And The
Punishment Of The Bamboo Is So Severe, That The Criminal Can Hardly
Survive, And No Person In All
China is permitted to inflict it upon another
by his own authority, on pain of death, and confiscation of his
Goods; so
that no one is ever so hardy as to expose himself to such certain danger,
by which means justice is well administered to all. No witnesses are
required, neither do they put the parties upon oath.
When any person becomes bankrupt, he is immediately committed to prison in
the governor's palace, and is called upon for a declaration of his effects.
After he has remained a month in prison, he is liberated by the governor's
order, and a proclamation is made, that such a person, the son of such a
one, has consumed the goods of such a one, and that if any person possesses
any effects, whatever belonging to the bankrupt, a full discovery must be
made within one month. If any discovery is made of effects belonging to the
bankrupt, which he had omitted to declare, he suffers the punishment of the
bamboo, and is upbraided with having remained a month in prison, eating and
drinking, although he has wherewithal to satisfy his creditors. He is
reproached for having fraudulently procured and embezzled the property of
others, and is chastised for stripping other people of their substance. But
if, after every inquiry, the debtor does not appear to have been guilty of
any fraud, and if it is proved to the satisfaction of the magistrate, that
he has nothing in the world, the creditors are called in, and receive a
part of their claims from the treasury of the Bagbun. This is the ordinary
title of the emperor of China, and signifies the Son of Heaven, which we
ordinarily pronounce Magbun. After this, it is publickly forbidden to buy
of or sell to the bankrupt, that he may not again have an opportunity of
defrauding his creditors, by concealing their money or effects. If it be
discovered that the bankrupt has any money or effects in the hands of
another, and that person makes no disclosure within the time limited, the
person guilty of this concealment is bambooed to death, and the value
discovered is divided among the creditors; but the debtor or bankrupt must
never more concern himself with trade.
Upon a stone ten cubits high, erected in the public squares of all the
cities, the names of all sorts of medicines, with the exact prices of each,
are engraven; and when the poor stand in need of relief from physic, they
receive, at the treasury, the price that each medicine is rated at. In
China there is no tax upon land, but every male subject pays a rateable
capitation in proportion to his wealth and possessions. When a male child
is born, his name is immediately entered in a public register, and when he
has attained his eighteenth year he begins to pay the poll-tax; but when
once a man has reached his eightieth year, he not only ceases to
contribute, but even receives a pension from the treasury, as a provision
for old age, and in acknowledgment of what he paid during his youth.
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