[475] This would be regarded as a very meritorious act by the Chinese.
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[476] The Byron of China.
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[477] Chinese wine—or, more correctly, spirits—is always taken hot; hence the term wine-kettle, which frequently occurs in these pages.
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[478] The Magistrate; who is supposed to be towards the people what a father is to his children.
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[479] This singularly un-Chinese surname is employed to keep up a certain play upon words which exists in the original, and which is important to the dénouement of the story. “River” is the simple translation of a name actually in use.
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[480] Chinese dice are the exact counterpart of our own, except that the ace and the four are coloured red: the ace because the combination of black and white would be unlucky, and the four because this number once turned up in response to the call of an Emperor of the T‘ang dynasty, who particularly wanted a four to win him the partie. All letters, despatches, and such documents, have invariably something red about them, this being the lucky colour, and to the Chinese, emblematic of prosperity and joy.
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[481] Alluding to an ancient story of a promise by a Mr. Fan that he would be at his friend Chang’s house that day three years. When the time drew near, Chang’s mother ridiculed the notion of a man keeping a three years’ appointment; but, acceding to her son’s instances, prepared a boiled chicken, which was barely ready when Fan arrived to eat of it.
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[482] Alluding to the celebrated oath of confederation sworn in the peach garden between Kuan Yü, or Kuan Ti (see No. I., note 39), Chang Fei (see No. LXIII., note 357), Liu Pei, who subsequently proclaimed himself Emperor, A.D. 221, and Chu-ko Liang, his celebrated minister, to whose sage counsels most of the success of the undertaking was due. The whole story is one of the best known of Chinese historical romances, bringing about, as it did, the downfall of the famous Han dynasty, which had endured for over 400 years.
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[483] Alluding to the story of a young man who went in search of his missing father.
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[484] Lin-tsung saw his host kill a chicken which he thought was destined for himself. However, Mao-jung served up the dainty morsel to his mother, while he and his guest regaled themselves with two baskets of common vegetables. At this instance of filial piety, Lin-tsung had the good sense to be charmed.
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[485] The Chinese recognise no act more worthy a virtuous man than that of burying stray bones, covering up exposed coffins, and so forth. By such means the favour of the Gods is most surely obtained, to say nothing of the golden opinions of the living.
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[486] This is merely our author’s way of putting the question of the old man’s identity. He was the Spirit of the Waters—his name, it will be recollected, was River—just, in fact, as we say Old Father Thames.
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[487] From a poem by Wang Wei, a noted poet of the T‘ang dynasty. The second line is not given in the text.
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[488] From a poem by P‘an T‘ang-shên, which runs:—

The Chinese believe that the Judas-tree will only bloom where fraternal love prevails.
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[489] I have already observed that men and women should not let their hands touch when passing things to each other (see No. XL., note 233); neither is it considered proper for persons of different sexes to hang their clothes on the same clothes-horse. (See Appendix, note 736.)

With regard to shaking hands, I have omitted to mention how hateful this custom is in the eyes of the Chinese, as in vogue among foreigners, without reference to sex. They believe that a bad man might easily secrete some noxious drug in the palm of his hand, and so convey it into the system of any woman, who would then be at his mercy.
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[490] Alluding to Wang’s breach of etiquette in visiting the father himself, instead of sending a go-between, who would have offered the same sum in due form as the usual dowry or present to the bride’s family.
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[491] Witnesses in a Chinese court of justice take no oath, in our sense of the term. Their written depositions, however, are always ended with the words “the above evidence is the truth!” In ordinary life people call heaven and earth to witness, or, as in this case, the sun; or they declare themselves willing to forfeit their lives; and so on, if their statements are not true. “Saucer-breaking” is one of those pleasant inductions from probably a single instance, which may have been the fancy of a moment; at any rate, it is quite unknown in China as a national custom. “Cock-killing” usually has reference to the ceremonies of initiation performed by the members of the numerous secret societies which exist over the length and breadth of the Empire, in spite of Government prohibitions, and the penalty of death incurred upon detection.
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[492] Adoption is common all over China, and is regulated by law. For instance, an adopted son excludes all the daughters of the family. A man is not allowed to marry a girl whom he has adopted until he shall have given her away to be adopted in a family of a different surname from his own; after which fictitious ceremony, his marriage with her becomes legal (see No. XV., note 109); for the child adopted takes the same surname as that of the family into which he is adopted, and is so far cut off from his own relations, that he would not venture even to put on mourning for his real parents without first obtaining the consent of those who had adopted him. A son or daughter may be sold, but an adopted child may not; neither may the adopted child be given away in adoption to any one else without the specific consent of his real parents. The general object in adopting children is to leave some one behind at death to look after the duties of ancestral worship. For this boys are preferred; but the Fortunate Union gives an instance in which these rites were very creditably performed by the heroine of the tale.
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[493] This story is a sequel to the last.
