and _wa_; and eleven vowels, _a_, _ya_, _o_, _yo_,
_oh_, _yoh_, _u_, _yu_, _u_, _i_, and _ah_. The combinations of these
form altogether one hundred and sixty-eight syllables, the last
fourteen of which are triply combined by introducing the sound of _w_
between the consonants and some of the vowels, as _kwa_, _ts'hwo_, &c.
The sounds and meanings of Chinese characters are expressed in this
syllabary in the duoglott works prepared by the Coreans for learning
Chinese; while it is used by itself in works intended for the natives.
The Coreans have not, like the Japanese, unnecessarily increased the
difficulty of their own language by employing a great number of signs
for the same sound, but are content with one series. It is to be hoped
that this facility results in a greater diffusion of knowledge among the
people. The Japanese have the inflections of cases, moods, tenses and
voices, in their language; but these features are denoted in Corean by
the collocation of the words, and the words themselves remain unchanged
as in Chinese. The sounds of the Corean are pleasant, and both it and
the Japanese allow many alterations and elisions for the sake of
euphony. Further investigation will probably show some connection
originally between the Corean and Manchu languages, though the former of
these has been more modified by the Chinese than the latter.[111]
The people of Annam have adopted the Chinese characters without making a
syllabary or alphabet to express their own vernacular. The inhabitants
of this country are evidently of the same race as the Chinese, and now
acknowledge a nominal subjection to the emperor of China by sending a
triennial embassy to Peking, partly commercial and partly tributary. The
sounds given to the Chinese characters are, however, so unlike those
given them in China, that the two nations cannot converse with each
other. The Annamese have many sounds in their spoken language which no
Chinese can enunciate. The court dialect is learned by educated men, and
books are written and printed in Chinese. The sounds given to the
characters are all monosyllabic, and slight analogies can be traced
running through the variations; but they offer very little assistance to
any one, who, knowing only one mode of pronunciation, wishes to learn
the other.
Much of the interest connected with the investigation of the Chinese and
its cognate tongues, arises from the immense multitudes which speak and
write them; and from the influence which China has, through the writings
of her sages, exerted over the minds and progress of her neighbors.
There is nothing like it in European history; but the spell cast over
the intellects of the millions in eastern Asia, by the writings of
Confucius, Mencius, and their disciples, is likely erelong to be broken
by the infusion of Christian knowledge, the extension of commerce, and a
better understanding of their political and social rights by the
multitudes who now adopt them.
For much of the information embraced in this memoir on China, Japan, and
the adjacent countries, I am indebted to the Chinese Repository, (a
monthly journal printed at Canton), and more especially to one of its
accomplished editors, Mr. S. Wells Williams. This gentleman during a
residence of twelve years in China, has made himself familiar with the
written and spoken language of the Chinese, and is ranked, by some of
the eminent Sinologists of Europe, among the profoundest adepts in that
branch of literature and philology. Mr. Williams has also studied the
Japanese language, which he reads and speaks; and is probably the only
man in America familiar with the languages of China and Japan. Several
natives of Japan, driven by adverse winds from their native shores,
found their way to China, and were subsequently taken by an American
ship to Yedo, but were not permitted to land. From these men, Mr.
Williams has learned the spoken Japanese, and as much of the written
language as they could impart. This gentleman is at present in New York
making arrangements for getting founts of Chinese, Japanese, and Manchu
type, for printing in these languages.
The Chinese Repository is a monthly journal, printed at Canton, and is
edited by the Rev. Dr. Bridgman and Mr. Williams. It contains much
valuable information relating to China, Japan, and the eastern
Archipelago, and frequently memoirs, translated from the Japanese and
Chinese. On the whole, it may with truth be said to embody more
information than any other work extant, on these countries.
Mr. Williams has now in press a new work on the Chinese empire, which
will contain an account of its general political divisions, including
Manchuria, Mongolia, Ili and Tibet, their geographical and topographical
features. The natural history of China; its government, laws,
literature, language, science, industry and arts. Social and domestic
life--History and Chronology--Religion; Christian missions; intercourse
with other nations; and a full account of the late war with England.
The history of the introduction of Christianity into China, in the
seventh century of the Christian era, the traces of which still exist;
and of the Jews in China, are subjects which are now attracting
attention. It would occupy too much space to give any particulars in
this brief memoir. In the list of late works on China, will be found
references to such books as treat of the subject, to which the attention
of the reader is directed.
The Syrian monument which has been often referred to, is one of great
interest, and is believed by all who have examined the subject, to be
genuine. This monument was discovered by some Chinese workmen, in the
year 1625, in or near the city of Singan, the capital of the province of
Shensi, and once the metropolis of the empire. The monument was found
covered with rubbish, and was immediately reported to the magistrate,
who caused it to be removed to a pagoda, where it was examined by both
natives and foreigners, Christians and Pagans. It was a slab of marble,
about ten feet long and five broad. It contained on one side a Chinese
inscription, which was translated by Father Kircher into Latin, and by
Dalquie into French. Mr. Bridgman has given an English translation, and
has published the three versions, accompanied by the original Chinese,
with explanatory notes. This inscription commemorates the progress of
Christianity in China, and was erected in the year of the Christian era
718. Mr. Bridgman who is one of the most learned in the Chinese
language, says in conclusion, that "there are strong internal evidences
of its being the work of a professor of Christianity, and such we
believe it to be."[112]
Other portions of this memoir might be very much enlarged, but would
extend it beyond the bounds of the _resume_, which it is intended to
give. There are besides other countries and people, accounts of which it
would be desirable to give place to, particularly those of Central Asia,
but they are unavoidably passed over from the space that would be
required to do them justice. The object of this paper is to awaken the
attention of readers to the geographical and ethnographical discoveries
made within the last few years, all of which have a bearing on the
history and progress of the human race. If the author has succeeded in
so doing, he will feel abundantly repaid for his labor.
