CHINESE EMPIRE. expedient is sometimes resorted to of promoting a pirate chief to some high civil employment. If ever Chinese piracy be put down, it will be bv European cruisers. villages. Self-supporting day-schools are universal | is insufficient to extirpate or even keep in check the throughout the country, and the office of teacher is pirates who infest the whole coast of China, and the followed by a great number of the literati. Government provides state-examiners, but does not otherwise assist in the education of the people. The Chinese have a remarkable reverence for the written * 片 character. Waste printed paper is collected from house to house and burned, to preserve it from profanation. Army.—According to Baron Gross, the army consists of about 600,000 men, scattered throughout the empire, besides 200,000 Tartars at the disposal of the government. It cannot be properly said to form a standing army. According to Mr. Meadows, the average for each province is about 34,500 men, and 640 officers. The governor of a province is also commander-in-chief, and is assisted by a general-inchief, as well as lieutenants and majors general. The Chinese and Tartar troops form two important divisions of the army. The Tartar garrisons are indeed the real strength of the Mantchu emperor. That at Pekin is 150,000 strong; and 18 others, averaging each about 3000 men, are dotted about the provinces, forming, with their wives and children, military colonies. These troops, which are armed with good two-edged swords, and serviceable matchlocks, or the national bow, have alone been able to stand against the victorious Tae-ping rebels, and turn them from the capital. It is said, indeed, that Tartars, under their general, Sang-ko-lin-sin, composed the force that repulsed Admiral Hope's attack on the Taku Forts, June 25, 1859. The Chinese soldier is, or should be, provided with a shield and helmet, two swords, bow and arrows, matchlock and spear; in time of peace, he may hire himself out in various capacities. He is supposed to receive three taels a month (the tael being equal to 6s. or 7s.), but the greater part of his pay is pocketed by some greedy official. The Tartar infantry-soldier receives four taels a month, and the trooper four and a half. The Marquis de Moges (see Baron Gros's Embassy) thinks that two regiments of chasseurs and two regiments of Zouaves would suffice to conquer China.' 'There is not,' he says, 'a corps in the empire that could stand fast under a bayonet charge. The sight of a body of men marching coolly and resolutely up to them, is so alien to their nature, so utterly incomprehensible and terrible, that all courage deserts them, and it is ten to one if they do not immediately take to their heels.' Navy. The imperial navy is divided into river and sea-going vessels. The former amount, it is said, to 1900 ships, the latter to 918, with an aggregate number of 188,000 sailors. This force, however, Religion.-The Chinese, remarkable in so many ways, exhibit, in the matter of religion, their usual eccentricity. Three forms of belief-the Confucian, the Buddhist, and the Taouist-may be considered the national religions, as they are believed in, more or less, by the great mass of the people. Of these, the Confucian and the Taouist are indigenous, but Buddhism was introduced from India. A struggle for ascendency was long maintained between these religions, but has now entirely ceased; indeed, it is no unusual thing for all three to be professed by the same person, and as they supplement each other, this is not altogether inconsistent. Confucianism is the basis of the social life and political system of the Chinese. It has been professed by all their greatest men, and is still the sole belief of the educated classes. It is, however, less a religion than a philosophy, and does not pretend to treat of spiritual things; hence room was left for other creeds to supply its deficiencies in this respect. The questions to which Confucius replied were: 'How shall I do my duty to my neighbour? How can I best discharge the duty of a virtuous citizen ?'. Funereal temples are erected to Confucius, and though his image is not used as an idol, his tablet is worshipped, and sacrifices of oxen and sheep are offered before it at the vernal and autumnal equinoxes. For an account of Confucius's philosophy, see CONFUCius. Buddhism in China, though extending over the whole country, and influencing more or less the mass of the people, is fast losing its hold on them, and has very little of the power and authority it once possessed. Its edifices are going to decay, and no new ones rise upon their ruins. Its priests are illiterate, and together with their religion, are held in contempt by the philosophic Chinaman. Aged people and women are now its chief devotees. The accompanying sketch of the begging-monk (taken, as well as the other cuts, from Cobbold's Pictures of the Chinese by Themselves) is characteristic. He wears a loose yellow robe and large stockings; at his back is a wallet in which to receive the contributions of the faithful; and he gives notice of his approach by striking his Chinese Buddhist Monk. muh-yu, as represented in the illustration. The northern form of Buddhism, which differs considerably from that of Ceylon and the Indo-Chinese Peninsula, prevails