Chin-Chin; Or, The Chinaman at Home
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CHAPTER XVII
FISHING
If a certain number of men of letters take refuge in the pleasures of gardening, fishing also has its number of votaries.The bulk of these are men who, having lost all the illusions of life, and finding that politics are, after all, a hollow mockery, give themselves up to a quieter and less disappointing pastime.
The philosopher Tchang-Tseu used to fish on the banks of the river Han every day of his life.The Prince of Tchou, having heard him spoken about, sent an ambassador one day to the philosopher to beg him to enter the political life.Tchang-Tseu, his rod in his hand, spoke to the fish without condescending to give any answer, finding that it was not worth while to do so. Another, still further back in history, by name Lu-Chan, used to pass his days in fishing in the river Pien. Emperor Weng-Ouang went one day in person to beg him to become one of his councillors, and appointed him, on the spot, Guardian of the Sovereign. Lu-Chan accepted the offer, and helped his master to rule his empire. The dynasty lasted eight hundred years, so solidly had the basis of the government been established by the fisher-minister. His master was the first Emperor of China who got the name of Saint. The people were never happier than under his reign. So great was the general prosperity, that even now-a-days, when they want to speak of a happy people, the Chinese say, “As if they were walking about under the reign of Weng-Ouang.”
Another fisher, of Tsou-Kiang, who always trafficked his fish and wine, used to drink his fill, and then dance and sing in his boat on the water, thinking himself the happiest man on earth. The prefect went to ask him if he was a genuine fisherman, or whether he concealed his identity under this disguise, and was a person of importance. “Never you mind,” he said to the prefect. “Historical persons fish for titles, I satisfy myself with fishing for fish.”
Under the reign of the Thangs, a man of letters, named Thiang-Tseu-Ho, withdrew on to the water and set up his abode on board a boat, which he called his floating-house, and gave himself the title of Fisher, in the midst of the waves and the mist.He published a quantity of songs for fishermen and oarsmen, which he was in the habit of singing on his aquatic excursions.The Emperor, taking pity on his solitude, sent, as a present, two servants, a young man and a young woman.The recluse married the two together, giving the name of Fisherman to the lad, and that of Shepherdess to the lass.The one looked after the fishing-tackle and rowed the boat, the other used to go into the forest to gather dry wood and bamboos to make his tea.
History mentions the names of several fishermen of this philosophical class.There are besides these only professional fishermen, good folk who work hard, and live on very little.
Everybody knows that we have a goddess of the sea, but her story is not so generally known.She was the daughter of a family of fishermen who lived on the shore of Mei-Tcheou, quite close to Fou-Tcheou.Her father and her brothers used to go out fishing on the sea every day, each in his own boat, whilst she stayed at home to weave in the company of her old mother.She was adored by her parents, whom she loved very much.One day, during a storm which made everybody feel drowsy, she was dozing at the table, when she dreamed that her father’s boat was just going to sink in the angry sea, and putting out her hand she caught hold of the painter to draw it into land.Meanwhile she saw that the boats on which her brothers were, were in the same danger. So, putting the first cord between her teeth, she caught hold of the two others in her hands, and began walking through the water towards the shore. But before she could reach the shore she began to groan and cry, and her mother began to shake her, calling her by name. To answer her mother she opened her mouth and let the cord that she held between her teeth escape. When she woke up she thought that this was a nightmare; but that evening, when her brothers came home, they told her that her father had been drowned. The young girl, in despair at not having been able to save her father, who had died through her fault, rushed out and threw herself into the sea. Some time after she was often seen in visions by fishermen in moments of distress, and it was noticed that whenever she appeared the danger was overcome. Out of gratitude her protégés erected a little temple in her honour. Little by little her miraculous protection was extended to the ships of travellers and great officials, and even to the navy. For each service rendered to the State a title was given her, and little by little she became known by the appellation of “Holy Mother of Heaven,” a title which is accompanied by as many honorific qualifications as are worn by the sovereigns who delight to do her honour.
CHAPTER XVIII
CHARMING WOMAN
COQUETRY
One is none the less a woman for being a Chinese woman.Woman is the same everywhere.It is she who charms us—not to say who rules us.And no matter in what part of the globe, it is she who is always the great attraction of life.
They all know it; and without any need of a general understanding amongst themselves, all the sisters of the universe do the best they each can to render themselves more beautiful, or prettier, or merely more agreeable.They need for that no other master that that instinctive desire to please, which is a special feature of the female nature. Albeit our women know neither how to grow fat or thin, or how to dye their hair, or how to make use of a thousand other tricks, which beauty uses to repair the irreparable ravages of time; they know how to paint themselves, and how to adorn their persons. They are very skilful in the use of red paint for the lips, of black for the eyebrows, and of white for the face. The particular taste of each race modifies the forms of coquetry. In Europe, you prefer large eyes and a Grecian nose; in China, small eyes and a thin and delicate nose are considered the most beautiful. On the other hand, we agree with you in admiring fine white teeth, and little wrists and ankles.
It is said, in China, that a woman’s eyebrows should be elongated and thin, like the silhouette of distant mountains; that the eyes should be limpid, as water is in autumn; and the lips red, like dawn of day.Dimples are greatly admired in China. We call them the “wine hollows.”
The flush of the cheeks is called “the colour of drunkenness.”
From Nature, let us pass on to Art.
Formerly, women used to dress their hair high up on their heads, the coiffure being built up on a framework of iron wire.Little by little this style was modified, and to-day the greatest simplicity is the rule.Our ladies dress their hair almost in the Greek style, with this difference, that the hair always remains smooth, curls never having been in fashion in China.I may add, that natural curls are quite unknown at home.A gold or silver pin, shaped like a double spatula, and bent in the middle, is fixed in the centre of the chignon, so as to keep the hair in place.Sprigs of flowers are fixed round this pin.Sometimes, in the spring, a little wreath of scented flowers is put on the back of the head.These simple ornaments are so much appreciated, that many ladies have a standing arrangement with a gardener to bring them fresh flowers every morning.
A poet has said about this custom:
When flowers are wanting, butterflies, made in every conceivable shape, and of all kinds of materials, are placed in the hair above the temples.At grand ceremonies imitation flowers, made in jewels, are used instead of natural flowers.
The forehead is always left free.Only young girls wear fringes, the rest of the hair being allowed to fall down loose at the back of the head, or being gathered up into two bunches on either side.The enormous coiffure that you see in pictures, and which forms a kind of bull’s head, is known as the coiffure in the style of “a crow with outstretched wings.”It is now only to be seen in Canton.
Ladies in China never wear hats or bonnets.At ceremonies they wear a helmet-shaped crown, and on less solemn occasions a little band of embroidered stuff, which crosses the forehead and terminates in points behind each ear.In the centre is a large pearl or other precious stone, and round it a single or double row of pearls is entwined.Women wear shorter clothes than the men, the shape being about the same for both sexes.The clothes come down to the knees.On special occasions a petticoat, which comes down to the feet, is worn, while indoors a pair of trousers is added; which in the north is fastened round the ankles with ribbons, and left loose in the south.The upper garment has wide sleeves, with facings of embroidered satin.The uniform—for ladies in China wear a uniform on grand occasions suited to the rank of their husbands—consists in a dress of red satin, embroidered with dragons, over which is a garment shaped like a waistcoat, also embroidered.If the husband has a high rank, the wife also wears a pearl necklace. Whatever may be the rank of the woman, she always makes her own shoes. There are no shops in China for the sale of women’s shoes.
Jewels are never used for trimming dresses; at the very utmost, a few gold or jewelled buttons are sometimes used; but bracelets are worn in great numbers, according to the position and fortune of the wearer.Some young girls wear ankle-bands, also necklaces in the shape of collars, either in silver or gold, and fastened with a locket in the shape of a padlock.
The general custom of wearing the nails very long has caused the use of a special nail-glove, which is made of gold.It is shaped like a thimble, open at both ends, and is prolongated by a gold nail, which is intended to cover the real nail and to protect it.I may mention that in China, as everywhere else, it is the demi-monde that creates the fashions.But fashion varies considerably in the different provinces. Only a few ladies, who have travelled a great deal, know how to combine the various styles, often with the happiest effect. As a rule, one can tell at a glance to what province a woman belongs.
One of the most feared of our Censors, a man before the severity of whose criticism the whole world used to tremble, and who was all the more feared that nobody could find any fault in him, was one day surprised in the act of painting his wife’s eyebrows.I leave you to judge how delighted his enemies were to be able to tell the sovereign that this rigid guardian of public morality was, after all, but a very frivolous man.The Censor was sent for and asked if the report were true.
“Yes, your Majesty,” he answered; “but what is there frivolous in that?Is not everything allowed between man and wife?”
The Emperor was quite satisfied with this answer, and the matter dropped.The story is repeated everywhere now-a-days as symbolic of domestic felicity.I see in it, above all things, the triumph of feminine coquetry, which knows how to subjugate mankind, even the most austere, and enslaves us to its delicious trivialities and its irresistible frivolities.
CHAPTER XIX
FANS
I say fans in the plural, because we have two kinds, the folding fan and the round fan.We use the former during the mild seasons, and the latter during the very hot weather.The reason of this is not easily understood, as the round fan fans much less effectively than the other one.Doubtless it offers this advantage—that it can be used as a substitute for the parasol, which we never carry, and thus plays a double part.I may add, that in summer men and women alike go out bareheaded, so that some protection, such as is afforded by the screen fan, is needed.As a general rule, there is a picture on one side of our fans, and some writing on the other. Common folk buy their fans ready painted and written upon, whereas people of fashion buy their fans blank, and ask distinguished people to illustrate them with a painting or a piece of writing. Some collectors possess hundreds of fans, which replace with us the autograph albums that you have in Europe.
