WEIGHTS AND MEASURES--MONEY WEIGHTS--COMMERCIAL
WEIGHTS--OPIUM--OPIUM-SMOKERS--MANTCHOU DYNASTY.
Among the _exports_ and _imports to_ and _from China_, are certain
articles, which are not generally known to merchants not engaged in
commerce to the eastward of the cape of Good Hope, among which are:--
_Agar-agar_: this article is a species of seaweed, imported from New
Holland, New Guinea, &c. It makes a valuable paste, and is extensively
used in the manufacture of silks and paper. It is also used as a
sweetmeat. There are several species of _fucus_ imported, which are
eaten both in a crude state, and cooked, by the lower classes.
_Amomum_: these seeds have a strong pungent taste, and a penetrating
aromatic smell; they are used to season sweet dishes.
_Anise-seed stars_ are so called from the manner in which they grow;
they are used also, to season sweet dishes, have an aromatic taste, and
from them is extracted a volatile oil.
_Capoor cretchery_ is the root of a plant: it has a pungent and
bitterish taste, and a slightly aromatic smell. It is exported to
Bombay, and is used for medical purposes, and to preserve clothes.
_Coral_ is valuable according to the colour, density, and size of the
fragments: when made into buttons, it is used among the Chinese as an
insignia of office.
_Cutch_ or _Terra Japonica_ is a gummy resin, and is imported from
Bombay and Bengal.
_Gambier_ is similar to cutch, although the produce of two different
plants: it is chewed with areca-nut, and is used also in China, for
tanning; but it renders the leather porous and rotten.
_Galengal_ is used principally in cookery; it has a hot, acrid, peppery
taste, and an aromatic smell.
The Chinese weigh all articles which are bought and sold, that are
weighable; as _money_, _wood_, _vegetables_, _liquids_, &c. This
renders their dealings more simple than those of other nations,
who buy and sell commodities, with more reference to the articles
themselves. Their divisions of weights and measures are into _money_
and _commercial_ weights, and _long_, and _land_ measures, &c.
The circulating medium between foreigners and Chinese, is broken
Spanish dollars, the value of which is usually computed by their
weight. Dollars bearing the stamp of Ferdinand, have usually borne a
premium of one, to one and a half per cent., while those of Carolus
have risen as high as seven or eight per cent., but are subject to a
considerable variation, according to the season, and _different times_
of the season. Those coins bearing the stamp of the letter G, are not
received by the Chinese, except at a discount. Mexican and United
States’ dollars, do not pass among the Chinese, but are taken _at
par_, by foreigners: every individual coin has the mark of the person,
through whose hands it passes, stamped upon it.
As the number of these marks soon becomes very numerous, the coin
is quickly broken in pieces; and, this process of stamping being
continually repeated, the fragments gradually become very small, and
are paid away entirely by weight. The highest weight used in reckoning
money, is _tael_, (leang,) which is divided into _mace_, (tseen,)
_candareens_, (fun,) and _cash_, (le.) The relative value of these
terms, both among the Chinese, and in foreign money, can be seen by the
following table. It should be observed here, that these terms, _taels_,
_mace_, _candareens_, _cash_, _peculs_, and _catties_, _covids_,
_punts_, &c., are not Chinese words, and are never used by the Chinese
among themselves; and, the reason of their employment by foreigners,
instead of the legitimate terms, is difficult to conjecture.
Ounce Grains
Tael. Mace. Candareens. Cash. troy. troy. Sterling. Dollars.
1 10 100 1000 1,208 579.84 6s. 8d. 1,389 _a_ 1,398
1 10 100 57.984 8d. 138 _a_ 0,139
1 5.7984 8d.
The value here given for the tael, in sterling money and dollars, is
not the exact value: and it is difficult to ascertain, owing to the
ignorance of the Chinese, of such money among other nations. The value
given to the tael in the sterling money, is that which is found on
the books of the East India company: that given to the dollar, is the
extremes of its value.
