Narrative of the Circumnavigation of the Globe by the Austrian Frigate Novara Volume Ii Part 18

Close to the Tea-Garden is the largest Buddhist Temple within the city walls, in which throughout the day the over-credulous Chinese kneel before their idols, and with many reverences murmur their set formulas of prayers. Like everything else in China, even religious observances are regarded from the most practical point of view. They think they have done enough when they have gone through a certain round of outward ceremonies.

The condition of most of the temples, the utter neglect of some, and the various employments of others, indicate that the Chinese either has no sense of the sanct.i.ty attaching to such places of devotion, or else attaches but little value to the act itself. The men rarely enter the temples. It is only the women who, to satisfy the cravings of the heart, have recourse to invoking the Deity. Frequently one sees a wors.h.i.+pper approach the attendant sitting in the porch of the temple, in order to get their horoscope calculated by him for a few cash. For this purpose she shakes with eager devotion a box of bamboo-cane filled with thin wands, until one of these wands springs out. The words inscribed on each wand furnish the oracle-expounder with an infallible sign, by which, after consulting one of the books of Chinese wisdom spread out before him, he is enabled to p.r.o.nounce the answer of the divinity to the prayers preferred by the poor dupe. The most prolific source of revenue of the temple and its ministrants, consists, however, in the sale of the gold and silver tissue paper,[132] which plays so important a part in the wors.h.i.+p of the Chinese, and owing to their zealous and frequent use are heaped up in immense piles, for consumption by fire in a gigantic furnace.

Much more edifying than the interior of the great Buddhist temple with its troops of swag-bellied idols in their parti-coloured apparel, some with a good-humoured leer, others sulkily scowling on the beholder, is the appearance of the temple of Confucius[133] in a remote quarter of the city. In this extensive building, at once elegant and simple, and with numerous halls and corridors, the scholars undergo their examination for the service of the state; here the Government officials at stated seasons perform certain religious ceremonies, and here all the _literati_ a.s.semble for the discussion of grave questions of debate. The main hall has its red-tinted walls covered with Chinese and Tartar inscriptions, all of which refer to Confucius, his doctrines and his wisdom. At intervals, a number of tablets let into the wall inform the visitor that this edifice is devoted to the instruction of the virtuous, and the cultivation of the endowments. At the same time every person who pa.s.ses this in a sedan-chair or on horseback, whether an official or one of the people, is compelled to quit his vehicle and traverse the consecrated s.p.a.ce on foot. Over the entrance to the right is written: "His virtue is comparable to Heaven and Earth;" and above the door to the left we read, "His teachings comprise all the wisdom of ancient and modern days." Behind the temple is a smaller edifice, dedicated to the five progenitors of Confucius. The temple itself is similarly surrounded with various apartments, all, as their bombastic inscriptions announce, devoted to the honour and advancement of knowledge.

One of these chambers is dedicated to the G.o.d of Literature, another to the guardian spirit of Science. The latter is curiously represented as a figure holding in one hand a _stylus_, in the other a lump of silver, emblematic, we presume, of "man through wisdom attaining unto riches."

In every city throughout China there is, as well as a tea-garden, a temple in honour of the great teacher Kong-fu-tse, whose knowledge and whose moral system, 2400 years after his mortal pilgrimage, instruct and gladden not merely his own countrymen, but all admirers throughout the world of what is n.o.ble and virtuous.

Among the various monasteries of the city, we visited one of the Taouists, called the Du-Kung or Great Mirror (probably of Virtue), where strangers provided with introductions are received and entertained at 150 cash (6_d._ per diem). This cloister, whose sole inhabitants are some five or six Chinese monks, is situated close to the wall, and forms one of the best points whence to obtain a view of the entire city.

The Taouists, who follow the Tao, the "way of knowledge," and arrogate to themselves a more profound insight into the mysterious powers of nature, as well as more special acquaintance with and definite powers over good and evil spirits, are disciples of the doctrines of Lao-tse,[134] and are extensively scattered throughout the country, although at present, in consequence of their losing themselves deeper and deeper in a slothful, sensual mode of existence, their proselytism is proceeding at a much slower ratio than formerly. It is purely accidental that there is immediately adjoining the Taoui monastery a convent known as that of the "White nuns," a small one-storey building, kept however singularly neat and clean. Here we saw six Buddhist nuns, with close-shaven heads and in long white dresses, which gave them quite a masculine aspect. They received us with much courtesy, and escorted us round the various apartments with considerable _empress.e.m.e.nt_. They were mostly widows, who pa.s.s their lives here in calm retrospective contemplation, and occupy themselves with preparing little articles for the Buddhist ritual, such as censers, tapers, printed sacrificial papers, &c., with which apparently they contrive to support themselves. These a.s.sociations (Ni-koo) were usually founded by legacies and donations by pious Chinese, and are exceedingly useful as providing an asylum for poor, helpless women, weary of life. Many widows withdraw into these abodes of peace, there to pa.s.s the rest of their lives, free from the tumult of the world, in the exercise of devotion and of works of neighbourly love and charity.