Fans are given as presents to one’s friends.They are always given by schoolmasters as prizes to their scholars.
The folding fan has a varying number of stems. Women’s fans have generally thirty thin stems. The most common are made of bamboo; the best are made of ivory, betel, or sandal wood.They are carried in a case of embroidered satin, which is fastened to the belt by a ring of jade.The round fan is usually made of silk, with ivory or bamboo handles, the prolongation of which is either hidden between a double mask of stuff, or is visible on one side only.Ladies use them at play for catching butterflies, or fireflies at night. On such occasions they fasten a sachet of scent to the end of the handle, which scents the air as the fan is moved.
The portrait of the fashionable poet of the day is always to be seen painted on the fan; thus Lu-Fong Oun, the popular poet of the thirteenth century, was surnamed Buddha of the Thousand Families, because his portrait was to be seen everywhere, and because his light and graceful verses could be understood by everybody.It is a very usual thing to compare a friend to a fan, because of his refreshing influence on the mind.A woman who fancies that her husband’s heart is hers no longer will compare herself, as we shall see, to a fan cast aside in the autumn.
A favourite named Pan-Tie-Tsu, beloved at one time by Emperor Hiao-Tcheng, seeing herself deserted, sent a fan to her master, on which she had written the following lines:—
Another woman, who had been disfigured by disease, sent her lover a fan, on which she had written the four following lines:—
Besides these two kinds of fans, there is also the feather fan, which was first made in the time of dynasty of the later Hans.
The Prime Minister, named Tsu-Kia-Liang, used this fan for all his military commands. It was, in his hands, a substitute for the field-marshal’s baton.
It is also said, that the first fan of this kind was introduced into China by the King of Siam, who sent it, with other objects, by way of tribute.But Tsu-Kia-Liang still, to-day, is represented with a feather fan in his hand, the baton with which he directed the orchestra in the symphony of the battle.
Betel leaves, cut into the shape of a fan, are also used in China.As this dry leaf can neither be written nor painted upon, it is decorated with engravings, either of pictures or of writing, which are traced upon it by means of a lighted stick of incense.This delicate and difficult work is generally done by women.Both leaves and incense come from Formosa.
Another kind of fan is made in Canton.A bamboo stick is taken, of which one end is left to serve as handle.The upper end is shredded into very fine threads, which spread out into the shape of a lyre; silk is passed over these, and the lower part of the lyre is consolidated with a piece of curved wood, through a hole in which the handle passes. It is a very pretty kind of fan, and wears very well indeed.
All these varieties are fancy articles.In ancient China, the round fan alone was known; the folding fan has only been known since the last five centuries.It was first presented by the Corean ambassadors to Emperor Ung-Lo, of the Ming dynasty.The sovereign found it not only pretty, but very convenient, and less troublesome to carry, and gave orders for the manufacture of a large quantity, to be distributed amongst the officials of his empire.
This is all that I consider it necessary to say about fans in China.It may be found that I have used a great many words about very little.But how can words be better used, since it was said of them by an ancient Roman that they fly, than in speaking about winds and fans?
CHAPTER XX
CELEBRATED BEAUTIES
Beautiful women are called in China flowers, or jade jewels, or still better, the destroyers of the empire, or the destroyers of cities.The latter nicknames originated in a poem of the celebrated Li-Yan-Nein, of the dynasty of Han, thus conceived:
The poem fell under the eyes of the Emperor, who immediately asked if such a woman really did exist, or was only the creation of the poet’s imagination.On receiving an affirmative answer, he expressed his desire to know this beauty, and it was upon her that he afterwards bestowed his exclusive favour.An Emperor is no less a man.
One of the favourites of Emperor Han-Wou-Ti, named Li-Kiang—pretty girl—conquered the heart of her sovereign at the age of fourteen.Her beauty was perfect, and her body was of extreme delicacy.She clothed herself alone in the lightest tissues, for fear that coarser stuff might injure her very delicate skin.Her master built for her a crystal palace, so that, as he said, no dust should come to stain the whiteness of her darling person.Her breath was so sweet, that when she sang all the flowers in the garden danced.
Emperor Ouei-Weng-Ti, having heard it said that a young girl named Sie-Ling-Yung, was reputed to be of incomparable beauty, wrote to the prefect, bidding him to send her to the capital. On bidding good-bye to her parents, Sie-Ling-Yung wept red tears, which were tears of blood.
Her reception at the capital was an extremely brilliant one.The Court sent out ten carriages to meet her, and sandal leaves were burned all along the way she was to pass through.A lofty tower was erected for the occasion, and was illuminated, as were all the houses in the city.
It was a memorable night, and is still mentioned in our histories.His Majesty went out in person to meet the beautiful woman, driving in a carriage of carved jade.At regular intervals bronze milestones, two metres high, had been erected.At last this marvellous woman was received in the arms of the sovereign, who gave her the name of Ye-Lae, which means “She who came in the night.”
She was an incomparable artist at embroidery.She could embroider in the dark masterpieces which could not be imitated in daylight by any other woman. On account of this she was also called “The Genius of the Needle.”
The celebrated poet Soung-U says, in a poem about his neighbour:
It is a matter of great regret in China that the poet did not even mention the name of this beauty, who, according to his account, must have been as desirable a person as she was desired by him.
When the famous Fi-Yen—The Flying Swallow—was presented to Emperor Yang-Ti, he was transported with joy. Not only was she beautiful, but her body was so light, that the king used often to take her up on one hand to play with her. In a moment of effusion the Emperor said that he had only one ambition in life, and that was to live and die by the side of her whom he loved, and that, unlike his ancestors, he should not commit the folly of seeking for the land of clouds, by which he meant Paradise.
There have been so many celebrated beauties in China, that it is quite impossible to mention all their names here.Let us be satisfied by saying, that some, when they wash their hands in the streams, scent the water; that others found their beauty improved by a little wound on their faces; that some shamed the flowers themselves; and that one of them compelled the moon to hide her face.All those who deserved the name of beautiful woman, owed all their charms to Nature; those that tried to imitate them, only rendered themselves ridiculous. History relates apropos of this, that the beautiful Si-Si used to have the habit of laying her hand to her heart, which gave her an additional charm. Another woman, who lived in her village—thinking that it was this gesture alone that caused her neighbour to be so much admired—imitated it, and got laughed at for her trouble; for, as it was pointed out to her, she had overlooked the fact that what is natural is beautiful, whilst what is forced is often absurd.
Men used to be magnificently gallant towards these beautiful women.Some housed them in golden palaces, others sheltered every step that they took with tents of gauze, so as to protect them against the sun and the wind.Others had screens of pearls carried before their lady-loves, more beautiful than the pearls which were intended for their adornment.It will be seen that our writers did not lack in metaphors for the celebration of charming women.They were in the right. The flowers of rhetoric are never better employed than when applied to those women which the gallantry of our language has baptized with the name of flowers.
CHAPTER XXI
SYSTEM OF EDUCATION
THE STUDENT
When a child in China reaches the age of five or six years, his parents, no matter what their position may be, begin to think about giving him a master, so that his education may be commenced.Although instruction is not compulsory in China, I do not know of any children who do not go to school.Of course, more or less time is spent there by the different scholars, according to their several intelligences or the position of their parents.
A lucky day at the beginning of the year is chosen, and on this day the child is sent to some celebrated man of letters to receive his first lesson, which consists in learning the three first lines of an elementary book called San-Tse-King, in which every sentence consists of three syllables, and which resumes the history of China and the duties of man.
This task having been accomplished, the boy is sent to school, where his real instruction commences, for the course we have spoken about is a mere preliminary formality, undertaken by an honorary professor.As soon as he has got safely through the San-Tse-King, the boy passes on to a second book, called the Tsien-Tse-Weng, a work which contains one thousand different letters.At the same time, the scholar has to paint over in black letters drawn in red in his copy-book by the schoolmaster.At first the child is taken on the knees by his master, who guides his hand, but little by little he is left to himself.Later on, he is given a copy to trace through transparent paper, and so on.A more serious course of instruction, including the four classical works of Confucius and of Meng-Tse, and the five King, or sacred, books, follow this preparatory course. Whilst these studies are going on, the professor instructs his scholars in the poetry of the land. As an exercise, he gives as a daily task a line of seven words, the child having to compose a parallel verse. As an example, heaven, earth, mountain, water, and so on. When a child is able to give the parallel of a line of seven words his intelligence may be considered to be fairly well developed, as we shall see.
I remember one day at school the professor gave us the following theme, which in Chinese is a line of seven words, and which was suggested to him by a phenomenon which he had just witnessed:—
“The flexible body of the bee bends round a drop of dew on a flower.”
My comrade, whose turn it was to answer, reflected silently for a long time, until at last, Providence helping him, he cried out, seeing before his eyes a scene that was being enacted in the garden outside—
“The oblique eye of the sparrow stealthily watches the caterpillar curled up in a leaf.”
I need hardly say that he was vigorously applauded by his comrades, and handsomely rewarded by the professor.
As soon as the books mentioned above have been done with, besides certain selections from historical and literary works, the scholar begins to try his hand at difficult composition, which is preparatory study for our general competitive examinations.These dissertations are composed after the method of the Bakou, which are the eight rules to be followed in composition.Subjects are taken from philosophy or politics, being always chosen from celebrated classical authors mentioned above, and especially from Confucius.Concurrently with these the student practises his hand at poetical composition, very difficult tasks being set.
