necessary appendages of building to each, for lodging the several
officers of state, who are required to be present on court days and
particular occasions, for the eunuchs, servants, and artificers, each
composing a village of no inconsiderable magnitude, are said to be
contained within the inclosure of these gardens. These assemblages of
buildings, which they dignify with the name of palaces, are, however, of
such a nature as to be more remarkable for their number than for their
splendour or magnificence. A great proportion of the buildings consists
in mean cottages. The very dwelling of the Emperor and the grand hall in
which he gives audience, when divested of the gilding and the gaudy
colours with which they are daubed, are little superior, and much less
solid, than the barns of a substantial English farmer. Their apartments
are as deficient in proportion, as their construction is void of every
rule and principle which we are apt to consider as essential to
architecture. The principal hall of audience at Yuen-min-yuen stood upon
a platform of granite, raised about four feet above the level of the
court. A row of large wooden columns surrounding the building supported
the projecting roof; and a second row within the first, and
corresponding with it (the interstices between the columns being filled
up with brick-work to the height of about four feet) served for the
walls of the room. The upper part of these walls was a kind of
lattice-work, covered over with large sheets of oiled paper, and was
capable of being thrown entirely open on public occasions. The wooden
columns had no capitals, and the only architrave was the horizontal beam
that supported the rafters of the roof. This, in direct contradiction to
the established mode in European architecture, was the uppermost member
of what might be called the entablature or frize, which was a broad
skreen of wood, fastened between the upper part of the columns, painted
with the most vivid colours of blue, red, and green, and interlarded
with gilding; and the whole had net-work of wire stretched over it, to
prevent its being defiled by swallows, and other birds frequenting human
dwellings. The length of this room within was one hundred and ten feet,
breadth forty-two, and height twenty feet: the ceiling painted with
circles, squares, and polygons, whimsically disposed, and loaded with a
great variety of colours. The floor was paved with grey marble flag
stones laid chequer-wise. The throne, placed in a recess, was supported
by rows of pillars painted red like those without. It consisted entirely
of wood, not unlike mahogany, the carving of which was exquisitely fine.
The only furniture was a pair of brass kettle-drums, two large
paintings, two pair of ancient blue porcelain vases, a few volumes of
manuscripts, and a table at one end of the room on which was placed an
old English chiming clock, made in the seventeenth century by one Clarke
of Leadenhall-street, and which our old friend the eunuch had the
impudence to tell us was the workmanship of a Chinese. A pair of
circular fans made of the wing feathers of the Argus pheasant, and
mounted on long polished ebony poles stood, one on each side of the
throne, over which was written in four characters, "true, great,
refulgent, splendor;" and under these, in a lozenge, the character of
_Happiness_. In the different courts were several miserable attempts at
sculpture, and some bronze figures, but all the objects were fanciful,
distorted, and entirely out of nature. The only specimen of workmanship
about the palace, that would bear a close examination, besides the
carving of the throne, was a brick wall enclosing the flower garden,
which, perhaps, in no respect is exceeded by any thing of the sort in
England.
With regard to the architecture and gardening of the Chinese, it may be
expected that I should give a more detailed description, or offer some
opinion on those subjects. The little I have to say on the former will
be reserved for another place; and, with respect to the latter, I regret
that I had not an opportunity of seeing so much as I could have wished,
and particularly the Emperor's great park at Gehol, which, from the
description of the Embassador, seemed to be almost unrivalled for its
features of beauty, sublimity, and amenity. But my own deficiency will
be amply filled up with an extract or two from the Journal of his
Lordship, whose taste and skill in landscape gardening are so well
known. I have indeed much to regret that I could not enrich the present
work with more extracts from it, but as it makes a complete picture of
itself the partial selection of detached parts might have been injurious
to it, by conveying wrong impressions, when unconnected with the rest. I
am, therefore, the more obliged (and gladly embrace this opportunity of
expressing the obligations I feel) to his Lordship, for what little he
has allowed me to transcribe.
