Chapter VII: Front Matter (7)

The natural colour both of the Chinese and Tartars seems to be that tint between a fair and dark complexion, which we distinguish the word _brunet_ or _brunette_; and the shades of this complexion are deeper, or lighter, according as they have been more or less exposed to the influence of the climate. The women of the lower class, who labour in the fields or who dwell in vessels, are almost invariably coarse, ill-featured, and of a deep brown complexion, like that of the Hottentot. But this we find to be the case among the poor of almost every nation. Hard labour, scanty fare, and early and frequent parturition, soon wither the delicate buds of beauty. The sprightliness and expression of the features, as well as the colour of the skin, which distinguish the higher ranks from the vulgar, are the effects of ease and education. We saw women in China, though very few, that might pass for beauties even in Europe. The Malay features however prevail in most; a small black or dark brown eye, a short rounded nose, generally a little flattened, lips considerably thicker than in Europeans, and black hair, are universal.

The Mantchoo Tartars would appear to be composed of a mixed race: among these we observed several, both men and women, that were extremely fair and of florid complexions: some had light blue eyes, straight or aquiline noses, brown hair, immense bushy beards, and had much more the appearance of Greeks than of Tartars. It is certainly not improbable that the Greeks of Sogdiana, whose descendants must have blended with the western Tartars and with whom the Mantchoos were connected, may have communicated this cast of countenance. _Tchien-lung_, whose nose was somewhat aquiline and complexion florid, used to boast of his descent from _Gengis-khan_: these, however, are exceptions to the general character, which is evidently the same as that of the Chinese.

But although their appearance and manners are externally the same, a closer acquaintance soon discovers that in disposition they are widely different. Those who are better pleased with a blunt sincerity bordering on rudeness than a studied complaisance approaching to servility; who may think it better to be robbed openly than cheated civilly, will be apt to give the preference to the Tartar character. Yet those Tartars of distinction, who fill some of the higher situations in the state, soon lose their native roughness and are scarcely distinguishable in their manners and demeanour from the Chinese.

The ease, politeness, and dignified carriage of the old viceroy of _Pe-tche-lee_, who was a Mantchoo, could not be exceeded by the most practiced courtier in modern Europe: the attention he shewed to every thing that concerned the embassy, the unaffected manner in which he received and entertained us at _Tien-sing_; the kindness and condescension with which he gave his orders to the inferior officers and to his domestics, placed him in a very amiable point of view. He was a very fine old man of seventy-eight years of age, of low stature, with small sparkling eyes, a benign aspect, a long silver beard, and the whole of his appearance calm, venerable, and dignified. The manners of _Sun-ta-gin_, a relation of the Emperor and one of the six ministers of state, were no less dignified, easy, and engaging; and _Chung-ta-gin_, the new viceroy of Canton, was a plain, unassuming, and good-natured man. The prime minister _Ho-chang-tong_, the little Tartar legate, and the ex-viceroy of Canton, were the only persons of rank among the many we had occasion to converse with that discovered the least ill-humour, distant hauteur, and want of complaisance. All the rest with whom we had any concern, whether Tartars or Chinese, when in our private society, were easy, affable, and familiar, extremely good-humoured, loquacious, communicative. It was in public only, and towards each other, that they assumed their ceremonious gravity, and practised all the tricks of demeanour which custom requires of them.

The general character, however, of the nation is a strange compound of pride and meanness, of affected gravity and real frivolousness, of refined civility and gross indelicacy. With an appearance of great simplicity and openness in conversation, they practise a degree of art and cunning against which an European is but ill prepared. Their manner of introducing the subject of the court ceremonies in conversation with the Embassador is no bad specimen of their sly address in managing matters of this sort. Some of them observed, by mere accident as it were, how curious it was to see the different modes of dress that prevailed among different nations: this naturally brought on a comparison between theirs and ours, the latter of which they pretended to examine with critical attention. After a good deal of circumlocutory observations, they thought their own entitled to the preference, being more convenient, on account of its being made wide and loose and free from tight ligatures; whereas ours must be exceedingly uneasy and troublesome in any other posture than that of standing upright; and particularly so in making the genuflections and prostrations which were customary and indeed necessary to be performed by all persons whenever the Emperor appeared in public. No notice being taken of this broad hint, so artfully introduced, they proceeded to compare their wide petticoats with our breeches, and to contrast the play and freedom of their knee-joints with the obstruction that our knee-buckles and garters must necessarily occasion. This brought them directly to the point, and they finished by recommending, in the warmth of their friendship, that we should disencumber ourselves of our breeches, as they would certainly be inconvenient to appear in at court.

Of perseverance in negociation, or more properly speaking, _in driving a bargain_, the Tartar legate gave no bad specimen of his talent. Having in vain practiced every art to obtain from the Embassador an unconditional compliance with the court ceremony, he was sent at length by the Prime Minister to inform him, that the important point was finally decided and that the English mode was to be adopted; but, he observed, that as it was not the custom of China to kiss the Emperor's hand, he had something to propose to which there could be no objection, and which was that, in lieu of that part of the English ceremony, he should put the second knee upon the ground and, instead of bending one knee, to kneel on both. In fact, they negociate on the most trifling point with as much caution and preciseness, as if they were forming a treaty of peace, and with more address than some treaties of peace have been negociated.