Nevertheless, if we are to believe common report, works of piety are not the only objects occasionally pursued in these Buddhist convents, and the web of intrigue and amorous adventure, of which they have frequently been the scene, has not a little tended to lower the estimate in which these religious societies are held, and even threatens to cut short their existence. A people of such a materialistic mode of life, and such ant-like industry, as the Chinese, who rarely know what it is to have one holiday in the entire year, must involuntarily look with argus-like eye on all religious communities, which pa.s.s their time in luxurious ease and exemption from care, without in any way advancing the well-being of their fellow-creatures by either mental or physical labour.

In the course of our peregrinations through the streets of Shanghai we also came upon the shop of a Chinese apothecary (Yak-Tien), which externally bears a considerable resemblance to a similar establishment in Europe, but widely differs in respect of details. The Chinese Materia Medica is especially abundant in patent medicines, the use and application of which, it must be allowed, is frequently of the most extraordinary nature.

According to the latest researches of Dr. Hobson, of whose important services in the diffusion of European medical science in China we shall have much to say in a future page, we are acquainted with 442 drugs from among the three great kingdoms of Nature, which must be kept in every well-stocked Chinese drug-store, of which 314 belong to the botanical, 78 to the animal, and 50 to the mineral world. We shall, however, in this place only indicate those of which Chinese physicians avail themselves most frequently in the preparation of their medicines, such, for example, as birds' nests, dried red-spotted lizard, the fresh tips of stags'

antlers, the sh.e.l.l of the tortoise, dogs' flesh, bones of animals, preparations from various parts of the human body, whale-bone, oyster-sh.e.l.ls, skins of snakes, shark's maw and fin, tendons of deer and buffalo, dried silk-worms, their larvae and excrement, bamboo shavings, the bear's gall, preparations from human _faeces_, sc.r.a.ped rhinoceros and antelope horn, rabbit dung, cuttle-fish bone, dried varnish, dried leeches and earthworms, red marble, refuse of ivory, preparations from toads, petrifactions, old copper money,[135] snow-water,[136] human milk,[137]

&c. &c.

These pharmaceutics are brought from various parts of China, as well as from j.a.pan, Siam, and the Straits of Malacca, and const.i.tute an important and profitable branch of commerce. Many of them are sold at the druggist's in the raw state, when they are used as sympathetic remedies, amulets, or generally for external use. The Chinese druggists sell their medicaments for the most part in the form of powders or pills. These latter are usually made up in a capsule of bees-wax for greater facility of administration, so that the dose as it comes from the shop resembles those small wax-cakes used by house-wives for waxing their thread. One such cake contains four or six pills, called _Tzi-pau-tan_, or very costly pills, which are used as a sort of universal specific against fevers, affections of the digestive organs, headaches, &c. &c.

The most valuable and costly article in the Chinese pharmacop[oe]ia is, however, the Ginseng (_Panax Ginseng_, or _Panax Quinquefolia_), which is chiefly found in Mantchooria and the deserts to the north of the peninsula of Corea. The circ.u.mstance that the Ginseng is still a monopoly of the Chinese Government, only a few privileged individuals being annually permitted to purchase a certain quant.i.ty for its weight in pure gold, has much more to do with its efficacy as a panacea than the benefits conferred by its curative powers. The roots are about the size and thickness of a man's little finger, and break short off when bent. When cleaned they are transparent, and of a dark amber colour.

Of the Ginseng there are three qualities sold in the Chinese drug-stores.

One leang or ounce of the best (the largest and finest) costs 50 dollars, of the medium quality five dollars, and of the most inferior quality one dollar. The Ginseng root is also found in Virginia, Pennsylvania, and Canada, and is thence exported to China, but the Chinese prefer that of their native forests, even though these are very much dearer, and there is hardly any difference to remark between them. As the plant is only found in the wild state, and obstinately resists all attempts to cultivate it, its collection among the forests of North America is attended with great hards.h.i.+p and expense, and whereas in former years the profit realized on this article of commerce by English and American merchantmen amounted to from 500 to 600 per cent., it is now reduced to a very moderate proportion.