The young candidates have to present themselves, in the first place, at the annual examination, which takes place at the sub-prefecture—this examination being for the degree of bachelor of arts. The examination is a written one. Candidates must, before attaining this degree, undergo another examination before an Imperial examiner, specially commissioned for this purpose. The examination for the licence, or second degree, only takes place once every three years, as does also the examination for the third degree, which is that of doctor. The two examinations do not, however, take place in the same year, or at the same season of the year. The second examination is held in the autumn in the different provincial cities, the third being held at Pekin in the following spring. It is a very usual thing to see a young man, who has passed these three examinations one after the other, return home in triumph to his parents, who up till then have been occupying some very humble position; for in China these competitive examinations are open to all except such persons as have followed dishonourable trades. The family of a common workman, who have had the good fortune to possess a son who has passed these examinations, becomes noble de jure, and the same honours are paid to the parents as to the son.In order to understand to what a degree public sympathy and encouragement are with a successful candidate, and the anxiety that every student has to pass to get his degrees, one must see the reception given to the successful students.When the names of the prize-winners are made public, the official employés come up in great state, carrying the nominations of the winners printed on huge pieces of red paper, which they stick up on the houses of the lucky ones.They are received with crackers and squibs, and candles and incense are burned before the ancestors and the light of day, in token of gratitude for the distinguished favour accorded to the candidate.A day is fixed for the due celebration of the victory, and all the candidates who have passed are present at this feast.From early dawn the families of the successful ones decorate their houses with flags, and await the arrival of their friends and neighbours, who come to bring their congratulations. The candidates go round in person to pay calls on all their friends, riding in sedan-chairs, and dressed in special clothes sent them by their parents-in-law, or in the case of bachelors, by their nearest relations. Those who have won the degree of bachelor wear a blue silk dress, the licentiates one of darker blue, while the doctors wear violet silk. A stiff kind of cape, embroidered in gold and coloured silks, is worn over the shoulders, and two sprays of flowers decorate the hat. In front of the sedan-chair men walk, carrying banners of red silk attached to bamboos still in leaf, while the musicians play their most joyful airs. The auspicious day is called the Day of the Reception of Flowers. For it appears that formerly women used to strew flowers in the paths of the young scholars. The procession fills many hearts with envy. How often have I not heard mothers saying to their children, “Your turn will come some day if you will only work.”
Success at these examinations opens every door to the young man, and the only thing that is feared is non-success.Once the examination passed, the career and the fortune of the young man are assured.The bachelor man of letters will at once receive offers of marriage from rich families.This will explain why no laws of compulsory education are necessary in a country where, by study, a man may from one day to another transform the social position of his family.Ambition urges people on to secure a good education for their children.Our students are sober folk.There is no Latin Quarter for him to frequent, politics disturb him not, and the only amusements that he knows of are poetical competitions and excursions into the country.His life is one of work and retirement, but he is never heard to complain, and has indeed no reason to do so; for the future smiles upon him, and the dusty volumes with which he is surrounded hold out to him the promise of what a familiar locution describes as “the highest honours, the most beautiful women, and the happiest life.”
CHAPTER XXII
POETICAL COMPETITIONS
In literary circles in China, the most popular amusement is to make verses.Instead of shooting, or playing lawn-tennis, or croquet, or of indulging in any of the many pleasures enjoyed in Europe, our literary folk, as soon as a certain number of them have a little time to spare, meet together in turn at each other’s houses, and give themselves up to poetical tournaments.For, in China, open receptions, political meetings, and public lectures are totally unknown, and the only way that people have of indulging the fancies of the mind is in the culture of pure literature.These poetical tourneys take place all over China, but it is especially in the province of Fou-Kien that they are most common. Thus, when the late Imperial Commissioner of the arsenal of Fou-Tcheou, who was also Viceroy of Nankin, could spare a moment from his official duties, it was his habit to call in his subordinates and compose poetry with them. There are many kinds of verses, and before the opening of the contest it is decided what kind of verse is to be written. A historical or a fancy subject is set, and each of the competitors is asked to write a poem of four or eight lines on this subject. Sometimes two subjects are given, and these must be treated in parallel verses of seven syllables each, each line specially treating one or other of the two subjects. Another way is to choose two words, which must appear in a certain place in two parallel lines of poetry. I give below some examples, which will help the reader to understand these rules. As soon as all the competitors have met, a vase is passed round. This vase contains, written on bits of paper which have been rolled up into balls, words denoting certain functions connected with the tourney, such as examiner, copying-clerk, candidate, &c. Each candidate draws one of the papers, and thus it is decided who shall compete and who shall form the committee. Two examiners and four or eight clerks are chosen, according to the number of candidates. One of the examiners then takes up a book and opens it at hazard. Another names a number, say nine. The examiner then reads the ninth line of the page at which the book is open, and from this line a phrase, or sentence, or word is selected to form the subject of the composition. As soon as the subject has been decided upon, another vase is placed upon the table, to which a bell is attached. A thread hangs from the bell, and at the end of the thread is a lighted stick of incense. In about half-an-hour the incense burns out, the thread catches fire, and, as it snaps, lets fall the counterweight of the bell, which rings, and the lid of the urn falls too. It is then too late for any more poems to be entered for examination. The copying-clerks now empty the vase of the poems, which have been put into it by the competitors, and copy them out, all on one and the same piece of paper, to be submitted to the examiners. By this means anonymity is strictly protected. These make a selection, and when they have decided which of the poems is the best, one of them gets up in a kind of desk and sings forth the prize poem. Each competitor may write as many poems as he chooses on the subject that has been set, but has to pay a small fee for each entry. This money is used for the purchase of paper, brushes, ink, and the prizes which are awarded to the winners. As soon as the prizes have been awarded, a fresh competition of a different kind is commenced. The two poets, whose verses were considered the best in the previous competition, assume the functions of examiners in the second tourney, and this arrangement continues throughout. In the evening a dinner brings the fête to an end. I will now submit some specimens of the kind of poetry which is written at these tourneys.
MIDNIGHT.
(Eight-lined Poem.)
THE RETURN OF THE LABOURER.
(Quatrain.)
THE BLACK PEONY AND THE WAX TAPER.
(Double Subject for Parallel Verses.)
There is a double play of words here.The name of peony alludes to the modesty of its position; the peony is sufficiently beautiful not to be afflicted thereby.Red is the aristocratic colour, and, at the same time, the colour of flame.The taper may consider himself a very brilliant object; the time must soon come when its flame must be extinguished, and it will fall back again into obscurity and darkness.
Here is another:
THE DRY BAMBOOS AND THE DEATH OF THE SOVEREIGN.
Dried bamboo stalks are generally used as drying-poles in China, and are set up for this purpose in every courtyard. A cross-stick holds up the sleeves of the garments that have been hung out to dry. Numerous families put on white clothes. White is the colour of mourning in China.
There is a contrast between the mourning white and the gay red of women’s garments.
Now, here is a poem of a different kind.In this the object was to place certain words in a position designated beforehand.The words given are “palace” and “battle.”They have to be placed at the end of each verse:—
Another, where the task was to place the words “great” and “autumn” at the beginning of the lines:—
I have had to recur to inversion, and so have somewhat spoiled the appearance of these lines to get the words into their right places. Many people will find these pleasures of ours very simple, too simple perhaps. Whatever may be said, they are preferable to gambling. Besides, Europe, which also has her simple pleasures, will not blame us for ours.
CHAPTER XXIII
PAINTERS
China has had its great art epochs, but for the last few centuries, education having been a purely literary one, art seems to have lost ground to a certain extent.However, it must be admitted, by those who care to look into the matter, that all is by no means lost.If we have not progressed during some centuries past, and if we have limited ourselves to the reproduction of certain types which were created long ago, if, in short, we show no originality, but only elegance and ease in our artistic productions, it must, at least, be admitted that we have scrupulously followed our ancient traditions.
Art flourished at its best in China in the reign of the Thang family.The poet, Tou-Fou, was an artist also, whilst the painter, Ouang-Wei, was a poet.Painting could be found in the poetry of the one, and poetry in the painting of the other.Although our old masters did not pay any attention to the laws of perspective, the works of their imaginations have always been highly appreciated.Some of their pictures are exceedingly rare, and like the two spoken about in the following poems of Tou-Fou, have to-day a priceless value:—
This is a somewhat enthusiastic perception of our old paintings.We have a great number of amateur painters in China, chiefly amongst the literary classes, who paint pictures to give to their friends.
These pictures are precious, because poems are always written by the side of the paintings.
I remember having seen two celebrated pictures which would not be parted with at any price. One represents the open sea, in the middle of which a fisherman is seen in his boat, which is covered with snow. It is accompanied by a poem which fully equals the Pauvres Gens of Victor Hugo. The other represents a mountain with its top hidden in clouds. In the middle of the mountain is a stream which runs down to its foot, and floating in the water is seen a cabbage-leaf. The poem that is written on this picture ends with the following line:—
And, sure enough, the cabbage-leaf bespeaks the presence of man, who alone could transport cabbage-leaves to the top of a cloudy mountain.
The allusion is sufficiently concealed; but, in China, this habit of veiling one’s meaning is a very common one, and it is specially to be noticed in the pictorial art. On the other hand, such subjects as the following are often suggested to painters: A red spot in the midst of green. One painter would paint on this theme a forest with a stork isolated on one tree; another would paint a red sunset in the green sea; another, a woman with red lips in a bamboo wood.
