CHINA. 



315 



Bnafectef 

 and 



Manner*. 



Chinese 

 chew. 



It extremely common among the lower classes. At this 

 game the closed hand is counted nothing, and each fin- 

 ger, when elevated, is reckoned one. The players sit op- 

 posite to each other ; one of them names a particular 

 number, suppose six, and holds up as many fingers as he 

 thinks proper, suppose two ; to which his opponent re- 

 plies by raising four fingers, the number required, to- 

 gether with the two fingers of the first player, to com- 

 plete the number announced. At this game, they play 

 remarkably quick, and keep bawling at a great rate. It 

 is frequently introduced among the middle classes of the 

 community, at their entertainments ; and the person who 

 loses, or mistakes the number, is obliged to drink a cup 

 ef wine or spirits, a species of forfeit which in some 

 countries might incline the player to lose, and which even 

 the Chinese sometimes continue till they become unable 

 to distinguish the fingers ; but in these cases they general- 

 ly remain in their place, that they may not be seen in 

 this flustered state. Persons of a better station play also 

 at a kind of chess, a game which is much esteemed in 

 China, and in which the number of pieces are the same 

 as what are used in Europe, but both the names and 

 moves are considerably different. The board contains 

 (i2 squares ; but the pieces are placed at the intersecting 

 points, and not within the spaces formed by the lines. 

 These pieces are, a general, placed in the middle of the 

 line next to each player, having on each hand an adju- 

 tant, an elephant, a knight, and a chariot. In the third 

 line, and before each of the knights, is placed a bombar- 

 dier , and in the fourth line are five soldiers, one in the 

 front of each chariot and of each elephant, and the fifth 

 in the front of the general. The general never leaves 

 the points of interjection formed by the four squares im- 

 mediately adjacent to his place; the adjutants move like 

 our bishops; the knights also like ours; the chariots and 

 bombardiers like our castles, except that the latter take 

 a piece only when there is another before it ; and the sol- 

 diers move like our pawns, straight forwards, taking, how- 

 ever, only in that direction, and not in an oblique manner. 

 They play alao at domino, and a species of draughts, in 

 which there are 360 squares, with a number of men on 

 each side ; and in which the game consists in shutting 

 up the adversary, by occupying the greater part of the 

 spaces. Contrary to the assertion of the French mis- 

 nonaries, the spirit of gaming, especially at games of 

 chance, is so prevalent, that almost every bye-corner in the 

 treeU is occupied by a groupe of gamblers ; who often 

 continue whole days at pfay, and sometimes carry their in- 

 fatuation to such a height, as to stake their wives and chil- 

 dren upon a throw of the dice. The higher classes are pas- 

 sionately addicted to the barbarous amusement of cock- 

 fighting, or rather quail-fighting; and have even employed 

 for their sport in a similar manner, a species of locusts, 

 which right with such ferocity, as seldom to quit their hold 

 of each other, without bringing a way a limb in their gripe. 

 These little insects are fed with great care, each in a sepa- 

 rate bamboo cage ; and it is said, that, during the summer 

 months, scarcely a boy is to be seen without his cage and 

 grasshoppers. Dancing is rather a spectacle or pantomime 

 in China, than an exercise of individuals for their own 

 amusement ; and consists merely in a set of marches and 

 evolutions, sufficiently whimsical and wearysome. They 

 have frequently plays represented, even at their private 

 c> urtainments ; and a stage is prepared in an instant, 

 \vith merely a table and a few chairs placed in front ot a 

 large hanging, in which are two openings for the passage 

 f the actors. The mandarins have generally rooms for 



the purpose j and the people often fit up parts of the Character 

 pagodas as theatres, or erect them across the streets, 

 from one corner house to the other, where the multitude 

 spend whole days in witnessing the exhibitions. 



One of the principal and uniform cares of a Chinese, Funerals, 

 during life, is to preserve his body from being maimed, 

 and to die in possession of all the members, winch he re- 

 ceived from nature. Some of them, it is said, carry this 

 precaution to such a length, as to preserve all their hair 

 and nails, which have been cut, that they may be carried 

 with them to the grave. His next object is to provide a 

 proper- burying ground for himself and his family; and, 

 after ascertaining from a Bonze, or some oracular temple, 

 the most fortunate situation, he spares no expence in the 

 purchase. The burying grounds are always situated at 

 some distance from the towns or villages, generally upon 

 an eminence ; and, as one corpse is never interred in the 

 same grave, where another has been laid, at least at long 

 as the smallest vestige of the former remains ; these bury- 

 ing places occupy an immense extent of ground, planted 

 with cypress or weeping willows, and sometimes provid- 

 ed with a pagoda and idol images. * 



The funeral rites are attended with enormous expence 

 in China ; and the most showy articles, to be found for 

 sale in the large cities, are coffins for the dead. They 

 are made of planks, from three to six inches in thickness, 

 very closely joined ; raised like a trunk on the top, and 

 generally convex, also, at the two ends. They are some- 

 times made of the more precious kinds of wood, very 

 richly ornamented, and cost from 300 to 600 dollars ; 

 while that of a person in ordinary wealthy circumstanceg 

 is seldom procured for less than from 10 to 15 or 20. It 

 is a common practice for individuals to purchase their 

 coffins during their lives ; and it is frequently the son, 

 who presents one to his father, which is always the more 

 highly valued, and shewn with greater complacency to 

 every visitor, in proportion to its magnificence. When 

 brought forth for use, a layer of lime is put into the bot- 

 tom; the body deposited in full dress, with a cushion un- 

 der the head ; the vacant spaces completely filled with 

 lime and cotton ; and the lid then fastened down with the 

 utmost exactness. The whole coffin is generally pitched 

 within and without, sometimes covered with varnish, and 

 whitened externally. In this state they often remain in 

 the houses a considerable time, without the smallest odour 

 being perceived ; and, while the body of a parent is thus 

 kept umnterred, during the period of mourning, his chil- 

 dren, go every day to weep at the side of the coffin. In 

 ordinary cases the corpse is laid in a room hung with 

 white cloth, with a covering of the same colour thrown 

 over the coffin, and a table placed before it, with candle* 

 of perfumed materials. In this situation it remains sever- 

 al days in the house previous to interment ; and all, who 

 come to show their respect to the memory of the deceas- 

 ed, are entertained by some of the relatives with tea and 

 other refreshments. On the day of the funeral, after the 

 relations and friends are assembled, the procession is open- 

 ed by musicians, who are followed by several persons car- 

 rying the figure* of various animals, the insignia of the 

 rank ot the deceased, small pagodas, parasols, white and 

 blue flags, with vessels of perfumes. Next walk a party 

 of Bonzes, immediately before the coffin, which is carried 

 by 4, 8, or even 20 men upon a litter, which is sometimes 

 surmounted by a canopy. Behind thejjpdy are the chil- 

 dren and near relations, with robes of coarse linen over 

 their clothes, and caps of the same stuff. The eldest 

 son walks wjth his body bent forwards, leaning upon, a 



* See under the head of Architecture in this article, some account of the Uiineee cemeteries, 



