Published by the London Missionary Society

1899

INTRODUCTION

Two thousand years ago, when the ancient Britons hunted in our great forests, and the Druids offered human sacrifices to appease the anger of their gods, China was already a civilized country. Gentlemen and ladies dressed in silks and satins, and lived in fine houses; their sons learnt to read and write, and were well versed in the native classics. The Emperor lived in a splendid palace, and the officials behaved with ceremonial politeness. Centuries passed by, and still China was ahead of England. Gunpowder, the mariner's compass, and the art of printing were invented in China before they were thought of in Europe.

And yet to-day China needs our missionaries! For civilization cannot save from sin, nothing but the Cross of Christ can do that. China has had religions, priests, and sacrifices; but they were thought out and planned by man, very little in them was of God, and so they could not bring forgiveness, peace, salvation.

There is much misery to-day in China and more sin. Confucius told people to be good, Buddha pitied the suffering world, but Christ alone had power to make men good, and to save them by the sacrifice of Himself.

A Chinese Christian preacher once gave the following illustration: "A poor man fell into a deep pit from which he could not escape. Confucius came to the edge, looked down, and said: You should not have fallen in there it was very foolish of you not to be move careful.' Then Buddha came, and, leaning over, he looked sympathetically down, and said, 'Poor man I am very sorry for you; I wish I could help you.' Then the Christ came, and, climbing down the steep sides of the pit, He laid hold of the man, who was powerless to help himself, and brought him safely up out of the pit."

To-day Christ is looking down on the sinning, suffering millions of China, He wants to speak to them by our voices, to raise them by our hands. Shall we say, "No; I would rather live in happy England than in heathen China," when He calls us to be His messengers?

To some He says, "You boys and girls, who cannot go yourselves, I want you to help to send others. For my sake, will you not deny yourselves that the heathen who are in darkness and danger may see the light and be saved?

What will you answer? Will some say, I have so little money, and I do like sweets, and there are so many pretty things in the shops I long to buy, I really cannot spare anything for the missionary box"? Did you ever hear of Mencius, one of the greatest of Chinese philosophers? He said, "I like fish, and I also like bears' paws. (Bears' paws are eaten in China as a great delicacy. If I cannot have the two together, I will let the fish go and take the bears' paws. So I like life, and I also like righteousness. If I cannot keep the two together, I will let life go and choose righteousness."

I hope some of you will say, "I like books and toys and sweets, but I like pleasing Christ better. If I cannot buy the nice things I should like for myself, and also help to send the Gospel to the heathen, I will do without the things I want, and do what I know Christ wishes me to do.

When the last hour of your life comes, those fleeting pleasures that look so tempting now will appear very small indeed but you will rejoice greatly if, looking back over your life, you can feel that, with all its imperfections, yet its aim has been, not to please self, but Christ.

Although this book is called In the Valley Of the Yangtse, some of the events related in it have taken place in Peking, Canton, and other parts of China. But in many things life is much the same throughout the Empire, and I have tried only to mention those that illustrate Chinese life as it is in the valley of the Yangtse.

Though most of this book has been written from personal experience gained during the eighteen years which I have spent in China, still in some chapters I have made much use of the works of various authors, to whom I now will thankfully to acknowledge my obligations.

The chief books which I have consulted besides the L.M.S. Chronicle and other missionary magazines are the following:

The Middle Kingdom, by Dr. Wells Williams.

Social Left of the Chinese, by the Rev. Justus Doolittle.

Hanlin Papers, by Dr. Martin.

The Chinese, by Sir John Davis.

Mesny's Miscellany.

Chinese and Their Rebellious, by T. T. Meadows.

I have not thought it necessary to give references to these works in footnotes, though in some cases sentences been quoted almost verbatim from them, for I have abridged the descriptions, and simplified the language, to make my book more suitable for young readers.

Chapter 1

Floods, Refugees and Beggars

THREE thousand miles from the sea, among the "Pillars of Heaven," the Yangtse has its source. The mighty stream has many names. Away in the west they call it the River of Garden and; then, as it flows on towards Hankow, it is spoken of as the Great River; below that town it is known as the Long River. Steamers of light draught can go up it for a thousand miles as far as Ichang, and large ocean steamers come up to Hankow every summer, though that is more than six hundred miles from its mouth.

Thousands of Chinese boats carry passengers and cargo from place to place on its banks, and great rafts of timber are floated down from the forests in the west. Those in charge of these unwieldy rafts live in little huts built on the floating timber. Some-times a whole hamlet seems to be drifting leisurely down, as if a few extra weeks on the way would make no difference to the passengers. You get used to long journeys in China. Distances are more often measured by days than by miles. Missionaries will tell you that their stations are "a month's journey from Hankow," or "three weeks' journey from Chungking," instead of saying how far off they are from those cities.

We have no railways yet in the valley of the Yangtse, though we hope for them before long. Meanwhile the quickest way of travelling is by water. As I have said, steamers go up and down the Yangtse, but elsewhere we go in small native boats. If there is a fair wind, they sail pretty quickly; if not, they must be rowed, poled, or towed, and all these are very slow ways of getting from place to place.

And distances are long in China. It seems strange at first, as you look at the narrow river Han, to hear that boats go up it for a thousand miles, for its mouth is very narrow, and is often blocked with boats. It empties its waters into the Yangtse at Hankow. Hankow means the " mouth of the Han." When we take a boat to go up the Han to the other end of the city, it is not at all unusual for the boatman, after rowing a few minutes, to declare that he can go no farther, the river is blocked! For some way he works his flat-bottomed boat along, pushing off from the boats on either side of him, using his hands and his boat-hook a good deal more than his oars, but after a time the crowd of boats gets more dense, and he has to give it up. If possible, he gets near the bank for us to land; if not, we must walk across the boats that lie between us and the shore and get to land as best we can!

Large boats that have brought a cargo from the north or the west often anchor in the Han till all their cargo is sold Some of these have a small log tied to the mast, to signify that firewood may be bought on board; others hang up a large basket, which means that they have rice for sale; others sell oil, and others paper. All along by the bank of the river there are rows of these boats, leaving only a rather narrow passage free for navigation. And that is how it is that when there are more boats than usual the river so easily gets blocked.

The banks of the Han are a strange sight. Some part or other is always being washed away by the river, and yet the Chinese build to the very edge of the bank. The houses are, many of them, supported by piles-long poles driven into the bottom of the river, their tops on a level with the streets. Built on these the houses are out of reach of the summer floods. When a freshet (or sudden rise of the river in consequence of rain) occurs, the water rushes down with such force that no boatman dares to venture on it. Then much of the earth is washed away from the banks, and piles often give way. Many of them lean over the river, slanting dangerously. Yet the people living in the wooden houses built upon them do not move, and no inspector comes round to tell them that the houses must be pulled down! Poor things! they have no place of refuge to which they can go, and so they live on in their slanting homes till the tiles fall off the roof and part of the walls gives way; even then they often patch up the holes with matting, and stay on. You can tell that the house is still inhabited by the clothes hung out to dry on the little wooden drying-ground built out on its roof: blue cotton trousers stretched out at full width, calico stockings stuck wrong way up on poles, children's red jackets, much wider than they are long, a pair of leather boots that have just been washed and put out to dry, and all the strange medley that go to make up the washing of a Chinese family,-all are hung out on the sloping platforms over many a ruinous house.

Sometimes under these dangerous buildings you see beggars living between the piles, at least they get a roof over their heads there, though it seems likely that it may fall upon them one day soon! But it is only in winter that they can sleep there, for in summer the river rises to the top of the bank.

A flood in China is a terrible thing. When the great river Yangtse is full to the brim, and pours its waters out over all the country round, it is a wonderful sight. There is great excitement as the river rises from day to day. Sometimes we go up to the city wall, and look out over the plain. A walk of about half a mile from our house brings us to a quaint gateway, with picturesque corners to its roofs, curving upward like the prow of an old Roman boat. Three large Chinese characters inform us that this is the "Gateway of Great Wisdom." When the river rises, a dam is built across it to keep the water out.

At each side of the gate there are steps leading up on to the wall, which is a great embankment of earth, the outside being faced with stone and brick. Going up the steps, we find ourselves on a broad path, some fifteen feet wide, at the top of the bank, and gazing out over the parapet, we can see for many miles out over the plain that stretches to the north of Hankow.

We know it is a plain, or else in summer we might think it was the sea! For there is nothing but water as far as the eye can reach, except a few little islands dotted about here and there, and some distant hills on the horizon. The islands are mounds that have been made by the farmers on which to build their houses, as they know that every year their fields will go under water. So from ten to twenty farmers build their houses on one large mound, and when the river rises and floods the whole surrounding country they take it very quietly, merely putting out great nets over their fields, to catch fish in the very spot from which they have just reaped their harvest! Only sometimes the river rises early, and they lose all their crops; but they generally reap in May, before the flood comes. It would have to be a very high flood indeed to come into their houses on the mounds.

But there are huts just outside the city gate that are not built on mounds, so every summer they go quite under water, with only the roofs showing: and as we look sadly at them we know that hundreds of poor people from other low-lying places must be flooded out of house and home too.

Where do they go?

Walking on a little, we see a number of huts on the wall. They are made of straw mats tied together on poles; some have neatly rounded roofs, high enough for the inmates to stand upright under them, while others are low and shapeless, and the mats are so old and torn that the next high wind will probably tear them to pieces. The people living in these wretched huts have been obliged by the rising water to leave their own houses, and not having money enough to rent even a single room, they have come up on to the city wall and pitched their mat tents there.

The chief attraction of this site is that, besides being above the reach of the flood, there is no ground-rent to be paid, but the poor people may be turned out by the authorities if they stay too long. Notices are often put up when the flood is over, telling them to return to their homes and cultivate their fields; and if after a reasonable time they did not do so, soldiers would probably be sent to pull down their little huts. Some of these huts are eight or nine feet tong and four or five broad; some are larger, and some smaller; ~t in most of them a whole family live, sleeping on the bare earth often at night, with only a mat or an old quilt under them, while in some of the huts two families have taken up their abode. And yet, perhaps, these are not the very poorest people. Some have not money enough even to buy mats, and have to stay as long as possible in their half-flooded dwellings, the only other thing for them to do being to sleep in the street, with no roof at all to shelter them

I remember one year when the whole neighbourhood was under water. We could row about in our garden, and one Sunday we went from our verandah to the chapel in a boat! Our English houses have good, high foundations, arid none of them were flooded; but it was sad indeed for many of the poor Chinese, whose houses were on low ground, especially as they had no second storey into which they could escape when the water rose.

As we looked into their wretched houses we felt so sad. They put a few boards on trestles, raising them day by day as the water rose, and on this little platform the whole family sat-children, babies, dogs, pigs, fowls and all. I do not think the small boys minded it much,-it was hot weather, and they ran about without any clothes, in and out of the water as they liked, their brown little bodies soon drying in the sun,-but it was miserable work for the women and girls sitting indoors, anxiously watching the rise of the water till it was so high that their heads touched the tiles; and then they had to move; even if there was no house to which they could go. For there are no workhouses in China to take such people in, and very few asylums of any sort to help the miserable and wretched China is a heathen land, and where people have not learnt to keep the first great commandment, "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart," they do not keep the second either, "Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself." And so it is that in a heathen land those that are rich and strong for the most part just live to please themselves, and do not go about doing good and helping the poor and sad, as we know we ought to.

