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sight more disgusting, than anything he had ever witnessed in a dissectingroom. The bandages employed are made of silk, which are rarely removed, and these are covered with fresh ones from time to time, and over all the dwarf-shoe is secured, the pointed toe of which is stuffed with cotton. Owing to their maimed feet, the women cannot walk any distance, even with the assistance of sticks or crutches, which they always use in the house. The hobbling motion of one who attempts to do so, is considered most graceful by the Chinese; and ladies who essay the exploit, are poetically called " Tottering willows." Women of the higher orders, when they go abroad, are carried in sedan-chairs or boats, but those who cannot afford to command such equipages, are carried on the backs of men, or of women blessed with undeformed feet. In the families of the wealthy inhabitants, all the daughters are thus maimed for life; but among the poorer classes, if there are two or more daughters, one is always deprived of pedestrian power, and she is hence invariably considered superior to her sisters, and may become a wife. The others can never become more than

handmaids, except they intermarry with the very lowest. This horrid and barbarous taste is most unaccountable in a nation, where the undistorted natural foot of woman is the very model of beauty; the high instep is equal to the Andalusian, and the arch of the sole rivals that of the Arab; the ancle, which in the distorted foot becomes revoltingly thick, is symmetry itself. Such a foot, of course, can only be seen among the lower classes. The whole female character seems to be completely changed by the barbarous practice in question; for the countenance of a Chinese beauty is always void of animation, and somewhat expressive of the suffering which her ligatured feet may produce, while the countenances of uncrippled females are full of vivacity.

In the course of conversation with Lum-Qua (the celebrated Chinese artist), who is an exceedingly intelligent man, I asked his opinion of an English belle then in Canton, and his reply was truly characteristic of the Chinese ideas of beauty-" Her face

is too round, her eyes too blue, too large; she's too tall, and too plump, and feet so large SHE CAN WALK ON THEM."

Chinese ideas of a beautiful face are as dissimilar to ours, as their notions of comely feet. A Chinawoman, to be considered handsome, must have a thin, flat face, high cheek-bones, a circular mouth, a very small, long eye, arched eyebrows, low forehead, and a countenance void of expression: her figure must be nearly devoid of flesh, and the slightest development of bosom would mar her pretensions. The skin must be of a pale yellow hue, convertible into a dirty white by means of cosmetics, for there is no nation where the women rely so much on foreign aid as the Chinese. They are literally one mass of paints, oil, pork-fat, and false hair. Notwithstanding these prejudices, I have occasionally seen very good looking females in China, of a very dark, brunette colour, with much animation of countenance, and pleasing. features. Although they smoke and chew betel, the teeth of the lower orders are very beautiful, and the bands and arms of this class, including even the boatwomen, are very finely shaped and proportioned-taking them as a nation, their hands and arms are the most beautiful I have ever seen. The Chinese have as strange ideas about nails as they have about feet-they allow them to grow to an incredible length, and the ladies suffer them to become so long that at night they soften them in oil, and twist them from round their wrists to prevent them being broken. I have seen men with the nails of the middle and small fingers as long as the fingers themselves; and these they put at night into silver cases, to preserve them, and to such an extent is this practice carried, that the upper servants and shopkeepers always endeavour to let a nail grow, as a sign that they do not work at a trade.

The price of a wife or handmaid varies from one dollar to five thousand or six thousand teals,* and a man who can not pay the whole amount at once, does so by instalments. At first they give what is termed the bargain-money, which binds the parents of the female to dispose of her to no one else; when the last instalment is paid, and the presents given, then, and not until

* A "tael" is a sum equal to six shillings and four pence.