Speaking of the route from Pekin to Gehol in Tartary, Lord Macartney
observes: "Our journey, upon the whole, has been very pleasant and,
being divided into seven days, not at all fatiguing. At the end of every
stage we have been lodged and entertained in the wings or houses
adjoining to the Emperor's palaces. These palaces, which occur at short
distances from each other on the road, have been built for his
reception, on his annual visit to Tartary. They are constructed upon
nearly the same plan and in the same taste. They front the south, and
are usually situated on irregular ground near the basis of gentle hills
which, together with their adjoining vallies, are enclosed by high walls
and laid out in parks and pleasure grounds, with every possible
attention to picturesque beauty. Whenever water can be brought into the
view it is not neglected; the distant hills are planted, cultivated, or
left naked, according to their accompaniments in the prospect. The wall
is often concealed in a sunk fence, in order to give an idea of greater
extent. A Chinese gardener is the painter of nature, and though totally
ignorant of perspective, as a science, produces the happiest effects by
the management, or rather pencilling, of distances, if I may use the
expression, by relieving or keeping down the features of the scene, by
contrasting trees of a bright with those of a dusky foliage, by bringing
them forward, or throwing them back, according to their bulk and their
figure, and by introducing buildings of different dimensions, either
heightened by strong colouring, or softened by simplicity and omission
of ornament.
"The Emperor having been informed that, in the course of our travels in
China we had shewn a strong desire of seeing every thing curious and
interesting, was pleased to give directions to the first minister to
shew us his park or garden at Gehol. It is called in Chinese
_Van-shoo-yuen_, or Paradise of ten thousand (or innumerable) trees. In
order to have this gratification (which is considered as an instance of
uncommon favour) we rose this morning at three o'clock and went to the
palace where we waited, mixed with all the great officers of state, for
three hours (such is the etiquette of the place) till the Emperor's
appearance. At last he came forth, borne in the usual manner by sixteen
persons on a high open palankeen, attended by guards, music, standards,
and umbrellas without number; and observing us, as we stood in the front
line, graciously beckoned us to approach, having ordered his people to
stop; he entered into conversation with us; and, with great affability
of manner, told us that he was on his way to the pagoda, where he
usually paid his morning devotions; that as we professed a different
religion from his he would not ask us to accompany him, but that he had
ordered his first minister and chief Collaos to conduct us through his
garden, and to shew us whatever we were desirous of seeing there.
[Illustration: _Drawn by W^m. Alexander from a Sketch by Capt. Parish,
Roy^l. Artil^y._
_Engraved by T. Medland._
_View in the Eastern Side of the Imperial Park at Gehol._
_Published by Mess^rs. Cadell, & Davies, Strand, London._
May 2, 1804.]
"Having expressed my sense of this mark of his condescension in the
proper manner, and my increasing admiration of every thing I had yet
observed at Gehol, I retired and, whilst he proceeded to his adorations
at the pagoda, I accompanied the ministers and other great Collaos of
the court to a pavilion prepared for us, from whence, after a short
collation, we set out on horseback to view this wonderful garden. We
rode about three miles through a very beautiful park kept in the highest
order and much resembling the approach to Luton in Bedfordshire; the
grounds gently undulated and chequered with various groupes of well
contrasted trees in the offskip. As we moved onward an extensive lake
appeared before us, the extremities of which seemed to lose themselves
in distance and obscurity. Here was a large and magnificent yacht
ready to receive us, and a number of smaller ones for the attendants,
elegantly fitted up and adorned with numberless vanes, pendants, and
streamers. The shores of the lake have all the varieties of shape, which
the fancy of a painter can delineate, and are so indented with bays, or
broken with projections, that almost every stroke of the oar brought a
new and unexpected object to our view. Nor are islands wanting, but they
are situated only where they should be, each in its proper place and
having its proper character: one marked by a pagoda, or other building;
one quite destitute of ornament; some smooth and level; some steep and
uneven; and others frowning with wood, or smiling with culture. Where
any things particularly interesting were to be seen we disembarked, from
time to time, to visit them, and I dare say that, in the course of our
voyage, we stopped at forty or fifty different palaces or pavilions.
