CHINESE TARTARY. 113 



Supreme God, the creator of all things. They believe that he loves 

 his creation, and all his creatures ; that he knows every thing, and is 

 all poweriul; but that he pays no attention to the particular actions of 

 men, being too great for them to be able to offend him, or to do any- 

 thing that can be meritorious in his sight. But they also maintain that 

 the Supreme Being has divided the government of the world, and the 

 destiny of men, among a great number of subaltern divinities, under 

 his command and control, but who, nevertheless, generally act ac- 

 cording to their own fancies ; and therefore mankind cannot dispense 

 with using all the means in their power for obtaining their favour. 

 They likewise suppose, that, for the most part, these inferior deities 

 abominate and punish premeditated villany, fraud and cruelty. They 

 are all firmly persuaded of a future existence ; but they have many- 

 superstitious notions and practices. Among all the Schamanes, women 

 are considered as being vastly inferior to men, and are thought to 

 have been created only for their sensual pleasure, to people the world, 

 and to look after household affairs ; and, in consequence of these 

 principles, they are treated with much severity and contempt. 



Language. ...The language of the Manchews is said to be very co- 

 pious, these Tartars being particularly nice with respect to the too 

 frequent recurrence of the same sounds. It is said, likewise, to be 

 very expressive, as it has names not only for the different species of 

 dogs, but such as signify the age, colour, good or bad qualities, of a 

 dog, whether he has long hair or short hair, large ears or hanging 

 lips, in all which, and many other cases, he has a distinct and very 

 different name. In like manner a horse has a variety of names, signi- 

 fying in a single word, whether he be a restive horse, a run-away 

 horse, a horse easily frightened, with what pace he goes, &c. This 

 language is written in characters which represent sounds and not 

 things like those of the Chinese. M. Langles, a member of the 

 French Institute, has compiled a dictionary of the Manchew lan- 

 guage, which he pronounces to be the most learned and perfect of 

 the Tartar tongues, though not written till the seventeenth centu- 

 ry, when the emperor appointed some literati to design letters after 

 those of the Moguls. The language of the Moguls is said to be radi- 

 cally different from that of the Manchews. 



History. ..The different tribes which at present inhabit this ex- 

 tensive region, were formerly comprehended under the general name 

 of Monguls, or Moguls, a warlike and formidable nation, whose sove- 

 reign, Zingis, or Jenghis Khan, about the thirteenth century, conquer- 

 ed the greater part of the north of Asia, seized on China on the one 

 hand, and invaded Hindoostan on the other. The Tartars held posses- 

 sion of China about a hundred years, but were expelled in 1368. 

 The fugitives took different routes ; some went towards the Eastern 

 Sea, and established themselves between China and the river Saga- 

 lien : the rest returned to their former country, where, intermixing 

 with the Moguls that remained, they soon resumed their ancient 

 manner of living. Those who settled towards the east, having found 

 the country almost a desert, and without inhabitants, retained the cus- 

 toms which they had brought from China, and became known by the 

 name of Manchew or Eastern Tartars. In 1644 these Tartars re-en- 

 tered China, and established a sovereign of their own race on the 

 throne, as has been aire ?dv mentioned in the history of China. 

 Vol II * Q 