in China. Its sacred books, in common with those of Nepaul and Tibet, are written in Sanscrit, or are translations from that language. Amongst other additions to the creed are the Western Paradise and the Goddess of Mercy. Taouism has not more hold than Buddhism on the literate Chinese. Its priests are generally ignorant men, few of them teaching or understanding the real principles of their faith. They practise a mystic alchemy, prepare spells and incantations, and, like modern spiritualists, hold intercourse with the CHINESE EMPIRE. dead. When all other remedies have failed with, funereal in character. The Buddhist temples are a sick person, the Taouist priests are sometimes crowded with images, and Buddha is represented E Chinese Taouist Priest exorcising. sent for to exorcise the evil spirit that is supposed to afflict the patient; and they chant prayers from their mystic ritual, amid the din of gongs, drums, flutes, &c. These mystics worship certain stars, which are supposed to influence human life, and also genii, devils, and inferior spirits. They live in temples with their families, and are known by their slate-coloured robes. For a fuller account of Taouism and its doctrines and founder, see LAO-TSE. Besides these three religions, which aloue affect the bulk of the people, there is a ritual state worship, which regards the emperor and court alone-a kind of philosophic pantheism, an adoration of certain natural objects; but it is a mere ceremonial, and associated with no theological doctrines. Three classes of objects are distinguished, to which the great, medium, and lesser sacrifices are offered. The first class includes the heaven and the earth. Equal to these, and likewise restricted to the worship of the emperor, is the great Temple of Imperial Ancestors. The medium sacrifices are offered to the sun and moon, the gods of the land and grain, genii, and sages. In the third class are reckoned certain natural phenomena, as well as deceased statesmen and scholars. The emperor appears to acknowledge a Supreme Being as king of kings, the rewarder of virtue and the punisher of vice; but still, Chinese | philosophy, as fixed by Chu-tze, is atheistical, and deduces the development of the universe from one unintelligent and will-less principle.' Hence all educated Chinese are atheists, at least theoretically, as will be found by arguing with them; but when they speak of human affairs generally, and their own particular lot in life, they exhibit a belief in Teen as a supreme, intelligent, rewarding, and punishing power. Between the followers of the three national religions, there is not only a total absence of persecution and bitter feeling, but a very great indifference as to which of them a man may belong. It arises probably from religious apathy; yet still it is preferable to the fanatical zeal and cutthroat earnestness of the Moslem. Amongst the politer classes, when strangers meet, the question is asked: To what sublime religion do you belong?' and each one pronounces a eulogium, not on his own religion, but on that professed by the others, and concludes with the oft-repeated formula: 'Religions are many; reason is one; we are all brothers.' The government is equally tolerant of religious diversity, except where a political design is suspected. expounding his doctrine to attentive listeners. The many-storied tower takes the place of the bellshaped dagoba or relic-shrine of other Buddhist countries. History and British Intercourse.-The early annals of China, like those of most other countries, belong rather to mythology than to history. Beginning with Pan-ku, the first of all beings, the country was ruled over first by gods, and then god-descended personages, who revealed to men the essential arts, of life. Of those mythical rulers the most famous is Fo-hi. The historical period may be said to commence with the Hia period or dynasty, begun by Yu the Great about 2200 B. C., although a great infusion of the fabulous still continues. Some date the real history of China from the Tchow or Chow dynasty, which began with Wu-wang about 1100 B. C. It was during the reign of Ling-wang (571— 544), one of this dynasty, that Confucius was born. China would seem during this period to have been divided into a number of independent states. The kings of Tsin gradually gained the ascendency, and at last one of them reduced the other states to subjection (247 B. C.), and assumed the title of Hoang, or emperor. It is from the Tsin dynasty that the country has taken its name, Tsina or China. This first emperor finished the Great Wall (see above), as a protection against the Tartars, who had all along, under the name of Hiong-nu (Huns), been a source of danger and annoyance to the richer and more pacific Chinese. We cannot enumerate the various dynasties that followed, nor the frequent divisions and reunions of the empire, varied by incursions and partial subjugations by the troublesome Tartars. At last, the Mongols or Western Tartars, being called in to aid the Chinese (1209), became finally (see KUBLAI KHAN) masters of the whole country (1279), and reigned over it till 1368, when they were expelled by the Chinese, and the Ming native dynasty succeeded, which lasted 276 years, and fell at length through its own misgovernment. A general of the last