S16 



CHIN A. 



staff, and is generally supported by two friends, one on 

 each side, who prevent hit repeated attempts to trur his 

 hair and hit face. These are followed by the friends and 

 domestic! ; and last of all, at a little di^ance behind, ap- 

 pear the women, on foot, or in palanquint, with dihevd- 

 ledhair and broad white fillets round their templet, dress- 

 ed also in the same coarse linen as the men, and burst- 

 ing at intervals, at with one consent, into lamentations and 

 These procession*, in the case of pertons of dis- 

 t motion, sometime* extend more than a mile ; and when- 

 ever they approach a bridge, or temple, a halt is made, 

 a few image* of tin-foil are burned, a parcel of crackers 

 are fired, and a flourish is sounded by the gongs and 

 other musical instruments. If the deceased has not pre- 

 viously fixf d upon the precise spot for his grave, the rela- 

 tions consult the Bonzes at to the place, which it most 

 likely to prove agreeable to his manes, and which is 

 generally a dry, well-aired, and pleasantly situated spot. 

 The better that all these matters are arranged; the more 

 does it gratify the deceased, and the more do his survi- 

 ving relations prosper. So much, in their opinion, de- 

 pends upon the proper situation, especially of a father's 

 grave, that when a family becomes unfortunate, it is not 

 uncommon for them to raise the dead body, and to seek 

 a more agreeable spot, that, if possible, the malignity of 

 their destiny may thus be changed. When the coffin is 

 entirely covered with earth, libations are poured out ; 

 perfumed candles and paper flags placed around and up- 

 on the tomb ; and the figures of men, clothes and horses, 

 all cut in paper, are burned upon the spot, in the firm 

 persuasion, that the objects, thereby represented, will at- 

 er.d the deceased into the other world. This last men- 

 tioned ceremony is supposed to have been substituted in 

 place of a barbarous custom formerly practised, especial- 

 ly among the Mantchoo Tartars, of sacrificing the horses, 

 slaves, and concubines of deceased princes and mandarins 

 it their graves; and it is certain, that so late as the year 

 1661, at the death of one of the wives of the Emperor 

 Shun-tchec, thirty persons, and an immense quantity of 

 gold, silver, silks, and articles of furniture, were burned 

 along with the body. After the ceremonies are finished, 

 the company rest themselves in tents erected at a little 

 distance from the grave, where they pronounce the 

 cit/ogium of the deceased, and partake of the meats of- 

 fered to his memory ; and then returning to the grave, 

 prostrate themselves before it, and exchange salutations 

 with the chief mourner, in profound silence. The period 

 of mourning is fixed by law, according to the degree of 

 relationship ; and the time appointed for a father or mo- 

 ther U three years, which is reduced to 29 months, du- 

 ring which period the mourner can hold no public office, 

 unless the Emperor expressly requires the continuance of 

 his services. During the earlier months of the time of 

 mourning, the dress is made of a coarse reddish cloth 

 made of hemp, with a cap of the same, and a cord round 

 the middle. During the second period, the robe, cap, 

 and shoes are white. Dunng the third, the dress may 

 be of silk, but the thoes mutt still be white or blue. 

 Both during the period of mourning, and long after it 

 it expired, the children and other near relations frequent- 

 ly go to weep at the grave* ( their deceased parents. 

 Eery year, at the third moon, they regularly vitit the 

 abode* of the dead to repair the tombs, and to renew, in 

 part, the ceremoniet of interment ; and particularly, in 

 the spring season, the whole community assembles in the 

 hall of aocettort, to perform similar rites in honour of 

 rrtpective departed fore fatheri. In this hall u 

 placed a tablet about five or six inches long, called Shin- 

 Tchoo, or abode of the tjuril, on which is inscribed the 



9 



name and rank of the deceased, with the year, month, or N'aturil 

 day of his birth and his death. Besides making pros- History, 

 trations and presenting offerings before this tablet, the "~""Y"^ 

 relations prepare a piece of silk, about two yards in 

 length, upon which they write the game inscription as 

 upon the tablet ; and believe, that, by this ceremony, 

 they invite the spirit of the deceased to take up his abode 

 in their habitations. 



The empire of China, which is so very extensive, may NATU 

 naturally be supposed to exhibit considerable varieties of DISTORT. 

 soil and climate. The prevailing qualities of each in the 

 several provinces, have already beer, noticed in the intro- 

 ductory part of this article ; and it it only the general 

 features of the country, which remain to be mentioned. 



The temperature of the atmosphere is, generally speak- 

 ing, rather warm than cold, and is much affected by the 

 direction of the winds, which almost make the circle of 

 the compass during the course of the year. They blow 

 from the north, and north east, in October, November, 

 December, January, February, and March, and during 

 this period the weather is rather cold ; from east and south- 

 east, in April and May, when it is cool ; from the south 

 and south-west in June and July, when it is hot ; and 

 from the west in August and September, when it is ex- 

 tremely sultry and oppressive. The coldest months are 

 November, December, and January, and the hottest, July, 

 August and September. Ice is sometimes found at Can- 

 ton during the winter, of the thickness of a dollar ; but 

 snow is never, or at least very rarely, seen in that city. 

 The air is generally dry during the north, moist during 

 the south, and clear during the west winds. The north 

 winds are the most violent, and the south the most feeble ; 

 those from the east are strong, and those from the 

 south and south-west are more moderate. It is always 

 calm weather when the winds are about to change, and 

 the storms take place commonly in July, August or 

 September. These hurricanes, called Tay-fun, continue 

 for eighteen or twenty hours, coming in sudden gusts ac- 

 companied with rain, always preceded by the sinking of 

 the barometer, and generally ceasing whenever the thun- 

 der breaks. The barometer varies less in China than in 

 Europe, seldom rising higher than 28 inches and 8 lines, 

 or falling lower than 27 inches and 10 lines. 



The climate of China appears to be highly salubrious, 

 if a judgment may be formed from the small number of 

 diseases, which seem to prevail among the inhabitants. 

 They profess to be free from stone, gout, and gravel 

 complaints ; and are seldom affected with cutaneous dis- 

 orders, an exemption, which they ascribe to the use of 

 tea. Epidemic fevers, however, are frequently generated 

 in their crowded cities, and destroy great numbers of the 

 lower classes. Many of the Chinese, also, are affected with 

 a species of leprosy, which frequently occasions their fin- 

 gers and toes to drop off ; but it does not appear to be 

 bo highly infectious aa the real leprosy ; and no restric- 

 tion is put upon those, who are labouring undei the dis- 

 ease. It is conjectured to be merely the effects of an in- 

 veterate vcnerc:il lues spread through the system. The. 

 small-pox have prevailed in China for a considerable time ; 

 but, according to some, only since the tenth century, 

 when they were introduced into the country by sonic 

 Mahometan traders. Their physicians pretend to dis- 

 tinguish forty different kinds of small-pox ; and when a 

 favourable sort appears, they endeavour to propagate the 

 disease from it, not by proper inoculation, . c. by in- 

 troducing the matter by incision ; but by inserting into 

 the noitril a little cotton wool dipped in the virus, or by 

 putting on the clothes of the infected. But by the m- 



