i w :choo- from whence ssuch knowledge was immediatel ytderi ved
: .foot , ' t"-" .......: to them. ,
■It is easy-to conceive also,- in-regardto eckpps^oftthe
su n ,, how much the disappearances, of that j#rbinary in
the.midst.of its. wonted .career must have appeared &mer
if’ natlire were about to b e _aimihiilated^ tqihim
wH^isiighora®tfeof the natural eauses pfi such an. ©yen!,
and of the-certain shortness of its duration. The people
offChin^lpv©, from the earliest-ages; tcfonsiderefl^ asplar
eclipse, as ominous of some general calamity,;, and aS
great pains are -taken to inspire them w ith «awfe^lieffsthat
their? prosperity is owing i to the; wisdom laad.ippftots: pf
theiriSiwereipt,,. so they'are tempted to attfibuMto iso|gp
deficiency:on his part whatever' they think ppr|p®l£®®s.;,
Torthis inconvenient, prejudice; tbepemperpiv himself!
finds it>prudent to apcpmmodatp his^o,ndu,ctJ.,_He ndYer
ventures on any undertaking of importance ggggjdgp approach,
o f such an eclipse,- ;;but - afFepts^ty} ^withdraw
himself from th p p ip eao o io f his courtiers^to^p^a-mifte
stripdy into his late administration ,of the empire,yin,^-
der toj correct any error, for the commission of which
th f .eGlipse may have been an admonition,t,,andJinykes
his subjects to offer him freely their advice.
. Some of th6 mandarines, , who accompanied the. English
in their | excursion to Tong-choprfoo, weres well
aware o f the true nature of eclipses. They k n ew. also
that there were Europeans employed at the Emperor’s
court in.ytfie?^6afeafaftf©Mt^ofdMism; butfl^M&ved. their Twig-chaoj
©wn.xauntrymfetePap^ble w'pBpiedictmg'. them)1 with -tele- =*JL.,.
raMe^effi&Gfcne'ss.fj It didf,ri@^ppeatfi!bPW^©^ffi!©m their
conversation; iby.whkf toeaiaMs&cb$]ffreMmtio®k wetellbP-
##edv. Thfete^wefee indeed^amon^thoTlhamese^CeWaht
and patienfe@b.s©EWers.; but t ^ y $lduitet*-seesaJW
thfe§icj§®t?efof calculation ine&sf&Ky'- to* -krftv ^1* tho>sbMf ’
tion-of any intripat«problems.. Ey&^the.firsts dpera&iofis
arithmetieswere Jik^ydryageptemHy-known; ankngst'
them. In the shops, where;ifrhe-fpkrty^dnt to’huy^som©
tril'esyiregular: entri^slpere marie^-diharttel^dkfcposed
o fi^jarf- thei&ev.erai prices. wseise affked in the comm®®
(Chinese; characters,; equivalent tdifehehwords Which 'M 9
press numbers im^ther lan^uagdsioBut noftbykidisfeinot
set ojufiguresv u p o n 'a system sirnilarf tb that; of'those
called Arabic by Europeans r |o k Which theSpOwers or
amount increasewfeigimally ,rks> theyvafte pMped to.feb&l'gft
hS eaeh; other u p o n :jthea<same limeWtend to - whiohrthe
■usualpperat'ions of arith mefiptmay j appfy. T he Chinese
calculate bycdaeikssistan.ee- of atmaGhinte^caliedby them
mm-pan^ ,-in which-ballsfake strung hpon - wkefcin diff
fererit- .columns^f-and arrangedmpohkdte p l a n oft Arabic
figures; th e bailsbepresebtingi u®itlseinMh&%fi®t .column
to the -right, with-a »decuple tprogressiote-of -thei others
from right.to leftwAj
Thfi decimah mbltiplication ’and suHdiYisibn of qua®»
tities and measures, used' asbnosfe in* eyery instance '»by