Ming emperor, who was employed in keeping the Mantchus (q. v.) in check, made peace with them, and obtained their assistance against the native usurper who had deposed his sovereign. The Mantchus established themselves in Pekin (1644), and finally, after a seven-years' struggle, acquired the sovereignty of the whole empire. Many of the conquering race now filled the highest offices of state, and owed their position to birth alone. In this and other ways, the Mantchus have violated the fundamental principles of Chinese government; tyranny and corruption are rife amongst those in authority; the prestige of the Tartar troops has been destroyed by contests with European forces; disaffection prevails amongst the people. More than one powerful emperor of the race has ably conducted the government of the country. The present monarch is Ki-tsiang (i. e., high prosperity), born in 1855. He is the eldest son of Hein Fung (i. e., perfect bliss), who succeeded his father, Tao Kwang, in 1850, and died in 1861 from sensual excesses. Of recent events in Chinese history, the most remarkable is the rise and progress of the Tae-ping rebels. Their famous leader, Hung-sew-tseuen, was a man of humble origin, and an unsuccessful candidate for government employment. Some Christian tracts led him to renounce idolatry, and he founded a society of God-worshippers, which, in the autumn of 1850, was brought into collision with the imperial authorities, and immediately assumed a political Temples belonging to the three religions are character. religions are character. Hung persuaded himself and his folvery numerous. Those dedicated to Confucius are lowers that he had received a divine commission CHINESE EMPIRE. to uproot idolatry, extirpate the Tartar intruders in the country, and establish the new native dynasty of Tae-ping, or Universal Peace. He assumed the title of Heavenly or Divine Prince (Tae-ping-wang, sometimes called Tien-wang), and bestowed the titles of Eastern Prince, Western Prince, Southern Prince, Northern Prince, and Assistant Prince on five of his chosen leaders.* The fanatical principle of divine revelatious and other extravagances followed. The course of this religio-political rebellion, the victorious march of the Tae-ping army from Kwang-se to Nankin in 1850-1853, and its subsequent career, cannot here be traced. This rebellion was suppressed in 1865 by imperial troops led by American and British officers. In early times, the Chinese do not appear to have been opposed to intercourse with foreigners; but the conduct of the Spaniards and Portuguese between 1520 and 1570 excited their hostility. The Mantchu government restricted British trade and intercourse to Canton, where it was carried on through the medium of the hong merchants on the one side, and the East India Company on the other. Differences arose, however, from time to time between these two commercial bodies, occasioned chiefly by the exactions of the mandarins on foreign trade. With a view to a better understanding, the British government despatched to Pekin an embassy under Lord Macartney in 1792, and another under Lord Amherst in 1816. On the 22d April 1834, the monopoly of the East India Company ceased, and British imperial officers were appointed to carry out the new judicial and fiscal arrangements. Constant dissensions between these and the mandarins continued till the end of the year 1839, when the latter, under pretence of stopping the opium-trade, committed acts of open hostility. A war broke out the following year, at the commencement of which Chinese officials talked of invading England overland, by way of Russia. The imperial government was, however, sufficiently humbled by the middle of the year 1842, and on the 29th August, a treaty of peace was signed before Nankin, by which the ports of Amoy, Fu-chow, Ning-po, and Shang-hae were, in addition to Canton, thrown open to foreign trade. The other most important articles of the treaty provided that the island of Hong-kong should be ceded in perpetuity to her Britannic Majesty, her heirs and successors, and that the emperor of China should pay 21,000,000 dollars towards the expenses of the war. With five free ports, British trade with China soon assumed gigantic proportions; and though the Chinese evaded the treaty whenever practicable, no important event occurred to interrupt commercial intercourse till 8th October 1856, when the authorities at Canton seized the crew of the lorcha Arrow, a vessel registered at Hong-kong, and entitled, it was considered, to British protection. Under pressure from the British forces at hand, the imperial commissioner, Yeh, delivered up the men, but refused all apology. Yeh continuing obstinate, Canton was stormed (December 28, 1857) by the allied French and English forces, and the Chinese imperial commissioner captured (January 5, 1858). The government of the city was still carried on by Chinese officials, but under the authority of the plenipotentiaries and commander-in-chief. The former now proceeded to the north of China, to put themselves in more direct communication with the imperial government, which still continued obstinate. The forts at the mouth of the Peiho were taken (May 20, 1858), and at length an important treaty was signed at Tien-tsin, June 26, 1858, which stipulates that