Artists, in China, never sell their pictures.They are always amateurs, and give their pictures away.The only art-wares which are trafficked in China are produced by workpeople, and belong to the category of decorative art.Sculpture is less cultivated at home by our amateurs, and one must know our sculptors to understand their ways.One of them once offered to make my bust.I went to his house, and he made me sit down in front of him.We were separated by a table, which was covered by a cloth which reached down to the ground.A very animated conversation began between us.My friend was a man of a very quick intelligence, and had a very original turn of thought. I was quite taken up with what he was saying to me, but I still did notice that he kept his hands under the table, and this surprised me all the more that I observed after watching him some time that he was moving them with feverish activity. After I had been there about an hour, which had passed very quickly, thanks to our gossip, I was just going to rise, when my friend produced a mass of clay from beneath the table, and said, “Do you think that it is like you?”
I was not a little surprised to see that it was my bust, which, in spite of the rapidity with which it had been modelled, was very resembling; a thing which was very curious, as the artist had never once looked at the clay, but at my face alone.He must have had a wonderful skill to be able to use his fingers both as eyes and as tools, touch replacing sight.
CHAPTER XXIV
CHESS
This game differs very much from the one played in Europe, and which is the delight of the habitués of the European chess clubs. In our game there are three hundred and sixty-one pawns, divided into two camps, one white and the other black. These pawns are like round draughts. The game is played on a square chess-board which has nineteen squares on each side. The players set down pawn after pawn, and the one who succeeds in closing his adversary in, so that there is no possible issue for him, wins the game. The skill in this game consists in closing your adversary in, and in taking as many of his pawns as possible—advancing wedge-like into his territory, without losing any of your own forces. It has been said that this game—the board of which represented the firmament, the stars being represented by the three hundred and sixty-one pawns—was invented by Emperor Yao, and used by him to instruct his children and teach them to think. It is, at the same time, a military game, representing a battle-field and two hostile camps, each doing its best to conquer the other. In short, it is rather a game of patience, for each game lasts a very long time, the reflection of a quarter or half-an-hour being sometimes needed before playing a pawn. On this account it is called “game of conversation,” for the player who is waiting for his adversary to play has plenty of leisure to talk. It is also known by another name, that of “meditation in solitude,” which seems a very good name for it. It is the favourite pastime of literary men, ladies, and especially of people who have retired from business. The noise of the pawns as they are placed down on the different squares of the board, which is often engraved on a marble bench, under the shade of leafy trees, is considered a very poetical noise. The three things that one loves to hear, when one wishes to turn one’s thoughts towards what is pure and delicate, are the sounds of water falling, the wind among the trees, and the rattle of this game of chess. It has been said that under the reign of the Tching dynasty a woodcutter met two young men who were playing at chess at the top of a mountain. He watched them, and one of them gave him a kind of candied fruit which he swallowed. Before the game had been finished, he noticed that the handle of his axe had rotted away. He made haste back to his village, and could recognise none of the people he met, for several centuries had passed away since he had gone out. History also tells us that a statesman named Li-No was a very impatient man. But once seated at the chess-board his character completely changed; so that each time he felt that he was going to fly into a rage, his friends used to suggest a game of chess, and at once his good humour returned to him. One day the Emperor asked why he wasted at chess time which might be so much more profitably employed. He said that the moments during which a man forgets his worries are the most precious of all.
I read a very amusing little story in the “Memoirs of Sou-Toung-Pao.”Emperor Tai-Tsung used to play chess with one of his ministers.The sovereign used to give him three pawns; but the minister always managed to lose one at the end of each game.The Emperor, noticing that he was being allowed to win, said at last, “If you lose this one more game I shall have you revoked.”The game was played and ended in a draw.“One more game,” said the Emperor.“If you win it I will grant you the honour of wearing a red robe, but if you lose it I will have you dragged in the mud.” The game again ended in a draw. His Majesty, in a great rage, was pushing his minister towards the pond to throw him into the mud, when the minister cried out, “Softly, softly, your Majesty, I have got one pawn left over in my hand.” The sovereign smiled, and gave him the red robe that he had promised. The game is usually played in daytime in the summer and at night in the winter. Do not think that chess is played on any kind of table. The game demands a much more poetical setting, either trees or rocks, or a daintily furnished drawing-room, with tea and wine to be served between the games. It is considered a pleasure to watch the games, and it is etiquette never to give any advice to the players. Besides this game of chess we have another variety, which resembles the one played in Europe more closely. It is played on a draught-board which has nine squares one way and ten the other, with two sets of pieces, which are arranged in three rows, five pawns in the front row and behind them two cannons. Three rows further back is the king, having on one side and the other two councillors, two elephants, two horses, and two carriages. The two camps, which cover each a space of nine squares, are separated one from the other by a single row of squares. The rules of this game are almost the same as in the European game. The pawns can only advance straight forward, and on only one square at a time; the cannons must always pass over a piece in a straight line; the carriages go straight ahead; the councillors go diagonally, and may not leave their camps; the elephants go straight ahead, backways or sideways—like the castles in the European game; the horses are moved like your knights; and, finally, the chief is played just like the king in the game here, and equally when the king is placed so that he is in check from one of the pieces of his adversary, without being able to get away or to take the piece, he is check-mated, and the game is lost. The pieces are not represented by figures, but have their designations written on them. Our industry, so profoundly artistic, has neglected to occupy itself with this game. On the other hand, we manufacture figures of carved ivory for export sets of chess.
CHAPTER XXV
AT TABLE
THE PLEASURE OF DRINKING
Wine was first manufactured in China by a functionary named I-Ti, under the reign of Emperor U (22,000 years before Christ), from fermented rice.The sovereign was the first to taste this new beverage.He found it delicious, and said, “I am sure that hereafter there will be families of kings who will lose their thrones through drinking wine.”But his prophecy was never realised in spite of his prophetic tone, and literary men continue to indulge themselves in wine to their heart’s content.There is no party without wine, and no wine-party without poetry. But by no means do we intoxicate ourselves. I remember that, some years ago, a German deputy, criticising the law against drunkenness, pronounced these words:—“If your law is passed, the people alone will suffer, for the rich, after getting drunk on champagne in their private houses, can always manage to escape the notice of the police, for, if they have to go out, they can go out in their carriages.” The law was not passed. There would be no necessity for such a law in China, because the people there never get drunk. Our custom of seeking for happiness in drinking wine dates from the time of two celebrated poems, written by Li-Tai-Pe of the dynasty of the Thang family.
Another poet of a later date used also to give himself up to immoderate drinking.His wife advised him to moderate his passion.He asked for five jugs as the price of this sacrifice, and when he had drunk them he went to sleep.On waking, he asked for five more jugs of wine, and having emptied these, he wrote the following quatrain for his wife:—
Grape-wine is unknown in China, and the only allusion to it that I know of is to be found in the following lines, which were written by a warrior who lived in the north of China, under the reign of the Yang family:—
Li-Tai-Pe made an abusive use of wine.He found friends everywhere, even when he was alone, for then the moon and his shadow were his friends.But in spite of that, he knew how to associate with the pleasure of drinking the most delicate sentiments and very lofty philosophical views, as may be seen in the following poem:—
Since that time a kind of drinking game has been invented.A tube, in the shape of a cylinder, is placed on the table.It contains a number of ivory rods, each of which is inscribed with an ancient verse.Each player draws one of these rods, and according to the verses on them, it is decided which player is to drink.Here are some examples:—
It will be seen that in China the pleasure of drinking does not lack in those gaieties with which wine is always accompanied.
CHAPTER XXVI
TEA-DRINKING
That tea is our favourite drink is very generally known, but people may perhaps ignore the considerable part that it plays in our lives.I will not speak here either about its cultivation or the process of its manufacture, which are pretty well known.I will limit myself to telling the use that is made of this precious aromatic plant.Since tea has been known in China, a part of the first pickings of the harvest is sent each year to the Emperor by the authorities in the producing districts.This is called “The Tea Tribute.”Formerly, the Court used to distribute tea to the officials, and the usual presents consisted of tea. Another thing shows the importance that we attach to this article, and that is, that we have tea-inspectors, just as we have salt-superintendents, who are high functionaries specially commissioned for the purpose. Instead of cafés, as in Paris, we have nothing but tea-houses in China, and these may be seen everywhere. It is at these tea-houses that people meet to talk, to rest, and to enjoy the cool air. When you call on a friend the first thing that he does is to offer you a cup of tea. When you write an invitation to a friend to come and spend some time at your house, the formula you use is, “The tea is ready.”
Whilst you are waiting in a shop for your orders to be executed, the shopman hands you a cup of tea to help you to be patient.In the very hot weather, charitable people in towns always put outside their doors great urns of tea for thirsty passers-by to drink from, and these urns are refilled as soon as they have been emptied. Those are our public fountains. There is always tea ready in the workrooms and other places where workpeople meet. Tea is the only drink used by the people. Amongst the highest in the land there are also numerous tea drinkers. It is thought that this beverage has the gift of rendering one’s mind more lucid. It is always green tea that is drunk in the upper classes—the little leaves taken from the bud at its first opening and dried in the sun. This is our Château-Lafitte. As to black tea, if is made of leaves which have reached maturity and have been dried artificially. This is all the difference that there is between the two kinds. No artificial colouring of the leaves is ever resorted to. Qualities vary, of course, according to the localities in which the tea is grown, just as is the case with wine. The best tea is that grown on a tree which grows in the garden of a monastery which is situated on the Ou-I mountain, in the interior of the province of Fou-Kien. The priests do not sell it, but keep it for the use of distinguished visitors. They give you about ten leaves in a cup not much bigger than an egg-cup, and pour on it water taken from an excellent spring which is situated near the monastery. The cup is covered for a few moments to allow the tea to draw. The scent that rises from the cup when the tea is ready is most exquisite, and a cup of this tea not only produces a feeling of great bodily comfort, but also has a most exhilarating effect on the mind.
