and salt, in particular, was held in such veneration, and in such
general use, that when any one obtained a salary or pension, he was said
to have got his _Salarium_, or something to procure his salt, in the
same sense, as we say, to get one's bread, and a common expression in
India, denoting service, is, _I eat the salt of such a one_, and the
Dutch in speaking of a dependent say, _he owes his salt to such a one_.
These coincidences of opinion, or custom, among remote nations, however
difficult they may be to explain, are nevertheless extremely interesting
and are on that account here noticed.
The cups, the slaughtered animal and several made-dishes remained on the
forecastle, the Captain standing over them on one side and a man with a
gong in his hand on the other. On approaching the rapid part of the
stream, at the signal given by the gong, the Captain took up the cups
one by one, in order that, like the Greeks of old, he might "perform the
rites and pour the ruddy wine," which he did by throwing their contents
over the bow of the vessel into the river. The libation performed, a
quantity of crackers and squibs and gilt tin foil were burnt, with
uplifted hands, whilst the deep-sounding gong was incessantly struck
with increasing violence as the vessels were swept along with the
current. The victim and the other dishes were then removed for the use
of the Captain and crew, and the ceremony ended by three genuflexions
and as many prostrations. The Emperor is never satisfied with less than
nine.
Our fleet consisted of about thirty sail, and from each vessel there
proceeded, on its launching into the stream, such a din of gongs and
crackers and such volumes of smoke from the burnt offerings, that the
deity of the river must have been in a very surly humour if he was not
pleased with such a multitude of oblations. The safe arrival, on the
opposite bank, of the whole squadron was a proof of his having accepted
the homage, and accordingly he was again addressed in a volley of
crackers as a token of thanks for his propitious and friendly aid.
The width of the river at this place was full three quarters of a mile;
and the stream, where strongest, ran with the rapidity of seven or eight
miles an hour; and the water was as thick and muddy as if the heaviest
torrents of rain had just descended, whereas, in fact, there had not
fallen a shower for many months.
The length of that part of the canal which lies between the _Eu-ho_ and
the Yellow River, and which we had now sailed over, is about two hundred
English miles. The natural slope of the country being from North to
South, the projectors of this work seem to have fixed upon the middle
point, or nearly so, between these two rivers for the commencement of
their operations: so that from this middle point to the northward, or
rising part of the country, they have been under the necessity, in order
to preserve their level, of cutting down to the depth of thirty, forty,
and even to seventy feet, below the surface; whilst from the same point
to the southward, or descending part of the country, they have been
obliged to force up the water between immense banks of earth and stone,
far above the level of the flat surface; consisting almost entirely of
lakes, swamps, and morass. The quantity of human labour that must have
been employed, in amassing together the different materials that compose
this immense aqueduct, could not have been supplied, in any reasonable
length of time, except in a country where millions could be set to work
at the nod of a despot. The greatest works in China have always been,
and still continue to be, performed by the accumulation of manual
labour, without the assistance of machinery, except on very particular
occasions, where some mechanical power may be absolutely necessary to be
brought in aid of human strength. Thus, where canals are carried over
surfaces that are too hilly and uneven to admit of one continued level,
they descend from place to place, as it were by steps, at each of which
is an inclined plane; the height from the upper canal to the lower being
generally from six to ten feet; and the angle of the plane from
forty-five to fifty degrees. All vessels navigating such canals must be
hoisted up these planes by the assistance of upright capstans, without
which it would scarcely be possible to get those of large demensions,
together with their cargo, out of one canal into the other; and they are
gently lowered in the same manner. This awkward contrivance may,
perhaps, less imply the ignorance of locks or other methods practised
elsewhere, than the unwillingness of the government to suffer any
innovation that might be the means of depriving many thousands of
obtaining that scanty subsistence, which they now derive from their
attendance at these capstans. However slightly such a notion may be held
in Europe, there can be no doubt that a general introduction of
machinery into China, for the purpose of facilitating and expediting
labour would, in the present state of the country, be attended with the
most pernicious and distressing consequences; were it only for this
simple reason that, despising, as they affect to do, all foreign
commerce, the demand for the products of machinery, however much they
might be reduced in price, would not be encreased, whilst that of manual
labour would considerably be diminished.
Sensible as the Chinese seem to be of the advantages derived from an
easy communication between the different parts of the empire, by means
of canals, it is the more surprizing what the motives could have been
that, till this moment, have restrained them from facilitating an
intercourse by means of good roads, in such parts of the country as have
no inland navigations. In this respect they fall short of most civilized
nations. Except near the capital, and in some few places where the
junction of the grand canal with navigable rivers is interrupted by
mountainous ground, there is scarcely a road in the whole country that
can be ranked beyond a foot-path. Hence it happens that in the northern
provinces, during winter, it is impossible to travel with any degree of
ease, convenience, or safety; all the canals to the northward of the
Yellow River, which runs from 34° to 35° latitude being frozen up. It is
equally surprizing that their ingenuity has not extended itself to the
invention of sledges or some sort of carriages suitable for travelling
on ice, which other nations have converted into the best of roads[56].