the queen of Great Britain may (Art. ii.) appoint diplomatic agents to the court of Pekin, who (Art. iii.) shall be allowed to reside at the capital, where also her Majesty may acquire a building site. The Christian religion (Art. viii.) shall be protected by the Chinese authorities. British subjects (Art. ix.) shall be allowed to travel for pleasure or business to all parts of the interior, under passports issued by their consul. British merchant-ships shall trade (Art. x.) upon the Great River (Yang-tze); but as its lower valley is disturbed by outlaws, no port except Chin-keang shall be opened for the present. Chin-keang to be opened in a year from the date of the signing of the treaty, and several others by the treaty of Nankin. Since 1861 many changes have taken place in the Imperial government, and a wiser policy has been entered upon. Under the regency of Prince Kung, brother of the late emperor, there exists a more vigorous administration of the laws and a more faithful observance of treaties. Ports have been opened to foreign commerce, and foreign missionaries permitted to instruct the people. In 1865 the Tae-ping rebellion was crushed by Chinese troops led by foreign officers, and great concessions were made to foreigners resident in the commercial cities. A national flag *The kings are now said to be eleven in number. was adopted, and a strong desire manifested by the + The accounts given of the character of this moveImperial government to become acquainted with inment are so conflicting, that it is difficult to form any ternational law-a wide departure from the former judgment of it. An important communication from the disdainful policy. In 1866, arrangements were made Rev. J. L. Holmes, who visited Nankin, the Tae-ping for telegraphic communication between Pekin and all capital, in August of the present year (1860), appeared parts of the world, and emigration to foreign counin the North China Herald of September 1, 1860. He tries permitted. In 1867, the Nien-fei (northern) went predisposed to receive a favourable impression, but rebels gained several advantages, but late in 1868 came away with his views greatly changed. Space will their operations almost entirely ceased. In 1867, only allow us to give a few of the most noteworthy Anson Burlingame, formerly Minister from the U. statements. 1. They speak of the wife of the Heavenly States to China, was selected as special ambassador Father, whom they call Tien-ma (Heavenly Mother), and of the wife of Jesus, whom they call Tien-sau to the treaty powers by the Imperial government. (Heavenly Sister in-law); also the Senior Western King In 1868-69 he visited the United States and Eurohas married a sister of Jesus, the daughter of the pean governments, with which powers he made treatHeavenly Father, and is hence called Te Sue (Supreme ies mutually advantageous, and died at St. PetersSon in law). 2. They hold that Tien-wang is the Son burg, Feb. 23, 1870. of God as really, and in the same manner, that Jesus is, and they worship him as such. The son of the chief is likewise a member of the divine family. He is the adopted son of Jesus, and is appointed to be the head of all nations. 3. Polygamy is another dark feature of their system. The Tien-wang has married about 30 wives, and has in his harem about 100 women. The other kings are limited to 30. 4. They have a new revelation, which is their criterion of truth, and are quite competent to instruct us. In fact, they have in their hands a divine decree, to which we are to submit. Commerce.-The rivers and numberless canals of China are covered with vessels of all sizes, employed in the internal commerce of the country, which consists chiefly in the exchange of the various products of the several provinces. The Chinese are devoted to traffic, and the Middle Kingdom is throughout its length and breadth a perpetual fair. British trade with China has from small beginnings assumed great importance. The annual value of CHINESE HEMP-CHINESE LANGUAGE, WRITING, AND LITERATURE. the direct trade between Great Britain and China is, many of these words may be varied by the speaker about £17,500,000, and between the U. States and in four or five different ways, so as to produce a China about $12,000,000. This, however, is nothing corresponding variety in their meaning, by which to what it will be when the treaty of Tien-tsin shall means the number of simple words or roots amounts be fully carried out and Northern China is accessible to about 1200. There is no distinction of parts of to our ships. Tea and silk are the great staple im- speech in the Chinese language, and no recognition ports from China into Great Britain. The following of the principle of inflection, Chinese words being table exhibits the trade of C. for 1866, 1867, and incapable of any modification of form. The relations 1868: of words are ascertained by their position in a sentence. Hence Chinese grammar is solely syntax. Thus ta, according to its position in a sentence, at one time serves the purpose of an adjective, meaning 'great' at another, a substantive, meaning 'greatness;' and again of a verb, meaning enlarge' and 'to be great,' or of the adverb 'very.' There are certain words, however, which have at During the year ending June 30, 1868, the imports tion, that in conversation