chap. III. the Empire of Cm n a. 979 
In Vv^a'try or moraffy Places there are aifo high Banks 
or Caufeways raifed, to ferve inftead of Roads, and 
when any Hills or Mountains obfirudl thefe Roads, no 
Coft or Labour is fpared to level, cut through, or render 
them paffable. The Road from Siquan Fu to Hamtcheou 
is cut through a Mountain, which was very rocky and 
fteep, and propped up with large Pieces of Timber, fo 
that betwixt the Air and the Mountain, it looks like a 
pendant Gallery of Clouds, and appears very difmal to 
thofe who are not ufed to travel it : But they have bred 
and fo accuftomed their Mules to fuch Sort of Roads, 
that they will climb up the mold rough, fatiguing and 
almoft inaccelTible Ways, as cafily as if they were in 
ever fo eafy and good Roads. 
On the high Ways, at the Diftance of every half 
Hour’s Journey, are a Sort of arched Gates about ten 
Ells high, on which, tor the Direction of Travellers, are 
written in large Letters, the Diftance of one Place from 
another, and an Account to what City,Town or Village 
that Way tends. In all Parts of China there are great 
Numbers of Marble Triumphal Arches, commonly con- 
taining three arched Doors, the largeft of which is in 
the Middle, and the Sides are adorned with great Lions 
and other Sorts of Imagery ; the Gates are every where 
beautified with very fine carved Images, Trees, and Fo- 
liages j and their Number in fome Cities mounts fo 
high, that the Streets are rather incumber’d than adorn- 
ed with them. 
China hath alfbvery good Havens. That of Nanking^ 
into which the Nankingian River falls, is much celebra- 
ted on Account of its Depth, Breadth, and the prodi- 
gious Quantities of Goods which pafs from thence to the 
City of that Name, and higher up to Peking^ and all 
over Chinay but do not pals fo clofe by the City, fince 
the famous Robber before-mentioned befieged, and had 
taken that City, if he had not been hindred by his own 
Negligence and Luxury. 
The Haven of Fluantung or Canton^ on the Ocean, 
which wafheth this Province Southwards. Before the 
Entrance of the City of Canton are a great .many fmall 
Iftands,. the moft confiderable of which is MacaOy which 
hath a very good Haven, and is very fam.ous for the 
great Commerce of the Portuguefe formerly there, by 
rcafon of its Neighbourhood to Canton^ to which great 
Ships could eafily_ come^ and where all Sorts of Mer- 
chandize and Provifions are very plentiful. 
Fokien is allb provided with a very fine Haven, in 
which any Ships may fafi ly ride, and come almoft clofe 
to the Shore, the Sea being very deep, and the Har- 
bour bounded on the ocher Side by the Iftand Emoni j 
and a very great Trade is driven here with Foreigners. 
The Haven of Nimpo or NingnOy in the Province of 
Chekiangy is famed for the great Trade which is there 
driven with the JaponefOy becaufe from thence it is but 
a fhort Voyage to Japan \ but no very large Ship can 
well come in there by reafon of Shallows and fmall 
Rocks, which render the Paftage very difficult. 
In the Province of Zantungy joining to Chekiangy 
where it runs out Eaftward on the great Ocean, there is 
alfo an indifferent good Haven and Trade with the In- 
habitants of Corea and Japan ; but neither the one nor 
the other are fo large and confiderable as the Harbour 
and Commerce at JSimpOy though that Province is very 
well watered ; there being there, as well as in almoft 
all Parts of Chinay very convenient navigable Channels, 
provided with Sluices aud Locks •, without which, the 
Ground not being every where level, and the AVater 
tending downwards, and all thefe Channels dug, they 
would foon be dry *, which Neceffity put them upon 
inventing thofe Sort of Waterfalls to let the Water 
through intermitting Pieces of Land, and keep it 
at an equal Height, and to wind or puli over them the 
Boats, Barges, IFc. bj the Help of Ropes and Wind- 
leffes. 
c,.Tht Chine fe are perfectly well inftrufted and trained 
up in the Principles of their Religion from their Youth. 
The Parents fend their Children to School at the Age 
of feven or eight Years, to learn Reading, Writing, 
and good Manners, that is, Rules which teach them to 
pay the fubordinate Refpesft and Obedienc.e due to their 
VoL. II. 136. 