then, is the bride or concubine transferred to the purchaser. Presents are invariably given by the bridegroom to the bride's parents, which are sometimes of a very ludicrous kind, such as a fat pig, chests of tea, sugar-candy, preserved fruits, &c.; these are invariably agreed on, both as to description and quantity, when the bargain is made. Early marriages are encou raged in China, among the wealthy classes and the mandarins, as the matrimonial age varies from sixteen to twenty in males, and from twelve to fourteen amongst females. The poorer classes marry as soon as they acquire sufficient money to purchase a wife, and defray the attendant expenses. There are no Chinese customs so little understood as their marriages; thus we often hear of the number of a Chinaman's wives, while he can only have one wife. Among the mandarins and wealthy classes, the wife is always chosen from their own sphere of life, and the marriage is celebrated with solemn rites; and she takes her husband's name. There is some sort of religious ceremony performed in the bridegroom's house. The bride is conducted thither in great state in a sedan-chair, which is decorated most gaily, and covered over with artificial flowers, and white, being the mourning colour in China, is carefully avoided on all bridal occasions. Numerous attendants precede and follow, carrying flags, and lanterns, and beating gongs: some bear mandarin-ducks, either alive or carved in wood, as emblems of conjugal fidelity; and, it is said, that when one of these ducks dies, the sorrowing mate immediately drowns itself, by putting its head under water. There is also a great display of ladies' dresses and presents, and the grandeur of the spectacle is measured by the number of attendants, and their enjoyment, by the amount of noise. Upon reaching the bridegroom's house, the bride, who is veiled, is carried over the sill of the door by matrons, her own friends, who must be the mothers of numerous families; and she is thus conveyed across the threshold, as it is considered unlucky for her to place her foot upon the ground. After various ceremonies, the husband and wife sit down to eat together, for the first and last time in her life.

The marriage tie can only be disse

VOL. XXXII.-NO. CLXXXVIII.

The

vered by the husband for one of seven causes barrenness, adultery, disobedience to himself or his parents, talkativeness, thieving, ill-temper, and inveterate infirmities. Though the wife should be found guilty of any of these offences, yet she cannot be divorced if she has mourned for her husband's parents, if property has been acquired since their marriage, or if her own parents are dead. Thus the wife is in possession of established legal rights; it is otherwise with a handmaiden, who never receives the name of wife, and the handmaiden is invariably bought from a family inferior to that of the purchaser. She is brought home without ceremony, has no legal rights, and can be sold, or given away. children by these handmaids inherit, but after the children by the wife, if she has any; if there is no male issue by the wife, then the son of a handmaid will succeed. A man may have as many handmaids as he can afford to purchase or support; indeed I knew an instance of a wealthy Chinaman who had one wife, and nine handmaids. The upper class of servants have generally one wife, and one handmaiden. The wife invariably has distorted feet, and, amongst the wealthy, the handmaids have generally the same deformity. Amongst the higher orders there is a distinction in the dress: the wife wears a petticoat over her trowsers, as well as a jacket, while the handmaiden only wears a jacket and trowsers: the wife's dress is also much richer, and although they eat in the same room, still the wife sits at a separate table, and to a certain extent the handmaids are her servants. The chastity of women is so little trusted, that the Chinese will not allow a male attendant to approach them after ten years of age, and male children are always taken from their mothers at ten years' old, and educated with the men.

Smoking is carried to such an extent that female children acquire the habit at a very early age, and a bag to carry tobacco is a necessary appendage to a lady's suite. The anxiety of the Chinese for a family is very great, but they never reckon a daughter anything; if a man has not a son, he adopts one, if possible, the son of a younger brother; and such adoption is under the sanction of the law. One great ob. ject of a Chinaman through life is to

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ensure the perpetuation of his name ; without a son, he lives without estimation, as he dies without hope, and he sorrows that he has none of his name or race to sacrifice to his manes, and pay the usual tribute to his memory. So much value do the Chinese place upon male offspring, that it not unfrequently happens a man will bribe the midwife to purchase a male child of some poor person, and substitute it for his own daughter. The power of a father over his children is absolute in China, and he may dispose of them in any manner he pleases. A widow in the higher ranks is prohibited by law from contracting a second marriage; but one in an inferior walk of life is at liberty to do so if she pleases, although the permission is seldom taken advantage of, owing to the fact that, during widowhood, she has sole controul over the property and children of her deceased husband. This privilege would be lost to her if she married, as then the next brother, or next of kin, would be entitled to manage the property and

become the guardian of the children: should the eldest son, however, be of sufficient age, the duty would devolve upon him.

Infanticide, as it regards female children, is commonly reported to be carried out to a frightful extent in China. That such a crime should occasionally occur is very possible, and by no means unlikely; but it appears contrary to reason and common sense to suppose that it can be generally practised, when we take into calculation the amount of the female population of the Empire, and the numerous handmaidens belonging to each man in addition to his wife, as they have generally two or three handmaidens, and more, in proportion to their means. tudes of females, also, are sold in their infancy, who are bred up in a course of infamy; it is, therefore, almost impossible to conceive that the births of females should so far exceed those of males in China, as to admit of female infanticide being carried to any extent.