But when missionaries go to heathen lands they want the people to understand that God loves them all, and that He has taught us to love them too. So when great trouble comes, like the terrible famine in North China in 1878, missionaries go to visit the sufferers, and distribute relief sent out by Christian people in England; and even in a smaller trouble, like a flood in Hankow, we try to do what we can.

So one day, when the water was over all the roads, we hired a boat and rowed to the city wall. We had written a number of tickets for two hundred cash, which we distributed from house to house, and then we brought the money in a boat. It is never wise to carry much money with you when visiting among the very poor in China; if they saw you giving it away they would probably mob you, and 'he strongest would get it all, while you would be thankful if you escaped from their clutches with nothing worse than a torn coat. And that is why we gave tickets and took the money in a boat. Also the money is very heavy. Have you ever seen Chinese cash? They are copper coins about the size of a farthing, with a square hole in the middle of each, so that you can string them together. This is the easiest way of carrying them, for it takes forty to make a penny; we keep them tied up in strings of a hundred, which saves trouble in counting them too. As soon as the boat appeared near the city wall the people came running down the slope slope with their tickets, which were quickly exchanged for cash; and then we knew that all those living in the mud huts on that part of the wall, at any rate, had money enough to buy food for two or three days.

If any of you boys and girls would like to help in this sort of work, you can send money to some missionary you know, saying it is for the relief of the poor. I am sure any missionary in China would find it easy to make a good use of it.

When the flood is over and the water gradually goes down, the poor people go back to their houses, but they often find them in ruins. Where the walls are made of wattle and mud, the water washes away the mud, and only the split bamboos remain, forming very airy walls indeed, better for ventilation than for privacy! The tiled roof with its heavy beams is supported by wooden posts; these sometimes give way if there is a storm while the water is high, and then the whole roof comes down and the ruin is complete. Even if this has not happened, the mud floors take a long time to dry, and there is generally a good deal of illness while the water is subsiding in the flooded districts.

When the Yellow River bursts its banks, and suddenly floods vast tracts of country, the distress is much greater than when the Yangtse quietly overflows its banks at Hankow. In some places higher up the Yangtse is embanked, and so are many rivers in other parts of China; and wherever this is the case the people are liable -to sudden and terrible disaster. Many lives are lost in this way every year, and promising crops are destroyed, while the dead bodies of cows and buffaloes are often swept down past Hankow by the rushing waters.

In closing this account of our flood, I will quote an Imperial decree from the Peking Gazette of October 30th, 1897. The Emperor says: " We have received the usual report from the Director-General of the Yellow River in Honan, reporting that the embankments of the said river have been so well attended to during the autumn that there has been no trouble along the whole course guarded by the memorialist this year. This is certainly due to the benevolence of the river gods, and we feel duly thankful for their protection over the people. We therefore command that ten large-sized Tibetan incense sticks be sent by the Imperial Household Department to the said Director-General of the Yellow River, who is also commanded to offer them at the altars of the gods in the Dragon King's Temple in the vicinity."

It is not only in time of flood that the poor people suffer so much. Every winter when the great river Yangtse falls it leaves a wide margin of dried mud by each bank; on this mud hundreds of little mat huts are put up, just like those on the city wall in time of flood. Who live in these huts?

Poor people from the country, who have come into the great city to escape starvation.

In China most of the country people own a little land; this they cultivate carefully, and manage generally to get enough to eat through the summer, and perhaps they grow enough cotton to make themselves some coarse clothes. The women and girls spin it for home use. But they often eat up all their little harvest before the winter comes, and as there is nothing to do in the country then, they come into the towns. The men try to get work and the women and children beg in the streets. These are the people who put up the little mat huts by the side of the river Even if the men get work, the pay for what they can do is very small. Sometimes a number of them get employed in carrying earth. A piece of ground is to be raised, so as to be well about the level of the summer floods, and this is done by hiring coolies to bring earth from the river banks. Each man has two baskets, which he suspends from either end of a bamboo placed across his shoulder. He goes to the river, fills his baskets with mud, and brings it to the lot which is to be raised. When the distance is about a quarter of a mile, he will get a farthing for two journeys. But digging up the earth and filling his baskets takes time, so he cannot earn very much even if he is busy all day. Yet the number of unemployed is so great that, as soon as it is known that a plot of land is to be raised, scores, if not hundreds, of coolies quickly appear, anxious to be engaged for carrying the earth needed. In China there are always very many wanting work, but not able to get it even for the very smallest pay.

So while the men are working, or looking for work, their wives and children are making what they can by begging. Walking up the crowded, narrow streets of any Chinese city, especially in winter, we are beset by beggars. Women with tiny, wailing babies, ragged little boys and girls they literally swarm in every direction. The women often try to seize our sleeves, begging loudly in their country speech, "Give us money to buy rice-gruel! Heap up happiness for yourself!" This means, "Do good, and Heaven ~ reward you." Like true heathen, they only expect to influence us by selfish motives. The children run after us long distances shouting, " Give us foreign money! Give us foreign money! " (They naturally prefer silver ten-cent pieces to copper cash.) Besides these there are people in all stages of misery and disease. A loathsome leper sits by the side of the road, displaying his sores, an old, white-haired woman knocks her forehead on the pavement to excite pity, while a blind boy sits next her holding out his little basket of cash, that we may judge by the number already given what a deserving case his is! Some of these are old residents, and have been begging in the same streets for many years, while others only come in for the winter, and return to their fields in the spring.

The usual gift to a beggar is one cash (the tenth part of a farthing), but people often rive small cash, which are only worth half as much ; so that it takes a great many of these gifts to get a good meal.

But these beggars do not expect good meals. There are benevolent institutions in many large cities in China which are opened in the winter months for supplying rice-gruel at very small cost to the poor. For three cash they can buy a bowl of this watery rice, and it is on this that most of the beggars live as long as the rice kitchens are open. The struggle to get it is so great that the weak, half- starved women and children sometimes get badly crushed or trampled on as they try to approach the door. Yet if this unsweetened, tasteless rice - gruel Were given to you, English boys and girls, for dinner, I hardly think von would be thankful for it next time you are tempted to grumble because of some food you do not like will you think of Chinese beggars in their hunger, and remember to be thankful?

Many of these poor people have no homes at all, not even a mat shed, but sleep out of doors, on the roughly paved streets. In Central China the weather is often frosty, and hardly a night passes during the coldest part of the year without some poor beggar dying of cold and hunger in the street.

In most of the large cities there are professional beggars under the control of certain head-men, whose names are entered in the office of the district magistrate in the city. These head-men do not beg themselves, and are often well-off and live quite comfortably-they might be called the kings of the beggars. They divide the streets of the city among the beggars, who then go in little companies to make as much as possible out of the district allotted to them. They go about with sticks and gongs; entering shops, they make so much noise that the buyers and sellers can hardly hear one another speak; this makes the shopkeeper so anxious to get rid of them that he gives them a cash each, and then they go away at once.

Some of these shopkeepers make an agreement with the headman on the district, by which they pay him a certain sum every year on condition that the beggars under his control shall not come to beg of them. He takes the money, dividing part of it among the beggars, and, of course, keeping a good share for himself. He then gives the shopkeeper a strip of red paper to paste up by his door, on which is written a Chinese sentence meaning, "The brethren must not come here to disturb and annoy.

After this, if any of the professional beggars come to that shop they are shown this strip of paper and told to go away, which they usually do at once. Should they persist in begging, the shopkeeper may beat them and drive them away, which he would not dare to do unless lie had this proof of an agreement between himself and the king of the beggars.

Of course, poor people who have come in from the country are not under the rule of this head-man they beg wherever they can, whatever agreements may have been made by him. These are the people whom we pity most, and for whom we long to do something.

A great many of the beggars are blind; we often see a string of blind women walking through the streets, holding on to one another and begging as they go, the one who leads them feeling her way with a stick from street to street. There are no blind asylums among all the hundreds of millions in China, except a very few started by missionaries from Christian lands.

There are no asylums for the deaf and dumb either, or for cripples, and what is, perhaps, worst of all, there are none for the idiots and insane. If a man goes out of his mind, his friends have to keep him at home, unless he gets too violent; then they send him to the magistrate, who has him chained up in prison. Should a madman kill any one, he would be tried just as if he were sane, and if found guilty would be condemned to death.

Justice and love are not the fruits of heathenism, but of the religion of Jesus Christ; and we long for the time when His followers shall open asylums for these poor, afflicted people through all the heathen world, and so show forth the beauty of His spirit and teaching. As it is, missionaries are so few and have so little money to spend on such things that it seems almost hopeless to try and think of helping the multitude in their sore need, but we remember St. Paul's words, "That I might by all means save some," and we know that our heavenly Father, who careth for the sparrows, cares much more for these His children for whom Christ died, so we try to do what we can, though it seems so, very little.

I will new tell you about two little beggar boys who to Mr. Foster got to know, and I think you will like to read in his own words how he tried to help them.

"The first of these lads I used always to find sitting near a gateway in a narrow alley through which I passed several times a week. He was almost blind, and looked very ill. For clothing he had only a few rags, and he appeared to be a very picture of dirt and misery. Several times as I passed him I gave him a few cash; but one day I thought I would find out more about him, so I stopped and enquired of him where he lived. 'Here,' he replied. 'In this street? ' I asked. ' Yes,' he said, 'just where you see me. I beg here all day, and sleep under the gateway at night.' are you no one to look after you?' I asked. 'Have you no rents?' 'No,' was the answer. 'I am all alone.' 'But who brings you your food?' 'Oh, I get it myself. When I have begged enough to pay for it I go to a shop where they sell recital and buy a basin of it.' I said no more, but gave him a few cash and passed on, inwardly resolving, however, that I would try next day to rescue the poor little fellow from the sad life he was living. It was warm summer weather then, and the few rags the child had about him were ~l that were positively necessary for him, but I knew that even if he could continue to get enough food to eat, he would certainly die of cold directly the winter began, unless he were provided with some warm clothing and proper shelter. If I had been in England, it would have been a very simple matter to ask the boy if he would come with me, and to tell him I would provide him with a lodging and food and clothing; but the Chinese are very suspicious of Europeans, and tell all manner of dreadful stories about the wicked things that Europeans do with children. Most of these stories are quite false and very silly into the bargain, but the people believe them. I knew that if I had offered to take this little blind boy away with me, some of the bystanders would at once have thought I was going to do him some injury; and probably the child himself would have been very much frightened if some one had told him he was in the hands of an Englishman. So, instead of saying anything about what I wanted to do, I went home and thought over the best plan of saving the boy.