[Sidenote: COIN.]
The only coin of the Chinese, is called _cash_, (or _le_,) which is
made of six parts of copper, and four of lead. The coins are thin and
circular, and nearly an inch in diameter, having a square hole in the
centre, for the convenience of tying them together, with a raised edge,
both around the outside, and the hole. Those now in use, have the
name of the emperor stamped upon them, in whose reign they were cast.
Notwithstanding their little value, they are much adulterated with
spelter; yet, on account of their convenience in paying small sums, and
for common use, they generally bear a premium, and but eight hundred
and fifty can commonly be obtained for a tael. The use of silver coin,
however, appears to be increasing among the Chinese, as by recent
accounts, we learn that silver dollars have been made in Fuh-keen and
other places, contrary to the laws of the empire.
Bullion is rated by its fineness, which is expressed by dividing the
weight into a hundred parts, called touches. If gold is said to be
ninety-four or ninety-eight touches, it is known to have one or two
parts of alloy; the remainder is pure silver metal; is estimated in the
same manner; and without alloy or nearly so, is called sycee, which
bears a premium according to its purity; the most pure sycees are equal
in fineness to the _plata-pina_ of Peru, which is now principally
imported by vessels of the United States, engaged in commerce to
the Spanish ports on the Pacific. It is cast into ingots, (by the
Chinese, called shoes, from their shape,) stamped with the mark of the
office that issued them, and the date of their emission. It is used
to pay government taxes and duties, and the salaries of officers. The
ingots weigh from one half, to one hundred taels, and bear a value
accordingly. _Sycee_ silver is the only approach among the Chinese to
a silver currency; gold ingots are made, weighing ten taels each, and
are worth between twenty two and twenty-three dollars; but neither
gold ingots, nor doubloons, nor any other gold coin, are used as money
among the Chinese. Great caution should be used in purchasing ingots or
bars of silver, as they are subject to many adulterations, and are not
unfrequently cast hollow, and filled with lead, to complete the weight.
In fact, every species of fraud is practised by the dealers in bullion.
The only weights in use among the Chinese, besides those of money, are
the _pecul_, (tan,) _catty_, (kin,) and _tael_, (leang.) The proportion
these bear to each other, and to English weights, is exhibited in the
following table:--
Pecul. Catties. Taels. Lbs. avoir. Cat. Lbs. troy.
1 100 1600 133½ 1.0.21⅓ 162.0.8.1
1 16 1⅓
Usage has established a difference between the tael of commercial
weights, which, at the rate of one hundred and thirty-three and a third
pounds to the pecul, weighs five hundred and eighty-three and a half
troy grains, and the tael of money weight, of which the old standard
is 579.84 grains troy. By the above table, it appears, that one ton
is equal to sixteen peculs, and eighty catties; one hundred weight
to eighty-four catties; one pound, avoirdupois to three fourths of
a catty, or twelve taels. The Portuguese at Macao, have a pecul for
weighing cotton, and valuable articles; a second for coarse goods; and
again, a different one for rice. But the Chinese, among themselves,
know no difference, either in the weight of a pecul for different
articles, or in the tael, whether used for money or goods.
The principal measures in use among the Chinese, are three; namely,
long measure, land measure, and dry measure.
The principal measure of length, is the _covid_, (chih,) which is
divided into ten _punts_, (tsun.) The _covid_ varies considerably,
according as it is used for measuring cloths, distances, or vessels.
That determined upon by the mathematical tribunal, is 13.125 English
inches; that used by tradesmen, at Canton, is about 14.625 inches; the
one by which distances are usually rated, is nearly 12.1 inches, and
that employed by engineers, for public works, 12.7 inches. The _le_
or mile, is also an uncertain measure, varying more than the covid
or foot. Its common measure is three hundred, sixteen, and a quarter
fathoms, or one thousand, eight hundred, ninety-seven and a half
English feet; it is the usual term, in which length is estimated. The
Chinese reckon one hundred, ninety-two and a half _le_, for a degree
of latitude and longitude; but the Jesuits divided the degree into two
hundred and fifty _le_, each _le_ being one thousand eight hundred
and twenty-six English feet, or the tenth part of a French league,
which is the established measure at present. A _le_, according to this
measurement, is a little more than one third of an English mile.