[56] I infer that such is not the practice in China, from the manner in
which the Dutch Embassadors were conveyed to and from the capital in the
middle of winter. The inconveniences they suffered on this occasion are
such as can scarcely be conceived to have happened in a civilized
country. The perusal of the manuscript journal I have elsewhere noticed
conveyed to my mind the idea of a country dreary and desolate, and of a
people indigent and distressed; without humanity, and without
hospitality. They travelled in little bamboo chairs, carried by four
men, who were generally so weak and tottering that they could not go
through the day's journey, but were obliged, frequently, in the middle
of the night, to halt in an open uninhabited part of the country, where
not a hovel of any description was to be met with to shelter them from
the inclemency of the weather. And it most commonly happened, that the
lodgings appointed for their reception, at the different stages were in
such a miserable condition, admitting on every side the wind, rain, or
snow, that they generally preferred taking a little rest in their bamboo
chairs. They were surprized to find so few cities, towns, or villages in
their route, and not less surprized at the ruinous condition in which
these few appeared to be. Near the capital a whole city exhibited only a
mass of ruins. In many places they found the country under water, and
the mud hovels completely melted down. Sometimes they passed extensive
wastes, where not a trace was visible of any kind of cultivation, nor a
single dwelling occurred in the distance of eight or ten English miles.
And it was not before they had crossed the Yellow River that they
perceived the marks of wheel-carriages imprinted on the roads, which
were so little travelled upon that they could with difficulty be traced.
Here they met old men and young women travelling in wheelbarrows; and
litters carried by asses, one being fixed between the poles before, and
one behind. The rivers had no bridges over them; and such as were too
deep to be forded, they were under the necessity of crossing on rafts of
bamboo. In short, before they arrived at the capital, the fatigue and
hardships they had undergone considerably impaired their health, and the
condition of their clothing was such as to excite the compassion of the
mandarines, who made them a present of twenty sheep-skin jackets,
dressed with the wool upon them; which, like the Hottentots, they wore
inwards. One of these gentlemen assured me, that having satisfied his
curiosity, no earthly consideration should tempt him to undertake a
second journey by land to the capital; for that he believed the whole
world could not furnish a like picture of desolation and misery. What a
contrast is here exhibited to the ease and convenience with which our
journey was made! But the whole treatment of the Dutch embassy seems to
have been proportioned to the degree of importance which the Chinese
attached to the political condition of this nation.
The continuation of the Grand Canal, from the Yellow River to the
_Yang-tse-kiang_, was constructed upon the same principles as that part
between the Yellow River and the _Eu-ho_. The country being level and
abounding with lakes and marshy grounds, it was carried upon a mound of
earth kept together by retaining walls of stone the whole distance,
which is about ninety miles, being in parts not less than twenty feet
above the general level of the country; and the sheet of water it
contained was two hundred feet in width, running sometimes at the rate
of three miles an hour. Canals of communication supplied it from the
westward; and the superfluous water was let off upon the low marshes.
The tops of the walls of _Pao-yng-shien_ were just on a level with the
surface of the water in the canal, so that if the bank opposite to it
were to burst, the whole city must inevitably be inundated. Very little
cultivation appeared in this low marshy country, but abundance of towns
and villages, the inhabitants of which subsisted by fishing. A
prodigious extent of low country on each side of the Yellow River,
perhaps not much less than the surface of all England, is liable to
inundations. The Chinese say, the overflowing of this river has been
more fatal to the country than war, pestilence, or famine. The Emperor
_Kaung-shee_, in order to distress a rebel in the province of _Honan_,
ordered a bank to be broken down behind a city he had got possession of;
but the inundation was so great, that not only the rebel forces were
destroyed, but almost half a million of people were completely swept
away; and among these were several European missionaries. Vast sums of
money are expended in confining this river within its banks. The same
Emperor in his last will declares, that the sums of money issued
annually from the Imperial treasury for the embankments to prevent
inundations, were never less, during his whole reign, than 3,000,000
ounces of silver, equivalent to one million sterling.
On approaching the _Yang-tse-kiang_ the appearance of the country
improved, just as it had done in the vicinity of the Yellow River. The
town of _Sau-poo_, extending along the quay of the canal, consisted of
houses that were generally two stories high, apparently well built,
white-washed with lime and kept in neat and clean order. The inhabitants
were also better cloathed than we had hitherto been accustomed to see
them. The women were less shy in their advances; their complexions were
much fairer and their features more soft and handsome than any we had
yet observed in the northern provinces.