"Next morning I asked a Chinese friend, named Wun, whom I have known for many years as a kind-hearted Christian man, to go for me to the place where the little beggar sat, and to tell him that there was a gentleman who would find a home for him, and feed and clothe him if he liked to give up his begging. Mr. Wun gladly undertook to do what I had asked him, and gave the child my message. Directly he heard it, he at once jumped at the other, Lad it was not long before my friend came back to the house bringing the little beggar boy with him. I had guessed that he about eight years old, for he was very small and looked quite I child; but when I asked him his age he told me he was thirteen. I put a number of questions to him which I had not been able to ask him in the street the first time I spoke to him, and I soon found that he had indeed had a sad history, and had already seen more trouble than many people meet with in a long life-time. He said his father was still living, so far as he knew, but he had not seen him for a long time. He was a very bad man, who spent all he had in gambling, smoking opium, and doing other wicked things. He was too lazy to his four children. 'Were you sold to somebody?' I asked. 'Yes,' he said; 'for eight hundred cash.' 'And what did the man who bought you do with you?' I enquired. 'He thought of adopting me for his son, as he had no children of his own; but he was very cruel to me, and at last gave me away to somebody else, Who lived in the country, to look after oxen.' 'Well, and how did your new master treat you?' 'Soon after I went to him,' he replied, 'I became very ill, and during my illness I lost my eyesight. When my master found that I was no longer of any use in minding his oxen, he made up his mind to turn me off. He lived about ten miles from here, at a country village; and one day when he was coming into town to buy some things he brought me with him, and while we were in the street he slipped away, without telling me what he was going to do, and left me altogether. Ever since then I have been sitting where you saw me, begging from passers-by.'

"'Well,' I said, 'you are all right now. Everybody here will be kind to you, and you will have a home, with plenty of food, and all the clothes you need, and you will never have to beg any more. Poor little boy his sad face lighted up, and he said, 'Who would have thought of my having such happiness as this?' I then made him take a warm bath, called a barber to shave his head and plait his little pigtail in true Chinese fashion, rigged him out in a suit of white summer clothes, and had his old rags thrown away. The hardships through which he had passed had made him very weak, and I felt from the first very doubtful whether he would ever grow up to be a man, but I resolved that everything that could be done for him should be done, and I hoped that, with proper food and attention, he might gradually regain his strength.

"He was at once placed under the care of a Chinese widow woman who had a little boy of her own. She treated him with all possible kindness, and the two boys became much attached to one another. An English lady, who often went to see this widow woman, took a deep interest in the little fellow, and began to give him regular religious instruction. I was very pleased to find how well he remembered what he had been taught, and how readily he could answer any ordinary question on the Gospel narrative. He also learned by heart, of his own accord, two or three chapters of St. John's Gospel. Being bland and unable to see the characters in which the Chinese New Testament is printed, he had to get some one else to read the verses over to him, while he repeated them until he knew them perfectly. I have met with many Chinese boys, but, in spite of all the drawbacks of this child's early life, I never met with one who seemed to me to have such a naturally religious disposition as he had, nor with one who seemed to find more real pleasure in listening to the story of our Lord's life and teaching. Two or three months after he came to me he was baptized, by his own desire. The name by which he was called was T'ien-ch'iang, a common name amongst the Chinese, and one which means, being interpreted, 'Heavenly Felicity.'

"For a time the boy seemed to be improving in health, and I hoped he would continue to do so; but early in May he became worse, and had to be taken to the hospital, where in the course of two or three weeks he died. During the few months he had been with us, he had endeared himself to many persons, both English and Chinese; and while he was lying in the hospital he was frequently visited by friends. He died very happy, and a brother missionary of mine, who was with him shortly before the end came, tells me he was much pleased by witnessing the little boy's simple faith in Jesus. We cannot but rejoice now that he has been taken away from what might have been a suffering life, to be at rest for ever with the Lord.

Now I must give some account of another Chinese boy, whom I wanted to have helped in the same way that I tried to help my little friend T'ien-ch'iang. I had hoped at the outset to be able to bring these two boys up together, but I was disappointed in regard to the second one; and yet even the disappointment has been a joy to me, because it has shown me a brighter side to Chinese beggar life than I thought it was possible that there could be. This other little boy I had known for a long time by sight, as I knew T'ien-ch'iang. He was a cripple, and so terribly deformed that he could not stand up, but could only crawl along, with his legs bent and his head almost touching the ground. He presented one of the saddest sights I ever saw. I had often met him, but hardly ever twice in the same spot. Sometimes I should meet him in the Chinese street for two days running, and then, perhaps, I should not see him again for a month. When I had succeeded in getting the little blind boy, I determined I would try and get this cripple too; but the difficulty was to know where to find him. A few days later I happened to see him crouching down on a doorstep, with a little wicker tray beside him, such as Chinese beggars often hold out when they are asking for cash. For the reason I have already explained, I dared not tell him of my plan for him; indeed, as he was in a busy thoroughfare, I could not say much to him at all, because I knew that directly I began to speak to him, a number of the Chinese who were passing by would stop to listen, and would perhaps imagine at once that I had some bad motive in questioning the child; so I contented myself with stooping down and asking, 'Where do you live?' He told me what I wanted to know, and I put a few cash in his tray, and went on. Next day I appealed again to my Chinese friend who had helped me to get T'ien-ch'iang, told him my story, and asked him if he would go in search of the cripple. He at once consented to do so. 'Do you think he will care to come to me?' I asked. 'Oh, yes, of course he will,' was the reply; 'unless, indeed, he has some relatives who are trading on his deformity, and sending him out to beg for them.' He then went off to look for the boy, but came back in about an hour, saying that he was too late for that day. He had discovered where the boy lived, and had learned that he was an orphan, who lived in a hut alone with his brother; but the neighbours had told him that the child had already started with his brother, who was also a cripple, on a begging tour for the day. The day following, Mr. Wun went again soon after daylight, in order to catch the boy before he started on his day's travels. This time he found him. He told him what he had told the little blind boy that there was some one willing to take charge of him, and to bring him up so that he would never have to beg again, and never again be in want; and then he asked him if he would like to go with him. 'I couldn't leave my brother,' was the answer 'we have been together ever since mother died, and I can't leave him now.' Mr. Wun then turned to the elder brother-a young man of about twenty years of age-who was standing by, and asked him what he thought about the matter. He answered, 'It is very kind of the gentleman to offer to take my little brother, and I daresay it would be a good thing for him to go if he could do so, but he can't; he would cry himself to death if I were not with him.' Some of the neighbours who had gathered round and had overheard the conversation now chimed in, and strongly urged the younger brother to go. 'It is not,' said one, 'as if the gentleman were only going to keep you for a month. He offers to take care of you altogether.' 'I understand,' the little fellow replied, 'but I can't go; I can't leave my brother.' When Mr. Wun came back and told me the story, I could not help feeling sorry that I was not to have the child but at the same time I felt very pleased to hear the reason why he would not come. I had not imagined that there could be such love between Chinese beggars, and I was truly glad to find that such love existed. My first impulse was to make a home for both the brothers; but there were certain difficulties connected with attempting to carry out such a plan which made me think it would not be well to propose it. Once or twice since, when I have seen the little cripple in the street, I have stopped to ask him after his brother; but, as he does not know who it was who proposed to give him a home, I daresay he rather wonders how it is that an Englishman, and a complete stranger to him, should know anything about his brother.

"If the little blind boy's tale of suffering, revealing as it did such a dark picture of Chinese life, had filled me with sadness, this little dwarf's story, showing how much love may exist even amongst Chinese beggars and outcasts, filled me with the deepest thankfulness. 'Love is of Cod,' I said to myself, 'and these two heathen lads have learned something of the love which comes from God, although they have never listened to the Gospel which tells how God Himself has loved us!' I hope by degrees to provide for other little waifs and strays of Chinese society as Iliad hoped to provide for T'ien-chi'ang. Several times as I looked at that child's face, once so sad, afterwards so radiantly happy, I was reminded of our Lord's words, 'It is more blessed to give than to receive,' and I thought to myself, 'After all, that little lad has given me more happiness than I have given him!' How is it that we do not more often seek the blessings which come through giving, rather than those lower blessings which consist only of receiving?"

Chapter 2

Visits, Games and Feasts

You must not think from what I have been telling you that all the people in China are poor. There are a good many rich folk there too some very wealthy indeed.

Sometimes when we are walking through the streets we hear a strange noise, and looking ahead we see two men dragging large split bamboos along the pavement, two more carry whips and shout to the people to get out of the way. Then comes a man holding aloft a large red umbrella, and then some small boys, wearing tall black hats, carrying boards, on which are written some Chinese characters. After these comes a sedan-chair, carried by four coolies, and in it sits a mandarin, dressed in silks and satins, and, if it be winter, in beautiful rich furs. A servant runs behind his chair, carrying his card-case and pipe, and there are generally one or two men on horseback to bring up the rear.

Every one in the narrow street makes way for the great man as he passes on to visit some official in the city.

When he reaches the yamen (as official residences are called) his servant will take in his card, which is a piece of scarlet paper, about eight inches long and four broad, on which his name is written in large black characters.

If the visitor is of high rank, a salute of three guns will be fired on his arrival. The mandarin on whom he is calling will put on his official satin robe before coming out to see his visitor. On the back and front of this robe are square badges, on each of which is embroidered some bird, the nine degrees of official rank being each denoted by a different bird, so that the mandarin's position. can be told at once by looking at his dress, as well as by the button on his hat.

The visitor's chair having been carried into the courtyard, the host comes out to receive him, and after numerous bows they succeed at last in getting into their right places in the drawingroom, the guest sitting on the left of his host, in the seat of honour. Of course, tea is brought in, in delicate Chinese covered cups, without milk or sugar; pipes, and sometimes sweetmeats, are offered too.

The host sends for his sons, who come in carefully dressed, kneel down before the visitor, and knock their heads on the ground with great humility. The guest raises them with a slight bow, and, as they stand at a respectful. distance, he makes some polite remark about them to their father, who answers as if he thought little or nothing of them, often speaking of his sons as dogs.

The ladies of the household do not come in on such occasions, and the lads are generally glad to ask to be excused and to leave the guest-room as soon as they can politely do so.

Do you know how gentlemen's sons are dressed in China? They have silk trousers, often pale mauve or light green; these are tied round at the ankles over their white calico stockings. A long robe of bright figured silk, perhaps yellow or blue, nearly covers them, and over that they have a short jacket with long, wide sleeves. This is generally velvet or silk, dark red and prune-colour are favourite shades. Their' shoes are embroidered in different colours, and have thick white soles, so have the black boots which they wear when paying visits. In winter their hats on these occasions are black, with a tassel of bright red silk at the top, and a turned-up brim; but their summer hats are mushroom-shaped and creamy white. These also have a tassel. When its owner passes the examination which will give him official rank, this tassel is exchanged for a button, but this does not come to lads. On ordinary occasions boys wear black satin skull-caps in winter, and no hats at all in summer; while poor lads and men who are much exposed to the soil wear straw hats, with very side, shady brims.

Of course, such a dress as I have just been describing is not suitable for games such as English boys enjoy. But cricket and football would be thought far too undignified for Chinese youths, who are brought up to think chiefly of propriety and etiquette.