A more general subject of interest is presented by the shops where is sold the porcelain-ware, the manufacture of which dates from a very remote period of Chinese history, and was already a flouris.h.i.+ng trade at the commencement of our historic epoch. Indeed we may reasonably a.s.sume, notwithstanding the beautiful specimens of the art which from time to time are brought to light, that this special branch of industry is at present in a state of decline, while of many kinds of porcelain manufacture no examples can now be shown, as the secret of their manipulation has perished. What usually interests Europeans in these shops is what is known as "crackle" porcelain,[138] the upper surface of which everywhere presents broken lines, so that the entire vessel appears as though it consisted of numbers of small pieces cemented to each other, the whole having very much the appearance of Mosaic. But this description also is no longer manufactured of the first quality in the present day. Antique porcelain is of extraordinary value, but specimens of modern manufacture, such as small figures, mannikins, &c., are very cheap, and are much the same as those imported to Europe.

One marked partiality of the Chinese is their fondness for suspending gra.s.shoppers in small elegant baskets of bamboo strips, or twisted wire, in which, whatever the season or the weather, these little captives keep up a constant pleasant chirping. This custom is of great antiquity, and while one even now finds among the populace of the present day some of these chirpers thus carefully tended, there once was a time when the gra.s.shopper was the object of universal adoration, and enjoyed all the honours of Fas.h.i.+on. They were indebted for this singular good fortune, according to the abbe Grosier,[139] to a poor scholar under the Thang dynasty, in the 7th century of our era, who to relieve his poverty fell upon the singular expedient of trading in these insects. He went into the country, selected the most beautiful insects he could find, constructed elegant little cages for them, and returning to the city offered them for sale in the most frequented streets of Tschang-gan. The idea was novel, and the wealthy upper cla.s.ses speedily found a charm in having the music of the fields thus transplanted into their houses. The Empress, the Queens, the ladies of the Palace, in a word, every one was eager to possess these songsters of the meadow. There was actually an enactment pa.s.sed for the supply of the Imperial Palace with the requisite number of these insects. The fas.h.i.+on rose to a perfect mania--the little Zirperu was encountered at every corner--it was taken out whenever a call was paid--the whole city resounded with its shrill cry. The fine arts, and every branch of industry, felt its impulse. There was no textile fabric, no embroidery, no design, no vessel, on which it did not conspicuously figure. It was represented in metal and in jewellery, and no handsome lady thought her toilette complete, unless she sported a gra.s.shopper among her hair. This mania has died out in China, but the buzz of the insect still continues to furnish matter of amus.e.m.e.nt for the populace and children of all cla.s.ses, and they are still caught in large quant.i.ties, and exposed for sale in the streets. Singular to say, all ancient and modern writers, if we are to judge by their delineations, describe these insects as _cicadae_, whereas it was shown and proved by the researches of one of the zoologists of the Expedition, that the insect is no _cicada_, but a species of gra.s.shopper (_Decticus_), which, so far as appears, has never hitherto been described. Very probably the circ.u.mstance that the noise made by each of these insects is very similar, gave circulation to this error of upwards of a thousand years' standing, whence people would without further examination take it for granted that the insect confined in the cage belonged to that species whose place in natural history, and whose special musical qualifications, mankind had so long been familiar with. One of these gra.s.shoppers was kept for months in such a cage on board our s.h.i.+p, and chirped away l.u.s.tily, fair weather or foul, even when confined in a close cupboard. On the other hand, some _cicadae_, with which similar experiments were made, lived only two or three days in captivity. None sang, unless when teased, or when a number more were introduced into the vessel, thereby incommoding them, and none took nourishment. It was obvious that the _cicadae_ possessed none of those characteristics which would enable them to be kept in captivity as pets, whereas, on the other hand, the gra.s.shoppers and crickets were especially adapted for that purpose.

We were anxious to visit a variety of other interesting places, ere quitting the sultry, gloomy Chinese city on our return to the more genial European quarter. But evening was already setting in, and after sunset the gates of the city are closed, and neither Chinese nor European can after that hour obtain access to the city. Whoever is belated must find shelter for the night in the house of some hospitable friend, until with the first break of morning the gates are re-opened, communication is restored with the foreign quarter, and the previous day's scene of bustle is renewed.

