( II IN A. 



V -.: -'. 



f -..- 



prince*, which takes cognizance of no other rank ; and 

 they may procure exemption from any corporal punish- 

 meM by a fine. Their persons, also, are in some degree 

 rendered sacred ; and should any one insult a'prince of the 

 blood, when decorated with his yellow girdle, he is pu- 

 nished with death ; but, if the pnnce had omitted to wear 

 tut girdle at the time of the assault, it is then considered 

 br them ss case only between one citizen and another. 

 Those of them, who hold no offices which give them rank 

 and revenue, are entitled merely to draw the full pay of a 

 soldier in the Tartar bands ; and receive a present from the 

 emperor of 100 taels, about 30 guineas sterling, when 

 they marry. At their death, also, the same sum is al- 

 lowed to defray their funeral expcnces ; and the emperor 

 occasionally relieves their widows and families. Princes 

 and princesses of the inferior classes must petition the 

 emperor for permission to marry ; but princes of the di- 

 rect line may omit this form, unless when they wish to 

 be connected with any of the Tartar families. The fa- 

 mily of Confucius, also, is accounted noble ; and bis de- 

 scendants in the direct line enjoy a title of honour. All 

 those, likewise, who have held the post of a mandarin, 

 or obtained any literary degrees, continue to be account- 

 ed noble, even after they have ceased to hold office. A 

 title of honour may be continued in a family, as a mark 

 of the sovereign's favour, but it confers no power, privi- 

 lege, or emolument, and very soon wears out. With these 

 exceptions, it may be taid that there is no hereditary rank 

 in China. All dignities are merely personal, and attach- 

 ed to the holding of some office. The sons ot the high- 

 est mandarins derive no authority or title from the rank 

 of their father ; and, if they have not the requisite talents 

 and acquirements to procure office f. r themselves, they 

 fall back into the common mass. As the possessions of 

 their father, also, according to the laws of the empire, 

 are equally divided among all his sons, the riches of the 

 greatest families diminish in proportion to the number of 

 heirs, and thus they soon sink down from their former 

 splendour, liven property and character have no weight 

 in China ; but, except the morals be notoriously bad, 

 learning and abilities, of a particular description, arc the 

 only, and almost the sure, passports to the higher offices 

 and honours. 



The emperor and his children arc clothed in robes of 

 a bright yellow colour ; while all the other branches of 

 the royal family, and princes of the empire, wear, like 

 the mandarins, violet-coloured garments. The emperor, 

 his tons, and the princes of the first rank, are also dis- 

 tinguished, by having the figures of dragons with five 

 claws, called Long, embroidered on their vestments; while 

 princes of the second rank have the same dragons, with 

 tour claws ; and those of the third rank, as well as the 

 mandarins, have, instead of dragons, a species of ser- 

 pent, with four claws, named Mang. The button of ce- 

 remony on the head dress of the emperor, consists of 

 three dragons of gold, placed one above the other, with 

 four pearls on each, one pearl between each, and one 

 large pearl surrounding the whole. His upper robe has 

 four circles, embroidered with the figure of a dragon, 

 one on each shoulder, a third on his breast, and a fourth 

 on hu back. His necklace, which, in his case alone, 

 can be composed ol pearls, consists of 11 '2 pearls, and 

 other ornaments of rubies, sapphires, and amber. His 

 girdle is of a bright yellow, with four circles of gold, 

 adorned with rubies, sapphires, and pearls. 



The oldest son of the emperor, named Hoang-tay-tse, 

 has a similar button to that of the emperor, out com- 

 posed of 13 instead of If) pearls ; a necklace of coral, 

 with ornaments of sapphires ; and a bright yellow girdle, 



with four circles of gold, adorned with azure stones and 

 pearls. 



The bonnets of the sovereign and the heir apparent 

 have also a figure of the idul I'a surrounded with pearls. 



The other sons of the emperor, called Hoang-tse, are 

 adorned like the oldest, except that they have fewer 

 pearls in their ornaments, and a ruby instead of the figure 

 of Fo. The princes of the different ranks are, in like man- 

 ner, distinguished, chiefly by the number of pearls in 

 the front of their bonnets, and the colours of their neck- 

 laces. 



The great body of subjects is divided into seven 

 classes, the mandarins, the military, the lit. ran, the bon- 

 zes, the husbandmen, the artizans, and the merchants. 



The mandarins, whether civil or military, arc the 

 most respected ; and they are chit fly taken from the 

 three last classes. All the Chinese aspire to this rank, 

 both as investing them with a portion of authority, and 

 also as increasing their power of acquiring wealth. As 

 soon as a Chinese possesses a little money, he enters in- 

 to trade ; and when he has become rich, he generally 

 procures, by his wealth, the office of an inferior manda- 

 rin, that he may enjoy his possessions with greater se- 

 curity. 



The literati are generally the candidates for places, 

 without which, their attainments are not much respect- 

 ed. Their names are enrolled into the lists of the tribu- 

 nal Lii-poo, which has the business of nominating man- 

 darins, and of informing the emperor when vacancies 

 occur. 



The bonzes are very numerous ; but their exact 

 amount is very differently reported by writers on China. 

 De Guignes calculates their number at one million ; and 

 observes, that they are generally in possession of lands, 

 farms, and houses. 



The husbandmen are the most favoured by govern- 

 ment ; but, at the same time, the least wealthy. 



The artizans are not bound, as has been supposed, to 

 follow the employment of their forefathers ; and they 

 generally enter into commerce, as soon as they can find 

 the means. 



The traders are the least respectable, especially those 

 who traffic with foreign nations. 



Players, and those who engage in the business of pro- 

 stitution, are the only persons accounted directly infa- 

 mous, and inadmissible as candidates for the office of a 

 mandarin ; and in the case of the former, an enactment 

 ot the Emperor Kien-long requires three generations ta 

 wipe off the stain. 



The conductors of the imperial barges, who arc called 

 Kan-kid, are also of bad repute ; because the persons, 

 employed in dragging these vessels, are commonly Chi- 

 nese criminals, who would otherwise have been punish- 

 ed with banuhment. 



The class of mandarins, with all their authority, are 

 under considerable restriction*, to preclude the possibility 

 of their ever becoming dangerous to the supreme power. 

 They are changed every three years from one station to 

 another, arc incapable of holding any civil office in the 

 province where they were born, and cannot be stationed 

 nearer to it than .00 leagues, till they have attained the 

 age of 60 years. They cannot marry in the province or 

 city where they govern ; and must all remove from their 

 posts at the death of a father, mother, grandfather, or 

 grandmother. When a mandarin obtains a superior of- 

 fice in a province, where one of his relations is employed, 

 the Later is obliged to inform the tribunals at Pekin, 

 who remove him to another place. The father, the son, 

 the uncle, and the grandson, cannot be united iu the 



Govcrm- 

 mcnt. 



CI asset of 



subjects. 



Bonze*. 



Husbani- 



mcn. 



Artizxi* 



Merchants, 



I'l avert an* 

 prostitute*. 



M-tmlarin*, 



