 | CHAP. VIII. Hau Kiou choaan |  |
CHAP. VIII.
SHUEY-ping-sin having sent her servant
with a present of money and
sweetmeats [as was before related] was
not a little impatient, when she found
he did not return. Her fears suggested
some mischief had happened, so that she
was plunged in great anxiety and concern,
till the afternoon, when her messenger
came back. She inquired the
reason of his stay, and was informed
that the young stranger was but
just departed from the city: that
her present had been delivered to him,
and that with it he had hired a mule
for his journey. She asked what he
had said at his departure. Then Shuey-
ordered to report. She said nothing
to him farther at that time, but
bidding him refresh himself retired to
her apartment. When she was alone,
she reflected, that although Tieh-chung-u
had met with disturbance on her account,
she had made him all the returns
in her power: that he was now fully
recovered, and was no longer involved
in trouble for her sake. This gave
her a satisfaction, which was alone
interrupted by her fears of some new
attack from Kwo-khé-tzu and her uncle:
to prevent and obviate these would,
she thought, require her attention.
Shame for the ill success of his
schemes had kept Shuey-guwin for some
she saw him enter with a visible
satisfaction in his countenance. He
came up and asked if she had heard
the news. "How should I who am
a woman and live recluse, she answered,
know what passes abroad in the
world?" He replied, "I will tell you.
When you brought home to your house
the young stranger Tieh, I thought so
highly of him, as to propose him to you
for a husband. Your steady refusal
was a great proof of your judgment
and penetration. If you had consented,
you would have been very unhappy.
Whom could you believe this
stranger to be?" She replied, "I know
nothing of him or his family. But his
discourse and actions shewed him to
uncle affected to laugh at this very
heartily: "Ay, ay! said he, a man of
great sense and honour to be sure! You
have always discovered great discernment
hitherto. Your eyes were like the sun.
How came they now to be so eclipsed?
Tieh-chung-u is an impostor; his
pretended sickness was all a cheat.
What ill intentions he had, I know
not: but you are very lucky, that he
did nothing here to involve you in disgrace.
The pitcher goes often up and
down the well, but is broken at last[75] .
coming to the village Tong-chin he was
She eagerly inquired, "What he had
he, of a rich man there, who had a
very fond. What brought him there I
woman away. The rich men in the
the inhabitants, than those of the city;
So that a great many people were dispatched
after them, who overtook them
both together; when they came up with
them, blows ensued, in consequence of
which they beat him till he was almost
killed. Then they carried him before
disputed with, and so provoked that
magistrate, that he gave out an order
to carry him before the Tao-yéé.
The result I have not heard: but
when he came before that audience, I
doubt not but he would let fall some
provoking word, and procure himself
to be beat so severely, as not to survive
it."
"Pray, Sir, said Shuey-ping-sin, how
"The Che-hien having been to
pay his compliments[79] to that Man-darine,
His niece upon this, laughed
that Tieh-chung-u is a bad man and
a cheat? If you should come and report
that Con-fu-cee[80] was guilty
of murder; what were that to me?"
"It is true, said her uncle, this is
nothing to you. I only tell you a
fact I have heard. I could not but
be sorry to see you receive a person into
your house, whom you neither knew,
nor whence he was. If you would
look out for men that are truly wise
and learned, you should go nearer
home; where their characters and families
are well known; where you
may easily be informed what studies
they follow, and what repute they are
in for their learning." "Uncle, said
me were true, I am no way concerned
in it; nor is it any business of
mine to enter upon its confutation. Yet
such is the opinion I have of that young
gentleman, and such proofs have I
seen of his integrity and worth, that
I am persuaded this is a malicious
and groundless calumny." "This
young man, he replied, is no enemy
of mine. Why then should I report
this, if it were not true? It was related
to me thus, by the Che-hien's
people. You are mistaken therefore
if you think him an honest man; you
might as well say, The yellow river is
clear[81] ." "Till I see it with my own
incapable of any thing base. This story
is incredible: It cannot be. Perhaps
it was some one, who resembled him
Uncle, be so good as to make farther
inquiry into this affair: and if you find
it to be, as you have related, I will
venture to give up both my eyes. For
certain I am, that he cannot have been
guilty of so dishonourable a thing."