As a direct refusal to any request would betray a want of good breeding, every proposal finds their immediate acquiescence; they promise without hesitation, but generally disappoint by the invention of some sly pretence or plausible objection. They have no proper sense of the obligations of truth. So little scrupulous indeed are they with regard to veracity, that they will assert and contradict without blushing, as it may best suit the purpose of the moment.

The vanity of an usurped national superiority and a high notion of self-importance never forsake them on any occasion. Those advantages in others which they cannot avoid feeling, they will affect not to see. And although they are reduced to the necessity of employing foreigners to regulate their calendar and keep their clocks in order, although they are in the habit of receiving yearly various specimens of art and ingenuity from Europe, yet they pertinaciously affect to consider all the nations of the earth as barbarians in comparison of themselves. A Chinese merchant of Canton, who, from the frequent opportunities of seeing English ships, was not insensible of their advantages over those of his own nation which traded to Batavia and other distant ports, resolved, and actually began, to construct a vessel according to an English model; but the _Hoo-poo_ or collector of the customs being apprized of it, not only obliged him to relinquish his project but fined him in a heavy penalty for presuming to adopt the modes of a barbarous nation. So great is their national conceit that not a single article imported into the country, as I have elsewhere observed, retains its name. Not a nation, nor person, nor object, that does not receive a Chinese appellation: so that their language, though poor, is pure.

The expressions made use of in salutation, by different nations, may perhaps be considered as deriving their origin from features of national character. _Lau-ye_, _Old sir_, is a title of respect, with which the first officers of state may be addressed, because the maxims of government have inculcated the doctrine of obedience, respect, and protection to old age. The common salutation among the lower orders of people in some of the southern provinces is _Ya fan_, _Have you eaten your rice?_ the greatest happiness that the common class of people in China can hope to enjoy consisting in their having a sufficiency of rice. Thus also the Dutch, who are considered as great eaters, have a morning salutation which is common among all ranks, _Smaakelyk eeten!_ _May you eat a hearty dinner!_ Another universal salutation among this people is, _Hoe vaart uwe?_ _How do you sail?_ adopted no doubt in the early periods of the Republic, when they were all navigators and fishermen. The usual salutation at Cairo is, How do you sweat? a dry hot skin being a sure indication of a destructive ephemeral fever. I think some author has observed, in contrasting the haughty Spaniard with the frivolous Frenchman, that the proud steady gait and inflexible solemnity of the former were expressed in his mode of salutation, _Come esta?_ _How do you stand?_ whilst the _Comment vous portez vous?_ _How do you carry yourself?_ was equally expressive of the gay motion and incessant action of the latter.

The Chinese are so ceremonious among themselves, and so punctilious with regard to etiquette, that the omission of the most minute point established by the court of ceremonies is considered as a criminal offence. Visiting by tickets, which with us is a fashion of modern refinement, has been a common practice in China some thousand years; but the rank of a Chinese visitor is immediately ascertained by the size, colour, and ornaments of his ticket, which also varies in all these points according to the rank of the person visited. The old Viceroy of _Pe-tche-lee's_ ticket to the Embassador contained as much crimson-coloured paper as would be sufficient to cover the walls of a moderate-sized room.

CHAP. V.

Manners and Amusements of the Court--Reception of Embassadors--Character and private Life of the Emperor--His Eunuchs and Women.

_General Character of the Court--Of the Buildings about the
Palace--_Lord Macartney's_ Account of his Introduction--Of the
Celebration of the Emperor's Anniversary Festival--Of a
Puppet-Shew--Comedy and Pantomime--Wrestling--Conjuring and
Fire-Works--Reception and Entertainment of the Dutch Embassadors from a
Manuscript Journal--Observations on the State of the Chinese
Stage--Extraordinary Scene in one of their Dramas--Gross and indelicate
Exhibitions--Sketch of_ Kien-Long's_ Life and Character--Kills his Son
by an unlucky Blow--conceives himself immortal--Influence of the Eunuchs
of the Tartar Conquest--their present State and Offices--Emperor's Wife,
Queens, and Concubines--How disposed of at his Death._

After the sketch I have exhibited of the state of society among the different ranks in China, a tolerable notion may be formed of the general character and complexion of the court. It is, as Lord Macartney has justly observed, "a singular mixture of ostentatious hospitality and inbred suspicion, ceremonious civility and real rudeness, shadowy complaisance and substantial perverseness; and this prevails through all the departments connected with the Court, although somewhat modified by the personal disposition of those at their head; but as to that genuine politeness, which distinguishes our manners, it cannot be expected in Orientals, considering among other things the light in which they are accustomed to regard the female part of society." Whether the great ministers of state, who have daily intercourse in the different tribunals, sometimes relax from the stiff and formal deportment observed towards each other in public, I am not able to say, but when at Court they invariably observe certain stated forms and expression as studied and ceremonious as if they had never met before. It appeared to us highly ridiculous to see our friends, the two colleagues _Van-ta-gin_ and _Chou-ta-gin_, on meeting in the precincts of the palace, performing to each other all the genuflexions and motions of the body which the ceremonial institutes of the empire require.