I once amused myself by placing a few grains of boiled rice in a cup of that tea.The rice was almost immediately dissolved.This made me understand how energetic is the effect of this beverage, its beneficial action on the human body, and the impossibility of drinking much of it.Tea is so essential a factor in Chinese alimentation that authors like Lu-U have published whole books on the way of preparing this drink.These books are our Mrs. Beeton’s.Tea, as a matter of fact, to be good, must be made with rain or spring water heated to a certain degree of heat. The water should not be allowed to boil more than a few minutes, and, when bubbles begin to rise, it should be taken off the fire. The utensil in which the water is boiled should be made of certain materials and no others. True connoisseurs only use pots made of Ni-Hing, a kind of terra-cotta ware which is not varnished inside. Thus prepared, the tea is an economical and healthy beverage. It is drunk continually and at all hours of the day, even just before going to bed. Its effect is never an exciting one. Apropos of this, one of my compatriots has said that the Europeans, and specially the English, do not know how to make tea. In the first place, they let it boil. Secondly, they add strong spirits, which destroy its taste; or sugar, which makes it lose its savour. Tea should be allowed to infuse for five minutes at the most, and should be of a clear colour, barely yellow in hue. The U-Tchien, or Jade-Spring monastery, is situated in the province of King-Tiou, in the midst of rocks and waterfalls, and is surrounded with tea plantations, which produce tea-leaves of the size of a man’s hand, which are called “The Tea of the Hand of the Immortals.” An octogenarian who lived in that neighbourhood had the face of quite a young man, and enjoyed the very best health, and used to tell anybody who would listen to him that he owed his good health and his youthful appearance to the use of this tea. It is not surprising that so beneficial a drink should have inspired the poets. There is an innumerable quantity of single lines about tea in our literature. Here are a few specimens of these proverbial sayings which refer to tea:—
“To make your friends pass a pleasant evening the poor man offers them tea.
To make tea with snow is to taste celestial savours.
When you make tea in the forest, the smoke drives the storks away.”
The harvest time varies according to the district. In some parts the harvest is picked before the rainy season. In others, it is begun at the sound of the first clap of thunder; in other parts, the first cry of the cuckoo is the signal for the pickers to begin their work. All sorts of stories are told about our tea, amongst others, that the tea we export has already been used and dried again. That is a mere fable. The tea we export is of average quality, and is so abundantly to be had that there is no necessity for us to take recourse to the disgusting expedients suggested. I may add that the export trade is almost entirely in the hands of European business houses. Besides, all our old tea-leaves are used in China as sea-weed is used in France for stuffing mattresses, cushions, and so on. Thus tea, after having fortified our bodies during the day, affords us a bed at night.
CHAPTER XXVII
CHOPSTICKS
Although our chopsticks may have some resemblance to magic wands, the purpose they fulfil is a much more prosaic one, and, at the same time, a much more useful one.They are the auxiliaries which help us to convey to our mouths the food which we need for our bodies, the coal required by the human machine.It is generally thought in Europe that we use two chopsticks—one in each hand—for taking up the morsels of food, and for conveying these to our mouths.That is a mistake: our knife and fork exercise is much less complicated.The chopsticks are held in the right hand. Maintained by the thumb and the ring-finger, they are worked by the index and the middle finger. One remains motionless, the other manœuvres and catches up the fragments of meat, and even the smallest particles of rice. When rice is eaten, the bowl containing it is brought very close to the mouth. The chopsticks work with feverish activity, for rice is our daily bread, and we can admit of no slip between the cup that contains it and our lips. It may be thought that the use of the chopsticks demands very great skill, but that is only the prejudice of those accustomed to the use of the fork. A child can learn how to use the chopsticks as easily as the utensils in use in Europe. It may be mentioned that we also make use of forks for roast meats, and of spoons for taking up liquids. The Book of Rites, which deals with all the acts of life, mentions that chopsticks are to be used for all purposes except for drinking soup. The use of the spoon was thus consecrated many centuries ago. The chopsticks are not plain, shapeless pieces of wood. They are made of bamboo, or of more precious woods, and also of ivory and silver. The top part, which is from eight to ten inches long, by from four to six broad, is square, the remaining part being round. On one of the sides of the square top part, poems and pictures are engraved. Under the reign of the Han family, the Emperor was dining one day at a political banquet with his ministers, when one of them—Tcheng-Liang by name—rose to his feet and said: “Your majesty’s cause is lost. I have just consulted my chopsticks.” And as it turned out, the Emperor’s plan of conquest failed. Even to-day the cleverness of this statesman, who knew how to disguise his own opinion in the form of a revelation by his chopsticks, and to pass off his own advice as the result of a Divine inspiration, is much admired.
Some centuries later, the famous dictator, Tchao-Tsao, was dining with a rival of his, who tried to hide his ambition under the most modest appearance. Tchao-Tsao was anxious to publicly expose the designs of his rival, whom he had seen through, and began to talk of the bravest men of the day. Each mentioned certain names, and finally Tchao-Tsao said, “We two alone are really courageous men.” Hearing himself thus directly named, Liou-Pei, as the rival was called, dropped his chopsticks just as a clap of thunder was heard rolling through the sky. He tried to hide his emotion, and said, “Ah! how great is the power of heaven, I really was frightened.” But he was unable to divert the suspicion to which his terror had given rise.
Under the reign of the Thangs, Kai-Yang presented a pair of gold chopsticks to his Minister of State, Soung-King, saying that he made him this present, not on account of the intrinsic value of the gold, but because the chopsticks were symbolical by their shape of the straightforwardness of his character.
It is recorded of a gourmet, named Ho-Tseng, who used to spend a large sum of money on his food, without ever being able to satisfy his tastes, that he fed like a prince, and though he spent upwards of a thousand crowns on his table, did not consider a single dish worthy of his chopsticks.
The number of historical anecdotes told about chopsticks is far too large to be given here.Let me, however, quote one of these anecdotes;
“A sea-shell which had the elongated form of a stick, and which is known as the solen or razor, is greatly appreciated in China.It bears a mark on its side.It is said that an Emperor having taken a solen up in his chopsticks, cast it into the lake.The mollusc multiplied, but each of its descendants preserve the traces of the chopsticks of Emperor Han-Ou-Ti.”
Let me conclude with four lines of poetry about the chopsticks, which were written by one of our philosophers:
CHAPTER XXVIII
CHINESE COOKING
So many dreadful things have been said about Chinese cooking, that I think it indispensable to devote a chapter to the rehabilitation of our culinary art.I do not pretend to make your mouths water, but I should like at least to be able to show you that my countrymen do not eat the extraordinary things attributed to them by certain prejudiced travellers.Our ordinary meal consists of eight dishes—two vegetables, eggs, a fish, some shell-fish, a bird, two dishes of meat, pork and goat in the south, and mutton and beef in the north.Besides this, a large tureen of soup is served with the rice, which takes the place of bread at our tables, and is our substitute for wine and tea, which are only served on very great occasions at meal times. Food being extremely cheap, the cost of three daily meals, similar to the one described, never exceeds fivepence per person. A pound of meat costs only twopence halfpenny, or threepence, whilst the price of a good fowl is sixpence, or, at the most, sevenpence.
In 1882, I embarked on board a Chinese ship at Hong-Kong, on my way home.Not being able to accommodate myself with the fare on board, I told a servant that I should like a chicken for lunch, and gave him a dollar to buy it with, this sum representing the usual cost of a chicken in France.A minute or two later he came to ask me how he was to prepare it.“Cut it up and stew it in its juice,” I said, “and season well.”Shortly afterwards he brought me a huge trencher, resembling a tub, filled with a fricassee of little pieces of smoking chicken.
“What!All that?”I cried.
“Yes, sir.With your dollar I got twelve chickens, and have cooked them as you told me to do.”
At the sight of this quantity of meat, and of the pantagruelic dish in which they were served, my appetite disappeared, and I made him carry the dish away, and distribute it among the servants in the kitchen.I mention this to show how little provisions cost at home.A workman earning one franc, or tenpence a day can keep a wife and two children in comfort, and still put by half his earnings.
When I was at the military school, where the cadets mess like officers, all I had to pay for my food was fourpence a day, and was so well fed for this money that I never had any cause for complaint.It is easy to understand the reason why things are so cheap in China.There are no taxes at home on articles of food.According to statistics, each inhabitant of the Empire pays two francs, or eighteenpence, in taxes per annum, but no part of this sum represents any tax on food.Europeans who complain that they spend far too much money in China have only themselves to blame. I have never heard of any European who cared to live as we live. Parisian dishes, already very expensive in this country, are naturally trebly so in China, in spite of the fact that raw materials cost so little. Besides, the cuisine of each country depends on its climate. Since I have been in France I have accustomed myself to French cookery, reputed the best of all. Whenever I return to China, and am invited to dinner by French people, I get quite upset, and often feel quite ill after dinner. Coffee irritates my stomach, and cigars make my nose bleed. Now, when I am in Europe I cannot do without my coffee and my cigar after dinner. It is not surprising, then, that Europeans cannot enjoy life in China, persisting as they do in eating only what suited them at home. When a friend calls on you in China to take pot-luck with you, you usually ask him to a restaurant, and order a dinner in his honour. These dinners usually cost six dollars, that is to say, twenty-four shillings for eight persons. The dinner is a very complete meal, as may be judged by the following bill of fare:—
Four plates of hors d’œuvres
Four plates of dried fruits.
Four plates of fresh fruit, according to the season.
Four large dishes—a whole duck, sharks’ fins, swallows’ nests, and some kind of meat.
Four middle-sized dishes—poultry, shell-fish, and meat.
