CHINA. 



243 



CToftrn- 

 raent. 



utmost order, silence, and solemnity, and performing eve- 

 ry function with as much reverence and awe, as if they 

 were celebrating some religious mystery, is said to have 

 altogether a very striking and imposing effect. But it 

 is only in the aggregate, when thus assembled in public 

 exhibition, that tiiey have any show of dignity. In pri- 

 vate, they are extremely insignificant ; and, like mere hi- 

 red actors in a spectacle, they shrink into very paltry 

 personages, when they are not upon the stage. Every 

 officer thus attending upon court, when his public du- 

 ty is performed, retires to a sufficiently miserable and 

 solitary cell, in the environs of the palace; takes his food 

 alone upon a square table, crowded with bowls of rice 

 and different stews, without table linen, or napkins, knife, 

 fork, or spoon ; but with a pair of small sticks, or quills 

 of a porcupine, throws the food into his mouth, after the 

 manner of the common people ; and, having finished his 

 lonely meal, generally lays himself down to sleep, with- 

 out ever associating with his fellow attendants in any 

 thing like conversation or conviviality, which would in- 

 fallibly excite the strongest suspicions of the govern- 

 ment. 



Curt dayj. Their public and pompous displays are confined to cer- 

 tain fixed festivals, such as the anniversary of the empe- 

 ror's birth-day, the commencement of the new year, the 

 ceremonial of holding the plough, the reception of fo- 

 reign embassies, &c. It is only on inch occasions, that 

 the emperor appears i n public ; and even then he only shews 

 himself within the precincts of the palace, from which 

 the populace are entirely excluded. Of these exhibitions, 

 the emperor's birth-day is the most splendid, as at that 

 time all the principal officers of government, civil and 

 military, all the Tartar princes and tributary chiefs, are 

 expected to attend. The following description of this 

 festival, by Lord Macartney, will convey to our readers 

 a better idea of the splendour and ceremonies of this 

 eastern court, than any abridged view that we could at- 

 tempt to give. " The 17th of September, being the 

 emperor's birth-day, we set out for the court at three 

 o'clock in the morning." " We reposed ourselves about 

 two hours in a large saloon, at the entrance of the palace 

 inclosure, where fruit, tea, warm milk, and other refresh- 

 ments were brought to us. At last, notice was given, 

 that the festival was going to begin ; and we immediately 

 descended into the garden, where we found all the great 

 men and mandarins in their robes of state, drawn up be- 

 fore the imperial pavilion. The emperor did not show 

 himself, but remained concealed behind a screen, from 

 whence, I presume, he could tee and enjoy the ceremo- 

 nies, without inconvenience or interruption. All eyes 

 were turned to the place where his majesty was imagined 

 to be enthroned, and seemed to express an impatience to 

 begin the devotions of the day. Slow solemn music, 

 muffled drums, and deep-toned bells were heard at a dis- 

 tance. On a sudden the sounds ceased, and all was still. 

 Again they were renewed, and then intermitted, with 

 short pauses ; during which, several persons passed back- 

 wards and forwards in the proscenium, or foreground of 

 the tent, as if engaged in preparing some grand coup de 

 theatre. At length the great band, both vocal and in- 

 strumental, struck up with all their powers of harmony ; 

 and instantly the whole court fell flat upon their faces 

 before this invisible Nebuchadnezzar." ' The music 

 might be considered as a sort of birth-day ode, or state 

 anthem, the burthen of which was, ' Bow down your 

 heads, all ye dwellers upon the earth ; bow down your 

 heads before the great Kicn-long, the great Kien-long.' 

 And then all the dwellers upon China-earth there pre- 

 ent, except ourselves, bowed down their heads, and 



prostrated themselves upon the ground, at every renewal 

 of the chorus. Indeed, in no religion, either ancient or 

 modern, has the divinity ever been addressed, I believe, 

 with stronger exterior marks of worship and adoration, 

 than were this morning paid to the phantom of his Chi- 

 nese majesty. Such is the mode of celebrating the em- 

 peror's anniversary festival, according to the court ritual. 

 We saw nothing of him the whole day, nor did any of 

 his ministers, I imagine, approach him ; for they all 

 seemed to retire at the same moment that we did." 



At the Tartar conquest, all the eunuchs, to the num- Eunuchs ef 

 ber of 6000, were deprived of all offices of trust and im- the P* 1 *"' 

 portauce ; but they are still extremely numerous about 

 the court, chiefly as keepers of the females, and as su. 

 perintendants of the gardens, buildings, and other works 

 connected with the palaces. The rasibus, as they are 

 called, who are deprived of every trace of manhood, are 

 admitted into the interior of the palace ; and their chief 

 business is to attend upon the ladies, whom they emulate 

 in every female art of painting the face, and studying 

 their dress. The greatest favourite among the eunuchs 

 waits upon the emperor, and sleeps in the same room ; 

 and the power of this person in prejudicing his master is 

 often felt by the first officers of state. These creatures, 

 in general, are described as addicted to all the vices which 

 distinguish the tribe in other places ; as particularly in- 

 solent, rapacious, and spiteful in the extreme ; as detest- 

 ed and dreaded by all the court officers, and even by the 

 princes of the blood ; and as requiring to have their good 

 will secured by frequent and costly presents. 



The only companions of the emperor, in his leisure Emperor'* 

 hours, are the women and these eunuchs. His wives are household, 

 distributed into three classes. The first class consists 

 only of one, who has the rank of empress ; the second, 

 of two queens! and their attendants ; and the third, of six 

 queens, with their train. To these are added a hundred 

 ladies, usually called the emperor's concubines, but form- 

 ing an equally legal part of his establishment ; and men of 

 the first rank account themselves highly honoured, when 

 their daughters are admitted into this number. Their 

 children are all considered as branches of the imperial fa- 

 mily ; but the male issue of the first empress is generally 

 regarded as the heir apparent to the throne, though this 

 depends, as has been mentioned, upon the will in the em- 

 peror, who has the sole right of nominating his successor, 

 and of choosing him out of any class or family in the em- 

 pire. The daughters of the sovereign are generally gi- 

 ven in marriage to Tartar princes and officers, and rarely 

 to a Chinese husband. The emperor's women are doom- 

 ed to reside for ever within the walls of the palace ; and, 

 after his death, they are immured for life in a separate 

 building, called the palace of chastity. 



The princes of the blood, or descendants of the impe- pri nce j B 

 rial family, are the only persons in China who can be the blooU- 

 said to possess any portion of hereditary nobility ; and 

 even their privileges are extremely few and restricted. 

 Those who are descended in a direct line from the reign- 

 ing family, have their names and date of their birth re- 

 gistered in a yellow book; and have the privilege of 

 wearing a yellow girdle ; but those who are only of col- 

 lateral descent, that is, from the uncles or brothers of the 

 founder of the dynasty, have their names enrolled in a red 

 book, and the right of wearing a red girdle. Even the 

 princes of the blood, however, beyond the third genera- 

 tion, scarcely possess any distinction whatever, and gra- 

 dually sink into the common mass of subjects, unless they 

 have talents and application, to attain those offices, to 

 which honours are attached. They have the privilege of 

 being tried only by their peers, called the tribunal a 