They have some games, however. The most amusing that I have seen is shuttlecock. They do not use battledores, but catch the shuttlecock on the side of their heel, and so kick it up into the air again. Sometimes they catch it on their cheek. It is wonderful how long they can keep it up without its coming to the ground.

Kite-flying is another favourite amusement. Some Chinese kites are very cleverly made in imitation of birds, butterflies, and other things. In Hong-Kong the string attached to the kite is some-times covered with fine bits of glass, so that it cuts like a knife. The game is to get your kite up high in the air, and then see how many other kites you can cut down by cutting their strings with your own. But kites are often flown with common string, just as you fly them in England, only in China you frequently see grown-up men flying kites for their own amusement,

The Chinese do not take their dogs out for walks as we do, but they may often be seen taking their pet birds for an airing. They saunter along cage in hand, till they reach a tree, then they fasten the cage in its branches and squat down beneath it, sitting on their haunches, enjoying the fresh air, and listening to the song of their pet bird. They are very fond of a kind of lark which sings sweetly, and on a fine summer day we often see half a dozen youths with their caged songsters on a small piece of waste land on which there are a few trees. There are not many open spaces in the city of Hankow, so they come on to the English Concession with their feathered pets. Some kinds of birds they carry on perches, and throw seeds into the air for them to catch, but most of them are taken about in cages.

Chess is a favourite game in China. The ancient game was much more difficult than our English chess; it was played with three hundred pieces. But the modern game, which is said to have been invented B.C. 1120, has only thirty-two, like our own. Across the middle of the hoard there is a river, guarding which on each side stand five soldiers. Besides these there are a general, two secretaries, two elephants, two horses, two chariots, and two guns. So, you see, it is not quite like our chess, after all.

I have seen boys playing nine men's morris" just as it is played in England, and they are very fond of games of cards. I am sorry to say the Chinese gamble over all these; indeed, they seem to find it difficult to imagine any one playing a game that is not for money. Once when I was playing croquet with some friends, a Chinese woman, who had been watching the game, came up to me and asked in a friendly way how much money I had won Gambling is a great curse in China, it is the ruin of very many youths. One hardly wonders that heathen lads do not think it man and selfish to take money, which they have not earned, from unwilling companions, who are often driven by the loss of it to dishonesty and ruin; but I do wonder very much that lads brought up in Christian homes can do the same and not feel utterly ashamed of themselves

Besides these regular games, Chinese boys make up amusements for themselves, which are sometimes cruel and sometimes mischievous. The most cruel are too horrible for me to write about; they often consist in torturing helpless animals and laughing at their agony. Then sometimes a party of boys catch two field crickets, put them in a basin, and tease them with straws, till they rush at one another in a fury, and fight till one of them is killed or disabled. They train quails to fight in somewhat the same way. Of course, there is much betting over both cricket and quail fights.

Some of their amusements are more mischievous than cruel. As they all wear their hair in a long plait down their back, it is a temptation to roguish lads, when they see two very sedate boys walking quietly along the road in front of them, to tie their plaits together. Some people call these plaits pigtails, but the proper name for them is queues.) It is a very common sight to see half a dozen merry boys playing "horses on the street, each holding the one in front of him by his queue.

The Chinese have not always done their hair in this way. The custom was introduced by the first emperor of the present dynasty, who came to the throne A.D. 1644. He was a Manchu, and having conquered the Chinese, he ordered them all to dress their hair in the Manchurian fashion, as a token of submission to his authority. Before that time the Chinese had worn long hair done up in a knob at the top of their head, but now they had to shave all but the crown, and plait the hair that grew there into a queue, braiding silk into it to make it longer and to form a tassel at the end of the plait. At first the proud Chinese scholars strongly objected to doing their hair in this way, but they found that it was dangerous not to submit. For one thing, only those who did so were allowed to compete at the examinations or to hold office under the Government, and at last they were compelled to wear the queue on pain of death. A few preferred to lose their heads rather than give in, but now all Chinese men wear queues, except the Buddhist priests, whose heads are wholly shaven, and the Taoist priests, who let all their hair grow long and dress it in the ancient style.

Having told you how the boys dress and play, I will now tell you what they eat. In most parts of China rice is the chief food. It is wonderful how soon a bowlful of this can be shovelled into the mouth with a pair of chopsticks. These are used instead of knives and forks; they are smooth sticks made of bamboo, ivory, or wood, and are both held in the right hand, one on each side of the forefinger. When eating rice the Chinese hold the bowl up to the mouth and shovel the food in with their chopsticks, but meat, fish, and vegetables have to be picked up and lifted to the mouth with great care. These are brought to table already cut up into small pieces, as they could not be carved with chopsticks. Most missionaries have had an amusing time when first invited to Chinese feasts, for without practice it is not easy to handle chopsticks well Feasts are sometimes grand affairs in China.' Invitations are written on sheets of red paper and sent out some days beforehand. On the day itself a servant goes round to tell the invited guests that the dinner is ready.

On arrival they are welcomed by the host,. and are seated at a number of small square tables, each of which seats eight guests. Of course, there is a great discussion as to where they shall all Sit, each refusing the honour of the highest seat, but, after much bowing and many humble words, they get into their places at last.

In ordering a feast from a cook-shop it is not usual to say for how many people it is wanted, but for how many tables, each table seating eight people.

A number of little dishes heaped up with sweets, nuts, and dessert are placed on the table, each guest having a small plate, a china spoon, a pair of chopsticks, and a wine-cup provided for him. As soon as the first course appears, every one present dips his chopsticks into one or other of the dishes, and helps, not himself; but his neighbour. It is rather trying to have one's plate filled up with fat pork, stewed duck, sweet dumplings, sharks' fins, salt eggs, bamboo sprouts., and other delicacies. For clean plates are not provided for different courses, and unless one can eat all that is put into one's plate, it soon gets filled up with a strange mixture of meats and sweets.

Happily, small children are often playing about in the room, and are glad of dainties from the overful plate of some unhappy visitor. Dogs, too, are frequently to be seen under the table, and one can sometimes unobserved bestow morsels upon them. It is customary to throw hones on the floor, and tablecloths are not used at these feasts.

A servant walks round to the different tables with a kettle of steaming wine, or rather spirit distilled from rice. Those who do not drink this can have tea. The Chinese very rarely drink cold water, and never think of offering it to their guests.

English visitors wish for some bread or potato to eat with the meat, but the bowl of rice, which is the Chinese equivalent for this, is not brought on till the end of the feast.

At an ordinary dinner-party there may be only sixteen dishes, eight large and eight small, but at a grand feast there are sometimes as many as a hundred and eight, and the meal may take two or three hours.

Some things eaten by the Chinese strike English people as very strange, but birds'-nest soup is not at all bad. It is only the nest of a certain kind of swallow that is used in this way, and that is made of gelatinous seaweed. The soup is clear, and generally has pigeons' eggs floating about in it; but this is an expensive luxury, only eaten by the rich. So is the sea-slug, which the Chinese like very much.

Dog-hams are more common, and cats are sometimes exposed for sale as articles of food. Only the very poor would eat rats and snakes. Both meats and vegetables are bashed into mouthfuls and then stewed, or fried in oil or fat; large joints are never brought on table. The Chinese do not think it nice to drink milk and eat butter and cheese.

They eat frogs, locusts, and all kinds of fish, which they catch in curious ways. Sometimes large nets are fixed in the water, and then fishermen go to a little distance and make a great noise, shouting and beating gongs, to frighten the fish into the nets. Sometimes a man wades in shallow water spearing fish. Others are caught by cormorants, who bring their prey to their masters, as they have rings round their necks that prevent their swallowing the fish themselves. Nets are to be seen in all lakes and rivers, and some of the rice fields are turned into fish-ponds after the harvest has been reaped.

Fish are often dried in the sun and kept for some time before they are eaten. These, as well as dried ducks, are often to b& seen hanging up in the houses of the people. The smell from them is not always pleasant, but they are favourite articles Of food.

Various kinds of sweetmeats are hawked about the streets; some look very dirty, but the candy is fairly clean.

Some Chinese preserved fruits are very nice indeed. You have probably all tasted preserved ginger that came from China. I believe ginger has always been much eaten in that country; we read in one of their ancient classics that "Confucius was never~ without ginger when he ate!"

Chapter 3

In the Curtained Apartments

WHAT is the name of your little girl? I once asked a Chinese woman.

She smiled in a half-ashamed way as she answered, "Kien-ki" (Picked-up).

"Why is she called that?

When she was born I was so disappointed at her being a girl that I was going to throw her away, but her father said he was a Christian, and that Christians must not kill their baby girls; so he picked her up, and we called her Kien-ki."

But most of the Chinese are not Christians; so every day in China many baby girls are drowned or suffocated, sometimes by their own fathers or mothers, and sometimes by their grandmothers.

Baby boys are never killed; they are welcomed even into the poorest households. When the neighbours hear of the birth of a son they send their congratulations and presents, but when a little girl is born no one congratulates the parents. In country places a neighbour may look in to say how sorry she is; and if there are already two or three daughters in the family, she may add, "I suppose you will drown this one?"

The practice of killing babies is much more common in some parts of China than in others. In many places in the province of Fukien a quarter of the baby girls are killed as soon as they are born, while in some provinces this crime is rare.

Rich people do not drown their little daughters; but most of the people in China are not rich, and they say they cannot possibly afford to bring up several girls. Sons are different. They cost as much to feed and clothe, it is true, but then they will soon be able to earn something; and when boys grow up in China they still live at home, and bring their wages to their parents. So that bringing up sons is like insuring their lives: it is providing for their old age and for a proper funeral. Then, too, they believe that their happiness after death depends very largely on their descendants worshipping at their graves. So they are all, even the very poor, anxious to have sons and grandsons.

But what is the good of having daughters? As soon as they are sixteen or seventeen, if not sooner, they will marry, and go to wait on their husband's parents, and will worship his ancestors, and not their own. So the poor people say that they cannot afford the expense of bringing up girls, and that is why so many of them are killed.

There is no law against it in China, though magistrates sometimes put out proclamations forbidding the people in their districts to drown their baby girls. Neighbours are less likely to blame parents for taking their baby's life than to pity them for being so very poor.

Sometimes, even after the parents have decided to keep their little girl, they find as she grows older and needs more food and more clothes, that they really cannot afford to do so. When father, mother, and four or five children have less than two shillings a week to live on, it is not wonderful that they find it hard to make both ends meet.

The children are sent out to pick up firewood and to gather wild vegetables, and the little boys are sometimes employed to look after a neighbour's cows, but they are often hungry, and when a bad year comes, and the price of rice goes up, the father says to the mother, "I think we must sell one of the children."

If they can find some one willing to adopt one of the girls, or to take her as a future wife for one of his sons, they will get something for her, besides having one mouth less to feed at home. Sometimes, when compelled to do so for fear of starvation, they sell one of the boys, either to be the adopted son in a richer family or to some theatrical company; but more often they part with the girls. It is easier to sell them to be little slaves, and they will get more money for them than if they were adopted into some other home, but it is not so good for the children.