Four small dishes or bowls, containing mushrooms, morels, which we call ears of the forest, rice of the immortals, which is the name we give to a kind of mushroom, and the tender sprouts of the bamboo.
Four large dishes, containing fish, sea-stars, and mutton.
These last four dishes finish the repast.As a rule, nobody touches them, and their appearance on the table is the signal for rising.The price of ceremonial dinners rarely exceeds twenty dollars, or four pounds, for eight persons.The list of dishes is a much larger one, and includes two roasts, which are served at the middle of the dinner, together with little pieces of bread cooked in the bain-marie
A servant, armed with a very sharp carving-knife, removes the skin of the roast, be it wild duck, goose, or sucking pig, and serves each guest with a little in a saucer. At the same time, another servant hands each guest a small cup, into which he pours rice brandy. I forgot to say that the table is cleared before the roasts are served, just as in Paris before coffee is brought on to table. Pastry is always served at our dinners, and is brought on between the courses. With salt pastry, containing meat, a cup of chicken broth is served, whilst with sweet pastry almond milk is handed round. I must add that dinner always begins with hors d’œuvres including fruit, and ends with a bowl of rice, which may be eaten or not, according to the tastes of the guests. Tea is served immediately after dinner, and at the same time each guest receives a napkin dipped in hot water.
The diners sit at a square table, two on each side. The first and third face the second and fourth, the sixth and the fifth face the courtyard, to which the seventh and eighth turn their backs. The eighth is always the master of the house, whose special function it is to fill the glasses of his guests with wine. When there are more than eight, several tables are used. If four tables are needed, the third and fourth are near the courtyard, whilst the first and second are near the drawing-room. Hors d’œuvres include, besides fruit, ham, gizzards, grated meat grilled, dried shrimps, and preserved eggs. The latter, thanks to their coating of lime, will keep for an indefinite period; after twenty-five years they are exquisite to the taste, having undergone a kind of transformation, the result of which is that the yellows have become a kind of dark brown in colour, and the whites, also brown, resemble meat jelly. I once made some European friends of mine taste some of these eggs, as well as other Chinese dishes, and they were delighted with them, all prejudice apart.
Once, however, a Berlin lady, after having found that our cooking was delicious, asked the name of each of the dishes of one of our interpreters, who, not knowing the exact translation of the technical expression, “sea-slug,” answered that the dish in question was “sea hedgehog,” or See-Igel in German.This was enough to disgust our amiable guest, who refused to continue her dinner.I was sitting next to her, and she told me that she could feel it crawling in her throat still, which shows how great is the force of imagination.Marquis d’Hervey de Saint-Denys gave a Chinese dinner during the Exhibition of 1867, and Cham, the famous caricaturist, drew the menu.There were some abominable things in this bill of fare, and the faces of the guests after they had glanced at it was a sight to be seen.It took the marquis all his eloquence to reassure them.I will not deny that there are people in China who eat these extraordinary dishes, but these are the exceptions to the rule.I repeat here, that never in my life have I seen or heard of any one who ate cat or dog, a practice which only quite recently a writer in the Figaro accused us of. Apropos of this, I must relate a very curious thing that befell us, when, in the spring of 1878, our Legation first settled in Paris. One day I received a call from a footman in livery, who desired to speak to me in the name of his mistress, a Polish countess of very high position. This lady had amongst her pets twelve little Chinese dogs, those hairless little bow-wows that everybody has seen. She loved them dearly, and, being frightened lest the Chinese colony might eat up her darlings, sent me word, considering us apparently as wild beasts or savages, to the effect that if one of her pets should disappear she would set fire to the Embassy building. I reassured the good old lady, and sent her word that none of my countrymen had an appetite for dog-meat, and that should she miss one of her pets one day it would be much wiser on her part, before committing the crime of arson with premeditation, to go round to the police-station or to the dogs’ home.
In short, we eat very much as you do, with rather more variety, thanks to the productiveness of our country and of our sea.But never are disgusting or even curious dishes seen on our tables.It is true that we prepare our dishes in a different manner.For instance, we cut the food up into very little pieces, in consequence of which the nature of the dish is not to be recognised, but our dishes are none the less delicious on that account.I could call in witness of what I assert all Europeans who have lived in China.
Cooking, moreover, is in exact ratio to the state of civilisation of each nation—the more developed the one, the more recherché and the more perfect the other. France is the country in Europe which was civilised the first, and its cuisine is the most perfect in the West. So, instead of asking us whether we are in the habit of preparing such and such a fantastic dish, the European would do better to ask from what year our civilisation dates. The answer to this question would at once show him that it is absurd to attribute to us the consumption of disgusting dishes, and that this is the work of mere imagination, vivid perhaps, but completely in the wrong.
CHAPTER XXIX
GAMES OF SKILL
CONJURING
There are no theatres in China, like the Egyptian Hall in London, that is to say, conjuring theatres.The conjurer has to perform in public, in the squares, and places like his European brethren at the different fairs.Conjurers are often hired to perform at family parties, and never fail to win great applause.The Chinese conjurer is, at the same time, an acrobat, and knows both his trades very well indeed.The proverbial skill of our artists is really astonishing.The performance is generally opened with acrobatic feats, and after having swallowed swords, juggled with weights, and gone through exercises of this description, the acrobat transforms himself into a magician. He throws off his gown, and as it falls to the earth, asks the spectators what object they would like to see. Something very difficult to produce is naturally chosen, and the sorcerer begins to make strange gestures with his fingers. He then approaches the gown, mutters some mysterious word of command to it, mesmerises it with strange mesmeric passes, and suddenly the gown is seen to rise from the earth, and rises and rises until the master, drawing back this moving curtain, discloses beneath it smoking dishes, or a large bowl filled with water, in which quantities of gold and silver fish are disporting themselves. This is one of the tricks that I have seen performed, and have never been able to understand how it was done. But one of my friends told me of something that he had seen which was much more astonishing. One day, in the course of one of these performances, the conjurer asked his audience to name what they desired to see. One of the spectators asked for a pumpkin. The conjurer, at first, pretended that that was out of the question, as it was not in season. But, the public insisting, he gave way. He then took a pumpkin seed and planted it in the earth, and made his son—a lad of four or five years—lie down, and thrust his knife into his throat, as if he had been slaughtering an animal. The blood poured out into a pot, and when it had been collected the conjurer watered with it the spot where he had just planted the seed. He then covered the corpse up with a cloth, and placed a wooden bell over the seed. A few moments later a sprout was seen rising from the soil, which grew and grew and burst into flower. The flower fell, and the pumpkin showed itself, growing with extraordinary rapidity. When it was ripe, the magician picked it off its stalk, showed it to the public, and began making his collection. He then lifted up the cloth from his son, and instead of disclosing a corpse, brought to light a very healthy youth, who did not bear the vestige of a wound. All this was done with surprising neatness.
Another of my friends told me, on his return from Pekin, that he had seen still more extraordinary things.One day, after the literary examinations, the candidates clubbed together and sent for a troupe of conjurers.The chief, having shown certain tricks, asked if the audience would like to see some rare thing that they might choose.“A peach,” cried one of the spectators.It was then the month of March, when the land is still ice-bound, especially in the north of China.“A peach!”said the conjurer; “that is the only fruit that it is impossible for me to procure.At this time of the year, peaches can only be found in Paradise.”
“But as you are a magician,” was the answer, “you ought to be able to bring one down from heaven.”
After grumbling a good deal, the conjurer said he would try what he could do for them, and began weaving a roll of ribbon, which he cast into the air, and which took the shape of a ladder, which went up and up to a tremendous height. He then placed a child on this ladder, who ran up the rungs with the agility of a monkey, and was soon lost to sight in the clouds. Some moments passed, when suddenly a peach fell from the skies. The magician picked it up, cut it into slices, and offered it to the audience. It was a real peach. Hardly had the peach been eaten, when something else fell from the skies. Horror! It was the head of the child, which was speedily followed by the trunk and the limbs. The sorcerer picked them up with tears in his eyes, and said that the audience was to blame for the loss of his child by its absurd request, and that the guardians of Paradise had taken his child for a thief, and had cut him into pieces. The spectators, touched at the sight of his sorrow, and believing that they were really to blame for a murder, and wanting to do all in their power to comfort the unhappy father, made a collection, and presented him with a handsome sum of money. Meanwhile, the magician had placed the fragments of his son’s corpse in a box, which he always carried round with him. As soon as he had received the amount of the subscription, he opened the box and cried out—
“Come forth, my child, and thank these kind gentlemen.”And out sprang the youth, alive and well.
In concluding this chapter, I must tell a story about a ventriloquist.It was at a dinner given by a gentleman, who, as a rule, was very unhappy in life, and bored himself dreadfully when alone.He used to say that when he had no friends to talk to, the softest carpets appeared to him like bundles of needles, and the most beautifully decorated walls like bucklers.He used to write poems to kill time.When people knocked at his door he used to ask them to stay to dinner, whether he knew their names or not.That day not one of the guests who sat at the table knew any of the others. The conversation turned on the question, which sound was the most agreeable. One of the spectators said, “It is the sound of the shuttle as it flies across the loom, or the voice of a reading child.”
“No, no; that is too serious,” said the host.
“Then it is the neighing of horses, or the concert of lady musicians.”
“No; that is too noisy,” said the host.
“The rattle of the pawns at chess played by women.”
“Nor that.That is too monotonous.”
The fourth guest said nothing, but continued quietly emptying his glass.
“What is your opinion?”asked the others.
