CHINA. 



305 



Miautle- ly pliable, is not apt to cut, and hashes, like cotton cloth, 

 t'lrei. without losing much of its lustre : it is chiefly used for 

 '-. "* linings, drawers, and other under parts of clothing. 

 There is another kind, called Kien-tcheoo, which is ma- 

 imfactured from the silk of an insect, somewhat differ- 

 ent from the common silk- worm, and which abounds par- 

 ticularly in the province of Shang-tong. This stuff is 

 very inferior in point of lustre, rough grained, and at 

 first sight resembling the woollen cloth called drugget ; 

 but washes well, lasts long, is not easily spotted by 

 grease, and is greatly esteemed by the Chinese. The 

 greater part of the wrought silk stuffs exported to Eu- 

 rope, is manufactured at Canton, or in its vicinity, with 

 the silk of that province, which is rather of an inferior 

 quality. The exported raw ilks are from the province 

 of Kia^g-nan. And it has been recommended to those 

 who purchase either kind, to inspect the bales and boxes 

 with care j and particularly to examine them internally, 

 as they are often made up within of very inferior sorts. 



The stuff, so well known by the name of Nankeen, is 

 made of cotton from the province of Kiang-nan, which 

 naturally possesses the peculiar yellow hue, which dis- 

 tinguishes the cloth in question ; but it is said to lose 

 this colour, when cultivated in the more southern pro- 

 vinces, though it has been raised in great perfection, 

 both as to the size and colour of the pods, at the Cape 

 of Good Hope. 



The Chinese linen cloths are generally narrow and firm- 

 ly wrought. One of the best sorts is from Nankeen ; and 

 another kind from the province of Fo-kien, called by the 

 Chinese Ko-poo, and by the Portuguese Noones, is very 

 light, clear, and glossy. 



In the more early ages, the Chinese wrote with an iron 

 style upon tablets of bamboo, or plates of metal ; after- 

 wards also upon cloth and silk stuffs ; and at length, in 

 the reign of Ho-tce, about 150 years before Christ, a 

 mandarin named Tsay-lun produced the first paper from 

 the bark of trees and old linen. In this manufacture 

 they have greatly improved, and produce it in immense 

 quantities. They employ, in making different kinds of 

 paper, hemp, nettles, and similar plants, the bark of the 

 mulberry, and of a tree called Kou-tchoo, the straw of 

 rice and other grain, the cods of the silk-worm, and the 

 cotton shrub, rags, and old paper, and especially the 

 bark and fibres of the bamboo. That which is made 

 from cotton rags is the best, remarkably white, soft, and 

 durable ; but that from the bark of the Koo-tchoo is 

 most commonly used, and hence paper is generally called 

 by that name in China. In making it from bamboo, the 

 second bark, which is soft and white, is chiefly used, is 

 macerated in water, boiled in ktttles, reduced to a paste 

 by pounding in mortars, moulded in frames made of fine 

 threads of bamtoo, and often formed into sheets from 

 three to ten feet in length, one of which is sometimes suf- 

 ficient to cover the whole side of a room. The finer 

 kinds of writing-paper are dipped in a solution of two 

 I'unces of alum, and six ounces of well purified isinglass, 

 in twelve pint* of water ; an operation, which renders them 

 very smooth, soft, and whice, and also prevents the ink 

 from sinking ; but, at the same time, makes them more 

 apt to cut, to be injured by moisture, and attacked by 

 worms. A particularly strong and beautiful kind of pa- 

 per is us.'d ,U Pekin in the windows, instead of glass, 

 which is of a rose colour, and so thick as to be easily 

 split into two or three laminz. It is said to be brought 

 from Corea, and to be partly composed of the tow of 

 silk. 



The Chinese are said to have received their improved 

 vol. vi. PART i. 



methods of preparing ink from the Coreans, and to have Trader, 

 possessed the art in perfection only since the 9th centu- ^"Y"* r 

 ry. The Chinese ink is made from blacking, produced 

 by the smoke of different substances ; but principally that 

 of pines, and of oil in lamps, mixed with strong isin- 

 glass, and a little musk to correct the odour of the oil. 

 These ingredients are formed together into the consisten- 

 cy of paste, divided into cakes, and put into moulds-; 

 The best is made of the lightest soot, produced by oi* 

 in lamps, with isinglass of ass's skin ; and the principal 

 manufacture of this superior kind is in the district of 

 Hoei-tcheoo-foo, a city in the province of Kiang-nan,. 

 where the workmen are supposed to possess some secretr. 

 in the process, which they conceal even from the rest oi 

 their countrymen, They have apartments, divided into 

 a multitude of small cells, in which lamps or pieces of 

 pine wood are kept continually burning, to produce the 

 proper blacking ; and different kinds of oil are burnt in 

 the different apartments, each of which yields a particu- 

 lar sort of ink. The Chinese are said to possess the art 

 of washing this ink from written paper, and of then se- 

 parating the ink from the water, so as to be again fit for 

 use, while the paper also is beaten, boiled, and formed 

 into new sheets. Good China ink, should have a smooth 

 and shining fracture, when the stick is broken ; should 

 shew a good black colour, when pounded and mixed with 

 water; should dissolve easily, and flow freely beyond th^ 

 pencil. The cakes should be preserved from moisture ; 

 and, if accidentally wet, ought not to be exposed to the 

 sun, which makes them break into chaps or cracks. 



The Chinese use in writing, pencils or brushes of dif- Hair pea- 

 ferent sizes, made of the hair of various animals, but cils. 

 chiefly that of the rabbit. In writing, they hold the Mode of 

 pencil perpendicular between the thumb and the two first writing, 

 fingers, so that the point is fully an inch beyond the little 

 finger, while the hand rests upon the wrist. They write 

 from top to bottom, in the form of columns, beginning 

 on the right of the page ; so that, upon commencing a 

 new line, the hand covers those which were last written ; 

 a circumstance, which would often occasion great incon- 

 venience, if their ink had not the quality of drying 

 quickly. 



The art of printing was invented in China, about 950 Printing, 

 years after the birth of Christ ; but it is more like the 

 engraving on copper-plates, than the moveable types of 

 an European press. The characters are first written out 

 by a fair and skilful writer, on sheets of thin transparent 

 paper. These arc then glued upon boards of hard wood, 

 generally of the apple or pear-tree, when the engraver, 

 following the traces of the writing, carves the characters 

 upon the plank, afterwards hollowing out the intermediate 

 parts of the wood. Each of these boards generally con- 

 tains two pages, which are printed on one side only of a 

 sheet of paper, of the same size as the engraved plank, 

 generally royal octavo, and afterwards folded together. 

 The printer places the board in a level position, laya on 

 the ink, which is more fluid than that which is used in 

 writing, with a hard brush ; applies the sheet of paper ; 

 presses it down with another softer kind of brush, with 

 greater or less force, according to the quantity of ink 

 on the plank ; and thus throws off four or five sheets, 

 without having occasion to renew the ink. In this way 

 they can throw off copies, as in stereotype printing, ac- 

 cording to the demand ; but, as all their works must be 

 executed in the same style, it becomes a very inconve- 

 nient matter to preserve the engraved planks, as one 

 chamber is scarcely sufficient to contain those which 

 compose one work, and as they are apt to be injured by 