I rather suspect, however, that where any degree of confidence prevails among these people they sometimes enjoy their moments of conviviality. Our two worthy conductors met at Canton an old acquaintance who was governor of a city in Fo-kien. He gave them an evening entertainment on the river in a splendid yacht to which I was privately invited. On entering the great cabin I found the three gentlemen with each a young girl by his side very richly dressed, the cheeks, lips, and chin highly _rouged_, the rest of the face and neck whitened with a preparation of cerate. I was welcomed by a cup of hot wine from each of the ladies who first sipped by way of pledging me. During supper, which for number and variety of dishes exceeded any thing I had hitherto met with in the country, the girls played on the flute and sung several airs, but there was nothing very captivating either in the vocal or instrumental part of the music. We passed a most convivial evening free from any reserve or restraint, but on going away I was particularly desired by _Van_ not to take any notice of what I had seen, apprehensive, I suppose, that their brother officers might condemn their want of prudence in admitting a barbarian to witness their relaxation from good morals. The yacht and the ladies it seemed were hired for the occasion.

The incalculable numbers of the great officers of state and their attendants, all robed in the richest silks, embroidered with the most brilliant colours, and tissued with gold and silver, the order, silence, and solemnity with which they arrange and conduct themselves on public court-days are the most commanding features on such occasions.

This sober pomp of Asiatic grandeur is exhibited only at certain fixed festivals; of which the principal is the anniversary of the Emperor's birth-day, the commencement of a new year, the ceremonial of holding the plough, and the reception of foreign embassadors, most of whom they contrive to be present at one or other of those festivals. The birth-day is considered to be the most splendid; when all the Tartar princes and tributuaries, and all the principal officers of government both civil and military, are expected to be present.

For reasons of state, which will be noticed hereafter, the Emperor rarely shews himself in public among the Chinese part of his subjects, except on such occasions; and even then the exhibition is confined within the precincts of the palace from which the populace are entirely excluded. Consistent with their system of sumptuary laws there is little external appearance of pomp or magnificence in the establishment of the Emperor. The buildings that compose the palace and the furniture within them, if we except the paint, the gilding, and the varnish, that appear on the houses even of plebeians, are equally void of unnecessary and expensive ornaments. Those who should rely on the florid relations, in which the missionaries and some travellers have indulged in their descriptions of the palaces of Pekin and those of _Yuen-min-yuen_, would experience on visiting them a woful disappointment. These buildings, like the common habitations of the country, are all modelled after the form of a tent, and are magnificent only by a comparison with the others and by their number, which is sufficient, indeed, to form a town of themselves. Their walls are higher than those of ordinary houses, their wooden columns of greater diameter, their roofs are immense, and a greater variety of painting and gilding may be bestowed on the different parts; but none of them exceeds one story in height, and they are jumbled and surrounded with mean and insignificant hovels. Some writer has observed that the King of England is worse lodged at Saint James's palace than any sovereign in Europe. Were I to compare some of the imperial palaces in China to any royal residence in Europe it would certainly be to Saint James's; but the apartments, the furniture, and conveniences of the latter, bad as they are, infinitely transcend any of those in China. The stone or clay floors are indeed sometimes covered with a carpet of English broad-cloth, and the walls papered; but they have no glass in the windows, no stoves, fire-places, or fire-grates in the rooms; no sofas, bureaux, chandeliers, nor looking-glasses; no book-cases, prints, nor paintings. They have neither curtains nor sheets to their beds; a bench of wood, or a platform of brick-work, is raised in an alcove, on which are mats or stuffed mattresses, hard pillows, or cushions, according to the season of the year; instead of doors they have usually skreens, made of the fibres of bamboo. In short, the wretched lodgings of the state-officers at the court of Versailles, in the time of the French monarchy, were princely palaces in comparison of those allotted to the first ministers of the Emperor of China, in the capital as well as at _Yuen-min-yuen_.

When attending the court, on public occasions, each courtier takes his meal alone in his solitary cell on a small square table crowded with bowls of rice and various stews; without table-linen or napkins, without knife, fork, or spoon; a pair of small sticks, or the quills of a porcupine, are the only substitutes for these convenient articles: placing the bowl under his chin, with these he throws the rice into his mouth and takes up the pieces of meat in his soup or stews. Having finished his lonely meal, he generally lies down to sleep. In a government so suspicious as that of China, if parties were known to meet together, the object of them might be supposed something beyond that of conviviality, which however mutual jealousy and distrust have prevented from growing into common use.

As the ready compliance of the late Dutch Embassadors with all the degrading ceremonies required by the Chinese, added to their constant residence in the capital, gave them more opportunities of observing the manners and the amusements of the court than occurred to the British embassy, I shall here avail myself of that part of a journal relating to this subject, which was kept by a young gentleman in the suite of the former, and whose accuracy of observation may be depended on. The account given by him of the New Year's festival, added to Lord Macartney's description of his introduction and the birth-day solemnities, which his Lordship has obligingly permitted me to extract from his journal, together with my own observations at the palace of _Yuen-min-yuen_, will serve to convey a tolerably exact idea of the state, pleasures, and amusements of the great Monarch of China.