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[494] The surnames would in this case be different, and no obstacle could be offered on that score. See No. XV., note 109.
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[495] The dénouement of the Yü-chiao-li, a small novel which was translated into French by Rémusat, and again by Julien under the title of Les Deux Cousines, is effected by the hero of the tale marrying both the heroines.
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[496] The sexes do not dine together. On the occasion of a dinner-party, private or official, the ladies give a separate entertainment to the wives of the various guests in the “inner” or women’s apartments, as an adjunct to which a theatrical troupe is often engaged, precisely as in the case of the opposite sex. Singing-girls are, however, present at and share in the banquets of the roués of China.
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[497] This occurs on the 5th of the 5th moon, and is commonly known as the Dragon-Boat Festival, from a practice of racing on that day in long, narrow boats. It is said to have been instituted in memory of a patriotic statesman, whose identity, however, is not settled, some writers giving Wu Yun (see The Middle Kingdom, Vol. II., p. 82), others Ch‘ü Yüan (see The Chinese Reader’s Manual, p. 107), as the hero of the day.
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[498] A hare or rabbit is believed to sit at the foot of the cassia-tree in the moon, pounding the drugs out of which is concocted the elixir of immortality. An allusion to this occurs in the poems of Tu Fu, one of the celebrated bards of the T‘ang dynasty:—

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[499] By which he would become eligible for Government employ. The sale of degrees has been extensively carried on under the present dynasty, as a means of replenishing an empty Treasury.
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[500] Kung-sun is an example of a Chinese double surname.
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[501] Such is the common system of repaying the loan, by means of which an indigent nominee is enabled to defray the expenses of his journey to the post to which he has been appointed, and other calls upon his purse. These loans are generally provided by some “western” merchant, which term is an ellipsis for a “Shansi” banker, Shansi being literally “west of the mountains.” Some one accompanies the newly-made official to his post, and holds his commission in pawn until the amount is repaid; which settlement is easily effected by the issue of some well-understood proclamation, calling, for instance, upon the people to close all gambling-houses within a given period. Immediately the owners of these hells forward presents of money to the incoming official, the Shansi banker gets his principal with interest, perhaps at the rate of 2 per cent. per month, the gambling-houses carry on as usual, and everybody is perfectly satisfied.
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[502] Which fact would disqualify him from taking the post.
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[503] Literally, “Square hole.” A common name for the Chinese cash. See No. II., note 42.
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[504] In the case of wealthy families these strong rooms often contain, in addition to bullion, jewels to a very great amount belonging to the ladies of the house; and, as a rule, the door may not be opened unless in the presence of a certain number of the male representatives of the house.
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[505] Pieces of silver and gold paper made up to represent the ordinary Chinese “shoes” of bullion (See No. XVIII., note 133), and burnt for the use of the dead. Generally known to foreigners in China as “joss-paper.”
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[506] See No. VII., note 54. In this case the reference is to a similar Board in the Infernal Regions.
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[507] These would be sure to sneer at him behind his back.
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[508] A compliment usually paid to an in-coming official.
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[509] See No. I., note 39.
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[510] The retinue of a Mandarin should be in accordance with his rank. I have given elsewhere (See No. LVI., note 315) what would be that of an official of the highest rank.
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[511] See No. LXXVII., note 431.
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[512] Good writing holds a much higher place in the estimation of the Chinese than among western nations. The very nature of their characters raises calligraphy almost to the rank of an art.
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[513] The commentator here adds a somewhat similar case, which actually occurred in the reign of K‘ang Hsi, of a Viceroy modestly attended falling in with the gorgeous retinue of a Magistrate, and being somewhat rudely treated by the servants of the latter. On arriving at his destination, the Viceroy sent for that Magistrate, and sternly bade him retire from office, remarking that no simple magistrate could afford to keep such a retinue of attendants unless by illegal exactions from the suffering people committed to his charge.
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[514] The Yang-tsze: sometimes spoken of as the Long River.
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[515] The full point of this story can hardly be conveyed in translation. The man’s surname was Sun, and his prænomen, Pi-chên, (which in Chinese follows the nomen) might be rendered “Must-be-saved.” However, there is another word meaning “struck,” precisely similar in sound and tone, though written differently, to the above chên; and, as far as the ear alone is concerned, our hero’s name might have been either Sun Must-be-saved or Sun Must-be-struck. That the merchants mistook the character chên, “saved,” for chên, “struck,” is evident from the catastrophe which overtook their vessel, while Mr. Sun’s little boat rode safely through the storm.
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[516] Here again we have a play upon words similar to that in the last story.
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[517] We read in the History of Amoy:—“In the year 1622 the red-haired barbarians seized the Pescadores and attacked Amoy.” From the Pescadores they finally retired, on a promise that trade would be permitted, to Formosa, whence they were expelled by the famous Koxinga in 1662. “Red-haired barbarians,” a term now commonly applied to all foreigners, was first used in the records of the Ming dynasty to designate the Dutch.