_Land measure_ has also varied considerably, but is at present
established by authority. By this rule, one thousand, two hundred
covids make an acre or _more_, which contains about six thousand, six
hundred square feet.
Rice, or paddy, is the only article measured in vessels the dimensions
of which have been fixed by law or usage; but as even rice and paddy
are usually weighed when sold in large quantities, the vessels for
measuring these commodities are but little used.
To perform these calculations, the Chinese have an arithmetical board,
or abacus, called _swan-pan_, or “_counting-board_,” on which, by
constant practice, they will perform calculations in numbers with
surprising facility. It consists of an oblong frame of wood, having a
bar running lengthwise about two thirds of its width from one side.
Through this bar, at right angles, are inserted a number of parallel
wires, having moveable balls on them, five on one side, and two on the
other. The principle on which computations are made, is this; that
any ball in the larger compartment, being placed against the bar and
called unity, decreases or increases by tenths, hundredths, &c.; and
the corresponding balls in the smaller divisions, by fifths, fiftieths,
&c.: if one in the smaller compartment is placed against the middle
bar, the opposite unit or integer, which may be any one of the digits,
is multiplied by five.
[Sidenote: OPIUM.]
Having heretofore cursorily alluded to the vast sum annually expended
in the importation of opium, I now proceed to give a more particular
statement concerning the trade, the number of smokers, &c., &c.
The opium-trade, which scarcely attracted the notice of merchants
previously to the year 1816, has now swollen into great importance, by
the rapid and extensive sale of one of the most destructive narcotics
which the world ever knew, and which is used in China as a pernicious
indulgence, by smoking. The government has passed the most rigorous
laws to prevent its importation and use, but as the officers of the
revenue boats, from Linting and Cap-shuy-moon to Canton, are bribed,
and receive a stipulated fee on every chest of opium, and every other
article illegally imported, smuggling is no longer fraught with any
material risk, and has at length assumed the appearance of a regular
branch of commerce. Once in two or three years, the Chinese admiral is
ordered to proceed to the smuggling depots at the island of Linting,
(alias Ling-ting) the “Solitary Vail,” or the “Destitute Orphan,” or
to Cap-sin-moon, alias, Cap-shuy-moon, or the “Swift water passage,”
and exterminate the “foreign barbarians.” He goes down in formidable
array, with an immense number of flags flying; and the sound proceeding
from an endless number of great gongs and other noisy instruments,
is heard, with a favourable wind, long before his fleet “heaves in
sight;” the smugglers are previously informed of his coming, (for
public notice is given many weeks, perhaps months, before he arrives;)
the imperial fleet is then hove to, at a safe distance, far beyond the
reach of cannon-shot, from three to five miles; the gongs are then
beaten with the utmost fury, the trumpets blown, and the thousands
of warriors shout and bellow with loud vociferations, to frighten
away the monsters, and a cannon-shot or two is fired, perhaps; the
“_barbarians_” then get under way very leisurely with a topsail or two
bent, and proceed towards the Ladrone, or Rogues islands, called by the
Chinese “Low man-shan,” or the “old ten thousand hills;” this satisfies
the commander, who returns back, and sounds far and wide, his valorous
deeds in _alms_, (arms,) (for he is one of the beggars who asks a
douceur.) Forthwith a courier is despatched to the imperial court,
announcing, that the Fankwai, or “Foreign white devils” are blown into
“ten thousand atoms,” and that their carcasses have been given to the
fish, and to birds of prey. As soon as the Chinese fleet “about ship”
to return, which is done immediately if possible, down drop the anchors
of the “Fankwai,” the sails are unbent, the smuggling boats are laden
again as usual; and thus ends this ridiculous farce.
