Is it possible that there could really be
so many who should be looked upon as criminals - or are persons
sentenced to death for a mere nothing - or are both these
suppositions true?
I once happened to go near the place of execution, and to my horror
beheld a long row of still bleeding heads exposed upon high poles.
The relations enjoy the privilege of carrying away and interring the
bodies.
There are several different religions in China, the most prevalent
being Buddhism. It is marked by great superstition and idolatry,
and is mostly confined to the lower classes. The most natural is
that of the wise Confucius, which is said to be the religion of the
court, the public functionaries, the scholars, and educated classes.
The population of China is composed of a great many very different
races: unfortunately, I am unable to describe their several
characteristics, as my stay in China was far too short. The people
I saw in Canton, Hong-Kong, and Macao, are of middling stature.
Their complexion varies with their occupation: the peasants and
labourers are rather sun-burnt; rich people and ladies white. Their
faces are flat, broad, and ugly; their eyes are narrow, rather
obliquely placed, and far apart; their noses broad, and their mouth
large. Their fingers I observed were in many cases extremely long
and thin; only the rich (of both sexes) allow their nails to grow to
an extraordinary length, as a proof that they are not obliged, like
their poorer brethren, to gain their livelihood by manual labour.
These aristocratic nails are generally half an inch long, though I
saw one man whose nails were quite an inch in length, but only on
his left hand. With this hand it was impossible for him to raise
any flat object, except by laying his hand flat upon it, and
catching hold of it between his fingers.
The women of the higher classes are generally inclined to
corpulency, a quality which is highly esteemed not in women alone,
but in men as well.
Although I had heard a great deal about the small feet of Chinese
women, I was greatly astonished at their appearance. Through the
kind assistance of a missionary's lady (Mrs. Balt) I was enabled to
behold one of these small feet in natura. Four of the toes were
bent under the sole of the foot, to which they were firmly pressed,
and with which they appeared to be grown together; the great toe was
alone left in its normal state. The fore-part of the foot had been
so compressed with strong broad bandages, that instead of expanding
in length and breadth, it had shot upwards and formed a large lump
at the instep, where it made part and parcel of the leg; the lower
portion of the foot was scarcely four inches long, and an inch and a
half broad. The feet are always swathed in white linen or silk,
bound round with silk bandages and stuffed into pretty little shoes,
with very high heels.
To my astonishment these deformed beings tripped about, as if in
defiance of us broad-footed creatures, with tolerable ease, the only
difference in their gait being that they waddled like geese; they
even ran up and down stairs without the aid of a stick.
The only persons exempted from this Chinese method of improving
their beauty are girls of the lowest class - that is, those who live
in boats; in families of rank they are all subject to the same fate;
while in those of the middle classes, as a general rule, it is
limited to the eldest daughter.
The worth of a bride is reckoned by the smallness of her feet.
This process of mutilation is not commenced immediately the child is
born, but is deferred until the end of the first, or sometimes even
third year, nor is the foot after the operation forced into an iron
shoe, as many have affirmed, but merely firmly compressed with
bandages.
The religion of the Chinese allows them to have a number of wives,
but in this respect they are far behind the Mahomedans. The richest
have rarely more than from six to twelve, while poor persons content
themselves with one.
I visited during my stay in Canton as many workshops of the
different artists as I could. My first visit was to the most
celebrated painters, and I must frankly own, that the vividness and
splendour of their colouring struck me exceedingly. These qualities
are generally ascribed to the rice paper on which they paint, and
which is of the greatest possible fineness, and as white as milk.
The paintings upon linen and ivory differ very little, as far as the
colouring is concerned, from those of our European artists, and the
difference is therefore the more visible in their composition, and
perspective, which, with the Chinese, are yet in a state of infancy.
This is more especially true of perspective. The figures and
objects in the back-ground rival in size and brilliancy those in
front, while rivers or seas float in the place which should be
occupied by clouds. On the other hand, the native artists can copy
admirably, {101} and even take likenesses. 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.
