Chinese, instead of misleading the world by their strange and wonderful
accounts of this people; instead of bestowing so much time in
translating into Chinese a set of logarithm tables for the use of
_Kaung-shee_, the second Emperor of the present dynasty, of which they
pretend he was so fond that he always carried them about with him
suspended to his girdle, they should rather have taught them the use,
and the convenience, of the Arabic numbers, of whose combinations and
results their own language is not capable, and have instructed a few of
their youth in the principles of arithmetic and the mathematics. For
such an omission, however, human nature can readily find an excuse. It
would be too great an instance of self-denial, to relinquish the
advantages and the credit which their superior skill had gained them
over a vast empire, by making the individuals of that empire participate
in their knowledge.
When we reflect, for a moment, how many perplexities and difficulties
were occasioned by the irregular coincidences of the solar and lunar
periods, in the calendars of Europe, from the time of Julius Cæsar to
the altering of the style by Pope Gregory, we may readily conceive how
great must be the errors in the chronology of a country, where the
inhabitants are entirely ignorant even of the first principles of
astronomy, and where they depended on the adventitious aid of
foreigners, to enable them to carry into execution one of the most
important concerns of the government.
Every thing of their own invention and discovery carries with it such
strong marks of originality, as cannot easily be mistaken. The language
declares itself to be most unquestionably the production of the country;
so does the mariner's compass; and they have a cycle, or period, to
assist their chronology, of which I think none will dispute with them
the invention. In their records it is carried back to the time of the
Emperor _Whang-tee_, the third from _Fo-shee_. This cycle, consisting of
sixty years, has no reference to the periods of the motions or
coincidences of the sun and moon, as one of the same period among the
Hindus, but is used merely as our century, to distinguish time into eras
or ages. Instead of denominating any given year the first, second, or
third year of such a cycle, they have assumed two sets of characters,
one set consisting of ten, and the other of twelve; the first are called
the ten roots, and the second the twelve branches. The combination of a
root and a branch gives a name for the year; and the different
permutations, of which they are capable, supply them with sixty
distinct titles, making the complete cycle of sixty years. The nature of
this period may be rendered familiar to such as are not conversant with
the combination of numbers, by assuming the numerals from 1 to 10 for
the ten roots, and the letters of the alphabet from _a_ to _m_, for the
twelve branches, and by placing them in a circle, in the following
manner, where the cycle begins with the letter _a_.
[Illustration]
Supposing these letters and figures to be Chinese characters, the first
year of any cycle would be called 1_a_, the second 2_b_, the third 3_c_,
and so on to 10_k_, the tenth year; the eleventh would be 1_l_, the
twelfth 2_m_, the thirteenth 3_a_, and the sixtieth 10_m_, when the
whole revolution would be completed. This cycle, though always used in
the records of their history, never appears in the date of public acts.
These only specify the time of the reign under which they are given, as
the 1st. 2d. or 3d. day of the 1st. 2d. or 3d. moon, of the 1st. 2d. or
3d. year of the reign of such or such an Emperor.
Little progress as they appear to have made in the science of astronomy,
their knowledge of geography, which supposes indeed an acquaintance with
the former, is equally limited. Their own empire was considered to
occupy the middle space of the square surface of the earth, the rest of
which was made up of islands. When the Jesuits first entered China, they
found the charts, even of their own country, rude and incorrect
sketches, without any scale or proportion, wherein a ridge of mountains
covered a whole province, and a river swept away half of another. At
present they have neat and accurate maps of the country, copied after
the original survey of the whole empire, undertaken and completed by the
Jesuits, after several years of indefatigable labour.
