In presenting to the members of the Hakluyt Society a reprint of the
cotemporary English translation by Parke of Mendoza's interesting and
now rare account of China, the editor thinks it due to his readers that
some explanation should be given of the circumstances under which the
original work was compiled, and that at the same time it should be shown
what previous accounts had reached Europe respecting that remarkable
country. The interest of the narrative itself, abounding as it does with
minute and curious details of the manners and customs of so peculiar a
race as the Chinese, requires no vindication: it will speak for itself.
It will nevertheless interest those who appreciate the objects of the
Society, to know, that the present translation was made at Hakluyt's own
suggestion, shortly after the appearance of Mendoza's original work in
Spanish.
It is the leading purpose of the Hakluyt Society to deal with the
Archaeology of Geography, and more especially so in connexion with the
progress made by our own English ancestors in the advancement of that
important science. In pursuance of that object, therefore, Mendoza's
account of China has been selected for re-publication, as being the
earliest _detailed_ account of that country ever published in the
English language. We say _detailed_ account, because we must not omit to
mention that it was preceded by a short but interesting document,
published by Richard Eden in his _History of Travayle in the West and
East Indies_, entitled "Reportes of the Province of China," of the
history and contents of which we shall hereafter speak in its proper
place. While, however, in the selection for re-publication, respect is
paid to the earliest narratives which appeared in our own tongue, the
reader's appreciation of the subject is best secured by an introductory
notice of all the antecedent descriptions which may at intervals have
appeared in other languages. This plan is more especially desirable with
respect to those earlier glimmerings of information which Europe
obtained respecting a country so removed from the civilized world, by
its geographical position and ethnological peculiarities, as China, yet
so marvellously in advance of it at the times of which we speak, both in
its intellectual and moral developments. In such notice, meanwhile, we
propose to pass by all discussion as to the much disputed question of
the position of the Thinae of Eratosthenes, Strabo, and the Periplus of
the Erythraean Sea, or of the application of Marinus's Serica, as
preserved to us by Ptolemy, to the kingdom of China. Upon these more
uncertain data we shall dwell no longer than to state, that our own
impression agrees with that of Vossius, that China is the country
referred to, and that the Seres of Ammianus Marcellinus, corresponding
as they so closely do in character with the modern Chinese, were
intended to represent that people. That the Romans possessed some
knowledge of China, would seem to be shown by a discovery made by the
learned De Guignes, of a statement in a Chinese historical work, that in
the year of our Lord 166, an embassy, said to have come by sea, arrived
from An-thon (Antoninus) to the Emperor Yan-hi; and the use of the
"serica vestis", alluded to by Horace and Propertius, would appear to
confirm the impression, provided only that silk, and not muslin, were
the commodity really alluded to.
On these less certain points, however, we are, as we have said,
unwilling to dwell. We pass on therefore to the mention of more explicit
and unquestionable record. First of these is the narrative given in an
Arabic manuscript, written about the year 1173, describing the
observations of two Arab merchants, who, from the style of the
documents, were evidently in China a couple of centuries earlier. Their
respective dates, indeed, are concluded to be 851 and 867. This curious
and valuable manuscript, discovered by the learned M. Eusebe Renaudot in
the Comte de Seignelay's library, was translated by him into French, and
published at Paris in 1718. A translation appeared in English in 1733.
Although thus concealed from the acquaintance of Europeans till this
comparatively recent date, it rightly takes its place here as comprising
the two earliest accounts of China, of which we have as yet received any
information. Though adulterated with some few exaggerations, and
statements manifestly fabulous, they contain so many curious
particulars, which even now, from the permanence of institutions and
manners in China, may be considered as accurate, that no doubt can be
entertained of their genuineness, or of the intelligence of the
narrators.
The two narratives were written consecutively, one of them forming a
sort of comment or supplement to the other.
The country is described as extensive, but, though more populous, less
extensive than the Indies, and divided into many principalities. It is
represented as fruitful, and containing no deserts, while India is said
to contain some of great extent.
Tea, under the name of _tcha_, is distinctly referred to, as being
universally drunk infused in hot water, and supposed to be a cure for
every disease.
Porcelain is spoken of as an excellent kind of earth, of which is made a
ware as fine and transparent as glass.