The next object which excited our interest was a Chinese school. Ascending a wooden staircase, we enter a room, quite empty but for a table and stools, in which a haggard woe-begone Chinese, with long tail and rod in hand, is walking to and fro, while at a table some dozen of boys of from eight to twelve are engaged in reading. Their loud accents may be heard down in the street outside. The cost of the schools for the people is chiefly defrayed by voluntary subscriptions, foundations, &c. &c. The children of the middle cla.s.ses pay for nine months' instruction, three Spanish dollars. Many teachers have more than a hundred scholars, and thus earn about 1000 dollars per annum. These, it is true, are exceptions, but teaching as a profession seems on the whole to be fully better remunerated in China than in European countries. There it is in much higher estimation, and receives better recompense. The wealthy Chinese usually engage private tutors for their children, who, as among ourselves, usually form part of the family. Elementary education is almost universal throughout China. There are but few Chinese who are not at least able to read and write. One very gratifying instance of the prevailing religious toleration, well worthy of example in the Christian states of Europe, is the presence of Protestant and Catholic places of wors.h.i.+p in the midst of Buddhist temples, and other edifices dedicated to heathen wors.h.i.+p. The American Episcopal church, erected in 1850, at the expense of a wealthy merchant and s.h.i.+p-owner of Boston named Appleton, at a cost of 6000 dollars, already numbers eighty converts. It is an extremely simple yet neat-looking place of wors.h.i.+p, quite in the style of the chapels in the Western portion of the American Union, and has in connection with it a school numbering about forty native scholars. Every Sunday morning at ten, a sermon is preached, which is attended by most of the foreign community.

Far grander and more imposing in plan and fittings is the Catholic cathedral of Tong-Kadu, confessedly the finest place of Christian wors.h.i.+p throughout China. The construction of this building was commenced by voluntary subscription in 1846, and completed in 1852, the total cost amounting to 230,000 _leangs_, or about 65,000. Within there is a large organ, constructed by one of the lay brothers of bamboo pipes, whose saddening yet inspiring notes, heard in the festivals of the Church, invite the Christian community far and wide to devotion and instruction.

At present this cathedral is under the charge of a bishop of the Order of the Jesuits.

Our road from the Chinese city to the European quarter led us past an establishment which bore interesting testimony to the industrial activity of the Chinese. It is an oil factory worked exclusively by natives, and giving employment to about 400 workmen, besides 80 draught oxen. The oil is extracted from indigenous beans, and is so copious, that 1400 _catties_ (1750 lbs.) of oil are procured daily, which is worth 74 _cash_ per _catty_ (about 3-3/4_d._ per lb.), and is used both for cooking and for light. The residuary oil-cake, after expression of the oily matter, is used as manure.[140] A workman may earn at this description of labour from 100 to 200 _cash_ a day (4_d._ to 8_d._).

As we left the manufactory, and were bending our stops towards the little Eastern gate, our gaze was suddenly attracted by a s.p.a.cious and elegant mansion, evidently the property of a well-to-do Chinese. This, as we were informed by our companion, proved to be the residence of the Wuong family, which ranks among the five oldest and most distinguished families in Shanghai. There is to be seen in the neighbourhood a small stone memorial shaped like a mausoleum, which, with the Emperor's permission, was erected by the inhabitants of the district in which she lived, to commemorate the benevolence and philanthropic exertions of the mother of Wuong. The custom of honouring ladies distinguished by their virtues and benevolence, by the erection of temples, cenotaphs, &c., is by no means unusual in China, and is in marvellous contrast to the almost slavish treatment which the female s.e.x usually meets with. Nevertheless, in the city and environs of Shanghai alone there are ninety such triumphal arches and memorials to as many exemplary and philanthropic ladies. The majority of these were married, and some had attained a very great age, one having died at 104 years, and another at 115 years of age![141]

In the house of Wuong, who stands in high repute among the Europeans as a merchant and s.h.i.+p-owner, we were received with the most gratifying hospitality. As soon as we entered the house, an attendant immediately presented tea in small cups, which, in conformity with the usages of the country, had to be swallowed in all its native bitterness without admixture of sugar or milk. Immediately after an old nurse made her appearance, and struck up with our excellent conductor, Mr. Syles, who seemed to be everywhere welcomed by the Chinese, and was well acquainted with the family, a long conversation upon the most diverse subjects. At length the master of the house himself made his appearance, a dignified, stately man, arrayed in a light elegant grey silk frock, but in deportment and externals not differing in the very least from his Chinese attendants, and himself conducted us round the house. He seemed to feel pleasure in the opportunity of baring to the view of a stranger the very penetralia of his beautiful abode. We wandered through numerous apartments simply yet elegantly furnished, with various antechambers and corridors, among which were interspersed little plots laid out with dwarf plantations, artistically-designed grottoes, and "rookeries." In one of the rooms was a "punkah," an article of furniture rarely met with in a Chinese household.