These are all furnished in the richest manner with pictures of the
Emperor's huntings and progresses, with stupendous vases of jasper and
agate; with the finest porcelain and Japan, and with every kind of
European toys and _sing-songs_; with spheres, orreries, clocks, and
musical automatons of such exquisite workmanship, and in such profusion,
that _our_ presents must shrink from the comparison, and _hide their
diminished heads_; and yet I am told, that the fine things we have seen
are far exceeded by others of the same kind in the apartments of the
ladies, and in the European repository at _Yuen-min-yuen_. In every one
of the pavilions was a throne, or imperial state, and a _Eu-jou_, or
symbol of peace and prosperity, placed at one side of it resembling
that which the Emperor delivered to me yesterday for the king.
"It would be an endless task were I to attempt a detail of all the
wonders of this charming place. There is no beauty of distribution, no
feature of amenity, no reach of fancy which embellishes our pleasure
grounds in England, that is not to be found here. Had China been
accessible to Mr. Browne or Mr. Hamilton, I should have sworn they had
drawn their happiest ideas from the rich sources, which I have tasted
this day; for in the course of a few hours I have enjoyed such
vicissitudes of rural delight, as I did not conceive could be felt out
of England, being at different moments enchanted by scenes perfectly
similar to those I had known there, to the magnificence of Stowe, the
softer beauties of Wooburn, and the fairy-land of Paine's Hill.
"One thing I was particularly struck with, I mean the happy choice of
situation for ornamental buildings. From attention to this circumstance
they have not the air of being crowded or disproportioned; they never
intrude upon the eye; but wherever they appear always shew themselves to
advantage, and aid, improve, and enliven the prospect.
"In many places the lake is overspread with the Nenuphar or lotus
(Nelumbium) resembling our broad leaved water lilly. This is an
accompaniment which, though the Chinese are passionately fond of,
cultivating it in all their pieces of water, I confess I don't much
admire. Artificial rocks and ponds with gold and silver fish are perhaps
too often introduced, and the monstrous porcelain figures of lions and
tygers, usually placed before the pavilions, are displeasing to an
European eye; but these are trifles of no great moment; and I am
astonished that now, after a six hours critical survey of these gardens,
I can scarcely recollect any thing besides to find fault with.
"At our taking leave of the minister, he told us that we had only seen
the eastern side of the gardens, but that the western side, which was
the larger part still remained for him to shew us, and that he should
have that pleasure another day.
"Accordingly, on the day of the Emperor's anniversary festival, after
the ceremony was ended, the first or great Collao _Ho-chun-tong_, the
_Foo-leou_, the _Foo-leou's_ brothers _Foo-chan-tong_, and
_Song-ta-gin_, with the other great men who attended us two days since,
in our visit to the eastern garden, now proposed to accompany us to the
western, which forms a strong contrast with the other, and exhibits all
the sublimer beauties of nature in as high a degree as the part which we
saw before possesses the attractions of softness and amenity. It is one
of the finest forest-scenes in the world; wild, woody, mountainous and
rocky, abounding with stags and deer of different species, and most of
the other beasts of the chase, not dangerous to man.
"In many places immense woods, chiefly oaks, pines, and chesnuts, grow
upon almost perpendicular steeps, and force their sturdy roots through
every resistance of surface and of soil, where vegetation would seem
almost impossible. These woods often clamber over the loftiest pinnacles
of the stony hills, or gathering on the skirts of them, descend with a
rapid sweep, and bury themselves in the deepest vallies. There, at
proper distances, you find palaces, banquetting houses, and monasteries,
(but without bonzes) adapted to the situation and peculiar circumstances
of the place, sometimes with a rivulet on one hand, gently stealing
through the glade, at other with a cataract tumbling from above, raging
with foam, and rebounding with a thousand echoes from below, or silently
engulphed in a gloomy pool, or yawning chasm.