"On the 14th September," observes his Lordship, "at four o'clock in the morning we set out for the court, under the convoy of _Van-ta-gin_, and _Chou-ta-gin_, and reached it in little more than an hour, the distance being about three miles from our hotel. We alighted at the park gate, from whence we walked to the Imperial encampment, and were conducted to a large handsome tent prepared for us, on one side of the Emperor's. After waiting there about an hour, his approach was announced by drums and music, on which we quitted our tent and came forward upon the green carpet. He was seated in an open Palankeen, carried by sixteen bearers, attended by numbers of officers bearing flags, standards, and umbrellas; and as he passed we paid him our compliments, by kneeling on one knee, whilst all the Chinese made their usual prostrations. As soon as he had ascended his throne I came to the entrance of his tent, and holding in both my hands a large gold box, enriched with diamonds, in which was enclosed the King's letter, I walked deliberately up and, ascending the steps of the throne, delivered it into the Emperor's own hands, who, having received it, passed it to the Minister by whom it was placed on the cushion. He then gave me, as the first present from him to his Majesty, the _Eu-shee_, or symbol of peace and prosperity, and expressed his hopes that my Sovereign and he should always live in good correspondence and amity. It is a whitish agate-looking stone, perhaps serpentine, about a foot and a half long, curiously carved, and highly prized by the Chinese; but to me it does not appear in itself to be of any great value.

"The Emperor then presented me with an _Eu-shee_ of a greenish-coloured serpentine stone, and of the same emblematic character; at the same time he very graciously received from me a pair of beautiful enamelled watches, set with diamonds which, having looked at, he passed to the Minister.

"Sir George Staunton (whom, as he had been appointed Minister plenipotentiary, to act in case of my death or departure, I introduced to him as such) now came forward, and after kneeling upon one knee, in the same manner as I had done, presented to him two elegant air-guns, and received from him an _Eu-shee_ of greenish stone nearly similar to mine. Other presents were sent, at the same time, to all the gentlemen of my train. We then descended from the steps of the throne, and sat down upon cushions at one of the tables on the Emperor's left hand. And at other tables, according to their different ranks, the chief Tartar princes and the Mandarins of the court at the same time took their places; all dressed in the proper robes of their respective ranks. These tables were then uncovered and exhibited a sumptuous banquet. The Emperor sent us several dishes from his own table, together with some liquors, which the Chinese call wine; not however expressed from the grape, but distilled or extracted from rice, herbs, and honey.

"In about half an hour he sent for Sir George Staunton and me to come to him and gave to each of us, with his own hands, a cup of warm wine, which we immediately drank in his presence, and found it very pleasant and comfortable, the morning being cold and raw. Among other things he asked me the age of my Sovereign and, being informed of it, said he hoped he might live as many years as himself which were then eighty-three. His manner was dignified, but affable and condescending; and his reception of us was very gracious and satisfactory.

"The order and regularity in serving and removing the dinner was wonderfully exact, and every function of the ceremony performed with such silence and solemnity as in some measure to resemble the celebration of a religious mystery.

"There were present on this occasion three Embassadors from _Ta-tze_ or Pegu, and six Mahomedan Embassadors from the Kalmucs of the south-west, but their appearance was not very splendid. During the ceremony, which lasted five hours, various entertainments of wrestling, tumbling, wire-dancing, together with dramatic representations, were exhibited opposite the Emperor's tent, but at a considerable distance from it.

"The 17th of September, being the Emperor's birth day, we set out for the court at three o'clock in the morning, conducted by _Van-ta-gin_, _Chou-ta-gin_, and our usual attendants. We reposed ourselves about two hours in a large saloon at the entrance of the palace enclosure, where fruit, tea, warm milk, and other refreshments were brought to us. At last notice was given that the festival was going to begin, and we immediately descended into the garden, where we found all the great men and mandarins in their robes of state, drawn up before the Imperial pavilion. The Emperor did not shew himself, but remained concealed behind a screen, from whence I presume he could see and enjoy the ceremonies without inconvenience or interruption. All eyes were turned towards the place where his Majesty was imagined to be enthroned, and seemed to express an impatience to begin the devotions of the day. Slow, solemn music, muffled drums, and deep-toned bells, were heard at a distance;--on a sudden the sounds ceased, and all was still--again they were renewed, and then intermitted with short pauses; during which several persons passed backwards and forwards, in the proscenium or foreground of the tent, at if engaged in preparing some _grand coup-de-theatre_.

"At length the great band, both vocal and instrumental, struck up with all their powers of harmony, and instantly the whole court fell flat upon their faces before this invisible Nebuchadnezzar, whilst

"He in his cloudy tabernacle shrined
Sojourned the while."

"The music might be considered as a sort of birth-day ode, or state anthem, the burthen of which was, '_Bow down your heads all ye dwellers upon earth, bow down your heads before the great Kien-long, the great Kien-long_.' And then all the dwellers upon China earth there present, except ourselves, bowed down their heads and prostrated themselves upon the ground at every renewal of the chorus. Indeed, in no religion either ancient or modern has the divinity ever been addressed, I believe, with stronger exterior marks of worship and adoration than were this morning paid to the phantom of his Chinese majesty. Such is the mode of celebrating the Emperor's anniversary festival, according to the court ritual. We saw nothing of him the whole day, nor did any of his ministers, I imagine, approach him, for they all seemed to retire at the same moment that we did.