In most rich families in China there are slave girls, some of them quite little things. While a good many have been sold by their own parents, others have been stolen and then sold.

I knew a woman who had been stolen when she was a very little girl. The rebels had come to the village where she lived, and the people all fled in terror, leaving only the children, who were too small to run away. They had nothing to eat, and were nearly starving, when a man came up to them and offered them cakes. They took them, and followed him to a boat. They were so hungry they would have gone with any one who gave them food. About thirty little children went on board the boat. They were only three or four years old, and as they had been starving for some days they all ate so greedily that most of them died before the boat reached Hankow! Only eight lived. These were sold for four or five shillings apiece to be little slaves. If they had been older, the kidnapper would have got more for them.

When a father sells his daughter he writes down her name, and the price to be paid for her, also whether she is to be a slave or an adopted daughter. This paper is signed by both her parents and by the go-between who has arranged the sale. If the parents cannot sign their names, they get some one else to write them, and put their mark against them.

Poor little slave girls are made to work hard. I have often seen them carrying children on their backs nearly as big as themselves. They are sometimes cruelly beaten and punished dreadfully for trifling faults. The children of their mistress may treat them most unkindly, slapping and kicking them, but they have no one to whom they can tell their troubles, and their lives are often very sad.

But when a slave girl is grown up she gets her freedom, for then she is married. Her mistress chooses a husband for her, and, of course, gets the money which he pays for his bride.

It is not only slave girls who suffer in China. Even in rich families the little daughters have a hard time of it. I daresay you have all heard of the small feet of Chinese ladies. Now their feet are not naturally small. Chinese babies' feet are just like those of your little brothers and sisters, and they grow in the same way unless they are prevented. Chinese boys' feet do grow, but in Central China almost all the girls, rich and poor, have small feet.

This is how they manage it. When a little girl is four or five years old her mother, or some woman whom her mother employs, begins to bind her feet. All but the big toe are turned under the foot, and long strips of calico are wound round and round, to bring the heel as near the great toe as possible, and to prevent the foot ever growing any more.

Of course this hurts very much, and the poor little girls cry piteously. For some time after their feet are first bound they can hardly walk at all, but hobble about the room, clinging to the chairs and tables like a baby learning to walk alone. Every time the feet are washed the bandages are tightened, and the pain often keeps the children awake at night. They dare not make a noise for fear of a beating, but they cry quietly, sitting up in bed, hugging their little feet.

If they are carefully bound, and do not get corns or ulcers, the worst of the pain is over in two or three years, and it is wonderful how steadily some of the women and girls can walk about on their tiny feet. Of course, if they stand too long or walk far, their feet hurt, but it has often surprised me that they do not seem to suffer more than they do.

Wealthy ladies' feet are often only three or four inches long, but those of poor women are sometimes five and even six, for they do not bind children's feet while they are so young among the poor, and they have to walk about more, especially in the country, where we sometimes see women standing nearly knee-deep in liquid mud, planting out the young rice.

Ladies with very small feet are usually accompanied by a slave girl, on whose shoulder they lean when they walk about the house or garden. Of course, they do not walk out of doors. That would be highly improper!

When they do go out, which is not often, they are carried in sedan-chairs, closed in all round, so that no one can see them. Some of these chairs have a square hole in the curtain in front, which is only covered with netting, through which they can see something of the streets as they are carried along. But, except for occasional visits to friends' houses, or to the family graves, they hardly ever go out, except to a temple or theatre. We never meet ladies going shopping in China; goods are brought to the house for them to choose from, or they send a servant to make purchases for them.

Poorer women have much more liberty, and are often to be seen walking slowly along in the busy streets; but, of course, we meet far more men than women wherever we go in China. Perhaps you will wonder what the girls do all day, if they never go out.

Some of the mandarins' daughters have lessons while they are quite young with their brothers that is, if they have a tutor at home. Of course, they do not go to school. There are no girls' schools in China, except the very few started by missionaries, to which only poor children come; so it is very rare for Chinese girls even to learn to read. What do they do, then?

Most of them are fond of fancywork; they generally make their own shoes, embroidering them beautifully, sometimes with green and gold silk on red satin. They may make fancy headdresses too, for themselves and their baby brothers and sisters. Some of these are truly wonderful, with ears, eyes, nose, and mouth like a cat; others have a silk fringe hanging down all round. Then they embroider satin ends for their oblong pillows, or work cross-stitch bibs for the babies.

But they rarely make their own clothes, though they look easy enough to make: they get in a tailor for that; for in Central China men do most of the dressmaking, while women do it in the south. I call it dressmaking, but Chinese girls do not wear dresses. They have long, wide trousers, often bright scarlet, and long jackets down to their knees. These may be pea-green or light blue. Girls are fond of bright colours in Hankow, but in Hong-Kong and Canton they always wear quiet, dark clothes. Among the poor, women and girls 'only wear jackets and trousers; but the rich have killed skirts, sometimes beautifully embroidered and very pretty. In winter their clothes are wadded with raw cotton, so that the children look nearly as broad as they are high; but those who can afford to buy them have jackets lined with fur.

The babies are most amusing; they look like little old men. Both girls and boys are dressed in bright trousers tied round at the ankle, and coats of all the colours of the rainbow, with some quaint headdress to crown all.

The girls like to paint their faces; first they powder them all over and then rouge their cheeks and lips. They all have dark eyes and black hair, which is brushed very smooth with tiny brushes dipped in a sticky hair-wash. They never wear it loose down their backs, but either plaited, or twisted round in a neat little coil at one side or at the back of their head.

They are fond of wearing flowers in their hair. They like sweet-scented ones best; but when they cannot get these, they often wear artificial flowers and ornamental hairpins. So dressing and beautifying themselves take a good dear of their time. They have not so many games as the boys, but they soon learn to play dominoes and cards with the elder women, gambling, of course, over both games.

In poorer households they are expected to cook the rice and wash the clothes, and to earn what they can by needlework, making calico stockings, or stitching together a good many thicknesses of cotton cloth on to pieces of stiffening, to make soles for shoes. But rich girls have a good deal of leisure, and their lives are very dull and monotonous.

In the "Book of Odes," which all scholars learn by heart in China, there is a poem about a king who came to the throne B.C 827. I will translate two verses of it that you may see how differently boys and girls were treated even in those days:

Sons shall be born to him.

They shall sleep on couches,

They shall be dressed in robes,

They shall play with sceptres,

Their cry will be loud,

Their vermillion knee-covers will be brilliant,

They will be the princes and kings of the land

"Daughters shall be born to him.

They shall sleep on the ground,

They shall be dressed in wrappers,

They shall play with tiles,

They shall have neither faults nor virtues.

Wine and food are all they will think about

They will bring no trouble on their parents."

Of course, this does not mean that the girls will only think about eating and drinking. The "wine and food" are to be prepared by them for the household ; and if they do this well, and do not think of other things, they will bring no trouble on their parents. A Chinese commentator, writing on these verses, says : "If a daughter do nothing wrong, that is enough ; that she should be distinguished for what is good is not a happy thing to be desired for her."

Women are never supposed to be their own mistresses; they are bound by "the three obediences." When young they must obey their parents, when married they must obey their husbands, and when widows they must obey their sons. But, as a matter of fact, strong-minded women often rule the household even in China. It is not an uncommon thing for a man to say that he wishes to become a Christian, but his mother objects so strongly that he intends waiting till she dies. In some cases she even threatens to commit suicide if he should be baptized, and so he decides to remain outside the Church till her death.

But while girls are young they are not allowed to have any will of their own; not even in the question of whom they shall marry! For, of course, they will marry some one-all respectable girls in China do, unless they become nuns. But this is for their parents to arrange. They betroth them to boys whom they have probably never seen, and they are obliged, come what may, to fulfil the engagement.

Sometimes they are betrothed while they are tiny babies, and sometimes not till they are nearly grown up; but they are almost all married before they are eighteen.

A betrothal is brought about in this way. One day some friend of the family mentions to the parents that he knows of a promising lad, who would be a good match for their daughter. If they seem inclined to listen, he reports to the boy's parents, who have probably asked him to find out about the girl. They then give him a red sheet of paper, on which are written eight words, telling the exact hour, day, month and year of their son's birth. He takes this with a proposal of marriage to the parents of the girl. They write out the time of her birth in the same way, and show the two sheets of paper to a fortune-teller. If he says that the dates go well together, they make further enquiries of the go-between (as the match-maker is called), and when the marriage is arranged the boy's parents send two cards-one with a gilt dragon on one side, and the boy's name and the date of his birth on the other side; the other card has a gilt phoenix on one side, and is sent to the girl's parents for them to write in her name and birthday. The girl's parents keep the dragon-card, and the boy's the phoenix. These are the proofs of the engagement.

Then presents are sent. Even if both families are poor, there will be silver bracelets for the bride and fish and fowls for her mother, who would send back some vermicelli, bread and fruit. After a time the go-between asks them to fix a lucky day for the wedding. For nothing can be done without the match-maker on these occasions. As the ancient ode says:

"How can he cut wood without an axe-handle?

And how can he get married without a match-maker?"

That poem is so well known in China that match-makers are often called axe-handles!

Some time ago I found some amusing letters on this subject in a Chinese ready letter-writer, and I will now translate them for you. The first is entitled, "Asking a go-between to arrange for the marriage of your son." And this is the letter:-" My young son is old enough to be capped and to have a home of his own, but he is not yet mated. I have heard that the girl in the women's apartments of a certain family is beautiful and of a good disposition. I do not know whether the Fates have decreed that our families shall be closely connected. If the beautiful jewel's parents will listen to your forcible words, please exert yourself to make this alliance. How do I know that you will not receive their golden assent, and make a good match, like that between Chu and Chan? I hope you will give this your careful attention." This is the answer:-" The old man in the moon arranges marriages, and with a red cord binds the feet of the happy pair. So we see that good unions are certainly settled by Heaven! How can they be arranged by the plans of men? You wish your virtuous son to contract a marriage with Miss So-and-so, and have told me to grasp the axe-handle. Your servant ought to imitate Chien-Siu and bring about this alliance. Permit me to write again."

Here is another letter entitled, "Asking a go-between to seek a son-in-law for you."

It runs thus :-" My little daughter is old enough to wear hairpins. The 'Book of Odes' speaks of 'arriving at the happy time.' Truly this is the time with her now! Your acquaintances are very numerous, the people you have seen are necessarily many. I only seek one better than my own sons and brothers for whom my daughter may hold the broom and dustpan. This would satisfy my wishes. I beg you to give it your careful attention and I shall be grateful."

The answer to this letter is as follows: ' Beautiful daughters and talented sons are not always to be met with in this world. Your virtuous daughter's beauty and good disposition are from heaven; she ought to have a good partner. I have received your important communication, and beg you to wait for a match to be arranged easily and naturally. Some one shooting at the bird on the screen will hit its eye and be chosen, so will your Honour's command be carried out."

