The Hands Are Bound Fast
Together, And Forced Backwards Over The Head, Till They Rest On The Neck.
The Right
Foot is then fastened to the right hand, and the left foot to the
left hand, and all drawn tight
Together behind the back, so that the
criminal is incapable to stir; and by this torture the neck is dislocated,
the joints of the arms start from their sockets, and the thigh bones are
disjointed; - in short, the tortured wretch would soon expire without any
farther process; yet, in that state, he is beaten by bamboos till at the
last gasp, and is then abandoned to the people, who devour the body.
There are women in China who refuse to marry, and prefer to live a
dissolute life of perpetual debauchery. A woman who has made this election,
presents herself in full audience before the commanding officer of a city,
declares her aversion to marriage, and desires to be enrolled among the
public women. Her name is then inserted in the register, with the name of
her family, the place of her abode, the number and description of her
jewels, and the particulars of her dress. She has then a string put round
her neck, to which is appended a copper ring, marked with the king's
signet, and she receives a writing, certifying that she is received into
the list of prostitutes, and by which she is entitled to a pension from the
public treasury of so many falus yearly, and in which the punishment of
death is denounced against any man who should take her to wife. Every year,
regulations are published respecting these women, and such as have grown
old in the service are struck off the list. In the evening, these women
walk abroad in dresses of different colours, unveiled, and prostitute
themselves to all strangers who love debauchery; but the Chinese themselves
send for them to their houses, whence they do not depart till next morning.
The Chinese coin no money, except the small pieces of copper like those we
falus, nor will they allow gold and silver to be coined into specie, like
our dinars and drams; for they allege that a thief may carry off ten
thousand pieces of gold from the house of an Arab, and almost as many of
silver, without being much burthened, and so ruin the man who suffers the
loss; but in the house of a Chinese, he can only carry off ten thousand
falus at the most, which do not make above ten meticals or gold dinars in
value. These pieces of copper are alloyed with some other metal, and are
about the size of a dram, or the piece of silver called bagli, having a
large hole in the middle to string them by. A thousand of them are worth a
metical or gold dinar; and they string them by thousands, with a knot
distinguishing the hundreds. All their payments, whether for land,
furniture, merchandize, or any thing else, are made in this money, of which
there are some pieces at Siraff, inscribed with Chinese characters. The
city of Canfu is built of wood and canes interwoven, just like our
lattice-work of split canes, the whole washed over with a kind of varnish
made of hempseed, which becomes as white as milk, having a wonderfully fine
gloss. There are no stairs in their houses, which are all of one storey,
and all their valuables are placed in chests upon wheels, which in case of
fire can easily be drawn from place to place, without any hinderance from
stairs.
The inferior officers of the cities, and those commonly who have the
direction of the customs and of the treasury, are almost all eunuchs, some
of whom have been captured on the frontiers and made so, while others are
so treated by their fathers, and sent as presents to the emperors. These
officers are at the head of the principal affairs of state, and have the
management of the emperor's private affairs, and of the treasury; and
those, particularly, who are sent to Canfu, are selected from this class.
It is customary for them, and for the viceroys or governors of the cities,
to appear abroad from time to time in solemn procession. On these
occasions, they are preceded by men who carry great pieces of wood, like
those used in the Levant instead of bells by the Christians, on which they
make a noise which is heard at a great distance, upon which every person
gets out of the way of the prince or eunuch. Even if a man is at his door,
he goes in, and keeps his door shut till the great personage has gone by.
Thus, not a soul is in the way, and this is enjoined that they may strike a
dread into the people, and be held in veneration; and the people are not
allowed to see them often, lest they should grow so familiar as to speak to
them.. All these officers wear very magnificent dresses of silk, so fine
that none such is brought into the country of the Arabs, as the Chinese
hold it at a very high price. One of our chief merchants, a man of perfect
credibility, waited upon an eunuch who had been sent to Canfu, to purchase
some goods from the country of the Arabs. The eunuch had upon his breast a
short and beautiful silk vest, which was under another silk vest, and
seemed to have two other vests over that again; and perceiving that the
Arab eyed him very steadfastly, he asked him the cause; and being told that
he admired the beauty of the little vest under his other garments, the
eunuch laughed, and holding out his sleeve to him, desired him to count how
many vests he had above that which he so much admired. He did so, and found
five, one over the other, and the little rich vest undermost.
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