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[518] Our author would here seem to have heard of the famous bull’s hide which is mentioned in the first book of the Æneid. In any case, the substitution of “stretching” is no improvement on the celebrated device by which the bull’s hide was made to enclose so large a space.
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[519] The common method of porterage in China is by a bamboo pole over the shoulder with well-balanced burdens hanging from each end. I have often seen children carried thus, sitting in wicker baskets; sometimes for long journeys.
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[520] It would be more usual to “renew the guitar string,” as the Chinese idiom runs. In the paraphrase of the first maxim of the Sacred Edict we are told that “The closest of all ties is that of husband and wife; but suppose your wife dies, why, you can marry another. But if your brother were to die,” &c., &c.
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[521] This, as well as the staff mentioned below, belongs to Buddhism. See No. IV., note 46.
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[522] The first Manchu ruler of the empire of China. He came to the throne in A.D. 1644.
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[523] It is worth noting that the author professes actually to have witnessed the following extraordinary scene.
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[524] The vernal equinox, which would fall on or about the 20th of March.
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[525] A fabulous lady, said to reside at the summit of the K‘un-lun mountain, where, on the border of the Gem Lake, grows the peach-tree of the angels, the fruit of which confers immortality on him who eats it.
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[526] One of the most celebrated of the numerous secret societies of China, the origin of which dates back to about A.D. 1350. Its members have always been credited with a knowledge of the black art.
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[527] Of Chinese jugglers, Ibn Batuta writes as follows:—“They produced a chain fifty cubits in length, and in my presence threw one end of it towards the sky, where it remained, as if fastened to something in the air. A dog was then brought forward, and, being placed at the lower end of the chain, immediately ran up, and reaching the other end immediately disappeared in the air. In the same manner a hog, a panther, a lion, and a tiger were alternately sent up the chain, and all equally disappeared at the upper end of it. At last they took down the chain, and put it into a bag, no one ever discerning in what way the different animals were made to vanish into the air in the mysterious manner above described. This, I may venture to affirm, was beyond measure strange and surprising.”

Apropos of which passage, Mr. Maskelyne, the prince of all black-artists, ancient or modern, says:—“These apparent effects were, doubtless, due to the aid of concave mirrors, the use of which was known to the ancients, especially in the East, but they could not have been produced in the open air.”
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[528] See No. LXXI., note 408.
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[529] This instrument, used by Buddhist priests in the musical accompaniment to their liturgies, is said to be so called because a fish never closes its eyes, and is therefore a fit model of vigilance to him who would walk in the paths of holiness and virtue.
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[530] The duties of Coroner belong to the office of a District Magistrate in China.
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[531] Without such certificate he would be liable to be involved in trouble and annoyance at the will of any unfriendly neighbour.
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[532] See No. XLV., note 267.
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[533] We have in this story the keynote to the notorious and much-to-be-deprecated dislike of the Chinese people to assist in saving the lives of drowning strangers. Some of our readers may, perhaps, not be aware that the Government of Hong-Kong has found it necessary to insert a clause on the junk-clearances issued in that colony, by which the junkmen are bound to assist to the utmost in saving life. The apparent apathy of the Chinese in this respect comes before us, however, in quite a different light when coupled with the superstition that disembodied spirits of persons who have met a violent death may return to the world of mortals if only fortunate enough to secure a substitute. For among the crowd of shades, anxious all to revisit their “sweet sons,” may perchance be some dear relative or friend of the man who stands calmly by while another is drowning; and it may be that to assist the drowning stranger would be to take the longed-for chance away from one’s own kith or kin. Therefore, the superstition-ridden Chinaman turns away, often perhaps, as in the story before us, with feelings of pity and remorse. And yet this belief has not prevented the establishment, especially on the river Yang-tsze, of institutions provided with life-boats, for the express purpose of saving life in those dangerous waters; so true is it that when the Chinese people wish to move en masse in any given direction, the fragile barrier of superstition is trampled down and scattered to the winds.
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[534] As there are good and bad foxes, so may devils be beneficent or malicious according to circumstances; and Chinese apologists for the discourtesy of the term “foreign devils,” as applied to Europeans and Americans alike, have gone so far as to declare that in this particular instance the allusion is to the more virtuous among the denizens of the Infernal Regions.
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[535] See No. XCVII., note 505.
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[536] A phrase constantly repeated, in other terms, by a guest to a host who is politely escorting him to the door.
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[537] The spiritual lictors who are supposed to arrest the souls of dying persons, are also believed to be armed with warrants signed and sealed in due form as in the world above.
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[538] Literally, the “nine dark places,” which will remind readers of Dante of the nine “bolgie” of the Inferno.
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[539] This is a cliff over which sinners are hurled, to alight upon the upright points of knives below. The branches of the Sword Tree are sharp blades which cut and hack all who pass within reach.
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[540] A crime by no means unknown to the clergy of China.
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