“I have no opinion to give,” said he; “but I should like to tell you about the sounds I heard in Pekin.They seem to me to be much superior to any others.They were the different noises emitted by a ventriloquist.He was seated behind a screen, where there was only a chair, a table, and a fan, and a ruler. He rapped the ruler on the table to enforce silence, and, when everybody had ceased speaking, there was suddenly heard the barking of a dog; then the movements of a woman, waked by the noisy brute, who shook her husband to say tender things to him. We were just expecting to hear a duet of love between the two spouses when the noise of a crying child was heard. Then we heard the mother giving the breast to the baby, and the sound of it drinking and crying at the same time. The mother tried to console it, and then rose to change its clothes. Meanwhile, another child, waking in its bed, began to make a noise; its father scolded it, whilst the younger child continued crying at its mother’s breast. Then the whole family go back to bed and fall asleep. The patter of a mouse is heard. It climbs up some vase and upsets it, and we hear the clatter as it falls. The woman coughs in her sleep. Cries of ‘Fire, fire,’ are heard. The mouse has upset the lamp, and set fire to the bed-curtains. The husband and the wife, wakened, begin to shout and scream, the children cry, thousands of people come running up, and vociferate; thousands of children cry, dogs bark, the walls come crashing down, squibs and crackers explode—it seems a general sauve-qui-peutThe fire-brigade comes racing up; water is pumped up in torrents, and hisses in the flames.It was all so true to life that all present were about to rise to their feet and run away, thinking that fire really had broken out, when a second blow of the ruler was struck on the table, and the most complete silence ensued.We rushed behind the screen, but there was nothing except the ventriloquist, his table, his chair, and his ruler.”
CHAPTER XXX
THE EVOCATION OF SPIRITS
A number of people believe in spirits, and make it a pleasure to summon them into their presence by way of pastime.A cylindrical box, containing a number of little sticks, each of which bears a number, may be seen in every temple, and before the altars of every god.When a man wants to know his future, he first of all burns candles and incense before the god; then he kneels down at the altar, holding one of these boxes in his hands.He then asks the question that he wants to have answered, and shakes the box gently until one of the little sticks fall out.This he picks up, and places it before the god; then he takes two hemispheres, and throws them to the ground. If they fall on the flat side, that means that the little stick is the right one; but if on the convex side, that means that the stick is no good, and the thing must begin over again. If the stick has been recognised to be right, it is taken to the guardian of the temple, who gives a number corresponding to the one printed on it. This number has written on it a motto such as you see in crackers in Europe, and it is according to this motto that the future is read. Sometimes most extraordinary results are obtained by this means; at other times, however, the answer has no sense or portent.
Sometimes a plate is taken, and a piece of paper carefully wetted is applied to it.A Taoist priest is called, who begins by making mysterious gestures over the dish, and then rubs the paper on it with a piece of paper tightly rolled up.This rubbing produces a quantity of figures and scenes, and from these figures and scenes the future is predicted.Supposing a theft has been committed, the plate will show the scene of the theft, with the portrait of the thief. A cheap and easy way of detecting crime, it must be admitted. More than that, it shows what punishment will befall the guilty man. If a needle is taken and the eyes of the portrait of the thief in the dish be struck with it, the real offender instantaneously becomes blind.
We have also a number of inspired hypnotic mediums and lucid somnambulists.They go to sleep, the spirit moves them, they rise up and predict what is going to happen, or cure the sick.They can be pricked with pins without feeling any pain, and can walk on burning coals without burning themselves.
We have no want of literary gods.A large dish is taken filled with sand, and then the two ends of a carved stick of wood are moved over it.The god guides the points, and a number of acrostic sentences and poems are the result, written in the sand.The spirits of well-known literary men of bygone ages are called for, and they are begged to attend the meeting, and to give some specimens of their poetic talents. Let me describe one of these scenes.
The brush, after having moved about for some time, announces that a literary god is approaching.At once it begins to trace out the following quatrain:—
Next a goddess presents herself and writes:
The goddess asked at the same time that all those present should submit their poems, that she might applaud or condemn them.Each man gave a poem, which was immediately burned, so that it might reach in wraith the goddess.
Suddenly the friend of the goddess put in her appearance, or rather manifested herself.Her name was Siao-Ling, which means Young Lotus.This is what she wrote:
We then asked her if at that time of the year they were very busy in heaven.
“No,” she answered; “all our days are like each other.It is only on New Year’s Day that there is a great reception at the house of our Sovereign Master.”
“Do the gods keep Lenten fasts?”
“Our Master before becoming a genii used to abstain from rice.Once immortal, he gave up food of all kinds.As regards the food of the gods, it is composed of venison, of dragons’ livers, of mountain flowers, and fruits of Paradise, and so on.”
“Is it true that besides heaven there is hell?”
“Hell and heaven are in the minds of men—one represents what is good, the other what is bad.”
This exchange of questions and answers went off as easily as a conversation between friends.The answers were given much more quickly than at table-turning seances.Our amusing game lasted until long past midnight.
The above is a very accurate description of this kind of spirit seance, as generally practised in China.Of course, in different places the language and the way of thinking differs.It is because of the elevated style of the language used at these meetings that they enjoy so much favour with our literary men.
CHAPTER XXXI
PHRENOLOGY AND CHIROMANCY
In no country, so much as in China, has the belief in phrenologists and chiromancists been so general.According to these men of science, every mark on the face and body has its meaning.In consequence, as such and such a sign, say, on your left eye, may be counter-balanced by some other sign, say, on your right cheek, it will be seen that a whole series of combinations and calculations has to be gone through before the definite diagnosis of a person can be obtained.When one goes to consult these oracles, they first of all examine your face, then the hands, and then the body, just as a doctor who wishes to thoroughly examine a patient. After that they ask you to walk with your usual step, which is another factor in the combination. According to their lore, the various acts of life have significance—thus, slow eating, quick digestion, heavy sleep, and laziness in dressing are all very bad signs. A dark forehead means mourning for a near relation. A long face on a short body indicates a man of a calm and quiet life. A head short set in shoulders and a fat round stomach betoken a vile man. Long ears with the lobes ball-shaped are sure signs of a statesman. Large ears bent forward show that their owner leads an agitated and fatiguing existence. The famous Lao-Tse, the founder of the Taoist religion, had ears seven inches long. Thick and bushy eyebrows mean that their possessor will be rich in brothers and sisters. Each break in them means the loss of one brother, and the nearer the break is to the outer end, the younger that brother will be. When the eyebrows are longer than the eyes, that means that you have a literary man before you. A spot at the side of the eye means that the person will have tears to shed. The nose should be large and thick. It is then the “Spring of the Mountain,” the “Devil’s Well,” the “Lake of the Genii,” or the “Tower of the Soul.” The nose is considered the principal feature, because many of our sovereigns had very large noses, and notably Emperors Fou-Hi-U and Han-Kao-Tsou. The latter was further endowed with a thick, black beard, and besides having the face of a dragon, had seventy-two black birth marks below his hip. Another emperor, Weng-Ouang, who lived at an earlier date, had four breasts. It will be seen that teratology plays its part in China. To all these persons, as to Lao-Tse, the high places that they afterwards occupied were foretold. When the beard is bristly, the wearer is a sly man. A long beard is the sign of a long life. A brown beard betokens a general. A Buddhist high-priest, whose beard reached down to his knees, had his lofty position predicted on that account. A big mouth will always have food. A black spot at the corner of the mouth promises good cheer for ever. A sly and deceitful man has thin and pinched lips. Red lips betoken good birth. White and equal teeth are signs of aristocratic connections. Hard teeth foretell premature old age. A soft tongue is the tongue of an orator. A rough voice, like that of a wolf, and waspish eyes belong to pitiless and unfeeling people.
A number of tokens are to be read in the hand.The observations of our chiromancists being almost identical with those of their European confrères, I will therefore not enter into these details, but will break the monotony of this description with a few anecdotes.
A literary man, named Tao-Kan, had a line of happiness which went in a perfect straight line from the wrist to the middle of the first joint of the middle finger.He was told that, if this line lengthened out any more, he might expect the highest honours. He contented himself with pricking the extremity of this line with a needle, and writing the word “duke” with the blood; and as it happened he was created a duke.
Another, named Li-Kou, one day consulted a phrenologist, who pointed out to him that his temple-bones were very pronounced, and that they reached out to behind his head, and that, in consequence, he would be raised to a place of honour.This prophecy was duly realised.
A prefect of Ho-Nan, named Tcheou, met a phrenologist, who spoke to him as follows:—In three years you will be appointed minister and generalissimo, and one year later you will die of hunger.The prefect laughed, and said, that once in so high a position, he could not starve.But the phrenologist insisted that such was his destiny, and that he could not escape, basing his assertion on the fact that the little veins which usually flow vertically towards the mouth, had a horizontal position in his face. All that had been predicted happened. After having risen to be a minister and commander-in-chief, the former prefect had to retire in disgrace, and died of a disease which prevented him from taking any food.
Duke Ouang-King-Tche, whose mother was a phrenologist, was born in a violet caul.When he was a little older, two long breasts grew under his arms. The mother announced a brilliant future for her son, and events proved that she was right.
It had been predicted to the mother of Empress Wou-Hao, of the dynasty of the Thang family, that she would have a child who would reign on the throne.As she was a simple middle-class woman, she did not place much faith in this piece of news.She had a daughter which she showed to a phrenologist, and told him that it was a boy.He made the child walk, and said, “If it be a boy, it will one day become emperor.”As a matter of fact the child became empress, and after the death of her husband mounted on the throne. She was one of the two empresses who have reigned over China.