"The roads by which we approached these romantic scenes are often hewn
out of the living rock, and conducted round the hills in a kind of
rugged stair-case, and yet no accident occurred in our progress, not a
false step disturbed the regularity of our cavalcade, though the horses
are spirited and all of them unshod. From the great irregularity of the
ground, and the various heights to which we ascended, we had
opportunities of catching many magnificent points of view by detached
glances, but after wandering for several hours (and yet never wearied
with wandering) we at last reached a covered pavilion open on all sides,
and situated on a summit so elevated as perfectly to command the whole
surrounding country to a vast extent. The radius of the horizon I
should suppose to be at least twenty miles from the central spot where
we stood; and certainly so rich, so various, so beautiful, so sublime a
prospect my eyes had never beheld. I saw every thing before me as on an
illuminated map, palaces, pagodas, towns, villages, farm-houses, plains,
and vallies, watered by innumerable streams, hills waving with woods,
and meadows covered with cattle of the most beautiful marks and colours.
All seemed to be nearly at my feet, and that a step would convey me
within reach of them.
"I observed here a vast number of what we call in England _sheet_ cows,
also sheet horses, many pyeballs, dappled, mottled, and spotted, the
latter chiefly strawberry.
"From hence was pointed out to us by the minister a vast enclosure
below, which, he said, was not more accessible to him than to us, being
never entered but by the Emperor, his women, or his Eunuchs. It includes
within its bounds, though on a smaller scale, most of the beauties which
distinguish the eastern and the western gardens which we have already
seen; but from every thing I can learn it falls very short of the
fanciful descriptions which Father Attiret and Sir William Chambers have
intruded upon us as realities. That within these private retreats,
various entertainments of the most novel and expensive nature are
prepared and exhibited by the Eunuchs, who are very numerous (perhaps
some thousands) to amuse the Emperor and his ladies, I have no doubt;
but that they are carried to all the lengths of extravagance and
improbability those gentlemen have mentioned, I very much question, as
from every enquiry I have made (and I have not been sparing to make
them) I have by no means sufficient reason to warrant me in acceding to,
or confirming, the accounts which they have given us.
"If any place in England can be said in any respect to have similar
features to the western park, which I have seen this day, it is Lowther
Hall in Westmoreland, which (when I knew it many years ago) from the
extent of prospect, the grand surrounding objects, the noble situation,
the diversity of surface, the extensive woods, and command of water, I
thought might be rendered by a man of sense, spirit, and taste, the
finest scene in the British dominions."
After the descriptive and interesting detail of the beauties of the two
sides of the imperial park or gardens of Gehol, his Lordship makes a few
general observations on Chinese gardening, and the ornamental edifices
that are usually employed to aid the effect, as well as contribute to
use and convenience. He observes,
"Whether our style of gardening was really copied from the Chinese, or
originated with ourselves, I leave for vanity to assert, and idleness to
discuss. A discovery which is the result of good sense and reflexion may
equally occur to the most distant nations, without either borrowing from
the other. There is certainly a great analogy between our gardening and
the Chinese, but our excellence seems to be rather in improving nature,
theirs to conquer her, and yet produce the same effect. It is
indifferent to a Chinese where he makes his garden, whether on a spot
favoured, or abandoned, by the rural deities. If the latter, he invites
them, or compels them to return. His point is to change every thing from
what he found it, to explode the old fashion of the creation, and
introduce novelty in every corner. If there be a waste, he adorns it
with trees; if a dry desert, he waters it with a river, or floats it
with a lake. If there be a smooth flat, he varies it with all possible
conversions. He undulates the surface, he raises it in hills, scoops it
into vallies, and roughens it with rocks. He softens asperities, brings
amenity into the wilderness, or animates the tameness of an expanse, by
accompanying it with the majesty of a forest. Deceptions and eye-traps
the Chinese are not unacquainted with, but they use them very sparingly.