"In the course of a tour we made in the gardens with the prime minister and other great officers of state, whom the Emperor had directed to attend us, we were entertained at one of the palaces with a collation of petitpatis, salt relishes, and other savoury dishes, with fruits and sweetmeats, milk and ice-water; and as soon as we rose from table, a number of yellow boxes, or drawers, were carried in procession before us, containing several pieces of silk and porcelain, which we were told were presents to us from the Emperor, and we consequently made our bows as they passed. We were also amused with a Chinese puppet-shew which differs but little from an English one. There are a distressed princess confined in a castle, and a knight-errant, who, after fighting wild beasts and dragons, sets her at liberty and marries her; wedding-feasts, jousts, and tournaments. Besides these, there was also a comic drama, in which some personages not unlike punch and his wife, Bandemeer and Scaramouch performed capital parts. This puppet-shew, we were told, properly belongs to the ladies' apartments, but was sent out as a particular compliment to entertain us; one of the performances was exhibited with great applause from our conductors, and I understand it is a favourite piece at court.

"On the morning of the 18th September we again went to court, in consequence of an invitation from the Emperor, to see the Chinese comedy and other diversions given on occasion of his birth-day. The comedy began at eight o'clock and lasted till noon. The Emperor was seated on a throne, opposite the stage, which projected a good deal into the pit. The boxes were on each side without seats or divisions. The women were placed above, behind the lattices, so that they might enjoy the amusements of the theatre without being observed.

"Soon after we came in, the Emperor sent for Sir George Staunton and me to attend him, and told us, with great condescension of manner, that we ought not to be surprised to see a man of his age at the theatre, for that he seldom came there except upon a very particular occasion like the present, for that, considering the extent of his dominions and the number of his subjects, he could spare but little time for such amusements. I endeavoured, in the turn of my answer, to lead him towards the subject of my embassy, but he seemed not disposed to enter into it farther than by delivering me a little box of old japan, in the bottom of which were some pieces of agate and other stones much valued by the Chinese and Tartars; and at the top a small book written and painted by his own hand, which he desired me to present to the king my master as a token of his friendship saying, that the old box had been 800 years in his family. He, at the same time, gave me a book for myself also written and painted by him, together with several purses for Areca nut. He likewise gave a purse of the same sort to Sir George Staunton, and sent some small presents to the other gentlemen of the embassy. After this several pieces of silk or porcelain, but seemingly of no great value, were distributed among the Tartar princes and chief courtiers, who appeared to receive them with every possible demonstration of humility and gratitude.

"The theatrical entertainments consisted of great variety, both tragical and comical; several distinct pieces were acted in succession, though without any apparent connexion with one another. Some of them were historical, and others of pure fancy, partly in _recitativo_, partly in singing, and partly in plain speaking, without any accompaniment of instrumental music, but abounding in battles, murders, and most of the usual incidents of the drama. Last of all was the grand pantomime which, from the approbation it met with, is, I presume, considered as a first-rate effort of invention and ingenuity. It seemed to me, as far as I could comprehend it, to represent the marriage of the ocean and the earth. The latter exhibited her various riches and productions, dragons, and elephants, and tygers, and eagles, and ostriches, oaks and pines, and other trees of different kinds. The ocean was not behind hand, but poured forth on the stage the wealth of his dominions, under the figures of whales and dolphins, porpesses and leviathans, and other sea monsters, besides ships, rocks, shells, spunges, and corals, all performed by concealed actors, who were quite perfect in their parts, and performed their characters to admiration. These two marine and land regiments, after separately parading in a circular procession for a considerable time, at last joined together and, forming one body, came to the front of the stage when, after a few evolutions, they opened to the right and left, to give room for the whale, who seemed to be the commanding officer, to waddle forward; and who, taking his station exactly opposite to the Emperor's box, spouted out of his mouth into the pit several tons of water, which quickly disappeared through the perforations of the floor. This ejaculation was received with the highest applause, and two or three of the great men at my elbow desired me to take particular notice of it; repeating, at the same time, '_Hao, kung hao!_'--'_charming, delightful!_'

"A little before one o'clock in the afternoon we retired, and at four we returned to court to see the evening's entertainments, which were exhibited on the lawn, in front of the great tent or pavilion, where we had been first presented to the Emperor. He arrived very soon after us, mounted his throne, and gave the signal to begin. We had now wrestling and dancing, and tumbling and posture-making, which appeared to us particularly awkward and clumsy, from the performers being mostly dressed according to the Chinese _costume_, one inseparable part of which is a pair of heavy quilted boots with the soles of an inch thick. The wrestlers, however, seemed to be pretty expert and afforded much diversion to such as were admirers of the _Palæstra_.

"A boy climbed up a pole or bamboo thirty or forty feet high, played several gambols, and balanced himself on the top of it in various attitudes, but his performance fell far short of what I have often met with in India of the same kind.

"A fellow lay down on his back, and then raised his feet, legs, and thighs from his middle, perpendicularly, so as to form a right angle with his body. On the soles of his feet was placed a large round empty jar, about four feet long and from two and a half to three feet diameter. This he balanced for some time, turning it round and round horizontally, till one of the spectators put a little boy into it, who, after throwing himself into various postures at the mouth of it, came out and sat on the top. He then stood up, then fell flat upon his back, then shifted to his belly, and after shewing a hundred tricks of that sort, jumped down upon the ground and relieved his coadjutor.