On reaching the library or study, our host bade us be seated, while he again ordered tea to be served. This small but pretty apartment was covered all round with inscriptions in Chinese (chiefly maxims from Confucius), which, written on rolls of white paper, were suspended on the walls. While sipping our tea, and engrossed in conversation, an attendant appeared with somewhat thick cloths, steeped in hot water, with which to wipe our faces and hands. The evaporation of the moisture lowers the temperature of the skin, and has so refres.h.i.+ng an effect, that one cannot but feel surprised that this custom is not more extensively patronized in hot countries, or put in practice by ourselves during our hot sultry summers.

With respect to ourselves, what appeared most to interest our Chinese host in his silken attire was our apparel. He felt over and over again the black alpaca coat, which was worn by one of the members of our Expedition, and remarked, "these Western races are truly marvellous people; they wear far more clothes than we do, yet they perspire less." And thereupon Wuong mopped his face twice with the towel, which in the mean time the attendant had again dipped in the hot water, and thoroughly wrung out. As we were taking our departure, our courteous host accompanied us to the threshold.

In the portico were a number of wooden tables lacquered with red varnish, on which were inscribed in large golden letters of the Chinese character the t.i.tles of honour of the family of Wuong, which on festive occasions were drawn in front of the head of the family as he sat on his sofa.

After this ramble through the Chinese town, we returned to the "Strangers'

Quarter," where we came upon a widely different mode of life. Here everything is arranged upon the European model, and the attention is only diverted by those minor accessories, in which the climatic conditions have necessitated some variation. The houses are universally lofty, roomy, and agreeable, usually surrounded by a garden, and many of them present an almost palace-like aspect. More even than to the merchants in Broadway is the designation of "merchant princes" applicable to the foreign merchants of China and the East Indies, for it is among them beyond any other cla.s.s on the globe, that there prevails a luxury almost princely in its magnificence. In such a place as Shanghai, which can present to the educated foreigner such a meagre equivalent for his numerous intellectual privations, each man endeavours in the readiest possible way to render his material existence as comfortable and agreeable as he possibly can. This leading principle one sees ill.u.s.trated and carried out in practice in the splendid designs of their residences, and the exquisite refinement and comfort of their internal arrangements, as well as in the scrupulous attention paid to the cellar and the "cuisine."

On the ground-floors are the counting-house and stores, on the first floor the drawing-room, the dining-room, and the sleeping-apartments. All these various chambers are decorated with as much attention to comfort as good taste, and almost every single article bears on it the solid, unmistakeable impress of its English origin. Even into the most minute details all the genuine comfort of an English drawing-room is introduced, increased even, if that be possible, by the adoption of a few customs peculiar to the peoples of Asia, such as mats of fragrant materials placed before the doors and windows, Punkahs, which, kept in motion by Chinese servants, keep up a constant current of fresh air, while through the verandah, or the open gla.s.s cas.e.m.e.nt, where the family sit swinging to and fro in an American rocking-chair, a delicious cool breeze blows in the mornings and evenings. A well-appointed numerous household is constantly hovering around, eagerly intent to antic.i.p.ate the slightest wish of their employers. Probably in no part of the world are there more intelligent or punctual servants than the Chinese. They get through the utmost variety of work with consummate tact, method, and facility. Everything is done rapidly and noiselessly, and one is served with the utmost regularity, without being pestered with too much attention.

The members of the _Novara_ Expedition experienced in Shanghai the most hearty hospitality. Even the presence of the various emba.s.sies, and the momentous nature of the operations of which the Gulf of Petcheli was the scene, proved no barrier to a most flattering reception being accorded to this the first maritime Expedition of a German power. Foreigners of the most widely divergent races and standing,--consuls, missionaries, merchants, naturalists, journalists,--each in his own way vied with the rest in ministering to our comfort, and in aiding us in the prosecution of our objects.

One of the most distinguished of the physicians and missionaries of the London Missionary Society, Dr. B. Hobson, who since 1838 has resided at Canton in the honourable capacity of a "medical missionary,"[142] and who, a few months before our arrival, had, in consequence of the outbreak of hostilities, removed to Shanghai, was so kind as to furnish us, out of his own rich treasures of Chinese lore, with much valuable information, and acquainted us with the various objects aimed at by the praiseworthy activity of the London Board of Missions. This body by no means confines its operations to the diffusion of tracts and works relating to Christianity published in the Chinese language, but combines simultaneously with that sphere of action the excellent idea of ministering to the physical necessities of the poor and sick Chinese, and of helping them in their need. While able, eloquent Dr. Muirhead presides over the missionary schools, and the not less zealous Mr. Wylie superintends the printing of the books, our highly-educated friend Dr.