The recent works on China are embraced in the following list.
China; Political, Commercial and Social; with descriptions of
the consular ports of Canton, Amoy, Ningpo and Shanghai, etc.,
etc. By R. Montgomery Martin. London, 1847.
Chinese Commercial Guide. Macao, 1844.
Voyage of the Nemesis; By W.D. Barnard. 2 vols. 8vo. London,
1843. 2d ed. 12mo. 1846.
Events in China. By Granville Loch, R.N. 1844.
War in China. By Lieut. Ochterlony. 1844.
The Land of Sinim, with a brief account of the Jews and
Christians in China, By a missionary. 12mo. N.Y., 1846.
Sketches of China. By J.F. Davis. 2 vols. 12mo. 1845.
The Jews in China. By J. Finn. 12mo. London, 1844.
Les Juifs de la Chine, par H. Hirsch, (extrait des Israelites
de France). 1844.
Relation des Voyages faits par les Arabes et les Persans dans
l'Inde et a la Chine, dans le IXth siecle de l'ere Chretienne,
par M. Reinaud. Paris, 1845. 2 vols. 18mo.
Three years wanderings in China. By Robert Fortune. 8vo.
London, 1847.
The philological and other works on China, by M. Pauthier, a
distinguished French scholar, are among the most valuable works
in this department of learning. They embrace the following.
Sinico-AEgyptiaca, essai sur l'origine et la formation similaire
des ecritures figuratives Chinoise et Egyptienne, etc. 8vo.
De l'origine des differents systemes d'ecriture. 4to.
Examen methodique des faits qui concernent le Thian-Tchu ou
l'Inde; traduit du Chinois. 8vo.
Documents statistiques officiels sur l'empire de la Chine;
traduits du Chinois. 8vo.
La Chine, avec 73 planches. 8vo.
La Chine ouverte, aventures d'un Fan-kouei dans le pays de
Tsin; illustre par Auguste Borget. 8vo. Paris, 1845.
La Chine et les Chinois, par le meme. 8vo. Paris, 1844.
Systema Phoneticum Scripturae Sinicae, auctore. J.M. Callery. 2
vols. royal 8vo. Macao, 1842.
Narrative of the second campaign in China, by R.S. Mackenzie.
12mo. London.
A work by G. Tradescant Lay; and another by Professor Kid, have
also been published on China.
FOOTNOTES:
[1] In a paper read by Mr. Schoolcraft before the American Ethnological
Society, it was clearly shown by existing remains, in Michigan and
Indiana, plans of which were exhibited, that vast districts of country,
now covered by forests and prairies, bear incontestable proofs of having
been subject to cultivation at a remote period and before the forest had
begun its growth.
[2] This figure of an extended hand is the most common of all the
symbols of the aboriginal tribes of America. It is found on the ancient
temples, and within the tombs of Yucatan. At the earliest period it was
used by the Indians, in the United States, and at the present time, it
is employed by the roving bands and large tribes from the Mississippi to
the Rocky Mountains, and from Texas northward.
[3] "Bottoms" and "bottom lands," are terms applied to the flat lands
adjoining rivers. In the State of New York they are called "flats"--as
the "Mohawk flats."
[4] Second Note sur une pierre gravee trouve dans un ancien tumulus
Americain, et a cette occasion, sur l'idiome Libyen, par M. Jomard. 8vo.
Paris, 1846.
[5] See Mr. Catherwood's paper on the Thugga monument and its
inscriptions, in the Ethnolg. Trans. Vol. I. p. 477.
[6] Notes on Africa. p.
[7] The essay here alluded to, was the reply of Mr. Jomard to a note
addressed to him by Mr. Eugene Vail, in 1839, announcing the discovery
of the inscribed tablet in the Grave-creek mound, and requesting his
opinion in relation to it. In this reply, Mr. Jomard stated that they
were of the same character with the inscriptions found by Major Denham
in the interior of Africa, as well as in Algiers and Tunis. This note
was inserted in Mr. Vail's work entitled "_Notice sur les Indiens de
l'Amerique du Nord_." Paris, 1840. This work is scarcely known in the
United States.
[8] I am aware that many believe the sculptures on the Dighton rock to
contain several alphabetic characters. Prof. Rafn in his learned and
ingenious memoir on this inscription, supports this view. In fact, Mr.
Jomard himself hints at their Phoenician origin.
[9] Histoire Naturelle des Canaries. Tom. I. p. 23
[10] Scenes in the Rocky Mountains, Oregon, California, &c., by a New
Englander. p. 198.
[11] Scenes in the Rocky Mountains, California, &c. by a New Englander.
p. 180.