Parents and Superiors. They begin their Studies and 
Exercifrs with the Inftruftions and Rudiments of theic 
famous Inftruclor in Wifdom, Policy, and good Man*- 
ners. King or ConfupiuSy called in Chinefey Kingfu, and 
highly reverenced amongft them. Thefe firft Prin- 
ciples, as we have already hinted, confift chiefly in 
directing them to obey and love their Parents, to re- 
fpeeft and honour thofe older than themfeivcs, to live 
honeftly and virtuoufly, to do no Perfon any Wrong* 
or what they would not have done to themfelves, to 
give every Perfon his Due, and fuffer him to keep it. 
All thefe Leffons are comprized in Five Books, which 
in their tender Years they are obliged to learn by 
Heart. After which they diligently learn the Arts of 
Writing, Arithmetick, and Oratory in which having 
made proper Advances, they are queftioned and ftridtly 
examined in what they pretend to have ftudied *, and 
then being adjudged capable, they by Degrees become 
Bachellors, Mafters, and Doblors of their higheft Know-, 
ledge, and arc alfo raifed not only to that of Manda^- 
rjnSy but the more elevated Dignities of the Empire, 
in Proportion to their Worth, Learning, and Capa- 
city to ferve the Publick, either in the Government of 
Provinces and People, on the Bench as Judges, or in 
the Exercife of feveral Political and Civil Offices en- 
trufted to them: 
This learned and venerable Confucius lived feveral 
hundred Years before the Birth of Chrifiy was born in 
the Province of Xantungy as is hinted before in the De- 
fcripcion of it, and died, according to fbme, in the 
Seventy- third, or according to others, in the Sixty- 
third Year of his Age. His Memory is very highly 
honoured by all intelligent and- learned Men. In all 
Cities and Villages honorary Temples are eredled in 
Remembrance of him j though his Image is not placed, 
in the interior Part of them. His Virtue and honeft 
Principles are very famous, his Precepts are reverenced 
like the Word of God, though he is acknowledged to 
have been but a Man, a Lawgiver and Preceptor ; in 
Honour of whole Memory, the Chinefe have eredled a 
Pyramid, not of Stone, but in their Hearts, and they 
annually difeover Signs of Gratitude and Acknowledge- 
ment. Some of his Defeendants are at prefent living 
in ChinUy who are by Donative endowed with the per- 
petual Inheritance of a City, with all its Incomes, 
Rights, and Lordffiips ; and for the more auguft Pre- 
fervation of his Memory, their Right of Exemption 
from all Tolls and Taxes hath been, and is, inviolably 
obferved to this Day. He had feventy (others fay five 
hundred) Pupils, which enforced his Dodtrine with the 
Teftimony which they bore in all Parts, that his Zeal 
was perfeeft, and nothing was to be added to the Pu- 
rity of his moral Lefibns : Befides which, they fome- 
times rather efteemed him as an Inftruftor of the new 
Law, than a Man educated in the Corruption of Na- 
ture. 
6. For above two thoufand Years paft, or, to full five 
hundred Years before Chrift’s Birth, the Chinefe have 
acknowledged the Lord of Heaven and Earth, abftradl;- 
ed from all Idols 5 which . appears from their Hiftories, 
and the Books of the above-mentioned illiiftrious Con-' 
fuciuSy irv which we read, Kiao xe chi li foy fu xang tie j 
which imports, that our Duty obliges us to make Ofi-' 
ferings to the Lord of Heaven and Earth 5 almoft and 
only like the JewiJh Sacrifices of a Calf or Lamb to 
the Lord, in the Holy Scripture. Notwithftanding 
which, their Knowledge and Idea of God was not fo 
clear, but on the contrary much more obfeure and con- 
fufed than that of the Jews, But the primitive Know-, 
ledge of God declined rather than encreafed, and that 
more efpecially after Li Laokimy a certain Philolbpher, 
and one of Confuciuses Difciples, appeared in the 
AVorld : He indeed wrote fqme good Books, but withal 
taught, that the Supreme Deity was corporeal, and go- 
verned the other Deities as a King doth his Subjedis, 
and that Man might be immortal : It was then chat 
Idolatry crept in under the Shew of good Manners, 
and corrupted the Minds of Men, and Conjuring, and . 
other Diabolical Arts, came into Requeft, in order to 
prevent Death. Temples were built to the Honour of 
II Li 