So the go-between is always consulted, either by letter or by word of mouth, and it is through his good offices that the engagement is made. There are usually two go-betweens, a man and a woman; and of course, they expect, and always get, presents for the trouble they have taken. Rich families give quite large sums of money to the match-makers. They are important people, too, during the wedding festivities. It is the female go-between who leads the bride about, telling her when to kneel down, when to get up, when to bow, etc. It always reminds me of a man leading a tame bear about by a string

But before the wedding-day there is much to be done. When it has been fixed upon the trousseau must be got ready. The bridegroom's friends provide some of this. It is wonderful what fine silks and satins, furs and jewellery are given, even when the families are not very well off. These are put into red boxes, and sent to the bride's house some days before the wedding. A day or two after the arrival of the trousseau the bride's parents send over the furniture they have bought, with the money paid by the bridegroom, for their daughter's new home. It may consist of a bedstead, quilts, tables, chairs, stools, cupboards, kettles, pots and pans, besides a hat for the bridegroom, with a girdle, purse, and shoes, supposed to have been embroidered for him by the bride. They have as many red things as possible, as red is the happy colour in China. The coolies who carry the furniture make as great a show of it as possible; they are paid by the bridegroom in little rolls of cash, neatly done up in red paper.

Wedding presents are given by friends and relations, some of them in money, which is especially welcome on these occasions when there is so much extravagance. Of course, among the very poor things are done more simply; still they often spend so much that they are in debt for years after the wedding. The evening before the marriage there is a farewell feast for the bride in her old home. The poor girl is very sad; she has to leave her parents and friends, and go to live among utter strangers. If her husband or her mother-in-law should prove to be bad-tempered, she knows she will lead a miserable life. So it is no wonder that she cries a great deal; even if she does not feel sad, it is the proper thing to wail at stated intervals

Still, the excitement of receiving so many presents and new clothes, and the strangeness of being made the centre of interest for a time, no doubt has its attractions.

On the wedding-day she has her hair shaved square off on her temples, and done up as married women wear theirs. Then she is dressed for the ceremony; not in white, of course, that is mourning in China, but in bright red, red trousers, a red jacket, a red skirt, and a wonderful red head-dress, with a thick red veil that completely covers her face. Sometimes the clothes are embroidered with gold thread, and look very imposing; but I have been told that the bride's costume is often hired from the pawnbroker's, while the bridegroom's satin suit is bought for the occasion.

When her toilet is completed she is put into a heavy red and gilt sedan-chair, only used for weddings. The door of this is locked by her mother, and the key is taken to the bridegroom's house. Four men carry the chair, quite a procession accompanying it. First come men carrying lanterns; then a large, open, red umbrella; then some friends, brothers, perhaps, of the bride, round her chair; a band comes next, playing lively music; and crackers are let off at intervals. The music is very much like Scotch bagpipes. On arriving at the bridegroom's house there are more music and more crackers. The bridegroom is brought forward by the go-between; he unlocks the door of the chair, and two women step forward and help the bride to get out of it. Her face is covered with such a thick veil that she cannot see where she is going. They lead her into the hall, and place her on the right side of the bridegroom. The master of ceremonies calls out in a clear voice,-"Face outwards and worship heaven and earth!"

So the bride and bridegroom kneel down, and bow their heads three times, knocking their foreheads on the square of red carpet provided for that purpose three times on each occasion.

Rise!" is the next command; so they both get up off their knees.

"Face inwards and worship your ancestors!

Hearing this they turn round, kneeling and bowing with their heads to the ground before the ancestral tablet.

Rise! Worship your parents!

The obedient couple prostrate themselves in the same way before the bridegroom's father and mother. If there are grandparents, they are saluted in the same manner first, and after the father and mother come the uncles and aunts, if there are any. After this they are led to a table on which there are two cups of wine; these are sometimes tied together with a red silk cord. The cups are put into their hands, but the bride can only pretend to drink, because she must not lift her heavy veil. They then exchange cups, and are supposed to drink what was left in each. The wedding ceremony is then over. Friends come forward to congratulate the happy pair, knocking their heads on the ground before them, and receiving similar bows in exchange.

Then the young couple are allowed to retire to their own room, and the bridegroom may lift his bride's heavy veil, and look at her, for the first time probably in his life

After a few minutes they are summoned to the feast; not together, of course, the women have theirs in an inner room, while the bridegroom joins the men in the guest hall.

The bride must not eat anything then, and she is not supposed to speak or laugh for three days. This is not easy, for after the feast the guests come to inspect her. They make all sorts of personal remarks.

"What large feet she has!"

"Her teeth are ugly!"

"Look at her hands!"

The bridegroom stands by, and sometimes calls attention to her good points. All this time the poor girl must not smile, speak, or cry; she tries to look like a statue.

After the third day the bridegroom calls on his wife's parents to thank them for his bride, and then he returns the calls of those who sent presents and came to the feast. At the end of the honey-moon it is usual for the bride and bridegroom to go together to the bride's parents, where they (line, the bride staying for three days in her old home. Of course her mother is anxious to hear how she is getting on, and how she is treated by her husband and mother-in-law.

As weddings like this cost a great deal of money, poor people sometimes buy a girl when she is quite small, and therefore cheap, and bring her up in their own family till she is grown up, when their son can marry her without so much fuss and expense. Though it costs something to keep her, yet she is as useful as a slave-girl, and is often made to work as hard. These poor "little daughters-in-law," as they are called, have not at all an easy life of it. Only the very poor will give up their daughters to such a fate; but sometimes a father is glad to provide for his little girls in this way when his wife dies, and there is no one to look after them in the home. If they are very young no money is paid for them.

But whatever age a girl may be when she is married, she is usually spoken of as a daughter-in-law, and not as a wife. Her chief business is to wait upon her husband's mother. Of course, the young people do not set up a home of their own. Even if there are several brothers, they all bring their wives to live under the same roof) if possible; and to "divide the family '-that is, to set up separate establishments is spoken of as something wrong.

I once knew a lad of sixteen, who was in service in Hankow. He asked for a holiday, saying he wished to go into the country to get married. His master said, "You cannot bring a wife here to live, and you are only earning two or three shillings a week; you had better wait till you are older." The boy looked very young, and had not even done growing. But he answered simply, "I do not want to bring her here, but I must get married, for my mother wants a daughter - in- law to wait upon her." So the lad went into the country, got married, and left his bride to wait upon his mother in her village home. I do not think he saw her again for a year, at least.

Marriages often turn out very unhappily in China. Mothers-in-law are sometimes very hard and cruel, even beating their daughters in-law. Quarrels, too, are frequent between the different daughters in-law, especially when several of them have children, who run to their mothers telling tales of one another. The husband generally takes his mother's part, and if he hears her scolding his wife he may join in, and perhaps beat her for not being a good daughter. If he takes to gambling or opium-smoking, it is still worse. He will pawn the furniture and his wife's clothes and jewels, and sometimes end by selling the children and even the wife herself!

Wives cannot go to law against their husbands in China; almost their only resource is suicide. If they swallow poison or hang themselves, it will bring trouble on their husband's family. If heavy bribes are not paid, the wife's relations will threaten a law-suit; for if it can be shown that she was so cruelly treated that she was driven to commit suicide, her oppressors might be punished. Then, too, there is an idea that her ghost may take its revenge by haunting them.

So girls often say they are going to commit suicide, and then sometimes they are treated more kindly, for fear of their doing so. It is far too easy to get poison in China. Most rich families keep opium in their houses; the father or husband wants it for his pipe, or to offer to visitors. But even if there is none in the house, it is easily bought, so when the wretched girl wants to take her life she gets some of this opium. A small dose is enough; and, if no one knows that she has taken it, she will soon fall asleep and never wake again in this world. But if any one finds out that she has swallowed it, they are anxious to save her life.

I remember some years ago going to see a girl who had taken opium. A friend was living with us then who had a small dispensary half a mile from our house. It was for her help that the girl's friends had come, but as it was after dark, I offered to go with her. We soon reached the little house. The young woman (I think she was eighteen) was sitting sullenly on a low stool, rocking her baby's cradle. She had had a quarrel with her mother-in-law, and no thought of her husband or child had kept her from swallowing a dose of opium. Happily we were in time. They were sensible people, who had hot water ready for us to mix with our mustard, and got us what we wanted, even catching one of the fowls that were running about the room, and puffing out a long feather, despite much cackling, when one was wanted to tickle the patient's throat! So the young woman was very sick, and her life was spared. One of her relations insisted on taking us home, carrying a small lantern at the end of a stick, though, as the full moon was shining brightly, we could have done without his kind offices! And as I walked home I thought how many suicides there must be every day in China. For the people there are heathen. They never think how awful it must be for a soul to appear, unsummoned, in the presence of the great Judge!

They just think of what they can see. They are very miserable here, so miserable that they want to get out of this world altogether, and so they swallow opium. They never read in the Bible about heaven and hell, and they know nothing about God's will being best, and how we ought to take patiently, as from Him, all that comes to us in life, even as the Lord Jesus did, when He spoke of the suffering brought about by Judas' treachery and the chief priests' malice, saying, "The cup which My Father hath given Me, shall I not drink it?"

Christians live by faith, heathen by sight. Whenever we think and care more about what we can see-clothes, food, sweets, amusements-than we do about the unseen God, heaven, goodness, truth we are living more like heathen than like Christians. And that is the life which, when sorrow and disappointment come, leads to suicide.

Chapter 4

Entering the Dragon Gate

THE Chinese classics are very ancient. They have been studied for hundreds of years in all the schools of China, Japan, and Corea, and they are still studied to-day by tens of thousands of scholars, many of whom can repeat the whole of the four books and five classics by heart.

They barely escaped destruction, though, two thousand years ago, in the reign of the Emperor Tsin Chi. One day he gave a great :

feast in his palace, to which seventy learned men came to wish him long life and prosperity. There were other guests there too. One of these stood up and made a very complimentary speech, ending it with these words, "From most ancient times there has never been any one in awful virtue like your Majesty." The Emperor liked this flattery, but was not so well pleased when one of the great scholars gave him some good advice and warning, instead of praising him. So he asked the prime minister what he thought. And he replied: "Your Majesty has laid the foundation of Imperial sway, so that it will last for ten thousand years. This is indeed beyond what a stupid scholar can understand They do not learn about modern things, but only talk of antiquity. I suggest that your Majesty put out an edict, saying that all their ancient books are to be burnt, and that those scholars who persist in quoting: them shall be put to death. And if any do not give up and burn their books within thirty days they are to be branded with a red-hot iron, and sent for four years to the frontier to build the Great Wall. The only books that should bespared are those on medicine, divination, and husbandry."

The Emperor was delighted with this suggestion, and put out an edict accordingly. All the books that could be found were burnt, but two years afterwards it was discovered that many scholars were still talking about them and quoting them. So four hundred and sixty were buried alive in pits, while a great many were degraded and banished. The Emperor's eldest son remonstrated with him, but it did no good, the only result was that his father banished him to the Great Wall. Three years after the burning of the books the Emperor died, and eight years after his death a new dynasty commenced, and the scholars were once more in favour.

Copies of the classics that bad been carefully hidden away were now brought forth from their hiding-places, while others were written out from memory by those who had learnt them by heart before the burning of the books.