Hobson takes charge of the hospital, the cost of which is defrayed partly by the Missionary Society, partly by the European community.

The building itself is rather small and unpretending, and can at most accommodate only thirty patients. But it was erected chiefly for those cases which in England it is customary to cla.s.sify in the general category of "accidents," injuries, that is, sustained unexpectedly, or in a riot, &c. &c. Every day between twelve and one o'clock a consultation is held, and treatment provided gratuitously. Hither flock hundreds of invalids, to avail themselves of this benevolent arrangement, and while Dr. Hobson is busy giving orders and dispensing drugs in his small apartment, a native convert in the waiting-room is preaching the Living Word to those who come for advice.

We pa.s.sed an entire hour in the dispensary, not merely for the purpose of witnessing the various descriptions of cases, mostly of a surgical nature, but also to catch many an instructive remark from the lips of Dr. Hobson.

Thus he remarked, as the result of a medical practice of more than sixteen years, that the Chinese are uncommonly soon affected by the use of mercury and quinine. A very small dose of either of these drugs very speedily shows a marked effect. Oddly enough, quinine, as a tonic and febrifuge, is unknown in the Chinese pharmacop[oe]ia, and is almost exclusively prescribed for the cure of the opium-smoking form of mania.

In China, a physician is treated with great distinction, and is usually designated as szi-ya (the honourable teacher). Of late years cholera (tschan-kan-tschui, literally "the contracting of the tendons") and small-pox had committed fearful ravages among the populace, and the appalling havoc committed by the latter-named disease gave occasion for the publication by the English missionaries of a short treatise translated into Chinese, on the importance of vaccination. Among children especially the mortality caused by this fell scourge was very great, and the instances of _leucoma_ and loss of sight resulting from the disease appear to have been very numerous.

Dr. Hobson, who in 1851 had published a volume of Physiology in the Canton dialect, has also completed a handbook of Practical Surgery, with 400 woodcuts, and, like the preceding, had had it printed by native workmen.

Even the drawings were drawn on the wood and cut by native artists after English originals. Many of the scientific phrases contained in these works must have required to be entirely reconstructed, or else expressed by a circ.u.mlocution. Dr. Hobson intended to follow up these two splendid undertakings with a fresh work upon Pharmacology, as also a treatise upon the diseases of women and children, both, like their predecessors, to be in the Canton dialect, as that most universally used.

The Chinese, however, possess themselves a pretty comprehensive medical literature, whence we may infer that from the earliest times they paid special attention to the science of medicine. According to a Chinese tradition, the Emperor Schi-nung, 3200 years before our era, collected a "Materia Medica," and 570 years later, the Emperor Hw.a.n.g-te is said to have written a work with the t.i.tle "Sonwan" (open questions in medicine).

The celebrated work, "the Doctrine of the Pulse," by w.a.n.g-shu-fo, was written in the reign of Tsche-Hw.a.n.g-te (the book-burner), about 510 B.C. A second edition of this work was published in the reign of Kang-he, in the year 1693 of our era. About A.D. 229 the Chinese physician Tschang-kae-pin wrote the first Chinese work which, in addition to the theory of medicine, also contained prescriptions. The great "_Materia Medica_" of China was compiled by Li-tschi-kan, and was published by his son during the reign of Wan-Leih, about A.D. 1600. The most important medical work in Chinese is the E-tsang-kin-ksen, or "the Golden Mirror of Medical Authors," collated by Imperial authority from the best works of earlier native authors, especially from the "Nan-king," and the writings of Dr. Tschang-kae-pin.

This was published in 1743 (the seventh year of the reign of Keen-lung), and consists of thirty-two volumes 8vo, with upwards of 400 woodcuts.[143]

The information furnished us by Dr. Hobson with reference to the terrible forms of leprosy in China are of so much interest, general as well as special, that we believe we shall not transcend the scope of this work, if we give in these pages the valuable data upon the subject in all their completeness.

The Chinese consider leprosy as the most appalling of diseases, since, while resisting all means of cure itself, it attacks others, and they accordingly avoid in the greatest terror all those who are smitten with it. Like the people whom Moses brought out, the Chinese regard leprosy as a direct consequence of impiety, an expiation for sin committed. For this reason those afflicted with leprosy are rarely regarded with pity. No hand of sympathy is stretched forth to give aid, no heart feels itself impelled to alleviate their hopeless condition, and thus the most wretched of all are in the eyes of the ma.s.ses simply objects of disgust and of horror.