Shuey-guwin laughed and said, "I would
not have you lose your eyes, but keep
them in their places. However, to convince
you, I will go again and inquire;
and when you find it true, how
will you be able to look me in the
face?" "I rather believe, Sir, said she,
you will be ashamed to see me, when
you find you are mistaken."
Shuey-guwin was a little piqued at
her answer, and hasted to the Che-hien's
audience. He inquired of the officers.
Others believed he was falsely accused.
At last he met with one who had been
present at the examination. From
him he learnt the whole truth of the
matter. Shuey-guwin was so ashamed
of his mistake, that he did not venture
at first to return to his niece. "This
girl, said he, is as cunning as a witch.
She is mistaken in nothing. What
shall I now do to get clear of this
affair? I will go and consult Kwo-khé-tzu."
To his house he repaired; where
he told him all that had passed, and how
ashamed he should be to contradict
his story. "Sir, and father-in-law, he
replied, you are surely a saint. Who
in these days, beside yourself, makes
any scruple of reporting a fact, as they
thing that is not[83] ? Tieh-chung-u hath
given us a good handle, and shall not we
make a song or history of him? There
are those, who can convert the least
shadow into substance; and if they catch
hold of a word, will compose a volume."
"You say true, replied the
other: but whom shall we get to draw up
this ballad?" "Who should do it but
myself, said Kwo-khé-tzu? Am not I
a student? I can do that surely!" Shuey-guwin
said, "If you will do it, it will
be very sufficient." "But although I
should compose this song, said the other,
I do not chuse to write it." "That,
replied his father-in-law, may be performed
it to be written shall be my care.
Come, let us see what you will make of
it." Kwo-khé-tzu stood a little to recollect
himself, and thus began.[84] * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Kwo-khé-tzu having repeated the foregoing
lines, Shuey-guwin, who had listened
to them with great attention,
clapped his hands and cried out, "Excellent!
Excellently good! But I am
afraid, said he, from the particular
will scarcely believe they are of any body's
composing but our own." "Let
her think so, if she pleases, replied the
other; that signifies nothing." Shuey-guwin
procured a person to write them;
and then took them with him: but
before he went, the other said to him,
"If your niece will be influenced in
my favour by those lines, it will be well.
If not, I shall soon be able to plague
her; for in a short time there will
come a Ngan-yuen or Grand Visitor
into this province[85] , who was a pupil
oblige her to marry me. And as
your brother hath no son, instead of
go and solemnize the marriage at her
own[87] . Then what tricks will she
find to evade it?" Here Shuey-guwin
started, and said, "I thought, at first,
you only wanted my niece. Now I
find you would have all she is possessed
of. I cannot consent to this. You
must carry her home, otherwise her
house and effects will be yours; nor
will it be in my power to handle then
said Kwo-khé-tzu, can you
think I have any thing in view beside
your niece? You cannot but know
I want for nothing. I am son of a
prime minister; and have every thing
at command. As for your brother's
house, when I am once possessed of
his daughter, you may depend on that
and all that belongs to it," "I am
satisfied, said the other, I will go and
carry the verses to my niece. If she
acquiesces, it is well. If she scolds, or
is angry, I will give her a hint about
the Grand Visitor. And whatever she
says, I will come and impart to you."
"Well, go then, replied the youth;
I will wait here till you bring me an
answer."
What the young lady says to this,
we must look for in the next chapter.
The Translator hath here subjoined the original
words, Wauh quoan poo ly tzhing shan po.
The Reader will remark the difference between
this proverb and its correspondent one with us,
The pitcher goes many times to the well, but comes
home broken at last.