"A man then came forward and after fastening three slender sticks to each of his boots took six porcelain dishes of about eighteen inches diameter, and balancing them separately at the end of a little ivory rod, which he held in his hand, and twirling them about for some time, put them one after the other upon the points of the six bootsticks abovementioned, they continuing to turn round all the while. He then took two small sticks in his left hand, and put dishes upon them in the same manner as upon the other, and also one more upon the little finger of his right hand, so that he had nine dishes annexed to him at once, all twirling together, which in a few minutes he took off one by one and placed them regularly on the ground, without the slightest interruption or miscarriage.

"There were many other things of the same kind, but I saw none at all comparable to the tumbling, rope-dancing, wire-walking, and straw balancing of Sadler's-Wells; neither did I observe any seats of equitation in the style of Hughes's and Ashley's amphitheatres, although I had been always told that the Tartars were remarkably skilful in the instruction and discipline of their horses. Last of all were the fire-works which, in some particulars, exceeded any thing of the kind I had ever seen. In grandeur, magnificence, and variety, they were, I own, inferior to the Chinese fire-works we had seen at Batavia, but infinitely superior in point of novelty, neatness, and ingenuity of contrivance. One piece of machinery I greatly admired; a green chest of five feet square was hoisted up by a pulley to the height of fifty or sixty feet from the ground; the bottom was so constructed as then suddenly to fall out, and make way for twenty or thirty strings of lanterns inclosed in the box to descend from it, unfolding themselves from one another by degrees so as at last to form a collection of at least five hundred, each having a light of a beautifully coloured flame burning brightly within it. This devolution and developement of lanterns (which appeared to me to be composed of gauze and paper) were several times repeated, and every time exhibited a difference of colour and figure. On each side was a correspondence of smaller boxes, which opened in like manner as the others, and let down an immense network of fire, with divisions and compartments of various forms and dimensions, round and square, hexagons, octagons and lozenges, which shone like the brightest burnished copper, and flashed like prismatic lightning, with every impulse of the wind. The diversity of colours indeed with which the Chinese have the secret of cloathing fire seems one of the chief merits of their pyrotechny. The whole concluded with a volcano, or general explosion and discharge of suns and stars, squibs, bouncers, crackers, rockets, and grenadoes, which involved the gardens for above an hour after in a cloud of intolerable smoke. Whilst these entertainments were going forward the Emperor sent to us a variety of refreshments, all which, as coming from him, the etiquette of the court required us to partake of, although we had dined but a short time before.

"However meanly we must think of the taste and delicacy of the court of China, whose most refined amusements seem to be chiefly such as I have now described, together with the wretched dramas of the morning, yet it must be confessed, that there was something grand and imposing in the general effect that resulted from the whole _spectacle_. The Emperor himself being seated in front upon his throne, and all his great men and officers attending in their robes of ceremony, and stationed on each side of him, some standing, some sitting, some kneeling, and the guards and standard-bearers behind them in incalculable numbers. A dead silence was rigidly observed, not a syllable articulated, nor a laugh exploded during the whole performance."

Such was the reception and the entertainment of the British Embassador at the court of Gehol, in _Mantchoo_ Tartary, during the days of the festival of the Emperor's anniversary. I now proceed to give some account of the manner in which the Dutch Embassadors were received, and the entertainments that took place on the occasion of the festival of the new year, as related in the manuscript journal above alluded to.

This journalist observes that, on approaching the capital of the empire, they were not a little astonished to find that the farther they advanced the more miserable and poor was the apparent condition of the people, and the face of the country; the clay-built huts and those of ill-burnt bricks were crumbling to dust; the temples were in ruins, the earthen gods were demolished, and their fragments strewed on the ground; and the district was thinly inhabited. The following day they entered Pekin but were turned out again to take up their lodgings in the suburbs, in a sort of stable. From this place they were ordered to proceed to the palace in their old travelling dresses, as their baggage was not yet arrived. They were drawn in small carts as crazy and as much out of order as their own dresses. Sitting in the bottom of these carts, without any seats, they waited within the walls of the palace a full hour, while an empty room was swept out for their reception. Having remained here for some time, a few planks were brought in, on which were arranged a number of dishes of meat and fish, stewed in different ways. Having finished their repast, thus ended their first day's visit.

The following morning, at five o'clock, they were again summoned to court, and ushered into a small room like that of the preceding day, without any kind of furniture. The weather being extremely cold, the thermometer many degrees below the freezing point, the Embassadors prevailed on the people to make a little fire which after some time was brought in, not however without letting them understand that it was an extraordinary mark of favour, it being the custom of the Chinese to let all Embassadors wait the arrival of the Emperor in the open air.

At length the Emperor made his appearance, carried by eight men in a yellow sedan chair. On his approaching the place where the Embassadors and their suite were standing, they were directed by the master of the ceremonies to fall down on their knees, and in this posture the first Embassador was instructed to hold in both his hands, above his head, the gold box in which was contained the letter for the Emperor: the second minister then stepped forwards, and took the letter out of his hands, which he delivered to the Emperor; and, at the same time, they were directed to bow their heads nine times to the ground, in token of acknowledgment for the gracious reception they had met with from his Chinese Majesty.