Leprosy is called Lae in Chinese. In the Imperial dictionary of Kang-he Lae, is described as a very evil kind of disease, which breaks out upon the skin in the form of blotches and pustules. Gutzlaff and others acquainted with Chinese make use however of the words Ma-fung to express leprosy, which is also used by native writers to indicate the disease.

The Chinese physicians consider leprosy as a subtle, penetrating, poisonous effluvium which has infected the blood. They profess to recognize 36 different kinds of leprosy, among which they enumerate every form and variety of Lichen, Scabies, Psoriasis, and Syphilis. Common as the disease is in Southern China, it is unknown in the North; its area of manifestation seems to be confined within the tropics. It is, however, related of many Chinese in good circ.u.mstances, that when attacked by leprosy they have removed to Pekin, where after a two years' residence they have lost all trace of the infection, which, however, broke out anew immediately on their return to the South.

Leprosy does not seem by its physical effects to shorten life. There are in China numbers of aged people attacked with this disease, and in the Lazar-house at Canton there is still living an old leper upwards of eighty, who has long found an asylum in that hospital as an incurable.

Suicide is not uncommon among those thus sorely smitten, when they usually poison themselves with an over-dose of opium, hang themselves, or drown themselves, for death, they say, makes them once more clean. Although the Chinese believe in the hereditary transmission of leprosy, they nevertheless think that the disease becomes of a milder type in the third generation, and entirely disappears in the fourth. Marriages never take place with the offspring of leprous parents or grand-parents, but on the other hand the lepers and their children intermarry among themselves. A leper however of the fourth generation would only ally himself with a girl of the same degree of exemption. The children of such a union would be considered sound and free from leprosy, and would no longer be excluded in any way from social rights.

But the Chinese believe leprosy not alone hereditary, but also infectious through the very slightest contact. Hence the father abandons his own child; the children flee from their parents: they will not eat and drink with them, will not sit in their company, will not use the chairs which have been sat upon by the leper, until at least the surrounding atmosphere has been fumigated with a torch. Even the law declares leprosy to be a contagious disease. A wealthy leper durst not venture to leave his own room, where he is excluded from all communication with the outer world, without exposing himself to the danger of being arrested by the police, and mulcted in a heavy fine, or else sent to what is called the Leper village near Canton, an abode of human woe and misery, which even the leprous regard with horror.[144]

As the Chinese physicians regard leprosy as a taint of the blood, and in their treatment adopt Hahnemann's principle of _similia similibus curantur_, they prescribe by way of remedies the most repulsive and disgusting substances which they can select from their _Materia Medica_, such as the saliva of the toad, beetles, snakes, worms, scorpions, centipedes, &c. &c.

Dr. Hobson considers leprosy, when once fully developed, to be incurable.

Such remedies as a.r.s.enic, salts, acids, in short alteratives, occasionally prove efficacious at an early stage of the malady, as also Iodine baths, and mercurial friction. External remedies however are usually found to be unavailing in reaching the root of the disorder, its seat lying deeper than an ordinary affection of the skin.

Of late years the seeds of the Tschaul or Tscharul Mugra (one of the order of _Flacourtiaceae_), have been administered for leprosy by several English physicians in India, and certainly, in some instances, with such results that the most sanguine hopes were entertained of its efficacy in all cases of leprosy. Dr. Hobson informed us that Dr. Mouatt, of the Medical College, Calcutta, who was the first to discover the remarkable properties of this plant, sent him, when he was at Canton, a considerable quant.i.ty of these seeds for the purpose of experimenting with them.[145] They were ground into a coa.r.s.e powder, and in that state administered twice a day at considerable intervals in doses of about 60 grains, the external sores being at the same time rubbed with the oil pressed out of the seeds. The cure must be persevered in without interruption for six months, and must be from time to time aided by saline purgatives. The first symptom of improvement shows itself in an abatement of the prominence and redness of the eruption, and the appearance of white scales all round it. This remedy has long been known to the Chinese, but those who are acquainted with the active curative principle contained in the seeds of the Tscharul Mugra, keep the secret to themselves in their own interest.[146] Dr. Hobson a.s.sured us that he had cured two cases of leprosy taken early, and in a very mild form, by the administration of these seeds, and had seen several greatly improved by their use; but this experienced physician is, like others, distrustful of the efficacy of the seeds of Tscharul Mugra in cases of fully developed leprosy, which, according to his view, is pre-eminently a taint of the blood,--a poison which can never again be eradicated from the system. In cases of scrofula, these seeds have been found serviceable.

