fouthern provinces is Ta fa n , Have you eaten your rice? the
greateft happinefs that the common clafs o f people in Ghina
can hope to enjoy confifting in their having a fufEciency o f
rice. Thus alfo the Dutch, who are1 confidered as great
eaters, have a morning falutation which is tfommon among all
ranks, Smaakelyk eeten ! May you eat a hearty dinner / Another
univerfal falutation among this people is, Hhe vaart uwe? How do
you f a i l ? adopted no doubt in the early periods o f the Republic,
when they were all navigators and fiihermen. The ttfual
falutation at Cairo is; How do you fweat? a dry hot Ikin being
a fure indication o f a deftrudive ephemeral fever. I think fome
author has obferved, in controlling the haughty Spaniard with
the frivolous Frenchman, that the proud fleady gait and inflexible
folemnity o f the former; were exprefled in his mode o f falutation,
Come efta ? How do y oujland? whilfl the Comment vous
fo r te z vous ? How do you carry yourfelf? was equally expreflive
o f the gay motion and inceflant adion o f the latter.
T he Ghinefe are fo ceremonious among themfelves, and fo
pundilious with regard to etiquette, that the omiflion o f the
moll minute point eftabliihed by the court o f ceremonies is
confidered as a criminal offence. Vifiting by ticket?, which with
us is a falhion o f modern refinement, has been a common pradice
in China fome thoufand years ; but the rank o f a Ghinefe vifitor
is immediately afcertained by the fize, colour, and ornaments
o f his' ticket, which alfo varies in all thefe points according to
the rank o f the perfon vifited. The 'did'Vic'droy 'iff 'Pe-ttbeJedt
ticket to the Embaffador contained as much crimfon-co'loured
paper as would be fuflicient to cover the wails o f a moderate-
fized room.
Mattnefs and Amufements o f the:Couit— Reception of Embaf-
fadots-fi-Ghlifader and private Life o f the Emperor— His
Eunuchs and Women.
General, Chtfrafler f the Court— Q f the Buildings about the Palace— Lo rd Macartney’/
Account of his ,lntrodu£tion— O f the Celebration Of the Emperor* s Ahniverfaty
Fejhval— O f a Puppet-Sh'ePu— Comedy and Pantomime— Wreftlirtg— Conjuring
and Fir e-Works-—Réception and Entertainment of the Dutch Embaffadors from
a Manufcript Journal— Obfervations on the State o f the Çhinefe Stage— Extraordinary
Scene in one t f their Dramas— Grofs and indelicate Exhibitions— Sketch of
K ien -L o n g ’-r Life and CbaraBer— Kills his Son by an unlucky Blow— conceives
hinifelf immortal— • Infltttnceaf the Eunuohs at the Tartar Conquejl— their ptrefent
State arid Offices—tEmpefor’t W fe , Queens, and Concubines— How difpofed of at
his Death. j
A f t e r , the iketch I have exhibited o f th e . ftate o f lociety
among the different ranks in China, a> tolerable notion may be
formed, o f the general charader and complexion o f the court.
I t is, as Lord Macartney has juftly obferved, “ aflngular mixture
“ o f oftentatious hofpitality and inbred fufpicion, ceremonious
“ civility and real rudenefs, ihadowy complaifance and fubftan-
“ tial perverfenefs ; and this prevails through all the depart-
“ ments connededwith the Court, although fomêwhal modi-
“ fied by the perfonal dlfpofition o f thofc at their head ; but as