This ceremony being ended, they were desired to follow the Emperor's chair, which was carried to the side of a pond or bason in the gardens, then frozen over. From this place the Emperor was drawn on a sledge to a tent pitched on the ice, whilst the Embassador and his suite were conducted into a dirty hovel little better than a pig-stye, where they were desired to sit down on a sort of bench built of stone and mortar; for, like the room they were put into on a former day, it was destitute of the least furniture; and they were told that something presently would be brought for them to eat. On complaining to their conductors that this was not the manner in which they were accustomed to sit down to meat, and that they did not conceive such apartments to be at all suitable to the situation they had the honour to hold, they were shortly afterwards conducted into another room, little better however than the first, but partly furnished with a few old chairs and tables. The candlesticks were small blocks of wood, to which the candles were fastened with a couple of nails. A few dishes of stewed meat were served up and, as a great delicacy from the Emperor's table, were brought in, without any dish, a pair of stag's legs, which the Chinese threw down upon the naked table; and for this mark of imperial favour they were required to make the customary genuflections and nine prostrations.

Van Braam, in the journal which he or some of his friends published in Paris, gives a curious account of the manner in which they were fed from the Emperor's table: "La viande consistait en un morceau de côtes sur lequelles il n'y avait point un demi-pouce d'épaisseur d'une chair maigre, en un petit os de l'épaule ou il n'y avait presque pas de chair, et en quatre ou cinq autres ossemens fournis par le dos ou par les pattes d'un mouton, et qui semblaient avoir été déja rongés. Tout ce dégoûtant ensemble était sur un plat sale et paraissait plutôt destiné à faire le regal d'un chien que le repas d'un homme. En Holland le dernier des mendians recevrait, dans un hôpital, une pittance plus propre, et cependant c'est une marque d'honneur de la part d'un Empereur envers un Ambassadeur! Peut-être mème etait-ce le reste du Prince, et dans ce cas, selon l'opinion des Chinois, c'était le dernier terme de la faveur, puisque nous pouvions achever l'os que sa Majesté avait commencé à nettoyer."--"The meat consisted of a small piece of the ribs, on which there was not half an inch in thickness of lean flesh, and a small shoulder-blade almost without any upon it; and in four or five other pieces of bones from the back, or the legs of a sheep, which appeared to have been already gnawed. The whole of this disgusting mess was brought upon a dirty plate, and seemed much rather intended to feast a dog than as a refreshment for man. In Holland the meanest beggar would receive in an hospital his allowance in a neater manner; and yet it was intended as a mark of honour on the part of an Emperor towards an Embassador! Perhaps it was even the remains of the Sovereign, and in that case, according to the opinion of the Chinese, it was the greatest possible act of favour, since we should then have had an opportunity of finishing the bone which his Imperial Majesty had begun to pick."

The Dutch gentlemen, equally disgusted with the meanness and filthiness of the place, and with the pride and haughtiness of the people, became now reconciled to the shabby appearance of their old travelling dresses, which they began to consider as fully good enough for the occasion.

Having finished their elegant repast, the amusements of the day commenced on the ice. The Emperor made his appearance in a sort of sledge, supported by the figures of four dragons. This machine was moved about by several great Mandarins, some dragging before, and others pushing behind. The four principal ministers of state were also drawn upon the ice in their sledges by inferior mandarins. Whole troops of civil and military officers soon appeared, some on sledges, some on skaits, and others playing at football upon the ice, and he that picked up the ball was rewarded by the Emperor. The ball was then hung up in a kind of arch, and several mandarins shot at it, in passing on skaits, with their bows and arrows. Their skaits were cut off short under the heel, and the forepart was turned up at right angles. Owing to this form, or to the inexpertness of the skaiters, they could not stop themselves on a sudden, but always tumbled one over the other whenever they came near the edge of the ice, or towards the quarter where the Emperor happened to be.

Leaving this place, they were carried through several narrow streets, composed of miserable houses, forming a surprising contrast with the proud walls of the palace. They were conducted into a small room of one of these houses, almost void of furniture, in order to pay their compliments to _Ho-tchung-tang_, the Collao, or prime minister, whom they found sitting cross-legged on a truckle bedstead with cane bottom. Before this creature of fortune, whose fate I shall have occasion hereafter to notice, they were obliged to go down on their knees. Like a true prime minister of China, he waved all conversation that might lead towards business, talked to them of the length of their journey, was astonished how they bore the cold weather in such scanty clothing, and such like general topics, which, in fact, signified nothing. From the first minister they paid their visit to the second, whom they found lodged in a similar manner; after which they returned to their mean apartments in the city, more satisfied on a comparison with the miserable little chambers in which they had found the two first ministers of this far-famed empire lodged, and the mean hovels which they met with in the very center of the space shut in by the walls of the imperial palace. The impressions that the events and transactions of this day made on the minds of the visitors were those of utter astonishment, on finding every thing so very much the reverse of what they had been led to expect.