To show the destructive tendency of this trade in every point of view,
to the Chinese empire, a statement is herewith presented, setting forth
the alarming increase of the imports from 1817, to 1833:
In the season ending in 1817, three thousand, two hundred and ten
chests of Patna, Benares, and Malva opium, containing one hundred
and five catties, or one hundred and forty pounds each chest, were
imported, which sold for the sum of three millions, six hundred and
fifty-seven thousand dollars: in the season ending in 1833, fifteen
thousand six hundred and sixty-two chests from India were imported,
which sold for thirteen millions, seven hundred and fifty-seven
thousand, two hundred and ninety dollars; the whole value of the known
importations during the time named, being seventeen years only, was
the enormous sum of one hundred and fifty millions, one hundred and
thirty four thousand, six hundred and sixty-eight dollars: the number
of smokers, allowing three candareens of 17.40 grains troy, per day
to each, had increased from about one hundred thousand, to about one
million, four hundred and seventy-five thousand, seven hundred and
twenty-six. If to the quantity already stated, there is added the
importation of Turkey opium, of which we have no regular account, as
well as the quantity smuggled by Chinese junks from Singapore, &c.,
all of which may be fairly estimated at one third more; the number of
chests imported in the year 1833, would be about twenty-one thousand,
which probably sold for the sum of twenty millions of dollars: the
number of smokers may be estimated at nearly two millions. The crude
opium undergoes a very expensive process by boiling, or seething and
straining, not less than twice, before it is fit for use; it is then
made into small pills, or put into the pipe, in a semi-fluid state,
and taken off, at _two_ or _three whiffs_, the smoke being vented very
slowly through the nostrils, the recipient lying at the same time in a
recumbent posture. Although the Chinese are well aware of its baneful
effects, and that it is yearly draining the country of the value of
many millions of dollars, yet they say, “it is a Josh Pigeon,” (meaning
that God hath so decreed it,) and they cannot prevent it. A chest of
opium, which cost eight hundred dollars, is said to quadruple in price,
when prepared for use.
Opium is vended as openly as teas, by the foreign merchants; the
quantity disposed of, and on hand, and the average price, are printed
and published monthly, and are in the possession of every dealer;
and the chits, or orders given on the commanders of the ships, are
generally sold like scrip, to a great number of persons on speculation,
before the delivery is finally completed.
[Sidenote: OPIUM-SMOKERS.]
The tremendous and horrible effects upon the personal appearance of
its votaries, may be seen daily, about the suburbs of Canton, and of
all the pitiable objects the eye ever saw, a confirmed opium-smoker is
apparently the most degraded and worthless. When he has once passed the
Rubicon, reformation seems to be impossible, the sting of death which
is sin, has seized upon him, his feet are already within the precincts
of the grave, and he has sunk like Lucifer, “never to rise again.”
When the effect has subsided, an emaciated, nerveless wretch is seen,
with a cadaverous skin, eyeballs wildly protruding from their sockets,
the step faltering, the voice weak and feeble, and the countenance
idiotic; but when an opium-smoker lies under the baneful influence of
the narcotic, the images which flit before his diseased imagination,
are exquisite, brilliant, heavenly: it is the Nepenthé, prepared by the
hands of the fair Helen, which so exhilarated the spirits of all who
had the happiness to partake of it, that all care was banished for the
time being, from their benighted recollections.
[Sidenote: MANTCHOU DYNASTY.]
