4^0 



ANNUAL REGISTER, 1817. 



sive and significant, and easily 

 committed to the memory. The 

 Book of Odes, one of the four 

 most eminent and ancient of their 

 chissics, is chiefly composed of this 

 kind of verse. 



It is not necessary, however, to 

 dive into the depths of antiquity, 

 or to have recourse to ancient com- 

 positions, in order to prove a very 

 general jiredilection of the Chinese 

 for epic and lyric poetry. The late 

 Jikie/i-Zung^amused himself withwiit- 

 ing an epic poem, called Moukden, 

 and two or three others of consi- 

 derable length, besides several ly- 

 rical odes, songs, and epigrams, 

 as half the tea cups in the enipiie 

 can testify ; his unfortunate fa- 

 vourite, whose wealth and influ- 

 ence drew upon him the vengeance 

 of the reigning empeior, wrote 

 verses in his prison the day before 

 his execution ; and the editor has 

 in his possession the translation of 

 a copy of verses, entitled " Lon- 

 don ; " written by a Chinese, who 

 had accompanied a gentleman to 

 England, in the capacity of his 

 servant, describing very concisely., 

 butcharacteristically, what he saw, 

 and more paiticularly, those things 

 which contrasted with the man- 

 ners and appearances of his own 

 country. 



It is not correct, therefore, to 

 say that the Chinese have no relish 

 for poetry. Tliey cannot avoid 

 liking it, for every symbol of their 

 written language is poetical ; each 

 character pi-esenting to the eye, 

 and through it to the mind, the 

 picture of the idea which it is 

 meant to represent. It is true, 

 some of the missionaries make a 

 reserve in favour of ancient poe- 

 try : "the good old times" are 

 praised in more countries than in 



China, and with as little know- 

 ledge of what their " goodness " 

 consisted in ; but Mr. Morrison, 

 in his Chinese grammar, quotes a 

 Chinese author who seems to have 

 sounder notions on the subject 

 than either Pere Cibot or the Abbe 

 Grozier : he compares the pro- 

 gress of poetry among his coun- 

 trymen to the gradual growth of 

 a tree : " the ancient She-king 

 (the Book of Odes) may be likened 

 to the roots ; when Soo-ko flou- 

 rished, the buds appeared ; in the 

 time of Keen-ngan there was abmi- 

 dance of leaves ; but during tiie 

 dynasty Tang, many reposed under 

 the shade of the tree, and it yield- 

 ed rich supplies of flowers and 

 fruit." «• 



In like manner the two writers 

 above mentioned, Cibot first, and 

 Grozier servilely copying him, pre- 

 tend to say, that from the earliest 

 periods in which theatrical ex- 

 hibitions entered into domestic 

 amusements, and the public enter- 

 tainments of the court, the learned 

 have not ceased to publish philo- 

 sophical observations on the dan- 

 gers of the theatre, and its baneful 

 effects on public manners. " I'lays 

 (says one of these philosophers) 

 are a kind of artificial fire-works 

 of wit, which appear in the night 

 of disoider ; they debase and ex- 

 pose those who let them off, fa- 

 tigue the delicate eyes of the sage, 

 occujjy dangerously idle minds, 

 expose women and children who 

 listen to them, give out more of 

 smoke and stench than of light, 

 leaving only a dangerous dazzling, 

 and often cause dreadful confla- 

 grations. "f Vet in the same page 



• Graiutuar of the Cbiuesc Language, 

 p. S73. 

 t Mem. Chin, Tom. viii. p. -itT. 



the 