Although the Chinese language be unfavourable for numerical combinations
it is admirably adapted for the concise operations of algebra, and the
terse demonstrations of geometry, to neither of which, however, has it
ever been made subservient, both the one and the other being totally
unknown in the country. Their arithmetic is mechanical. To find the
aggregate of numbers, a machine is in universal use, from the man of
letters, to the meanest shopman behind his counter. By this machine,
which is called a _Swan-pan_, arithmetical operations are rendered
palpable. It consists of a frame of wood, divided into two compartments
by a bar running down the middle: through this bar, at right angles, are
inserted a number of parallel wires, and on each wire, in one
compartment, are five moveable balls, and in the other two. These wires
may be considered as the ascending and descending powers of a numeration
table, proceeding in a tenfold proportion; so that if a ball upon any of
the wires, in the larger compartment, be placed against the middle bar,
and called unity or one, a ball on the wire next above it will represent
ten, and one on the next one hundred; so, also, a ball on the wire next
below that expressing unity will be one-tenth, the next lower one
hundredth, and the third one thousandth, part of an unit; and the balls
on the corresponding wires in the smaller compartment will be five,
fifty, five hundred, five-tenths, five hundredths, five thousandths; the
value or power of each of these, in the smaller division, being always
five times as much as of those in the larger. In the following figure,
suppose X be assumed as the line of units, the lines to the right will
be integers decimally increasing, and those to the left fractional parts
decimally decreasing; and the _Swan-pan_ in the present position of the
balls, will represent the number 573916 0705/10000.
[Illustration]
This is clearly a system of decimal arithmetic, which, for the ease,
simplicity, and convenience of its operations, it were to be wished was
generally adopted in Europe, instead of the endless ways in which the
integer is differently divided in different countries, and in the
different provinces of the same country. The _Swan-pan_ would be no bad
instrument for teaching to a blind person the operations of arithmetic.
Yet, paradoxical as it may seem, these operations, as performed by the
Chinese, like their written characters, require more the exercise of the
eye than of the mind. The simple addition or subtraction of the little
balls to, or from, the middle bar, shews at once by their disposition on
the board the result of any required combination. The invention of it I
think may fairly be attributed to the Chinese; though it has been
compared, how justly I cannot pretend to say, to the Roman _abacus_.
It has been observed, and perhaps with a great deal of truth, that the
arts which supply the luxuries, the conveniences, and the necessaries of
life, have derived but little advantage in the first instance from the
labours and speculations of philosophers; that the ingenuity of artists,
the accidental or progressive discoveries of common workmen, in any
particular branch of business, have frequently afforded _data_, from
which, by the reasonings and investigations of philosophers, hints have
sometimes been struck out for arriving at the same ends by a shorter
way; that the learned are therefore more properly to be considered as
improvers than inventors. Of this mortifying truth, the Chinese afford
many strong examples in their arts and manufactures, and particularly in
some of those operations that have a reference to chemistry, which
cannot here be said to exist as a science, although several branches
are in common practice as chemical arts. Without possessing any theory
concerning the affinities of bodies, or attractions of cohesion or
aggregation, they clarify the muddy waters of their rivers, for
immediate use, by stirring them round with a piece of alum in a hollow
bamboo; a simple operation which, experience has taught them, will cause
the clayey particles to fall to the bottom: and having ascertained the
fact, they have given themselves no further trouble to explain the
phenomenon.
In like manner, they are well acquainted with the effect of steam upon
certain bodies that are immersed in it; that its heat is much greater
than that of boiling water. Yet, although for ages they have been in the
constant practice of confining it in close vessels, something like
_Papin's digester_, for the purpose of softening horn, from which their
thin, transparent, and capacious lanterns are made, they seem not to
have discovered its extraordinary force when thus pent up; at least,
they have never thought of applying that power to purposes which animal
strength has not been adequate to effect. They extract from the three
kingdoms of nature the most brilliant colours, which they have also
acquired the art of preparing and mixing, so as to produce every
intermediate tint; and, in their richest and most lively hues, they
communicate these colours to silks, cottons, and paper; yet they have no
theory on colours.
The process of smelting iron from the ore is well known to them; and
their cast ware of this metal is remarkably thin and light. They have
also an imperfect knowledge of converting it into steel, but their
manufactures of this article are not to be mentioned with those of
Europe, I will not say of England, because it stands unrivalled in this
and indeed almost every other branch of the arts. Though their cast-iron
wares appear light and neat, and are annealed in heated ovens, to take
off somewhat of their brittleness, yet their process of rendering cast
iron malleable is imperfect, and all their manufactures of wrought iron
are consequently of a very inferior kind, not only in workmanship but
also in the quality of the metal. In most of the other metals their
manufactures are above mediocrity. Their trinkets of silver fillagree
are extremely neat, and their articles of tootanague are highly
finished.
