82 
MANDARINS. 
tea, ice, and fruit. The Mandarins were rather gorgeously dressed, 
although their external garment was plain ; being a loose crape robe, 
with no other ornament than a stork or a tiger, denoting their civil 
or military order, worked on the back or breast. Beneath this, and 
disclosed by its movements, appeared a silk petticoat, beautifully 
interwoven with gold and silk, in the forms of dragons and flowers. 
Their boots were of satin, and served them for pockets. Their caps 
were small and conical, covered with long red hair, and surmounted 
with a globe, whose colour indicated their rank. Fans, pipes, and 
chop-sticks, hung by their sides ; and English watches, in embossed 
cases, were suspended from many of their girdles. These were 
highly prized by the wearers, who anxiously enquired our opinion 
of their value. * Their fans were not costly in their materials or 
construction, and in no respect resembled those elegant specimens 
of Chinese workmanship which are imported into Europe from 
Canton ; being formed of paper and Japanned wood, with a few 
devices faintly sketched upon them. A supply of these was distri- 
* In every part of China, through which the Embassy passed, watches were considered 
as objects of the greatest curiosity. The attendants of the Embassy were perpetually 
requested to dispose of their’s. I was not, however, able to ascertain, whether they valued 
them as markers of time, or simply as curious baubles. That they use them, however, 
as horaries, is probable, as the division of the Chinese day nearly resembles our own. The 
Chinese reckon twelve hours to each day. The first hour begins at eleven at night, and 
finishes at one in the morning. Each hour is divided into two Poen-chy, (half hour); 
each Poen-chy into four quarters, named Chy-ke. The hours are generally named accord- 
ing to their succession, as Tse-chy, first hour; Tcheou-chy, second hour. They also 
receive the names of animals ; as, 
1 . 
Chu, 
Rat. 
7- 
Ma, 
Horse. 
2. 
Nieou, 
Ox. 
8. 
Yang, 
Sheep. 
3. 
Hon, 
Tiger. 
9. 
Heou , 
Monkey. 
4. 
Tou, 
Hare. 
10 . 
* 
Fowl. 
5. 
Long, 
Dragon. 
11. 
Keou, 
Dog. 
6. 
Che , 
Serpent. 
12 . 
Tchu, 
Hog. 
See De Guignes’ Voyage a Peking, Tom. ii. p. 425. 
There can be no doubt, as far as the experience of the members of Lord Amherst’s 
Embassy goes, that watches are the most acceptable presents, on a small scale, that can be 
offered to the Chinese of all ranks. 
