708 



COCHINCIIINA. 



Hfligion. 



M >: 



good manner* in tht rower* to turn their back* on the 

 paMrngert, they itind with thrir facet toward* the bow 

 of the bolt, and puih the oars from them, instead of pul- 

 ling toward* them. Their foreign trader* are built on 

 (lie tame plan ai the Chinese junk*, and arc capable of 

 carrying a great burden, but with more ufety than speed. 

 The* vessels are divided into distinct compartments, by 

 planks two inches thick, well caulked, and completely 

 water tight ; to that one ihip may accommodate several 

 merchant*. A ihip thus secured with cross bulk heads, 

 may strike on a rock without sustaining any serious in- 

 jury ; and if a leak spring in one direction ol the hold, 

 it i* not attended with any damage to the articles which 

 Till the other. 



The religion of the Cochinchinese, like that of almost 

 all the Oriental nation-, is a modification of the widely 

 extended doctrine of Butid/ia.\>\n apparently more simple, 

 and lest disguised with mysteries than that religion as 

 practised in China. Their temples are, in general, very 

 fiumble buildings, without the heavy curved roofs, or 

 towering pagoda* of the Chinese ; but in many parts of 

 the country there are monasteries amply endowed, of 

 which the buildings are extensive, and enclosed with 

 walls. These religious houses are supported by yearly 

 contribution*, levied by government, which, in the coun- 

 try, consist of the produce of the soil in kind ; and, in 

 the towns, of money, metals, clothing, and similar arti- 

 cles. From a pious sentiment of gratitude, they offer to 

 the image of the protecting deity the firstlings of their 

 flocks, and the first fruits of the earth ; but, like other 

 idolatrous nations, the Cochinchinese are xlremely su- 

 perstitious. When an infant dies, the parent endeavours 

 to appease the offended deity by offerings of rice, oil, 

 tea, money, or whatever he supposes may be acceptable. 

 And, from the same principle of superstitious fear, large 

 wooden stakes, or pillars, are erected in various parts of 

 the country, for the purpose of marking the spot, where 

 some public or private calamity may have happened, as 

 the loss of a battle, the murder of an individual, or other 

 calamity, and as a propitiation to the evil spirit, by whose 

 influence it is supposed to have been produced. 



The moral system of this country, as in China, is 

 founded upon the precepts of Confucius ; here, however, 

 very little regard is paid to the external forms ot mora- 

 lity. In that respect they are completely the reverse of 

 their northern neighbours. Far from affecting the gra- 

 vity and moroseness of the Chinese, they arc gay and talk- 

 ative, open and familiar; and the women are as gay and 

 unreserved as the men. We have already remarked, that 

 the female character is held in a state of complete degra- 

 dation. The women are, indeed, considered as beings 

 of an inferior nature to the men, by whom they are re- 

 girded as formed only to minister either to their wealth 

 or their pleasure. Hence the morals of the females, 

 married and unmarried, are extremely licentious ; neither 

 the husband, nor the father, having any scruples in aban- 

 doning the wife, or the daughter, to her gallant. In 

 the married state, polygamy it not only tolerated, but un- 

 limited by any law or rule ; and here, as in China, the 

 wife of the first marriage claims precedence, and takes 

 the lead in all domestic concerns. The terms, on which 

 the parties arc united, are not more easy than those by 

 which thry are separated. The breaking of one of their 

 copper coins, or a pair of chop-sticks, between husband 

 and wife, before proper witnesses, i* considered as the 

 dissolution of their former compact, and the act of sepa- 

 ration. These observations arc not confined to the mo- 

 rals of the lower orders of the people : they apply not 

 Ins forcibly to the first rank* in society, and to the of- 



ficer* of government ; at least *uch i* the general cha- Cotliinclii. 

 racier of those resident mTuron and its environs, though 

 the manners of a nation are not always to be estimated '""V" 

 by what is found to prevail in the neighbourhood of a 

 sea-port. It does not, however, appear that they have 

 adopted from the Chinese, and other eastern nations, the 

 inhuman practice of infanticide. 



The Cochinchinese have accurately preserved the Language, 

 written characters of the Chinese language, tuit the lan- 

 guage which they speak is considerably different Irom 

 theirs. But this is not surprising when wr consider the 

 various diMects which prevail in provinces of the same 

 kingdom, and that the inhabitants of the northern and 

 southern provinces of China are unintelligible to each 

 other. People, however, who visit Cochmchina, find 

 far less difficulty in making themselves intelligible than 

 in China. While the morose and unbending Cmnese 

 will not condescend to employ the pencil todelu.eate ob- 

 jects, nor explain their meaning by signs or gesture*, the 

 accommodating Cochinchiiicse are icady to adopt any 

 plan for the purpose ot facilitating their intercourse with 

 strangers. 



Cochinchina was originally subject to the Chinese Hiitury. 

 government ; but having engaged in rebellion with the 

 kingdom of Tnng-qtiin, it became exposed to difi'ciciit 

 usurpers, and both states were compelled to retuin to 

 their former dcprndance about the 5(Kh year ol the 

 Christian .in. The imperial authority, atl-r its rr esta- 

 blishment, subsisted in Cochinchina till the year '2M, 

 when a powerful native, named Kulicn, undertook to de- 

 liver his country from a foreign yoke. The d s.-.-mlants 

 of that successful usurper enjoyed the throne of Cochin- 

 china till ft: 1 ).'! ; but with icgaid to the succeeding kings, 

 thr Chinese history is very defective. 



In 1280, the king of Cochinihina. having h, urd of the 

 revolution which had made the Moj/ul Tartars master-, of 

 all China, sent to the new tmperor deputies loadt d with 

 presents, in order to pay him homage. The deputie* 

 were honourably received ; but the Emperor, nt con- 

 tent with tnhiit , cirried his pretensions farther, and at- 

 tempted to seize the government of the country. Thi* 

 occasioned another war with the Chinese, in which the 

 kings of Cochinchina maintained their independence by 

 paying the u^ual tribute to the emperor. 



The Mogul Tartars having been expilled from China, 

 the new emperor, upon his accession to the throne, sent 

 a friendly deputation to the king of Cochinchina, and 

 the latter sent his tribute to the new monarch. In 1373 

 the king of Cochinchina carried fire and sword into Tung- 

 qmn ; and a long and bloody war betwixt these two 

 moiKircliK ensued, which was not terminated till the year 

 1 tT 1 , whin, after a desperate battle, the king of Tung- 

 quin became absolute master of Cochinchina. It, how- 

 ever, again recovered its independence, and continued af- 

 terwards to be governed by its own kings. Excepting 

 one attempt made by the Tung-quinese to subjugate this 

 country in 167J. in which they were unsuccessful, they 

 have remained peaceably within their own boundaries, 

 while Cochinchina has subdued the mountaineers, and 

 even the kings of Tsiampa, and Camboya, whom he ha* 

 compelled to pay tribute. From that period, till the 

 year 1 774, little or nothing is known of the history of 

 that country ; but, from the information of a MonMcur 

 Barissy, a French officer who commanded a frigate in the 

 service of his Cochinchinese majesty, Mr Barrow has 

 been enabled to lay before the public a very curious and 

 interesting sketch of its recent revolutions, and its pre- 

 sent political state, of which the following is an abstract. 



In the year J 774- an insurrection commenced, headed by 