With the use of cannon they pretend to have been long acquainted. When
Gengis-Khan entered China, in the thirteenth century, artillery and
bombs and mines are said to have been employed on both sides; yet when
the city of Macao, in the year 1621, made a present to the Emperor of
three pieces of artillery, it was found necessary to send along with
them three men to instruct the Chinese how to use them. The introduction
of matchlocks, I am inclined to think, is of no very ancient date; they
wear no marks of originality about them, like other articles of Chinese
invention; on the contrary, they are exact models of the old Portugueze
matchlock; and differ in nothing from those which still continue to be
carried, as an article of commerce, by this nation to Cochin-China.
There can be no doubt, however, of the use of gunpowder being known to
the Chinese long before the Christian era.
In a very ancient treatise on the military art, there is a detailed
account of the manner how to annoy an enemy's camp, by springing a mine
with gunpowder; but this treatise makes no mention of cannon.
Fire-works, made generally of gunpowder, filings of zinc, camphor, and
other ingredients, are described in various old tracts. It is easily
conceived, that the deflagration of nitre was likely to be first noticed
in those countries where it is the spontaneous and abundant production
of the earth, which is the case on the elevated desarts of Tartary and
Thibet, and on the low and extensive plains of India and China. The
gunpowder, however, made by the Chinese is extremely bad. They have no
particular manufactory, but each individual makes his own. It is in fact
one part of the soldier's employment to prepare his own gunpowder. The
usual proportions, according to _Van-ta-gin's_ information are,
50 pounds of nitre,
25 ---- sulphur,
25 ---- charcoal.
They know not the art of granulating the paste, as in Europe, but use it
in a coarse powder, which sometimes cakes together into a solid mass;
and from the impurity of the nitre, (no means appearing to be employed
for extracting the common salt it usually contains) the least exposure
to the air, by attracting the moisture, makes it unfit for service. This
may be one reason for their objection to firelocks.
It has been remarked, that the three great discoveries of the magnetic
needle, of gunpowder, and of printing, in Europe, followed close upon
the return of the famous traveller Marco Polo. It was the boast indeed
of _Caung-shee_ to the Jesuits, when they instructed him in some of the
sciences of Europe, that the latter country was neither acquainted with
the mariner's compass, nor with the art of printing, nor with gunpowder,
till they had been in common use in China near two thousand years. As to
gunpowder, it is pretty obvious, that our countryman Roger Bacon was
well acquainted with the ingredients that enter into its composition. In
more than one part of his works he observes, that with saltpetre and
other articles may be made a fire that will inflame to a great distance;
and in one place he states, that with sulphur, saltpetre, and something
else, which he disguises under two or three barbarous words, a
composition may be made, by which the effects of thunder and of
lightning may be imitated. Bacon died in the year 1292, and Marco Polo
returned to Europe in 1295; so that he could not possibly have received
any hint to lead towards the discovery through the channel of the
Venetian traveller[18].
[18] The invention, in Europe, is usually attributed to one Schwartz, a
German Monk, about the year 1354, which, however, is very doubtful, as
there is every reason to believe that cannon was made use of at the
battle of Cressy, which happened in the year 1346. And Mariana, in his
account of the siege of Algeziras by the Spaniards, in the year 1342, or
1343, as quoted by Bishop Watson, observes, "that the Moors very much
annoyed the Christians with their iron shot;" and he further adds, that
"this is the first mention made in history of the use of gunpowder and
ball." It is therefore extremely probable, that the first introduction
of gunpowder into Europe was by some Mahomedans from the eastward, and
that Schwartz was not the inventor, although he might perhaps have been
the first publisher of the discovery.