The following day they were again drawn to court in their little carts, before four o'clock in the morning, where, after having waited about five hours in empty rooms, similar to those of the preceding day, two or three great men (_Ta-gin_) called upon them, but behaved towards them in a distant, scornful, and haughty manner. "We had once more," observes the Dutch journalist, from which I quote, "an occasion to remark the surprising contrast of magnificence and meanness in the buildings, and of pride and littleness in the persons belonging to the imperial palace."

After these interviews, they were suffered to remain a day or two at home; but on a bag of dried grapes being brought by a mandarin from the Emperor, they were required to thank him for the present with nine prostrations, as usual. Another time a little pastry from the imperial kitchen demanded the same ceremony. In short, whether at home or in the palace, the Chinese were determined they should be kept in the constant practice of the _koo-too_, or ceremony of genuflexion and prostration.

On the 26th of January, the Embassadors received notice that it was expected they should attend the procession of the Emperor to the temple, where he was about to make an offering to the God of Heaven and of earth. Having waited accordingly by the road side, from three o'clock in the morning till six, the weather dismally cold, Fahrenheit's thermometer standing at 16° below the freezing point, the Emperor at length passed in his chair, when they made the usual prostrations and returned home.

The next morning they were again required to proceed to the same place, and at the same early hour, to witness his return and again to go through the usual ceremony.

On the 29th, they were again summoned to attend by the road side to do homage before the Emperor, as he passed them on his way to a pagoda or _Poo-ta-la_, a kind of temple or monastery, where a great number of priests, clothed in yellow, lived together in a state of celibacy; and here he made his burnt-offerings. The mystical rates performed, presents were brought out for the Embassador and suite, and also for the _King_ of _Holland_, consisting of little purses, flimsey silks, and a coarse stuff somewhat similar to that known by seamen under the name of _bunting_; and, in token of gratitude for this mark of imperial kindness, they were directed again to _bow down their heads to the ground_.

On the 30th, it was announced to them that the Emperor intended to pay a visit to his palace at _Yuen-min-yuen_, and that it would be necessary for them to follow him thither; after having, as usual, paid their respects in the Chinese manner by the road side as he passed.

On the 31st, they were conducted round the grounds of _Yuen-min-yuen_ by several Mandarins, and received great satisfaction in viewing the vast variety of buildings, and the good taste in which the gardens and pleasure grounds were laid out, and which wore an agreeable aspect, even in the depth of winter. In one of the buildings they saw the several presents deposited, which had been carried the preceding year by the Earl of Macartney. They were stowed away with no great care, among many other articles, in all probability never more to see the light of day. It seems the elegant carriages of Hatchett, that were finished with so much care and objects of admiration even in London, were here carelessly thrown behind one of their mean and clumsy carts, to which they pretended to bestow a preference. Capricious as children, the toy once played with must be thrown aside and changed for something new; or, in this instance, it would not be out of character to suppose, that the two vehicles had designedly been placed together to point out to Europeans of how little estimation the Chinese considered their articles of ostentation, when they could perform the same services by simpler and less expensive means.

The Dutch Embassadors and their suite were now to have a specimen of the court entertainments, and the polite amusements of this grand empire. They consisted chiefly of the contortions of the human body, practiced by posture-masters; of rope-dancing, and a sort of pantomimic performance, the principal characters of which were men dressed in skins, and going on all-fours, intended to represent wild beasts; and a parcel of boys habited in the dresses of mandarins, who were to hunt them. This extraordinary chace, and the music, and the rope-dancing, put the Emperor into such good humour, that he rewarded the performers very liberally. And the Empress and the ladies, who were in an upper part of the house concealed behind a sort of venetian blinds, appeared from their tittering noise to be highly entertained. The whole concluded, though in the middle of the day, with a variety of fire-works; and the Chinese part of the company departed seemingly well satisfied with these diversions.

An eclipse of the moon happening on the fourth of February gave occasion to the Embassadors to enjoy a little rest at home, though they were summoned to attend the palace at a very early hour in the morning. The Emperor and his mandarins were engaged the whole day in devoutly praying the gods that the moon might not be eaten up by the great dragon that was hovering about her. Recovered from their apprehensions, an entertainment was given the following day, at which the Embassadors were required to be present. After a number of juggling tricks and infantine sports, a pantomime, intended to be an exhibition of the battle of the dragon and the moon, was represented before the full court. In this engagement two or three hundred priests, bearing lanterns suspended at the ends of long sticks, performed a variety of evolutions, dancing and capering about, sometimes over the plain, and then over chairs and tables, affording to his Imperial Majesty and to his courtiers the greatest pleasure and satisfaction.

On the fifteenth of February the Dutch Embassadors left Pekin, having remained there thirty-six days, during which they were scarcely allowed to have a single day's rest, but were obliged, at the most unseasonable hours, in the depth of winter, when the thermometer was seldom higher than 10 or 12 degrees below the freezing point, to dance attendance upon the Emperor and the great officers of state, whenever they might think fit to call upon them; and to submit to the degrading ceremony of knocking the head nine times against the ground, at least on thirty different occasions, and without having the satisfaction of gaining by this unconditional compliance any one earthly thing, beyond a compliment from the Emperor, _that they went through their prostrations to admiration_! And they were finally obliged to leave the capital without being once allowed to speak on any kind of business, or even asked a single question as to the nature of their mission, which, indeed, the Chinese were determined to take for granted was purely complimentary to their great Emperor.