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CHAPTER VII. A MANDARIN PROPOSES TO PURCHASE AN ENGLISH LADYINVITATION AND VISIT ON BOARD A WAR-JUNK-MODE OF INVOKING DEITY FOR FAIR WIND.

A DESCRIPTION of a Chinese war-junk, which I had the good fortune to visit, and of my introduction to her, may not be unentertaining to the reader. Having become acquainted with the second mandarin, who was about twenty-five years old, he invited me to go on board his ship, which was probably of the first class, as she had two mandarins on board.

I had very

nearly determined to abandon my inspection of his vessel, as my indig nation was excited by the mandarin's proposition to purchase a lady nearly connected with me. His mode of proceeding was not a little remarkable, and showed that he was well versed in the art of making a bargain, for in the true spirit of barter, he first proposed to take her off my hands at a low price, and proceeded to bid for her at a gradually increasing rate, till he offered the highest price ever given for a wife; studiously informing me, at the same time, that he would neither require her wardrobe nor her jewels. Upon learning it was not the custom of British gentlemen

to sell ladies, he expressed his regret, but begged to be allowed to buy her watch and chain! I am convinced, however, that he did not intend any insult by these propositions, as he was totally unacquainted with European habits. Observing that her feet were uncrippled, he could not reconcile to his mind the idea that she could be above the condition of a handmaida state to which no disgrace attaches in China, and which admits here of mercantile negotiation. Having satis fied my mind as to the real character of his proposals, I lent a ready ear to his courteous and pressing invita tion to return his visit on the following day; and my new friend having obtained my promise to wait on him, rowed off from my vessel to his own, in a twelve-oared boat; the next day when our party came alongside the war-junk, my friend came forward, and made signs for me to wait. The delay, it afterwards appeared, arose from the fact, that the first mandarin had, in the meantime, arrived on board, whom it became necessary to

consult as to our reception; and after a short time we were ushered on deck, to which we ascended by a very rudelyconstructed ladder. We found an immense number of Chinese sailors on board, leading us to conclude that she was more numerously manned, in proportion to her size, than the ships of our navy. We were conducted by my friend into the cabin, which we entered by descending two or three steps from the main deck. The end of the cabin, comprising the whole breadth of the stern, was occupied as a joss-house, fitted up in the usual manner, with lanterns: on either side there was a smaller cabin, from one of which came forth, walking majestically, the first mandarin, clad in silken robes and velvet cape. He was a very fine-looking man, of commanding and stately appearance, with a remarkably intelligent countenance, and about thirty-six years of age. He almost started back with amazement upon seeing my companion. The gentlemen of the party standing up as he entered, he motioned us to be reseated, and would not himself take a seat until we had resumed ours. He then sat down on one side of a table, opposite to the lady, and directed tea and sweetmeats to be produced, an order which was instantly complied with. It appeared most extraordinary to us, that he, a man of rank, in a nation holding females in such contempt, should have so far deviated from their prejudices and customs, as to rise, and with his own hand, present the lady first with tea, leaving the second mandarin to hand it to us. This he did with the same degree of courtesy with which a similar act would have been performed in Europe. Finding that the inferior officers and crew were pressing forward, and crowding the steps leading into the cabin, to stare at us, he rebuked them in a very peremptory tone, and was reluctantly obeyed. There was no door or partition of any kind to the cabin, which lay exposed to the view of all on deck. The crew did not seem to be under the same discipline that prevails with us, but possibly they were so according to Chinese notions. An order being given, two musicians stepped out from the midst of the crew, and seated themselves upon the steps, each supplied with a musical instrument re

sembling a guitar, but of different shapes, and they commenced one of their horribly-discordant songs-songs which the mandarins seemed to enjoy. They laughed and smiled most approvingly, and regarded us most anxiously, with a view apparently to discover from our countenances if the entertainment met with similar approbation on our part. During this performance, pipes were prepared, lighted, and handed round: the first mandarin offered one to the lady, which, of course, was refused; and we gentlemen were handed pipes, which we smoked with them: but the second mandarin jumped up, as if a sudden idea had flashed across his mind, and filling an opium-pipe, went into his cabin, where, having prepared his bed, spreading over it a silken coverlet, he made signs to my companion to induce her to lie down, and smoke the drug. Great was his surprise, and deep his apparent regret, at her refusal: and if ever one of Eve's daughters repented of gratifying the curiosity so natural to them, her repentance was genuine for having gone on board. At this moment her countenance was the picture of terror, firmly believing, as she did, that some mischief or evil was contemplated; and she expressed great anxiety to depart as speedily as possible. During the time we were smoking, the first mandarin gazed upon her face and attire with evident astonishment, as one who had seen something strange for the first time; and standing up, with a courteous movement, he placed the forefinger of his right hand upon the cap and flowers under her bonnet, and then cautiously upon her cheek, as if he wished to discover whether the former were part and parcel of her person. He then pointed to her brooch and watch, which were alternately handed to him for inspection, and having examined each with much attention, he returned them with much grace; he examined her nails, and finding them inadequate to his ideas of proportion, he looked down at her feet, which being uncrippled, he was evidently much puzzled, possibly from his inability to contemplate her as a wife, or to reconcile to his mind the idea of her having been refused to be sold for so large a sum to his junior offerer, who was evidently recounting to him the whole story connected with