The Mantchou historians have endeavoured to conceal their very modern
rise as a kingdom, by veiling their origin in fables, and deducing
their descent from a divinity; through these fables, however, it is not
difficult to ascertain with a considerable degree of accuracy, their
real descent. Their nation is evidently formed by the union of several
Toungouse tribes, occupying the country, to the north of Corea, and on
the banks of the river Amour. These tribes had by their former unions
rendered themselves formidable to their neighbours; and in the time of
the Sung dynasty, from A.D. 960 to 1278, had, under the Chinese name
of the Kin, or golden dynasty, answering to the Mantchou name Aisin,
subdued several northern districts of China. Their farther progress
was interrupted by the Mongols, under Agodai Khan, grandson of Genghis
Khan, who, in the thirteenth century, destroyed both the Sung dynasty,
and its enemies, and founded the Yuen dynasty. The kingdom of Kin, or
Aisin, being thus destroyed, its tribes returned to their original
country, where they continued more or less independent of each other,
and of their Mongol conquerors. Among the chiefs of their tribes,
was one Aisin Keolo, or Gioro, whom the Mantchous make the son of a
divine virgin, who became pregnant of him by eating a fruit, brought
to her in the bill of a magpie. This Aisin Gioro, at first, ruled over
three tribes; but subsequently, others submitted to him, and he became
king of a nation, to which he gave the name of Mantchou, or Manchow,
which signifies “the full or well-peopled country.” At this point,
the thread of Mantchou history is broken, and even names disappear
for three or four generations; nor is the history resumed, till the
close of the sixteenth century, when the chief, who then governed the
Mantchous, incensed at the murder of his father, and grandfather, by
a tribe which had revolted from them, and become confederate with
the Chinese dynasty of Ming, began to wage war against the latter.
After thirty-three years, he had gained such power, and ruled over so
many tribes, as well Mantchou as Mongol, that in the year 1616, he
took the title of emperor, and adopted “Teenming, Heaven’s decree,”
as his Kwo-haou or title. Previous to this event, in the year 1599,
he appointed persons to form an alphabet for the use of his people,
for, up to that period, the Mantchous possessed no written language.
The alphabet which they adopted, was derived from, and improved upon
the Ouigour and Mongol alphabets, the Mongol being a modification of
the Ouigour, a derivative of the Syriac. During the rest of his reign,
which continued eleven years longer, Teenming was at constant war with
the Chinese, and dying, left the throne to his eighth son, who first
adopted the title of Teentsung, which he retained for nine years, and
then that of Tsungtih, which continued till his death in 1643; though
not of so warlike a disposition as his father, he continued the war
during the whole of his reign; owing to the dissensions which prevailed
among the Chinese princes of the Ming dynasty, and the numerous
revolts, which took place throughout the empire, he was enabled with
little trouble, to take possession of Peking, the capital, and to found
a new dynasty in China.
This monarch died while yet on the field of victory, leaving the throne
to his ninth son, a child of six years old, to whom was given, the
title of Kwohaou of Shunche. The young monarch was, immediately after
his father’s death, carried into the city of Peking, and proclaimed
emperor, amid the acclamations of the people. His reign, and the
commencement of the Mantchou or Ya-tsing dynasty, dated from the year
1644.
When about fourteen years of age, one of the regents dying, and some
dispute arising, as to who should take his place, Shunche laid aside
his minority, and assumed all the functions of imperial power. He made
few alterations in the old system of government, being fully occupied
in strengthening the dominion, which had been obtained for him; for
many Chinese princes still possessed parts of the empire, and assumed
the imperial title.
The last of these named Yungleih, was not slain, till the closing year
of Shunche’s reign, nor did his death put an end to all fears, for
Chingchingkung, known to Europeans, under the name of Koxinga, still
hovered about the coast, with a large fleet.
At Shunche’s death, in the year 1661, his third son succeeded to the
throne, at the age of eight years, a regency of four chief ministers
being appointed to govern during his minority. The new monarch’s
Kwo-haou was Kanghe.