Like their brethren of the London Missionary a.s.sociation, the various missions of the United States of North America display the most praiseworthy zeal and activity of co-operation upon every question.

That eminent philanthropist, Dr. Bridgman, who had, for more than a quarter of a century, been an active and highly esteemed missionary, was in 1858 at the head of the American Episcopal Mission, and was one of the oldest, as also among the most highly respected, denizens of the little foreign settlement. This meritorious citizen died at Shanghai, on the 29th of November, 1861, after having spent upwards of thirty years in China in the promotion of the Christian faith and the advancement of knowledge, deeply lamented by foreigners, as well as by the Chinese, who always found him their true and confident friend. This gentleman had the kindness to a.s.semble under his simple but kindly roof the various members of his mission, who are no less useful in increasing our acquaintance with the Chinese language and literature than in diffusing the blessings of the gospel, thus furnis.h.i.+ng the members of the _Novara_ Expedition with an opportunity of personal intercourse with these gentlemen. We here became acquainted with Mr. Wells Williams, so highly esteemed and so widely known for his profound historical and philological works[147] respecting China, as also with Messrs. Syle, Aichison, Macy, Jones, and Blodgett, missionaries distinguished for their extensive acquirements in Chinese; and in the course of this agreeable and interesting intercourse were so fortunate as to obtain information respecting a variety of topics, many of them suggested by Dr. Pfitzmaier, and recommended by him to our investigation. On most of these topics accurate intelligence was in the course of our voyage transmitted to the Imperial Academy of Sciences; of the remainder elaborate and comprehensive particulars are reserved for the scientific publications of the Expedition.

We may, however, more closely investigate here one topic of universal interest, namely, the latest researches respecting the very remarkable, little known, half-savage tribe, known as the Miau-Tze.

These extraordinary human beings are usually encountered in the provinces of Kwei-chan, Yun-nan, Szechuen, Hunan, Kw.a.n.g-si, and the western part of Kw.a.n.g-tung. The wild tribes of the island of Formosa belong, on the contrary, to an entirely different race. In the Imperial Dictionary of Kang-hi, the sign [Chinese character(s)], _miau_ (a compound of the words "flower" and "meadow"), signifies "germinating seeds," "blades of gra.s.s springing from the seed-vessels." The sign [Chinese character(s)], _tsz_, on the other hand, is that usually employed to express son, or descendant.

In accordance with this explanation, the Chinese also seem to consider the Miau-tze as children of the soil, as aborigines, or indigenous inhabitants of the country. In their descriptions of this singular people they divide them into "Sang" and "Schuh." _Sang_, ordinarily used when speaking of fruit, signifies "green, unripe,"--_schuh_ again means "ripe," or, when speaking of food, the former signifies "raw," the latter "thoroughly cooked." By these means they discriminate them into the savage independent "green" Miau-tze, and the subjugated more civilized "ripe" Miau-tze. The subjection and civilization of these latter are however as yet very problematical. As in days long gone by, so up to the present hour, the Miau-tze are restless and troublesome neighbours to the Chinese. Dr.

Bridgman has lately translated into English the sketches made by a Chinese scholar upon the Miau-tze, during his travels in the province of Kwei-chan, by which he has added greatly to our stock of information respecting those "children of the soil;" the work consists of two volumes in 8vo, containing about 82 sketches or delineations. Each of these fills one page, the handwriting being condensed or expanded according to the amount of the contents, while that opposite contains an ill.u.s.tration elucidatory of the text. This very rare work divides the Miau-tze into 82 tribes according to their customs, more or less savage, very few of whom possess any trace of a written language, recording the most important events simply by certain marks on a stick, or by what are called "tallies," and subsisting upon wild fruit, fish, and the flesh of wild animals. They usually go about barefooted, are very scantily clad, lead a life full of privation and hards.h.i.+p, and in all their troubles have recourse to the invocation of the evil spirits. Only very few of their race follow agriculture, or any branch of industry, or wors.h.i.+p Buddha in their festivals.[148] Some of these however seem to be more or less crossed with Chinese blood, as, for example, the Tsche-Tsai-Miau, in the district of Kutschan, whither the rebel Ma-san-pai formerly fled with 600 of his followers, when his attempt, under his feudal leader, Mu-san-Kwei, to overthrow the reigning dynasty, failed of success. Many of these fugitives formed connections with the native women, and their descendants are now known by the name of the six hundred savage Miau families.