So they were once more taught in all Chinese schools, as they have been ever since. Not that they are easy for children to under-stand! They are not even written in the language which they speak, but in an ancient, classical language which no one talks now-a-days. Little boys are not expected to understand what they learn until they have been some years at school, and then the teacher explains the books which they have already learnt by heart. It is as if little English boys were set down to learn by rote Latin books of which they could not understand a word! But Chinese boys are used to it, and spend nearly all their school-time in memory work. They do not begin by learning their alphabet, for there is no alphabet in China. Every word is like a new letter. Just as you could read I, 2, 3, +,- without spelling them, one, two, three, plus, minus, so Chinese children have to learn different symbols for some thousands of words, and the way in which they do it is by learning by heart, and gazing at the words as they learn them.

When a child first comes to school the teacher reads a line two or three times, the little pupil repeating it alter him. Then the boy takes his book back to his seat and learns that line aloud, shouting it out vigorously, quite regardless of the fact that the other twenty boys in the room are all shouting out different lessons at the top of their voices! After some hours the teacher will call him up to repeat what he has learnt. He must hold his book in both hands to present it to the teacher, and then turn his back to repeat his lesson!

When he has been longer at school he will learn more, and in course of time he will begin to learn to write. Copies are placed under thin paper for the pupil to trace. He rubs his Indian ink on a little slab, dips his brush in it, and begins to write. After having traced the same words a great many times he will remember how to write them without a copy.

Then he may be promoted to essay-writing. Chinese compositions must be written according to regular rules, with many quotations from the classics.

Poems, too, have to be composed, the rhymes being learnt from a dictionary, for it does not do to go by one's ear in writing Chinese verse! All educated men in China can write poems, for this is part of the work for their examinations, and to pass examinations is the great ambition of scholars of all ages.

It is said that the great Emperor Shun, who lived b.c. 2200, examined his officers every three years, and either promoted or degraded them, according to their success or failure. But as we do not hear of there having been any books in his time, we do not know in what they were examined! A thousand years after this we are informed that all candidates for office were examined in music, archery, horsemanship, writing, arithmetic, and the rules of propriety. About the time of the Christian era we find that they were examined, not only in these six subjects, but also in law, agriculture, geography, and military tactics. The candidates must bear good characters, too, for filial piety and honesty.

But for the last thirteen hundred years there have been different examinations for soldiers and for literary men. These latter are examined nearly entirely in the classics, about which they have to write essays and verses, and it is by passing in these subjects that men enter Government service in China. It is said that the poorest lad in the Empire can in this way rise to almost the highest position in the land. But as a matter of fact, both education and going up for examinations cost money; sometimes, too, bribes have to he given before the competitor can obtain his degree. It is not only boys and young men who go in for examinations in China; such a small number of those who compete are allowed to pass that many go in again and again, until they are old and grey headed. I have heard of honorary degrees being bestowed on old men of eighty, who had gone in regularly for the same examinations ever since they were boys District examinations are first held all over the country. If two thousand go in for these in a certain district, perhaps fourteen will be allowed to pass! Their names are posted up in the magistrate's hall, and this honour is called "having a name in the village." These successful candidates go up from their country homes to a central town, where the next examination is held. Here, too, only some fifteen, or at most twenty, pass out of nearly two thousand! The names of the successful students are posted up on the walls of the office. This is called " having a name in the department."

Only these are allowed to compete at the yearly examinations which are held in the district cities, such as Hanyang and Hiaokan. About two thousand students go in for these at each centre. They are shut up in tiny cells, very much like pigstyes, with just a board to Sit on and another for a table. There are long rows of these cells; each student has one to himself, where he is shut up for a day and a night; the doors are sealed, and sentences from the classics are given him, on which he must write essays or verses. Questions are also asked, answers to which involve a knowledge of the classics. The examiner and his assistants look through all their papers and pick out twenty or more which they consider the best. The authors of these are said to have passed, while one thousand nine hundred and eighty have failed, and must try again next year! Those who pass gain the degree of Budding Genius," which is sometimes spoken of by Englishmen as B.A.

There are no prizes, but the honour of passing is considered great, and there are certain privileges attached to it, such as not being liable to be beaten by order of the magistrate. Once in three years these "Budding Geniuses" go to the provincial capital for another examination. Wuchang is crowded with students on these occasions. About ten thousand come up from all parts of the province, but only some eighty, or at most a hundred, can pass, however well the other students write their essays and verses.

This examination is very hard work. For three days and nights the candidates sit, each in his tiny cell; many of them are so engrossed with their papers that they do not even try to sleep. The cells are not long enough to lie down in, but some curl round as best they can in the limited space at their disposal and try to get some rest. After three days they are let out for a few hours, of course giving up their papers first; then they go in for another three days' work, and, after a second short relaxation, they enter the cells for the third and last time. After three more days they are finally released. The doors are unlocked, and the seals broken, three salutes are fired from old cannon at the gates, drums are beaten, and the bagpipes sound, all to honour the out coming students.

This is a fine opportunity for mission work. As the weary students leave the hall a band of English and native helpers are waiting for them at the gates with packets of Christian books, neatly done up in red paper. These they put into the hands of the students, who are usually glad to receive them, and in this way a knowledge of Christian truth is carried to all parts of the province; and the province of Hupeh, you must remember, is a good deal larger than England and Wales! The Chinese reverence books and rarely destroy them; and as those who receive these packets are all scholars, they are often interested in reading books that are entirely new to them, and no doubt many of them lend these Gospels and tracts to their friends in distant towns and villages. I will give you an account of one of these distributions of books in a later chapter about mission Work.

When the students leave their cells the officials remain in the hall to look over the papers. These are all copied out by clerks before the examiner sees them. This is to prevent his recognising the handwriting or secret marks of any who may have wished to bribe him. But still there are ways in which money can be used, and I have heard it said that it is difficult to get essays correctly copied unless the writers are given what they consider a sufficient present

When the list of successful students is made out it is posted up on the Drum Tower for all in the neighbourhood to read it. Clerks make haste to write out the names and positions of those who have done best, each on a large sheet of red paper. These they take, or send, to the homes of the successful students, knowing that the bearer of such good news wilt be handsomely rewarded.

The graduate is a proud and happy man. He may wear a gilt button on his cap, erect two high poles in front of his gate, and place a tablet over his door to inform all who pass by that a "Promoted Scholar " lives there

The English degree most like that of "Promoted Scholar" is M.A.

A few days after receiving the longed-for news of their son's success his parents give a feast in his honour. Invitations are sent out requesting friends to "shed their light" at the banquet. Each guest brings with him a present of money. This they call ' congratulatory politeness." The graduate then worships heaven and earth, the ancestral tablet and his parents, bowing his head to the ground three times before each. Then his mother, or his mother-in-law, adorns him with the red silk scarf, which only those who have taken their degree may wear. She places it over one shoulder, crossing it once over his breast if he is a " Budding Genius," and twice if he is a "Promoted Scholar," and then tying it round his waist like a sash.

Not long after this he must pay ceremonial visits to certain officials and to his teachers, and then to various relations and friends. He wears a long robe of light-blue silk under his crimson sash, and rides in a grand sedan-chair. Two men walk before him carrying red silk banners mounted on golden bamboos, which have been presented to the happy scholar. A band of eight musicians also walk before his chair, making a noise which the Chinese call music. One or two servants follow, with a number of red visiting cards.

These formal calls take two or three days, though the graduate seldom stays long enough to sit down, merely bowing or kneeling in each house and then going on to the next.

The Chinese count it a high honour to have a " Promoted Scholar" in their family, but he has not yet got an official position, and has still another examination before him.

For this he has to go to Peking. It is a long, expensive journey for scholars from the south and west of the Empire. About three in every hundred of those who go up pass this examination and are then called "Fit for office." Those who fail have to wait three years before they can try again. The successful candidates draw lots for the post of magistrate and at last become mandarins!

All who have passed go in for yet one more examination. This is a high honour; only two or three hundred compete for this, the highest degree in the land. The Emperor himself is present. About twenty are allowed to pass, and these are called members of the "Forest of Pencils"! Some of these become Court poets and historians, others are sent out as literary chancellors and examiners all over the Empire.

But many men grow old before they win these honours. I have read of a "Budding Genius" going in for his next examination again and again, until at the age of eighty-three he became a "Promoted Scholar."

But the prolonged examinations are a great strain upon old or feeble men, cooped up in tiny rooms, with no conveniences or comforts; they often fall ill, and it is not an uncommon thing for a student to die in his cell. The great gates may not be opened for his corpse to be removed, that would be very unlucky, but it may be carried out over the side or back wall of the enclosure.

There is a daily allowance of boiled rice and half a pound of meat for all who wish for it. But the food given is so very poor that alt who can afford it bring their own. Servants are in readiness to cook it for them; six or eight hundred men are provided by Government to wait upon the students, bring water and cook for them. Of course their baskets of food are searched, and so are the students themselves and all their baggage, lest they should smuggle a copy of the classics, or another man's essays, into their cells. If such are found, the owner of them might be dismissed from the hall and not allowed to compete that year. Still, pocket editions of the classics are printed for this very purpose, some so small that the words are hardly legible. Students sometimes keep them up their sleeves (which are often used as pockets in China), and manage to evade the searchers' vigilance. Perhaps money is used in these cases, for a gift blindeth the eyes in all Eastern lands.

Degrees are sometimes openly bought from the Government. This is not bribery, but a recognised way of obtaining literary standing. Every one knows that the graduate has not passed the examination, but still the diploma gives him a certain position, and also enables him to go in for a higher examination without having passed the previous one. The price of a degree varies from 5 to 100. When the Government is badly in want of money the price is lowered, to encourage more students to become purchasers.

I will translate for you a model letter to a friend who has purchased a degree:-" You with your golden bamboo banners and jewelled cap have been chosen as one attaining the standard required. Truly your fame is as the Milky Way, as the lofty pines! Who does not long for you? This degree is only a small thing for you to have got; you will soon have a ladder to the clouds, and step up to the moon! Your servant stretches his neck expectantly, and waits for that happy day! " The answer to which is as follows

"Your servant with broken-down horses and an inferior carriage improperly got his name put upon the list of graduates. I have been very much ridiculed. because of the empty seat to the left" (the seat of honour, which purchasers of. degrees may not occupy). "How dare I talk of becoming a great light in the kingdom for men to look to? Your praises exceed the facts of the case; they make my face perspire the more!"

Here is another model letter to be written to a friend on his becoming a "Promoted Scholar":- " In the examination hall you were like a general who could fly. Wherever the point of your pencil turned a thousand armies were swept away. At the news of your success I jumped for excessive joy, like a sparrow, Now you will get your wish: you will feel the Spring winds in Peking, and, riding on your old horse, you will ere long see the flowers. I respectfully wait for that time." To which the following is the correct answer -"I am feeble-minded and of common material. Luckily I obtained the recommendation of my fellow-villagers. I am really ashamed that my name should disgrace the list of worthies! Why should presents be sent to me? But if I refuse them I fear I shall violate the laws of respectful politeness. I reverently bow receiving your congratulations, and will ever remember your illustrious virtue."