I observed no artificial ruins, caves, or hermitages. Though the sublime
predominates in its proper station, you are insensibly led to
contemplate it, not startled by its sudden intrusion, for in the plan
cheerfulness is the principal feature, and lights up the face of the
scene. To enliven it still more, the aid of architecture is invited; all
the buildings are perfect of their kind, either elegantly simple, or
highly decorated, according to the effect that is intended to arise,
erected at suitable distances, and judiciously contracted, never crowded
together in confusion, nor affectedly confronted, and staring at each
other without meaning. Proper edifices in proper places. The
summer-house, the pavilion, the pagodas, have all their respective
situations, which _they_ distinguish and improve, but which any other
structures would injure or deform. The only things disagreeable to my
eye are the large porcelain figures of lions, tygers, &c. and the rough
hewn steps, and huge masses of rock work, which they seem studious of
introducing near many of their houses and palaces. Considering their
general good taste in the other points, I was much surprised at this,
and could only account for it, by the expence and the difficulty of
bringing together such incongruities, for it is a common effect of
enormous riches to push every thing they can procure to bombast and
extravagance, which are the death of taste. In other countries, however,
as well as in China, I have seen some of the most boasted feats, either
outgrowing their beauty from a plethora of their owner's wealth, or
becoming capricious and hypocondriacal by a quackish application of it.
A few fine places, even in England, might be pointed out that are
labouring under these disorders; not to mention some celebrated houses
where twisted stair-cases, window-glass cupolas, and embroidered
chimney-pieces, convey nothing to us but the whims and dreams of sickly
fancy, without an atom of grandeur, taste, or propriety.
"The architecture of the Chinese is of a peculiar style, totally unlike
any other, irreducible to our rules, but perfectly consistent with its
own. It has certain principles, from which it never deviates, and
although, when examined according to ours, it sins against the ideas we
have imbibed of distribution, composition, and proportion; yet, upon the
whole, it often produces a most pleasing effect, as we sometimes see a
person without a single good feature in his face have, nevertheless, a
very agreeable countenance."
CHAP. IV.
Sketch of the State of Society in China.--Manners, Customs, Sentiments,
and Moral Character of the People.
_Condition of Women, a Criterion of the State of Society.--Degraded
State of in China.--Domestic Manners unfavourable to Filial
Affection.--Parental Authority.--Ill Effects of Separating the
Sexes.--Social Intercourse unknown, except for gaming.--Their Worship
Solitary.--Feasts of New Year.--Propensity to gaming.--Influence of the
Laws seems to have destroyed the natural Character of the People.--Made
them indifferent, or cruel.--Various Instances of this Remark in public
and in private Life.--Remarks on Infanticide.--Perhaps less general than
usually thought.--Character of Chinese in Foreign Countries.--Temper and
Disposition of the Chinese.--Merchants.--Cuckoo-Clocks.--Conduct of a
Prince of the Blood.--Of the Prime Minister.--Comparison of the Physical
and Moral Characters of the Chinese and_ Mantchoo _Tartars.--General
Character of the Nation illustrated._
It may, perhaps, be laid down as an invariable maxim, that the condition
of the female part of society in any nation will furnish a tolerable
just criterion of the degree of civilization to which that nation has
arrived. The manners, habits, and prevailing sentiments of women, have
great influence on those of the society to which they belong, and
generally give a turn to its character. Thus we shall find that those
nations, where the moral and intellectual powers of the mind in the
female sex are held in most estimation, will be governed by such laws as
are best calculated to promote the general happiness of the people;
and, on the contrary, where the personal qualifications of the sex are
the only objects of consideration, as is the case in all the despotic
governments of Asiatic nations, tyranny, oppression, and slavery are
sure to prevail; and these personal accomplishments, so far from being
of use to the owner, serve only to deprive her of liberty, and the
society of her friends; to render her a degraded victim, subservient to
the sensual gratification, the caprice, and the jealousy of tyrant man.
Among savage tribes the labour and drudgery invariably fall heaviest on
the weaker sex.