and literature they are ending June 30, 1868, the imports length lapsed into so vague and general a significafrom China to the U. States amounted to $9,521,786, now used in some cases as particles to determine the and the exports to £11,385,024. American tonnage relations of other words; but in the older literature employed, 54,474. Foreign tonnage trading between this is very rare, and is against the genius of the China and the U. States, 53,410. The commercial intercourse of China is mainly with Great Britain and the British Colonies. To the aggregate imports and exports of China in 1868, G. Britain contributed 47 per cent., Hong Kong and India 83.8 per cent., leaving 16.2 per cent. for all other foreign nations. Among the latter the United States takes the first rank, or 5.3 per cent. of the commerce of China. The following works (which have been used as authorities in the preparation of this article) may be consulted for further information on China. Meadows's Chinese and their Rebellions (Lond. 1856); Davis's (Sir J. F.) China: a General Description of that Empire (Lond. 1857); Davis's China during the War and since the Peace (Lond. 1852); Williams's Middle Kingdom (New York and Lond. 1848); Oliphant's Narrative of the Earl of Elgin's Mission to China and Jap r, in the years 1857, 1858, and 1859 (Edin. 1859); Marquis de Moges's Recollections of Baron Gros's Emassy to China and Japan in 1857 and 1858 (Lond. 186. ); Huc's Chinese Empire (Lond. 1858); Cooke's Chini in 1857 and 1858; Fortune's Three Years' Wanderings in China (Lond. 1847); Fortune's Visit to the Tea Districts of China (Lond. 1852); Edkin's Religious Condition of the Chinese (Lond. 1858); Cobboid's Pictures of the Chinese by Themselves (Lond. 1859); Twelve Years in China, by a British Resident (Edin. 1860). CHINESE HEMP. See Corchorus. CHINESE INK. See INDIAN INK. CHINESE LANGUAGE, WRITING, AND LITERATURE. The Chinese language belongs to those Asiatic languages commonly called monosyllabic, because each word is uttered by a single movement of the organs of speech, and expresses in itself a complete idea or thing. All Chinese words end either in a vowel, a diphthong (in which, however, each vowel sound is distinctly pronounced, making the word often to appear of more than one syllable), or a nasal. Of such simple words or roots there are about 450. But the emphasis or accent of to language. From what has been said, it will readily In Chinese the written character, generally speak- In its origin, Chinese writing is hieroglyphic or picture-writing, with the addition of a limited number of symbolical and conventional signs; the larger number of Chinese characters are formed by the combination of such hieroglyphs and signs. But as one such character by itself seldom determines the sound, an additional word is conjoined for this purpose; so that the great mass of Chinese written words consist of an ideographic and a phonetic element. Native grammarians divide their characters into six classes. The first class comprises simple pictorial representations of sensible objects, such as sun, moon, mountain, &c., and contains 608 characters. The second class includes such characters as are formed by the combination of two or more simple hieroglyphs, which together convey, in a more or less intelligible manner, some other idea: for example, the hieroglyph for sun, combined with that for moon, conveys the idea of light; mouth and bird, that of song, &c.; of these there are 740. The third class embraces those characters which indicate certain relations of position, as above, below, the numerals, &c.; of CHINESE LANGUAGE, WRITING, AND LITERATURE. : these there are 107. The fourth class consists of made into English by Collie (Malacca, 1828); into characters which, by being inverted, acquire an German, by Schott (2 vols., Halle, 1828); and into opposite signification, as right, left, standing, lying, French, by Pauthier (Par. 1841). Almost contem&c., and contains 372. The characters of the fifth porary with Confucius lived Lao-tse (q. v.), who class are termed derived characters; the meaning was born 604 B. C. He was the founder of a school of the simple or compound characters used to ex- of philosophy, more spiritual in its character than press physical objects, is transferred to mental that of Confucius, but which has now degenerated objects, or to other physical objects with which into the lowest and most vulgar kind of demonthey are associated, e. g., the hieroglyph for a heart ology; see Le Livre de la Voie de la Vertu, Chinese signifies the soul-that for a room, signifies the wife, and French, by Julien (Par. 1842). In mythology, &c.; of these there are 598. The characters of the the Chinese have The Book of the Mountains and sixth class include those which are composed, as Seas. The History of the Gods and Spirits, and above mentioned, of sign and sound. Almost all some others. In jurisprudence may be mentioned names of plants, fishes, birds, and many other the universal collection of laws, and the criminal objects which it would be difficult to represent code of the present dynasty; see Ta-Tsing-lu-li, hieroglyphically, are denoted by the compound being the Fundamental Laws and Supplementary characters of the sixth class, which amount to 21,810 | Statutes of the Penal Code of