The Chinese apply their Earthen-ware to
more uses than we, but we are not to suppose
that it is all of that kind, which we call China-ware
or Porcelain. This is even with them a
dear and valuable commodity. They have
many sorts of common potters ware made all
over the empire; but this last is manufactured
only at one place called King-te-ching. This is
a large town in the province of Kiang-si, three
miles long and containing near a million of souls:
which hath something so peculiar in the temper
of the air or quality of the waters, that although
none of the principal ingredients are found in
its neighbourhood, the Manufacture could never
be made to succeed any where else.
P. Dentrecolles a French Jesuit hath obliged
the world with a very ingenious and exact Description
of the whole process, from which and
the other authors referred to below, we shall extract
such an account as may answer all the purposes
of amusement.
The Chinese call this curious ware Tse-ki. Its
name of Porcelain is derived from the Portuguese,
with whom Porcellana signifies a cup, or
bason, or saucer; and was first applied to those
white glossy shells called Cowries, which past
for money on the coast of Africa; and afterwards
to china-ware, probably from an opinion
that it might be composed of them.
This fine manufacture is of so long standing
among the Chinese, that their oldest records
mention nothing of its inventor or discovery.
The town abovementioned hath been famous for
making it upwards of thirteen hundred years.
There are, exclusive of the colours, three principal
ingredients in china: these are a dry
Earth, a moist Clay, and a stony Oil.
The first is a kind of stone, of a very fine
grain, ground to powder, which being mixed
with water and reduced to a cream, is brought
to the consistence of paste.
The second is a kind of fullers earth, of a greyish
white, full of shining particles. These two are
brought to King-te-ching, in the form of bricks the
former of them is called by the Chinese, "the flesh"
and "the latter the bones" of the china.
The third ingredient is the oil, which is drawn
from a particular stone by a very curious process,
and mixed with another liquid extracted
from lime and fern ashes. The former are
the materials of which china is composed; the
latter, the varnish which gives it the glossy
whiteness.
It would be useless to trace the work through
all the different hands of the manufacturers:
let it suffice to say, that their first care is to prepare
the materials to the highest degree of fineness
and purity, a hair or grain of sand being
sufficient to spoil the piece it is in. The materials
are then delivered over to the Potters, where
it passes from wheel to wheel and from hand
to hand; one applying it to the mold, another
thinning it with the chizzel, a third smoothing
the edges: thus a cup or saucer shall sometimes
pass through seventy hands before it is
compleated; each of which uses such dispatch,
that a workman at the wheel requires but three
deniers [half a farthing] for twenty-six pieces.
From these it passes to be painted and varnished
with the oil abovementioned Of the Painters,
one strikes the circle at the edge, a second
sketches the figures, which are painted by a
third, &c.
Last of all it is sent to the furnace, of which
there are not less than three thousand in King-te-ching.
"I
have been surprized, says P. Dentrecolles,
to see a porter ballance upon his shoulders
two long narrow boards ranged with china-ware,
and pass through so many crouded
streets without breaking them. It is true,
people are careful to avoid hitting them
never so little; for in that case they[76]
would
be obliged to make good the damage; but
still it is surprizing that he can preserve his
equilibrium.
When brought to the oven the china is inclosed
in earthen cases; one or more pieces in a
case: which are afterwards piled up within
the oven in such a manner, that the bottom of
one serves for a cover to the top of another.
The Ovens or Furnaces are each about twelve
feet high, and twenty four wide; and will require
at one baking one hundred and eighty burdens
[charges fr.] of wood. At first the oven
is heated for a day and a night: the fire is afterwards
kept up by two men, who relieve each
other and throw in wood. The Chinese are of
opinion that the whole mass is reduced to a state
of fluidity, which they infer from hence, that
if a small copper coin[77]
be put on the top
of one of the piles in the furnace, it will pierce
all the cases and vessels, so that each will have
a hole in the middle. When the ware is baked,
&c. they discontinue the fire, and keep the door
of the oven shut for some time. It is afterwards
taken out for sale.