If the Chinese had, at any period of their history, been acquainted with
the art of casting large cannon, and of making use of them in their
wars, it is scarcely probable they would ever have lost it. Yet it is
very certain the two Jesuits, Schaal and Verbiest, took great pains to
instruct them in the method of casting cannon; in which, however, they
have not made any progress or improvement. I observed, near one of the
gates of Pekin, a few rude, ill-shapen, and disproportionate pieces,
lying unmounted on the ground, and these, with some of the same kind on
the frontiers of Canton, and a few pieces, apparently twelve pounders,
at _Hang-tcheu-foo_, which had wooden pent-houses erected over each,
were the only cannon that we noticed in the whole country. Whether the
specimens, exhibited in the annexed plate, which were drawn by the late
Captain Parish of the Royal Artillery, be originally of Chinese
invention, or borrowed from some other nation, I cannot take upon me to
decide; but such are the pieces which are sometimes found, scattered
about the gates of some of their cities.
Mr. Bell, who visited China in the suite of the Russian Embassador, near
a century ago, remarks, that "towards the western extremity of the Great
Wall, he observed some hundreds of old cannon piled up in one of the
towers, each composed of three or four pieces of hammered iron, joined
and fastened together with hoops of the same metal." It is probable
indeed that the Chinese, like the Hindoos, before the time of Schaal and
Verbiest, made use of cannon of wrought iron, which were hooped together
like those mentioned by Mr. Bell.
[Illustrations: _Sketches of Chinese Artillery._
References.
_Fig. 1 Iron four Pounder about 8 feet long at Han cheu Fou 2. Iron four
Pounder about 8 feet long at Chong san chien 3. A Field Piece about the
Calibre and length of our Wall Piece but of much greater thickness of
Metal 4. Half Pounder Field Piece 5. A Platform of Masonry with
irregular Pieces about 2 pounders probably for throwing stones. They are
thus placed in the open Spaces at the Gate Ways at =PEKIN= and Ton cheu
6. A Stand for Field Pieces at Cou pe keou_
_Fig. 1_
_Fig. 2_
_Fig. 3_
_Fig. 4_
_Fig. 5_
_Fig. 6_
_Published May 1^st. 1804 by Cadell & Davies Strand._
_Neele sculp. 352 Strand._]
In making their salutes, of which they are not sparing, they invariably
employ three small petards, or pistol-barrels rather, which are stuck
erect in the ground; and in firing these small pieces the soldiers are
so afraid, that they are discharged by a train laid from one to the
other. When Captain Parish caused a few rounds to be fired from two
field-pieces, which were among the presents for the Emperor, in as quick
succession as possible, the Chinese officers very coolly observed, that
their own soldiers could do it just as well, and perhaps better. And
when Lord Macartney asked the Ex-viceroy of Canton if he would wish to
see his guard go through the different evolutions as practised in
Europe, he replied with equal indifference, "That they could not
possibly be new to him, who had been so much engaged in the wars on the
frontiers of Tartary;" though the chances are, that he had never before
seen a firelock: with such ridiculous affectation of superiority, and
contempt for other nations, does the unconquerable pride of this people
inspire them. It seems, indeed, to be laid down as a general principle,
never to be caught in the admiration of any thing brought among them by
foreigners. Whenever a man of rank came to look at the presents, if
observed by any of us, he would carelessly glance his eye over them, and
affect as much indifference as if he was in the daily habit of viewing
things of the same kind.
A French physician, who travelled in China, says he never saw an alembic
or distillatory apparatus in the whole country. The art of distillation,
however, is very well known, and in common practice. Their _Sau-tchoo_,
(literally burnt wine), is an ardent spirit distilled from various
kinds of grain, but most commonly from rice, of a strong empyreumatic
flavour, not unlike the spirit known in Scotland by the name of whiskey.
