Mr. Djris on tlie Poelrjj of the CJiinese. 427 



cipitous turning^ — Wherefore do we linger, wherefore do we liiitjer — There is noug^ht 

 but the yellow sand drifting around — The sky is g-rowing dark and gloomy — Few are 

 the passengers at the foot of yon arched mountain: — the cold rain, urged by the gusty 

 wind, is driving in my face." 



Popular songs and ballads hold but a low rank in the literature of the coun- 

 try: and if we should even go so far as to include under this denomination 

 the detached snatches of irregular verse (also called Keo) which are met with 

 in their drama, the truth of the position would not be materially affected. 

 The stage, and every thing pertaining to it, enjoys a lower estimation than 

 in any part of Europe : and we may take occasion to notice in this place, 

 that the Chinese cannot strictly be said to possess dramatic poetry, in the 

 sense which the term bears among ourselves, who apply it to the whole of a 

 dramatic composition, and chiefly to tragedy. They make no distinction 

 between tragedy and comedy in their stage pieces, the dialogue of which 

 is composed in ordinary j^ro^e ; while the principal performer now and then 

 chaunts forth, in unison with music, a species of song or ' vaudeville ;' and 

 tlie name of the tune or air is always inserted at the top of the passage to 

 be sung. Here follow a few lines from the drama* called ' An Heir in 

 Old Age.' The chief character in the piece, an old man who is anxious to 

 obtain an heir before he dies, sets fire to his bonds of debt, hoping that 

 such a sacrifice may induce the accomplishment of his wishes — and when 

 the papers are consumed he breaks out thus : 



" Do'st.ask me why, by this rash hand, 

 A treasure to the flames was given? 

 Why but t'avert, ere yet too late. 

 The vengeance of offended heaven ! 



Full sixty years, by various arts. 



For wealth I've toil'd, without an heir : 

 Who knows but heaven may yet relent. 



And listen to a suppliant's prayer!" 



gave the Tartar a military command within his dominions. No sooner had the latter reached his 

 destination, than he set up the standard of rebellion, and the emperor, hastily assembling a 

 large army, and accompanied by his favourite Yangkuei, proceeded to meet him in Szechuen. 

 When they had reached the base of the mountain Matuy, the soldiers mutinied, declaring that 

 Yangkuei was the occasion of the rebellion, and demanding that she should be put to death before 

 they consented to meet the enemy. The emperor was obliged to comply, and ordered her to be 

 strangled on the spot — but his subsequent grief for her fate was the cause of his own death. 



• London, 1816. French version, Paris, 1819. 