After so much care and labour, we are
not to wonder that fine china-ware is dear in
Europe, especially if we add, that few bakings succeed
quite well, and that often the whole is lost,
the ware and cases being reduced to a substance
as solid as a rock. Too fierce a fire, or insufficient
cases, may spoil all. Thus a hundred
workmen are ruined for one that gets rich; to
which the rigorous demands of the Emperor
and the Mandarines do not a little contribute.
These often require works impossible to be
performed.
Every trade in China hath its tutelar deity;
and that of the Potters owes its original to
the following accident. The Emperor sent
down models, which after many vain attempts
the workmen humbly represented it was not
possible to execute: they received no other answer
but blows, and still more pressing instances:
at last one of the workmen in despair threw
himself into the burning oven and was consumed
in an instant. The china-ware then baking,
it is said proved perfectly fine, and entirely to
the Emperor's liking. The desperado became
an hero, and was thenceforth worshipped as the
divinity presiding ove rthe Porcelain works, under
the name of Pû-sa.
Although the Chinese Workmen cannot execute
all the models which are brought them, yet they
compleat many surprizing works: thus we are
told they cannot make square Slabs of china
of one piece big enough for the top of a table,
or seat, or picture-frame, &c: the largest they
can attain to being but about a foot square, all
exceeding that are sure to warp: yet P. Dentrecolles
assures us that he hath seen a large Lan-thorn,
like that of a ship, all of china, through
which one candle enlightened a whole room.
He tells us also that they make Flutes, Flagelets,
and other musical instruments of porcelain;
as likewise Ducks and Tortoises to float on the
water: and that he hath seen a Cat so painted to
the life, with a lamp placed in its head to represent
the eyes, that Rats were frightened at
it. The same Writer informs us that they have
made Urns, which have cost more than eighty
crowns a piece at the furnace.
To conclude this long Note, we are told the
Chinese are almost as curious in European glasses
and crystals, &c.[78]
as we are in china-ware:
and that if a fondness for Old china prevails
among our Virtuosos, it is carried to still greater
height in China, where the smallest utensil which
is of great antiquity will fetch an extravagant
price It is believed that the superior beauty
and excellence of the ancient china, was owing
to their taking greater time to mature and prepare
their materials, than the present quick
demands from Europe will allow them.
See Lettres edifiant. Rec. 12. p. 258—360.
Rec. 16. p. 320—366. P. Du Halde, vol.
1. p. 338—353. Mod. Univ. Hist. vol. 8. p.
243, &c. See also a curious memoir on
this subject in Harris's voyages, &c. ii. 940.
N. B. The Chinese Mirrours are of polished steel.
P. Du Halde 1. 196. Lettres edifiant, xxviii. 194.
The Chinese Expression is, "Having been
to wish him a good feast."
Feasting is a very important article among
the Chinese. There is no meeting, departure
or arrival; no prosperous event, nor occasion of
grief, but what is subject matter for an entertainment
either of welcome or farewell, congratulation
or condolence. At their grand feasts
it is common to have twenty or twenty-four
[little] dishes [chiefly of ragoo] served up one
after another on each table, none of which are
removed till all is over. Between every seven
or eight dishes they bring in Soup either of flesh
or fish, with a sort of small loaves or pics, which
they take with their Chop-sticks, dip into the
soup and eat without any ceremony: all the
rest is conducted in great form.
The French, who have refined so much on
the art of eating, are far out-done by the Chinese
cooks. With nothing but the Beans which
grow in their country, and with the meal of
Rice and Corn, together with Spices and Herbs,
they can prepare a great many dishes very different
from each other.
The Chinese are not only fond of hogs-flesh,
&c. but of that of horses and dogs; which are
not rejected by the common people, tho' they die
of age or disease. Even Cats, Rats, and such like
animals, are sold openly by the butchers. And
here it may be observed, that the beef is sold
there without any bones, these being always first
taken out.