An emperor, of the dynasty of the Tchings, had no children.He sent for a phrenologist, and asked him to tell him which of the ladies in the palace could make him a father.The phrenologist pointed out one, but added that after having given birth to a child she would be devoured by a tiger.The young woman in due time presented the emperor with a son.This point having been realised, the second prediction was thought about.Nobody had seen any tiger, and nobody thought that the prediction could be realised.The picture of a tiger was sent for, so that people might see what kind of an animal it was that was to prove fatal to the empress, and the young woman, wishing to destroy her enemy, struck the picture with so much force that she wounded herself, and died of gangrene in the arm.
A man aged thirty years had already lost two of his brothers. His mother, fearing for his life, also went to a phrenologist, and asked if her last child was not also threatened with the same fate that had befallen his brothers. The phrenologist said that in order to answer he must pass one night with the young man. During his sleep he listened attentively to the breathing of the sleeper, and noticed that his breath seemed to come out of his ears. The phrenologist then comforted the mother, and said, “Your son will live long and happy, for he breathes like a tortoise.”
There are, of course, numbers of quacks in the profession.The following is a story about one of them.It is rather amusing:—
The Governor of a province once sent for a phrenologist, and asked him to select amongst a number of ladies, who were all dressed in the same way, which was his wife.The phrenologist looked at them for a long time without being able to answer.At last he cried out, “It is she out of whose forehead a yellow cloud has just issued forth.”Of course everybody turned round to look at the real lady, and the phrenologist equally, of course, guessed at once which was the Governor’s wife, and pointed her out with the most prophetic of gestures.
CHAPTER XXXII
DIFFERENT GAMES
ORIENTAL SHOOTING MATCHES
These matches were played with little rods, which the players had to throw into a long-necked and narrow-mouthed vase.
According to the Book of Rites, the host at a dinner party had to offer these arrows to his guests, and it was their duty to refuse them at first, but after some pressing to accept them.A servant then brought a vase on to the table, and the guests threw each two or four arrows into its mouth.At rich dinner-parties each arrow that entered the vase was saluted with a burst of music from the orchestra. A horse or a carriage was given to the player who succeeded in putting all his arrows into the vase.
Our forefathers asserted that the character of a man could easily be told by his manner of playing this game.Suspicious and timid people threw their arrows for the most part askance, whilst weak-minded men invariably missed the mark.To succeed once and to miss twice was a sign of a want of perseverance, for to get the arrow exactly into the mouth of the vase a sharp eye and a good aim are necessary, and it will not do to do too much or too little.The throw must also be straight, and the aim exactly at the centre, and this, in conformity with human principles about straightforwardness and moderation, our forefathers used also to think that the activity put into play at this game resembled that of the conscience.To miss one’s aim with an arrow was equivalent to neglecting a duty.The rule was to reflect with prudence, and to throw with measure. He who did this was fitted to become an able statesman.
One wins without manifesting pride or showing his delight, another cheats or tries to draw too near the mark.These different ways of acting enable one to distinguish between honest and dishonest people.
To conclude, men used thus to be judged formerly by trifles of small importance in themselves, but which became powerful auxiliaries of truth.And it was for that reason that our ancestors included this game in their rituals.
THE CANDLESTICK
This game is also a very ancient one, and consists in getting a person to guess what object is hidden under a bell of non-transparent material, metal or china.Those who guess must not name the object directly, but must compose a quatrain referring to it.
For instance, supposing a lizard has been hidden, this is how a clever player would tell us that he had guessed it:
One day three objects were hidden under the bell—a swallow’s egg, a piece of honeycomb, and a spider.The following were the quatrains which revealed the nature of the hidden objects:—
Other guessers were still more skilful, albeit they did not compose quatrains.
A Sovereign had placed a white bird under a bell, and ordered his Minister to guess.He answered that the emperor could not force him to guess.When he was asked why not, he said, “Let him, first of all, let his white bird escape.”
On another occasion a rat was hidden.Everybody said it was a rat.But one very clever player insisted that there were four rats under the bell.The bell was removed, and it was found that, true enough, there were four rats.Whilst she had been in confinement, the rat had given birth to three little ones.
Guessing is done by means of the Koua, or diagrams, of which I have spoken elsewhere.
SHUTTLECOCKS
We also play with shuttlecocks, made of four duck feathers, the ends of which are passed through the square hole in the centre of one of our coins and bent down, which renders them very elastic.Ladies play with battledores; gentlemen use their feet, as in the English game of football.A certain height is fixed upon, and the player who fails to reach it loses the game.The same game is played with leather balls stuffed with cotton.
THE COIN GAME
A coin is thrown against the wall.The player whose coin springs back farthest from the wall begins.He throws his coin in any direction, and it is agreed upon that the other players must throw their coins so as to fall at such or such a distance from the place where his is lying.Those who manage to do this, or get closest to the mark, win, those who are farthest off lose.
This game used formerly to be played by the ladies of the Court, but now-a-days it is only played by children in the streets.
CHAPTER XXXIII
GAMES OF CHANCE
CARD GAMES
Our card games are more complicated than those played in Europe.One of the reasons of this is the number of cards in the Chinese pack, which contains 120, subdivided into four classes, corresponding with four colours, and into thirty species.There are thus only four cards of each species, and thirty of each class.
The pack includes nine cords; the first cord, the second cord, and so on, up to the ninth cord; nine cakes; nine faces; a red man; a civilian; and a butterfly.
Different kinds of games can, of course, be played with the same kind of cards.
FIRST CARD GAME—AWAITING THE CARD
Five players take their places at the table; the cards are shuffled, and are cut into eight packs of fifteen each.Three dice are cast, and three of the packs are removed in the order designated by the numbers on the dice.A third cast of the dice determines who is to take the first of the five remaining packs.The player on the right takes the second, and so on.The three packs that were removed are placed in a box, and the bottom card of all is turned round and given to the happy possessor of the first pack.Each takes his cards, and arranges them according to the kind and value of the cards, thus: first cord, second cord, third cord, and so on; or, first man, second man, third man; or, first cake, second cake, third cake; or, second cord, second man, second cake.To win, a player must have one or more sets. There are seven sets, composed as follows:—
III.—Eighth cake, second cord, second man.
II.—Ninth man, eighth cord, butterfly.
V.—Ninth cord, the civilian, ninth man.
IV.—Ninth cord, the civilian, the red man.
VI.—Seventh cake, third cord, third man.
VII.—Ninth cake, first cord, first man.
I.—First, second, and third cakes.
The cards must be arranged in sets, as soon as they have been picked up off the table.If a player has only two cards of one set, he must hand an isolated card to the player on his right, who takes it, if it is of any service to him, and, in his turn, hands one of the cards in his hand to his neighbour on the right.If, on the other hand, he has no use for it, he rejects it, and takes the bottom card off the pack in the box.This he keeps and hands another card to the player on his right, and so on.
When one of the players has managed to get together all the seven sets, with the exception of one set, which lacks only one card to complete it, he lays down on the table the leading card of one of the sets, and this gives him the right to take all the cards which are taken out of the box to complete his sets. If he succeeds in doing so, he wins.
The number of sets held by the winner are then counted, and he is paid, according to the amount fixed upon at the start, so much for each set.
Sometimes, also, it is the first card at the top of the pack placed in the box that is turned round.This card is called gold, and every player, who has a similar card in his hand, may use it instead of any other card that may be wanting to complete any set in his hand.
SECOND GAME—FISHING
This game is played by three players.
The cards are divided into eight packs of fourteen cards each, and eight cards remain over.The dice indicate which three packs are to be placed in the box.Two packs are chosen at haphazard, and are added to the eight cards that remained over.
A second cast of the dice determines the distribution of the three remaining packs, which each player is to take.
The player who takes the last of these three packs must spread out on the table, face upwards, and according to their values, all the cards in the pack which is composed of the two selected packs, together with the eight cards that remained over, so that all the players can see what they are, just as is the case with the dummy at whist.
In reward for his trouble, the rule of the game awards him a privilege.He receives, at once, the top card in the box, which otherwise he would only have had later on, and so he knows at once what card to expect.
The first to play takes one of the cards in his hand to fish for one of the cards, which he hopes will be the same number (it is not necessary that it should have the same picture) on the table with it. He then draws another card from the bottom of the pack in the box. Each of the other players does the same in turn. If the dummy is dead, that is to say, if none of its cards is of the number you want, you do not fish, but you throw out a card—or hook—without taking anything.
When all the cards have been drawn, each player counts his sets he is able to make up out of the cards he has fished.These sets are the same as in the preceding game, with the exception of number V.and number VI., which do not exist in this game.Each card in set number I.counts as thirteen points; in set number II., for twelve points; in set number III., for eleven points; in set number IV., for thirteen points; and in set number VII., for ten points.Outside the sets each card is worth only the same number of points as its numerical value.The first card is worth one, the second two, and so on.
THIRD GAME—THE PECKING GAME
The same cards are used, and two persons play.The cards are all placed together on the table, and each player takes three cards, of which he turns one up, so as to see which is to begin pecking.The first player throws one card on the table and the other does the same.If the player whose turn it is to throw sees that with the cards in his hand and those on the table he can make up a set he picks them up, and so the game goes on; the cards being taken three by three from the pack until all have been drawn.When that is done, the number of points held by each player, according to the system of counting described above, is counted.
In all these games, besides the stake, each player may place a sum of money or a single coin before him on the table.If he loses, he loses this money also; whilst if he wins, each player has to pay him an equivalent sum.This is betting added to staking.We have also cards representing chess figures, in which the cannon, the carriage, and the horse form a set, as do also three similar cards, or the general, the councillor, and the elephant.
These cards are played in the same way as the others.Chinese cards are always much smaller than those used in Europe, measuring about one inch by two.These cards were invented under the reign of the Han dynasty, as a pastime and as a relief in solitude.But now-a-days they have become a social game, even in parties where people are far from wanting subjects of amusement.