China, by Staunton in number. As this class, however, consists merely of repetitions of the other five classes, the immense number of Chinese characters may be reduced to 2425; and whoever learns these may be said to know them all. The hieroglyphical characters in their oldest form were easily recognisable figures: thus, the hieroglyph for sun was as in the fig. at a; for moon, as at b; for light, a combination of sun and moon, as at c; for to listen, folding-doors and an ear, as at d; for white, a very squint eye, in which hardly anything but the white is seen, as at e; for friends, a 1 d e f 日月明聞 白 AA α b. C' फ् the two valves of a bivalve shell, as at f. In the course of time, through hasty and careless tracing, the objects denoted by the hieroglyphs have almost ceased to be recognisable. The modern hieroglyphs corresponding to the above, are as represented at a', b', c', &c. See Abel Rémusat's 'Mémoire sur l'Ecriture Chinoise,' in the Mémoires de l'Académie des Inscriptions, vol. viii.; and for a view of the Chinese characters, both ancient and modern, Hager's Monument de Yü (Par. 1802). (Lond. 1810). The Chinese literature is also very rich in works on medicine, natural history, astronomy, agriculture, military science, music, and all branches of mechanics and industry; see Résumé des principaux Traités Chinois sur la Culture des Mûriers et l'Education des Vers-à-soie, by Julien (Par. 1837). In philology, the most valuable works are the dictionaries, in which the Chinese characters have been collected and elucidated by examples from the whole treasury of Chinese literature; but the greatest of all works of this kind is the dictionary of the Emperor Kang-hi, which is now regarded as the highest authority for the pronunciation and meaning of the characters. Of the encyclopædias of the Chinese, the most conspicuous is that by Ma-tuan-lin (1300 A. D.), called Wen-hien-thong-khao -i. e., an accurate investigation of the ancient documents, with rich supplements. This is an inexhaustible mine of the best materials for a thorough knowledge of the Chinese empire and the neighbouring races, from the remotest periods to the present time. But the most valuable portions of the Chinese literature are, undoubtedly, their historical and geographical works, which are indispensable to a knowledge of Upper Asia. Sse-ma-thsian (100 B. C.) compiled from every recognised authority, a work called Sse-ki, or historical memorials, which embraces the history of China from the year 2637 B. C. up to the commencement of the dynasty of Han in the 2d c. B. C. This work has been continued by the different dynasties, and forms a complete collection of the annals of the empire up to the termination of the Ming dynasty in 1643 A. D. It is The Chinese literature, in a geographical, ethno-known under the title of Nian-eul-sse, or the 22 graphical, and historical point of view, is unquestionably the most comprehensive and important of the whole of Asia. The printed catalogue of the Emperor Kien-long's library is composed of 122 volumes; and a selection of the Chinese classics, with commentaries and scholia, which was begun by the order of the same emperor, is said to comprise 180,000 volumes, of which, in the year 1518, 78,731 volumes had already appeared. In the five canonical or classical books, called King, are con tained the oldest monuments of Chinese poetry, history, philosophy, and jurisprudence, some portions of which belong, perhaps, to the most ancient writings of the human race. Confucius (q. v.), in the 6th c. B. C., collected them from various sources, and in this collection they have been pretty faithfully handed down to us. Next to these in value are the Sse-shu, or the four books. These, as they were written by Confucius and his disciples, must be regarded as the most trustworthy source for information respecting that school of philosophy, the study of which gives such important insight into the intellectual and political life of the Chinese. Translations of these four books, which are generally known as the works of Confucius, have been histories. The entire collection of the official annals from 2698 B. c. to 1645 A. D., ccmprising a period of 4343 years, and consisting of 376 books, is to be found in the library at Munich. Amid all their scientific labours, the Chinese have not neglected the art of poetry, in which they possess voluminous collections that have yet to be made known to Europe. In lyrical poetry, the most distinguished names are Li-thai-pe and Tu-su, both of whom flourished at the beginning of the 8th c. A. D.; see Davis 'On the Poetry of the Chinese,' in the Transactions of the Royal Asiatic Society, vol. ii. The romantic poetry of the Chinese, although void of poetic beauty, is valuable for the insight it gives into their domestic life. Their dramatic poetry has laws peculiar to itself, and resembles partly the romantic drama of the Germans, and partly the comedia delle arte of the Italians. They have also a kind of novel in dialogues, which forms a subordinate species of drama. Besides the speaking persons or actors, there is what they call a singing person, who introduces into the piece songs which he sings to popular melodies, and appears to correspond in a rude way to the Greek chorus. The best collection of works in this species of |