The walls and gates of _Yang-tchoo-foo_ bore marks of great antiquity,
being partly in ruins and almost entirely overgrown with moss and
creeping plants. A thousand vessels, at least, of different descriptions
were lying under its walls. Here we remained for the night; and the
following morning, being the 5th of November, we launched into the grand
and beautiful river called the _Yang-tse-kiang_, which at this place was
about two miles in width; but the current was so gentle, that no
oblation to the presiding deity was thought to be necessary. The
numerous islands rising out of the river and covered with verdure, the
multitude of ships of war, of burden and of pleasure, some gliding down
the stream, others sailing against it; some moving by oars and others
lying at anchor; the banks on either side covered with towns and houses,
as far as the eye could reach, presented a prospect more varied and
cheerful than any that had hitherto occurred. Nor was the canal, on the
opposite side, less lively; for two whole days we were continually
passing among fleets of vessels of different constructions and
dimensions, those belonging to the revenue department being the largest,
each capable of carrying, at least, two hundred tons. Cities, towns and
villages were continued along the banks without intermission: and vast
numbers of stone bridges were thrown across the canal, some having one,
some two, and others three arches. The face of the country was
beautifully diversified with hill and dale and every part of it in the
highest state of cultivation. The chief produce was that particular
species of cotton, of a yellowish tinge, known in Europe by the name of
nankin.
The suburbs of _Sou-tchoo-foo_ employed us full three hours in passing
before we reached the walls of the city, where a multitude of vessels
were lying at anchor. The numerous inhabitants that appeared upon and
without the walls of this extensive city, were better dressed and seemed
to be more contented and cheerful, than we had yet observed them in any
other place. For the most part they were cloathed in silk. The ladies
were here dressed in petticoats and not in trowsers, as they had
hitherto appeared to the northward. The general fashion of the
head-dress was a black satin cap with a triangular peak, the point
descending to the root of the nose, in the middle of which, or about the
centre of the forehead, was a crystal button. The whole face and neck
were washed with a preparation of white lead and the cheeks highly
rouged; and two vermillion spots, like wafers, were particularly
conspicuous, one on the centre of the under lip and the other on the
chin. Their feet were universally squeezed down to an unnatural size.
Few females were seen among the immense crowds that the novelty of the
sight had brought together, but great numbers had assembled in the
houses and particularly on board the pleasure or passage yachts, with
the intention of satisfying their curiosity. The superior style of dress
and the appearance of the women in public at this place, so different
from the general custom of the country, could only be explained to us by
the writings of the Christian missionaries, who observe that the
concubines of mandarins and men of property are chiefly procured from
the cities of _Yang-tchoo_ and of _Sou-tchoo_, where they are educated
in the pleasing arts of singing, music and dancing and every other
accomplishment suitable to women of superior rank, in order to render
them the more agreeable and fascinating. That such women are generally
purchased by persons engaged in the trade, in different parts of the
country, and trained in these cities, where they are disposed of to the
highest bidder, "_this being the principal branch of trade that is
carried on in those two cities_." How do these holy men reconcile so
infamous a traffic among a people whom they have adorned with every
virtue? a people whom they have rendered remarkable among nations for
their filial piety! Is there on earth a crime more revolting against
civilized nature, or more detestable to civilized society, than that of
a parent selling his own child and consigning her, expressly and
voluntarily, into a state of prostitution? Those unfortunate wretches
who, in Europe, have by any accident reduced themselves to that degraded
and deplorable condition of becoming subservient to the pleasures of a
man, whom they probably detest, are generally the objects of pity,
however their conduct may be disapproved; but a parent, who should be
the cause of reducing them to such a state, would be execrated; but the
assertion is as absurd as ridiculous, and the writer must have been very
credulous to suppose, that the _principal trade_ of one of the largest
cities in the world, whose population cannot be less than a million of
souls, should consist in buying and selling ladies of pleasure. Buying
females in the legal way is certainly the greatest branch of trade
throughout China, as every woman there is bought and sold. These
reverend gentlemen likewise inform us, with great indifference, that if
a man be desirous of having a male child and his wife should happen to
be barren, he will purchase one of these concubines for the sole purpose
of getting an heir; and, when this is accomplished, he either provides
her with a husband, or turns her adrift. Such are the moral virtues of
the Chinese, compared with whom all other nations have been accounted
barbarous[57].
[57] It may be observed of almost all the writings of the
missionaries concerning China, that virtues of so trifling a nature as
hardly to deserve the name, have met their unqualified praise, whilst
enormous vices have either been palliated or passed over in silence.
To the west of _Sau-tchoo-foo_ is a range of mountains higher than any
we had yet seen, well covered with wood; and an extensive lake stretches
along their base, famed in China for its picturesque beauties and for
its fish. We would gladly have made a party of pleasure to this
delightful spot, but innumerable objections, as usual, were started by
our conductors, on the score of delay that such an excursion would
occasion.