The rice is kept in hot water till the grains are swollen; it is then
mixed up with water in which has been dissolved a preparation called
_pe-ka_, consisting of rice-flour, liquorice-root, anniseed, and garlic;
this not only hastens fermentation, but is supposed to give it a
peculiar flavour. The mixture then undergoes distillation. The
_Sau-tchoo_, thus prepared, may be considered as the basis of the best
arrack, which in Java is exclusively the manufacture of Chinese, and is
nothing more than a rectification of the above spirit, with the addition
of molasses and juice of the cocoa-nut tree. Before distillation the
liquor is simply called _tchoo_, or wine, and in this state is a very
insipid and disagreeable beverage. The vine grows extremely well in all
the provinces, even as far north as Pekin, but the culture of it seems
to meet with little encouragement, and no wine is made from the juice of
the grape, except by the missionaries near the capital.
The manufacture of earthen ware, as far as depends upon the preparation
of the materials, they have carried to a pitch of perfection not
hitherto equalled by any nation, except the Japanese, who are allowed to
excel them, not only in this branch, but also in all articles of
lacquered and varnished ware, which fetch exorbitant prices even in
China. The beauty of their porcelain, in a great degree, depends upon
the extreme labour and attention that is paid to the assortment, and the
preparation of the different articles employed. These are in general a
fine sort of clay called _Kao-lin_ which is a species of Soap-rock, and
a granite called _Pe-tun-tse_, composed chiefly of quartz, the
proportion of mica being very small. These materials are ground down and
washed with the greatest care; and when the paste has been turned or
moulded into forms, each piece is put into a box of clay before it goes
into the oven; yet with every precaution, it frequently happens (so much
is this art still a work of chance) that a whole oven runs together and
becomes a mass of vitrified matter. Neither the Chinese nor the Japanese
can boast of giving to the materials much elegance of form. With those
inimitable models from the Greek and Roman vases, brought into modern
use by the ingenious Mr. Wedgwood, they will not bear a comparison. And
nothing can be more rude and ill-designed than the grotesque figures and
other objects painted, or rather daubed, on their porcelain, which
however are generally the work of the wives and children of the
labouring poor. That they can do better we have evident proof; for if a
pattern be sent out from England, the artists in Canton will execute it
with scrupulous exactness; and their colours are inimitable.
The manufacture of glass was totally unknown among them until the last
century when, at the recommendation of the Jesuits, a family was engaged
to go from France to Pekin, for the purpose of introducing the art of
glass-making into the country. The attempt failed of success, and the
concern, at the death of the manager, was broken up. In Canton they melt
old broken glass and mold it into new forms; and they have been taught
to coat plates of glass with silver, which are partially used as
looking-glasses; but their common mirrors are of polished metal, which
is apparently a composition of copper and zinc.
The pride, or the policy, of the government affecting to despise any
thing new or foreign, and the general want of encouragement to new
inventions, however ingenious, have been greatly detrimental to the
progress of the arts and manufactures. The people discover no want of
genius to conceive, nor of dexterity to execute; and their imitative
powers have always been acknowledged to be very great. Of the truth of
this remark we had several instances at _Yuen-min-yuen_. The complicated
glass lustres, consisting of several hundred pieces, were taken down,
piece by piece, in the course of half an hour, by two Chinese, who had
never seen any thing of the kind before, and were put up again by them
with equal facility; yet Mr. Parker thought it necessary for our
mechanics to attend at his warehouse several times to see them taken
down and again put together, in order to be able to manage the business
on their arrival in China. A Chinese undertook to cut a slip of glass
from a large curved piece, intended to cover the great dome of the
planetarium, after our two artificers had broken three similar pieces in
attempting to cut them with the help of the diamond. The man performed
it in private, nor could he be prevailed on to say in what manner he
accomplished it. Being a little jagged along the margin, I suspect it
was not cut but fractured, perhaps by passing a heated iron over a line
drawn with water, or some other fluid. It is well known that a Chinese
in Canton, on being shewn an European watch, undertook, and succeeded,
to make one like it, though he had never seen any thing of the kind
before, but it was necessary to furnish him with a main spring, which he
could not make: and they now fabricate in Canton, as well as in London,
and at one third of the expence, all those ingenious pieces of mechanism
which at one time were sent to China in such vast quantities from the
repositories of Coxe and Merlin. The mind of a Chinese is quick and
apprehensive, and his small delicate hands are formed for the execution
of neat work.