Language, ar-e aot of difficult acquifitiön. The language feems originally to
'have dbëetï fiiferóglypMiïil J but afidriyardi 'the found alone was eón-
•^SdîÉfeift/ Abftraft tetmiHiire; fe^refféd,:aS ufuàb, by reladyeidfeâs ; fhîïS
virtue, which in ljjain- implies :löSp^%'-SöÈtóÉg-'the' iSlifcde ffi|ÿs$ftes
^filial piety ; the early prevalence of knowledge in -China excluding
mere ftrength from any meritorious'claim.
Education. ~ The föhbols of edocaition are numerous, hut the children of the poor
•are chiefly taught to -follow the bufinefs of,their fathers.' In a Chineffe
* treâtîfé of education, pöhMÉied-:by Du fMdê, the following ire reeotomènied
as the chief toÇigs. *. The fix virtues, namely, prudence,
piety, wifdom, equity, fidelity,' concord. '2. The fixlaUdablte aérions,
to wit, obedience to parents; love to brothers, harmony with relations,
afleériön for neighbours, fincerity with frien&’,’ ândï inheréy iwîfH regard
to the poor and unhappy.- 3. The ' fix efleotial .points o f ’knowl edge,
that eif religions rites, mafic, archery, horfemanfliip, writings ànd 'âd-
eompts.' ï>ûch a plan is certaiffiÿmnôre nföfdl than the‘acquifitiön of
dead languages.
Cities and The chief cities ofChina are Pekin and Rankin, or the jhëfttïrh■ tttitl
owns. foüthëfn côürts, the former being.'theCambalu,' or city‘ofjf&eGhaU,
in writings Of the middle ages, the capital of Cathay, as Nankin' was of
PeEn. Màrigi. Pekin occupies a large jfjfece of ground ; b,ut the." mebti are
•wide, and_fhe houfes feldom exceed one ftory. The.lengïh-ql^what is
called the Tatar city is about four mileS,_and the fübùrbs.âre cpnfider-,
able.1 The principal part, or that called the Tatar city,f Is lo dSnbmi-
nated, becaufe it was re-edified in the thirteenth centuW, ,tinder the
dynafty .of the Tatars, or rather the Monguls.* By the heft information,
which the recent embafly could procuré, the population wàs. computed
at 3,000,000. The homes indeed arb neither- large nor numerous;
but it is common to find three- generations, -with all their
wives -and children, under one roof,- as they eat in common, and one
room contains many beds. The neatnefs of the houfes, and various
repletion of the fliops, delight the eye of the vifitor. At Pekin the
3 Staunton, ii. 297.
* So Staunton 5 but Du Halde, i. -135, fays' 8 is fo called becaufe the houfes were allotted
to the Mandlhurs, in the beginning of the prefent dynafty.
' 14 ' grand
CHAP. HI. C I V I L QEOiGHAPHY. 97
grand examinations take place, which confer the higheft degree in Cl^ AKD
literature, ,or in?ptlier.^vpr^Sj.t'he chief office in government. Exceffive
wealth, or*poverty, feem equally unknown, as there is no right of
primogeniture, - and no hereditary dignity.: and there are properly but
three clafies of men in China, men of letters, among whom the mandarins
are feleffed.; Cultivators of the ground; and mechanics;, including
merchants.4 , .The wfl|s of 'this, capita]^ a|g |.j©| ..cpp^derable
firenath aad;thicknefs; and the^ipn-e .igat^s of po, inelegant,;arahit-e(fi:uxe. ''
polype and and ,the> ftrepts aye crowded
with paffengers an^ ^carriages. The gramdgft edifijCe, .Imperial
palace, which confifts of many -pifiturefqi^^pll^ip^s, dhperfed o-ver a
wide and, greatly diverfifiecl, &^ce>pf,g*p^dfe’C0^as'.to.jieJbni) thj3-,ap- \
pearance qfenchaptment.
.Nankin, wfilcli^was thejofidence of -the, mqurt-t;ill. the, fifteenth cep- Nankin»- '
tury, is a yet more extenfive gpy .than .Pekin, and, is r^pmed the largest
in the empire, h The walla .are faid to .bp ^boyit r j Britifli miles in circumference.
The chiefqdifices are the gates with a/ew temples; and
^-celebrated tower clothed with pqrcelain,, about ^,oq , fiegt in height;.
.Such .towers were ftyied pagodas by the Portuguese, whb fuppofed
.them, ,to Jbe temples,; but they feem to have been chiefly ere^hd -as
-memorials, orjis ornaments, like the Grecian and Roman-columns.
To the European reader one of the mqft iutereftmg pities p CJantpm Canton,
which is faid -to contain a million and a half of .inhabitants,;- numerous
.families refiding in harks on .the river. Thq European,faftori.es, with
,their national flags, sare no fmall ornamqnts-to this city. .The chief export
is that' of tea,' of which If is’ faid that about 13 jpoo^odo'-tofipounds
Weight are .cpnfumed by,,Great (Britain, .and her dependfthpies:,-(and
about r3,oQ©iPQO byrtfie reft of Rurqpe, . The ^tom England,
ohiefly woollens^ with lead, tin, fur-s, and jobber .articles, are fupppfed
to exceed a- million; and the exports a million and-a half, hefides the
itrade between China, and &ur »ppffeffions in Hindoft.am' * i@ther nations
carry to Canton the value .of about 20Q,o«p,l. and return whh arficles-tq
.the value of »about 6oq,a®s>l.i.J.Sq.«that the halanqe in favpqr of-China
maybe compqted at a million.fterling. ;
4 Staunton, ii. 329. ‘But .the,.wilitavy,nju,ft fee-rega-rded as 3 fQBrtliicljfs,
VOX. 11.' o The