The two great products of this part of the country are rice and silk;
the former of which, at this time, they were busily employed in reaping.
Plantations of the mulberry tree were extended on both sides of the
canal and into the country beyond the reach of sight. They appeared to
be of two distinct species; the one, the common mulberry, _morus nigra_,
and the other having much smaller leaves, smooth and heart-shaped, and
bearing a white berry about the size of the field strawberry. The latter
had more the habit of a shrub, but the branches of neither were suffered
to run into strong wood, being frequently pruned in order that the trunk
might annually throw out young scions, whose leaves were considered to
be more tender than such as grew from old branches. Another reason was
also assigned for this operation. A tree, when left to itself, throws
out the greatest part of its leaves at once, in the spring of the year,
but if the thick wood be cut out from time to time, new leaves will
continue to push below the parts so cut off during the whole season;
and, accordingly, the Chinese are particularly attentive to prune afresh
in the autumn, in order to obtain a supply of young leaves in the after
spring. The thermometer at this place, on the 9th of November at
sun-rise, stood at 64°, and at noon in the shade at 70° degrees.
It was in this part of the canal where the bridge of ninety-one arches,
mentioned in the sixth chapter, was thrown across the arm of a lake that
joined the canal. I lament exceedingly that we passed this extraordinary
fabric in the night. It happened to catch the attention of a Swiss
servant who, as the yacht glided along, began to count the arches, but
finding them increase in number much beyond his expectation and, at the
same time, in dimensions, he ran into the cabin calling out with great
eagerness, "For God's sake, gentlemen, come upon deck, for here is a
bridge such as I never saw before; it has no end." Mr. Maxwell and I
hastened upon deck and, by the faint light, could sufficiently
distinguish the arches of a bridge running parallel with the eastern
bank of the canal, across the arm of a vast lake, with which the
navigation thus communicated. From the highest point, or what appeared
to us to be the central arch, I counted forty-five to the end; here they
were very small, but the central arch I guessed to be about thirty feet
high and forty wide; and the whole length of the bridge I calculated to
be about half a mile. The construction of such a bridge, in such a
situation, could obviously have been employed for no other purpose than
that of opening a free communication with the lake; and, at the same
time, of avoiding the labour and expence of accumulating materials
sufficient for making a solid embankment.
After sailing a great part of the day through a forest of mulberry
trees, planted with much regularity, we arrived on the 10th at the city
of _Hang-tchoo-foo_, the capital of the province of _Tche-kiang_. Here
that branch of the grand canal which communicates with the
_Yang-tse-kiang_ terminates in a large commodious bason, at this time
crowded with shipping. From this bason a number of smaller canals,
passing through arches turned in the walls and intersecting the city in
every direction, are finally united in a lake beyond the western wall
called the _See-hoo_. The natural and artificial beauties of this lake
far exceeded any thing we had hitherto had an opportunity of seeing in
China. The mountains surrounding it were lofty and broken into a variety
of forms that were highly picturesque; and the vallies were richly
cloathed with trees of different kinds, among which three species were
remarkably striking, not only by their intrinsic beauty, but also by the
contrast they formed with themselves and the rest of the trees of the
forest. These were the _Laurus Camphora_ or camphor tree, the _Croton
sebiferum_ or tallow tree, and the _Thuia Orientalis_ or arbor vitæ. The
bright shining green foliage of the first, mingled with the purple
leaves of the second, and overtopped by the tall and stately _tree of
life_, of the deepest green, produced a pleasing effect to the eye; and
the landscape was rendered still more interesting to the mind, by the
very singular and diversified appearance of several repositories of the
dead, upon the sloping sides of the inferior hills. Here, as well as
elsewhere, the sombre and upright cypress was destined to be the
melancholy companion of the tombs. Higher still among the woods, avenues
had been opened to admit of rows of small blue houses, supported on
white colonnades which, on examination, were also found to be mansions
of the dead. Naked coffins of extraordinary thickness were every where
lying upon the surface of the ground.
The lake that extended from the walls of the city to the feet of the
mountains, and threw its numerous arms into the wooded vallies, was the
seat of pleasure, as well as of profit, to the inhabitants of
_Hang-tchoo-foo_. These amusements, however, of floating upon barges in
the lake are principally confined to one sex. Few women, except those
of loose character, join in the parties of men. How miserable or, at
best, how little interest can be raised in that state of society where
no social intercourse of the sexes exists; where sentiment, nice feeling
and the sport and play of the softer passions are totally unknown, and
where reason and philosophy are at so low an ebb! In more enlightened
countries, when age may have weakened the ardour of joining in the
sprightly female circle, or inclination lead to more serious
conversations, numberless resources are still left to exercise the
faculties of the mind, and society may always be had for such as can
relish
"The feast of reason and the flow of soul."