But the most delicious food of all are stags
pizzles, birds nests, and bears claws. The first are
dried in the sun in summer and rolled in pepper
and nutmeg: before they are dressed they are
soaked in rice-water to make them soft, and, after
being boiled in the gravy of a kid, are seasoned
with various spices. The birds nests are commonly
found on the rocks along the coasts of
Tonquin, &c. and are built by birds not unlike the
swallow; they are supposed to make them with
little sea-fishes cemented by the scum of the sea
and some viscous juice, which distils from their
backs. These nests contract a transparent solidity
and greenish hue when dried; and resemble
the rind of a large candied citron in shape
and size: mixed with other meats they give
them a very agreeable relish. The bears paws,
of which the hindmost are in highest esteem,
are stripped of their skin and preserved like stags
pizzles.
See P. Du Halde, vol. 1. p. 298—303. p. 314.
Lettres edifiant. xi. 250. P. Semedo, p. 4,
65. Mod. Univ. Hist. viii. 277.
The second river in China is the Whang-HO,
or (as it written by the Portuguese with whom M
hath the nasal sound of N G) Hoam-HO[82]
, i. e.
the yellow River, which rises not far from the
source of the Ganges in the Tartarian mountains
west of China, and having run through it with
a course of more than six hundred leagues, discharges
itself into the eastern sea. It hath its
name from a yellow mud, which always stains
its water, and which after rains composes a third
part of its quantity. The Watermen clear it
for use by throwing in alum. The Chinese
say, its waters cannot become clear in a thousand
years; whence it is a common proverb among
them for any thing which is never likely to happen,
"When the yellow river shall run bright."
This river is in some places half a league over,
and every where so rapid, that it would make
terrible ravages if the Chinese did not restrain it
with very strong dykes, one of which is ten
leagues long: they are even said to have turned
its current out of one province into another.
Vid. Martin. Atlas Sin. p. 14. P. Le Compte,
tom. 1. p. 169. P. Du Halde, vol. 1. p.
40, 326. Lettres edifiant. vii. 170, &c.
Not Hoambo, as it is erroneously given in Mod. Univ.
Hist. viii. 5, &c. in Lockman's Jesuites travels, ii. 87,
and in many other books.
In the Translator's M.S. there is left a
blank of a page and half in folio for this curious
lampoon, which it must have been entertaining
to have seen, as a specimen of Chinese satire.
Beside the Viceroy, there is sent occasionally
into each of the Provinces, says P. Magalhaëns,
a Visitor called Ngan-tai or Ngan-yuen[86]
. His
office continues but for one year, and is very
formidable. He takes cognizance of all causes
criminal and civil; of the militia, revenue, &c. He
visits, inquires and informs himself of every thing.
He receives the accusations of the people against
all their governors, not excepting the Viceroy
himself. The inferior Mandarines he punishes
or cashiers: he gives in a memorial against the
greater, and they are immediately suspended
from the function of their offices 'till an answer
comes from court.
Besides this, there are often private Inspectors,
or Spies, sent into the provinces to observe the
conduct of the Mandarines, and to report them
accordingly.
It is easy to conceive what excellent purposes
these institutions might answer; but these good
ends are too often defeated by the corruption
and avarice of the officers, who are seldom found
proof against bribes and presents, notwithstanding
the risk they run in taking them.
P. Magal. p. 241. P. Semedo, p. 129. P. Du
Halde, vol. 1. 258, &c.
N. B. We are told by some authors, that since
the conquest of the Tartars, it having been
found that the Spies or private Inspectors mentioned
above abused their trust, these have been
laid aside. However the Mandarines are obliged
to transmit from time to time to court a full and
just account of their administration, noting all
the miscarriages and mismanagements laid to
their charge; and in case they are found to have
concealed or palliated them, they are liable to
be severely punished.
See Mod. Univ. Hist. viii. 148, &c.
| CHAP. VIII. Hau Kiou choaan | |