his mercenary proposition. His conduct and deportment towards her, however, was a perfect enigma, considering his prejudices concerning women; for his manner was even more polished and respectful than that of a European gentleman would have been. After we finished our pipes, he conducted us with the utmost pride over his ship, evidently deeming his arrangements, appointments, and various appendages, unexceptionable. He took both my hands in his, knocked them against his breast, and, at the same time, bent his body forward. He retained my hands within his, as he led me forward round each gun, and pausing now and then, looked for expressions of satisfaction and admiration; while I endeavoured as much as possible to impress him with an idea of my acknowledgments and wonder.

The junk was a two-decker, and had thirty guns on each deck; and I found these guns varying in their calibre, construction, and form, to a considerable extent. Some were of a much more modern construction than others, which were evidently very ancient ; one or two guns were of brass, and were well finished, which he seemed to regard with great pride. The guns on both decks corresponded in variety, and they were all firmly fixed, it never being contemplated that any occasion could arise, when it would be desirable to change their elevation or position. This arrangement was only in accordance with the Chinese system of gunnery; as it is their practice only to fire the gun which happens to be pointed most in the direction of the object to be struck, never thinking of making many guns bear upon the same point. A variety of national, warlike implements were hung about, such as pikes, axes, and spears, issuing from the centre of a half-moon (made to fit nicely on a man's neck), on the end of

a handle ten feet long, bows and arrows, and such like. The dirt and filth were essentially Chinese. The crew wore no uniform on this occasion, and were distributed about in various messes, either cooking or eating. The second mandarin treated the first with the same, or even more, respect than a first lieutenant would his captain. After seeing everything, the first mandarin conducted us to the top of the ladder, and in a most courteous manner took his leave of us, while my friend remained to see us off. I should men tion that I took a present of cherrybrandy on board, which was quaffed by our hosts in an inconceivably short time, with evident satisfaction. In a day or two after the visit, this warjunk weighed anchor, and was relieved by another, which saluted her on her departure with a number of guns.

In every war-junk, as well as in all other vessels, the Chinese perform a kind of religious ceremony; or, in Anglo-Chinese, they "chin-chin Joss," morning and evening, by burning pieces of paper, and joss-sticks, accompanied with the beating of gongs. The larger the junk or boat is, the greater is the noise, as the gongs are more numerous and of greater size. Previous to the sailing of a ship, this rite is performed with much greater ceremony than on other occasions; they cut off the head of a cock (one of the largest and best which can be procured), besmear the bow with his blood, and finally throw him into the water; as by this sacrifice, they hope to propitiate the deity, and insure a favourable breeze. The cock is a bird used on various religious occasions, and a Chinaman's oath is taken by cutting off a cock's head-an act by which the deponent expresses his desire that, if he should state a falsehood, his head may be cut off in a similar manner, both in this world and in the next.

CHAPTER VIII.-RELIGION OF THE CHINESE-THREE RELIGIOUS SECTS-DESCRIPTION OF JOSS-HOUSES-TEMPLE OF HANON AND SACRED SWINE-BOATWOMAN PROPITIATING HER HUSBAND'S MANES-PEASANT MAKING OFFERINGS TO QUIVISIT OF ONE JOSS TO THE TEMPLE OF ANOTHER-ROMAN CATHOLIC PROCESSION OF SAINTS, ANGELS, AND DEVILS, AT MACAO.

THE Chinese are divided into three religious sects-those of Buddha, Tuki-a-su, and Ja-on; but the Buddhists

are the most numerous. They appear to be imbued with little or no religious feelings, laugh at their padres

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