Besides the literary examinations there are regular competitive examinations for candidates for military honours. For several hundred years these have been conducted in the same way. First the candidates have to shoot with bows and arrows; next, while on horseback, they have to shoot at a mark while the horse is running. Then they have to brandish heavy swords, weighing, it is said, from a hundred to a hundred and eighty pounds. Brandishing weapons is what the Chinese excel in, putting themselves into wonderful postures, and looking as fierce as possible, as though they wished to strike terror into the hearts of their enemies! After this performance they have to throw great stones from a hundred to a hundred and sixty pounds in weight. Then they have to bend very stiff bows.

For the third degree the candidate must go to Peking. Those who succeed there are sure of employment in the army or navy.

For the fourth degree they have to write essays on military tactics and naval defences. The three whose names head the list of successful candidates in this examination are mounted on horseback and paraded for three days round the capital with great state.

But during the last few years the Chinese Government has established several military and naval academies, with European professors, who teach the cadets under them the methods of modern warfare.

At last China is moving. Slowly but surely the leaders of that great country are taking in European ideas. There are arsenals now, where they can cast guns and cannon; and before the Japanese war in 1896 the Chinese had a very good fleet of modern gunboats and torpedo-boats. Many of these were taken by the Japanese; but the Chinese have given orders for new boats, and will soon have as good a fleet as ever. What they need most are brave, courageous men to take charge of them.

Besides these foreign gunboats, there are a number of old-fashioned war junks. There are said to be fifteen hundred on the Yangtse alone. Each boat has about fourteen men on board, and some very ancient firearms. The chief use of these boats is to clear the river of pirates, and to escort officials and fire salutes for them.

When we are near the river we often see a group of soldiers and hear guns firing, and on asking the reason, are usually told that some "great man" is arriving or departing. All officials are spoken of as "great men" in China.

But, as the gunboats prove, Western ideas are being introduced into the Middle Kingdom, and not only her soldiers, but her scholars, are gradually, very gradually, coming under their influence.

Of late years a question involving some knowledge of mathematics has occasionally been introduced into the examination papers, and last year the candidates at one centre were surprised by being confronted with a question as to how the world was peopled after the Flood! But as long as the examiners themselves are ignorant of everything but the Chinese classics they naturally will not wish to introduce scientific and mathematical questions into the examination papers! Still, the desire for Western learning is steadily growing, and there is a large and increasing number of students in mission high schools and colleges who will be powerful agents in widening Chinese thought in years to come.

But the vast majority of the people of China have not been touched yet by Western ideas. Glance at the signboards hanging outside the shops of any town in the Empire. They are as Eastern as ever! Large gold letters on upright black boards inform us that this is the "Garden of Perpetual Spring," that shop sells preserved vegetables! Here the "Abundant Fountain" tells us that firewood and coals are for sale! At the "Saloon for Getting Drunk by Moonlight" you can buy the flesh of black cats! "The Commencement of Peace" is a dye-shop! "Universal Pleasure" lets out sedan chairs and coloured lamps on hire! "Great Prosperity" makes cotton quilts and mends old clothes! "Extensive Brilliancy" is an ironmonger's! "Great Peace" buys or exchanges jewellery! "Harmonious Prosperity" is an opium shop! "Long Life " is the place at which to buy coffins!

High-sounding words are used, too, in ordinary conversation by educated people in China. You do not ask a man his name, but his "honourable surname." He replies that his "mean surname is So-and-so. You ask after his excellent son. He answers that "the young dog is very well." For you must always speak humbly of yourself and of anything belonging to you. When you ask his "exalted age,,, he may answer that he has lived in vain for forty years, but he is more likely to give you the cycle of his 'birth. When we talk of cycles in China we do not mean bicycles! The "cycle of Cathay" is a period of sixty years. An ancient emperor is said to have invented it, B.C. 2637, and alt dates have been reckoned by it there ever since.

There are two sets of Chinese characters, ten "heavenly stems" and twelve "earthly branches." The first of these stems is written by the first of the branches, and together they denote the first year of the cycle; the second stem and the second branch denote the second year) and so on, till after sixty years the first stem and the first branch come together again, and a new cycle has begun. It is a very clumsy way of reckoning, for you must know in which cycle each date occurred. So that instead of saying that Confucius was born B.C. 551, they have to say he was born in the year keng yin, in the reign of King Ling, of the Cheu dynasty.

But a more amusing way of asking people their age is to enquire, "What do you belong to?" And they answer, "The ox," or "The dragon," or some other animal! For each of the "earthly branches" is under a particular animal. So, hearing the animal, the Chinese know the branch, and can calculate the age of the person "belong mg" to it.

I expect the boys and girls who read this would like to know the animals to which they would be said to belong in China.

Those born in 1880 are under the Dragon.

Those born in 1887 are under the Pig.

And so the twelve animals are repeated over and over again. You see that those born in 1892 are under the same animal as those born in 1880, but you are supposed to be able to guess any one's age within twelve years, so that, hearing the animal to which they belong, you may know how old they are.

The Chinese believe that the animal under which a child is born exercises some kind of influence on his life, so fortune-tellers always want to know the date of his birth before answering questions as to his future. They sometimes say that a certain animal is to be feared or avoided at the time of some wedding or funeral. This means that those born under that animal are not to be present at it.

But it is not only in asking about people's names and ages that the Chinese use round-about terms, there are polite or poetic expressions for most things that are not easily understood by English students of the language. How should we know that "longevity boards" mean coffins, that "foreign dirt" is opium, that the " dragon gate" means the examination hall in Peking, or that "field chickens" are frogs? It is rather puzzling, too, to read at the end of a letter some such sentence as this, "I have not sought for a fish or a wild goose to ask after your Honour's happiness." On inquiry you find that some letters in ancient times are said to have been carried to their destinations by fish and geese!

I have not had leisure to prepare paper" seems a strange excuse for not writing sooner in a land where paper is plentiful and cheap

It is the correct thing in writing to a stranger to tell him that his fame is "as high as the mountains and as the Great Bear"

On cloudless summer nights they write, "The Palace of the Toad is bright and glorious, the Cave of the Rabbit wafts fragrance to the earth." Both "the Palace of the Toad" and the "Cave of the Rabbit" mean the moon, and it is supposed that fragrance from the cinnamon trees that grow there sometimes reaches the earth!

Chinese scholars are an imaginative race, but we hope as the influence of Christianity spreads over the land some of their very exaggerated phrases will be modified, and that truth will come to be regarded as of at least as much importance as an elegant style.

Chapter 5

Strange Examples of Filial Piety

A FEW years ago one of our servants came to ask me if she might have a short holiday, as she wished to go into the country to see her mother-in-law. She had bought a present which she wished to take to her.

"What are you going to give her?" I asked, and was rather surprised when she replied,

"A coffin. I have been saving up for years, and have just got enough money to buy a really good one."

Of course, I let her go. She hired coolies to carry the heavy, cumbrous Chinese coffin to a boat, and sailed across the plain to her mother-in-law's village.

On her return I asked, "Well, how did your mother-in-law like your present?

She smiled contentedly as she answered: "Very much indeed. She will keep the coffin under her bed till she needs it."

So there it remained till a few years afterwards, when the old woman died, and then, of course, she was buried in it. Now this was the act of a very filial daughter-in-law, and would be much admired by all her friends and relations. Her husband was dead, and she feared that when her widowed mother-in-law died the family might not be able to afford a proper funeral, so she prepared for it in this way, and comforted the declining years of her old mother-in-law with the thought that she was at least sure of a good coffin when she died

Rut children are not always good to their parents even in China.

I remember one wretched opium-smoker whose mother came to me in great trouble one day, saying that her son had pawned her coffin! She was a poor old widow, but, knowing her son's bad habits, she; had saved up all she could, and had bought a coffin, as she feared he would not provide her with a decent funeral when she died. And, after all, one Coy when she was out, this wretched man bad come in and had taken the coffin away out of her bedroom, and she had no money to get it Out of pawn. I tried to comfort her by reminding her that the soul mattered more than the body, and that, if she went to heaven when she died, it did not very much matter in what sort of a coffin her body was buried. But what seemed to bring her most comfort was the assurance that, as she had been a Christian for many years, the Church would see that she had a suitable funeral when she needed it.

Such conduct as that of her son is not common, I hope; still, though there is a great deal of talk about filial piety in China, I am afraid many children do behave very badly to their parents. It is not for want of teaching. In no other country in the world has there been so much said about the duty of obedience to parents, nor have so many books been written about it in any other language.

I was reading lately a translation from an article in a Chinese newspaper about a very good son. This is what it says: "On November 26th, 1897, a young man, eighteen years old, was executed at Canton on the charge of murder. The execution ground was crowded, and much sympathy was felt for the condemned; for it was well known that he was innocent, the actual murderer being the young man's father. In order to save his parent and satisfy the law, which always demands life for life, young Shu gave himself up as soon as he knew that his father had done the deed; he confessed to having committed the murder himself! As the saying puts it, 'He sealed his filial piety with his blood.' The affair will be recorded in the history of the town as proof of the lengths to which true filial piety will go."

But though extreme cases of this sort are rare, yet instances of a son's devotion to his parents are very common. I have often seen a man carrying his old mother pick-a-back through the streets, the white-haired woman begging as they went. I suppose the filial conduct of the son and the feebleness of the old mother both touch people's hearts, and they get a good many cash given them.

It is no uncommon thing either, while sitting with the patients in the dispensary, to see a woman carried in on her son's hack and deposited on a bench, there to await the arrival of the doctor. No one laughs at the sight, as I think they would in England.

But many of the stories told to Chinese children about ancient examples of filial piety are very absurd. I will quote a few of them for you, not because I believe them all, but to show the sort of moral teaching given to boys and girls in China

"Ko Ku was very poor. He had one child three years old; such was his poverty that his mother usually divided hey- portion of food with this little grandchild. Ko said to his wife: 'We are so poor that our mother has not enough to eat, for she gives some of her portion to the child. If the child were dead, there would be more food for her. Let us bury this child! We may have another some day, but a mother once gone will never return.'

"His wife did not dare to make any objection. So he dug a deep hole to bury their living child; suddenly however he discovered a pot of gold in the hole, and on it he read these words: bestows this treasure upon Ko Ku, the dutiful son. The magistrate may not seize it, nor shall the neighbours take it from him."'

The Chinese would think it quite right of a father to kill his son if by so doing he could prolong the life of his parents.

Next I will give you a touching story of a little boy's devotion to his parents: "Wu Mang was only eight years old. The family were so poor that they had no mosquito nets to their beds. In summer there were a great many mosquitos; every night they came and kept Mang's parents awake with their bites. So Mang decided to save his parents as much as he could. He went to bed early, and would not fan or drive the mosquitos away, hoping that they would be satisfied with sucking his blood, and would let his father and mother sleep in peace."

These stories are extracts from a Chinese book called twenty-four Cases of Filial Piety. I will not give the others at length. One is about a son who sold himself to be a slave t