On this page
-
Text (1)
-
Untitled Article
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
-
-
Transcript
-
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
Additionally, when viewing full transcripts, extracted text may not be in the same order as the original document.
Untitled Article
The whole number of written characters in the language is about 30 , 000 ; but it is stated that any one may make hinteelf understood by a knowledge of 2 , 000 , and may read and write Chinese when he has acquired 4 , 000 or 5 , 000 .
In their poetry , according to the principle of parallels adopted in their buildings , ornaments , &c . ; they generally balance their lines in sense , sound , and what we call ' parts of speech * ; thus , —
The white stone , unfractureH , ranks as most precious ; The blue lily , unblemished , emits the finest fragrance ; The heart , when it is harrnssed , &c *
China is represented in both these works as a very picturesque country ; not a plain , as is generally supposed , but finely varied with mountains , and watered by numbers of magnificent rivers . It is well known to be highly cultivated and densely peopled , even the lakes and rivers being covered with boats full of inhabitants , which is no doubt some advance in social convenience from the period of nest-building . Food which we reject , such as horse-flesh , dogs , cats , rats , mice , moles , and other vermin , are there commonly sold in the
markets ; and we hear of salted earth-worms and slugs , as delicacies offered at the tables of the rich . Much more subsistence is gained from the waters than we can procure , arid curious methods are practised for preserving the spawn of fishes , and placing it in circumstances favourable to its developernent , so that the rivers abound witlifood . Still , famines and pestilences from time to time occur , and do their ap ? pointed work in thinning the gathering numbers . The population is variously estimated from under two to upwards of three hundred millions ; this immense mass of hunianitv exists tranquilly under a despotism perhaps the most perfect in the world .
But to understand the institutions of the Chinese , it is necessary to revert to the life and times of Confucius , their great Lawgiver and ^ age . lie was born about the year 550 X \ . C , and was therefore a contemporary of P y thagoras . The son of a statesman , and from his earliest youth nevoted to study , he soon entertained the view of re forming Ins country men , and of restoring the virtues of antiquity , of which he was an enthusiastic admirer . He spent many years in journeying throughout China in a state of . simplicity , and comparative indigence , resembling that of our Apostles ; instructing all ranks of the people , and inculcating bis maxims of pinily love and obedience , and social order . He is said to have hud as man y ai " " 3 , 000 disciples in his life time . At one period he was employed in high offices of government , but meeting with
• Se ^ aii iijterettUpg trticU 90 Chinese Literature iu th « Quarterly Mag-fttifiQj No . Lxxxr , iw ;"
Untitled Article
Histories of China . 413
-
-
Citation
-
Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), July 2, 1836, page 413, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2659/page/21/
-