I saw some portraits so
strikingly well drawn, and admirably coloured, that first-rate
European artists need not have been ashamed to own them.
The Chinese possess marvellous skill in carving ivory,
tortoiseshell, and wood. Among the superior black lacquered
articles, especially with flat or raised gold ornaments, I observed
some, which were worthy of a place in the most valuable collections
of objects of vertu. I saw some small work-tables worth at least
600 dollars (120 pounds). The baskets and carpets, made from the
bamboo, are also remarkably beautiful.
They are, however, far behind-hand in gold or silver work, which is
generally heavy and tasteless; but then again, they have attained
great celebrity by their porcelain, which is remarkable not only for
its size, but for its transparency. It is true that vases and other
vessels four feet high are neither light nor transparent; but cups
and other small objects can only be compared to glass for fineness
and transparency. The colours on them are very vivid, but the
drawings very stiff and bad.
In the manufacture of silks and crape shawls, the Chinese are
unsurpassable; the latter especially, in beauty, tastefulness, and
thickness, are far preferable to those made in England or France.
The knowledge of music, on the other hand, is so little developed,
that our good friends of the Celestial Empire might almost, in this
respect, be compared to savages - not that they have no instruments,
but they do not know how to use them. They possess violins,
guitars, lutes (all with strings or wires), dulcimers, wind
instruments, ordinary and kettle-drums, and cymbals, but are neither
skilled in composition, melody, nor execution. They scratch,
scrape, and thump upon their instruments in such a manner, as to
produce the finest marrowbone-and-cleaver kind of music imaginable.
During my excursions up and down the Pearl stream, I had frequent
opportunities of hearing artistic performances of this description
on board the mandarin and flower-boats.
In all kinds of deception the Chinese are great adepts, and
decidedly more than a match for any Europeans. They have not the
slightest sense of honour, and if you detect them, content
themselves with saying: "You are more clever or cunning than I." I
was told that when they have any live stock, such as calves or pigs,
for sale, they compel them, as they are disposed of by weight, to
swallow stones or large quantities of water. They also know how to
blow out and dress stale poultry, so as to make it look quite fresh
and plump.
But it is not the lower classes alone that indulge in cheating and
fraud; these agreeable qualities are shared by the highest
functionaries. It is a well-known fact, for instance, that there
are nowhere so many pirates as in the Chinese sea, especially in the
vicinity of Canton; yet no measures are taken to punish or extirpate
them, simply because the mandarins do not think it beneath their
dignity to secretly share in the profits.