Soon after Kanghe’s accession, the regency compelled all the
inhabitants of the maritime districts throughout China to retire thirty
Chinese miles from the east; by which means the power of Koxinga was
much weakened; but at the same time a great number of families were
reduced to want. In the 12th year of his reign, 1673, there was a
general revolt of the Chinese princes, who were yet living, but from
their dissensions and petty jealousies among themselves, they were
unable to effect any thing. It was not, however, till 1681, that they
were finally subdued. In the following year, 1682, the western part of
Formosa was wrested from the grandson of Koxinga, and has since that
time remained in the hands of the Chinese.
The conquest of China being firmly established, Kanghe was now able
to turn his attention to his own country, which he visited, attended
by his whole court and an army of sixty thousand men. He also sent
ambassadors to the frontiers, to settle with the Russians the limits of
the two empires--nor did he confine himself to the possessions already
obtained, but under pretence of assisting the Mongols, many of whom had
become tributary to the Mantchou monarchs, previously to the conquest
of China, he extended his possessions northeastward, into the country
of the Soungarians, whom, as well as some of the tribes of Turkestan
and of Thibet, he entirely subdued.
After a long and glorious reign of sixty-one years, Kanghe died in
1722, in the sixty-ninth year of his age, leaving the succession to
his fourth son; but his fourteenth son taking advantage of his elder
brother’s absence from the capital, seized on the billet of succession,
and having changed the number four to fourteen, assumed the throne and
the Kwo-haou of Yung-ching.
Yung-ching’s reign is chiefly remarkable for his persecution of the
Roman Catholic missionaries, most of whom were sent out of the country.
He showed neither the literary nor the military talents displayed by
his father, Kanghe, and by his son and successor Keentung; but he was
attentive to the business of the government, and to the people. In the
fourth year of his reign, the treaty of peace, now existing between
the Russian and Chinese empires, was ratified. By this instrument, the
Russians, among other privileges, are permitted to have an academy
and church, with an archimandrite, three inferior priests, and six
scholars, at Pekin. The time fixed for their stay there is ten years.
Yung-ching reigned thirteen years, and died in the year 1735, leaving
the succession to his fourth son who took the Kwohaou or title of
Keentung.
Keentung’s reign produced many literary works, or rather compilations;
it is remarkable for some brilliant conquests in Eastern Tartary or
Turkestan and Thibet. The Soungarians having revolted, he entirely
annihilated them as a nation, and peopled their country with the
inhabitants of more peaceful districts and with Chinese.
On the south of Soungaria he extended his boundary beyond Cashgar,
and rendered several of the neighbouring tribes tributary. In the
fifty-eighth year of his reign, 1793-94, the first British embassy to
China under Lord Macartney, reached Peking. The war in Thibet being
brought to a happy conclusion about the same period, is supposed to
have had a bad effect on the interests of that embassy. Two years
afterward, Keentung, after a reign of sixty years, placed one of
his sons on the throne, with the Kwohaŏu of Keaking, and shortly
after died. Keaking ascended the throne in the thirty-sixth year of
his age. During his reign numerous insurrections occurred among the
Chinese, and much discontent existed throughout the empire. In the
year 1805-06, the tenth of Keaking’s reign, the Russian embassy under
Count Golovkin, failed in obtaining an interview with the emperor, in
consequence of refusing to submit to the Kotow, or ceremony of thrice
kneeling and nine times bowing the head to the ground. In the year
1816, the twenty-first year of his reign, the British embassy, under
Lord Amherst, was sent back from Peking, in a similar manner. During
the latter years of his life, Keaking was extremely indolent and
inattentive to government, being wholly devoted to the gratification of
his vicious desires. He died in August, 1820, in the sixty-first year
of his age, and the twenty-fifth of his reign.
Taoukwang is the Kwohaŏu of the reigning emperor, who succeeded to
his father Keaking in the thirty-ninth year of his age. The chief
occurrences which have taken place during his reign, are the revolts
in Turkestan or little Bukharia. In figure, Taoukwang is said to be
tall, thin, and of a dark complexion. He is of a generous disposition,
diligent, attentive to government and economical in his expenditures.
He has also avoided through life, the vices to which his younger
brothers are addicted.