982 
A GeogfapMcal Dejcription of 
Book III. 
hsCondmonat a feparate Table, without either Nap- Reputations. Though ceremonious good Manners and 
kin Knife or Spoon, but is prefented with a Couple of the Authority of the Parent.s run fo high amoneft the 
o or. Wooden Scores tipt wuh Gold or Silver, Ch-nefe, the Children will not yet endure a Faler-in- 
10 affift him in the Conveyance of the Edibles, which Law. or pay him any other than firoerficial Obedience • 
dev,^ they are fo wherefore almoft all the Widows end their Days in that 
dextrous in the Ufe of thefe^ that they can very fpeedily State. The mature Years for Marriage are twenty or 
clear the Diih even to a fingle Corn of Rice. As I two and twenty for the young Men, and ei»htee^n or 
have already hinted, they make life of fine Chairs, twenty for the young Women ° 
th 'Iw :The Cimfi Wives utterly' fedude themfelves from 
who eqiially void of Civility and IVLnners, dap down the Sight of all Men befides tLir Husbands, not allow- 
on the Earth, without any other Gefticulations than ing themfelves to be feen even by their Father-in-law 
what they now obferve in the Chmefe, and begin to their Husband’s Brother, or any of the Male Sex, their 
to_the Book of Manners. Husband’s youngcft Brother only excepted, and that in 
12 . 
The Chinefe have alfo very fine Beds and Couches j but 
the ‘TartarSyOn the other Side, having neither the one to 
]ie, nor the other to reft themfelves on, make ufe of a 
Board or Plank laid flat on the Earth, The- firft Difti 
is commonly fome Sort of Hafh, and a Glafs or Cup of 
Wine, which yet is not fo much as tailed before the 
Mafter of the Ploufe leads the W^ay ; which is followed 
by the Servants crowding in Difties and Wine, none of 
which are taken away, but piled up pyramidically, to 
the Number of twenty or twenty four, or more. Each 
Perfon drinks out of his own Cup, and is fure to fol- 
low his Eeader , and though the Wine may be very 
briskly and continually put about, there is no Danger of 
intoxicating very foon, lo fmall a Quantity being filled 
into the Cups, and the Wine itlelf not being very 
ftrong. A ferious Gravity is always obferved at Meals, 
xht Chinefe 2.W immoderate Laughter. After, 
and fometimes alfo during their Meals, feveral Tum- 
blers, and fuch like, fhew their Agility of Body, fe- 
veral Farces are aded, and other Diverfions added : 
Befides which, they alfo play amongft themfelves, and 
he that loles is obliged to drink, and is but withih the 
Compafs of good Manners rallied by the Company. 
-II. Marriages in China try fplendidly celebrated, one hundred Days after 
and accompanied with Plays and Diverfions during fe- Mother, are obliged to 
^he Time of his Childhood only : But all her own Male 
Relations are abfolutely excluded from all Sight of or 
Accefs to her. Nor do the Chinefe Women ever appear 
in the Streets throughout the whole Empire, except in 
Peking, the Metropolis, where they are carried whither 
they pleafe in covet’d Coaches or Sedans, as we have 
before obferved. 
The Piety which the Chinefe exprefs towards their 
> 10 1 _!_] - f >Si . 
veral Days. As for the Preliminaries to Marriage, the repofe themfelves on 
young Perfons who intend to enter into that Eftate, their Remembrance in 
have not the Opportunity by converfing together to 
found one another’s Inclinations ; for. they are never 
permitted to come together, but the whole is m.anaged 
by their Parents, who frequently promife their Children 
long before they come to be married, regarding No- 
thing fo much as that their Years agree, or at Jeaft be 
not very difproportionate : And though their Sons and 
Daughters happen to be advanced in Years, yet they 
make the Matches without fo much as the Confent of 
the Perfons to be married. But there is yet a great 
Difference on this Head, betwixt the Condud of People 
Parents is incredible ; which yet on no Occafion ftiines 
brighter ^than at or after their Deceafe. The Mourn- 
ing and t^uneral Solemnities are very numerous j which 
confift in the lamenting, keeping the Corps above 
Ground, burying, and what is afterwards done in Re- 
membrance of them. When they put themfelves into 
Mourning, they differ from other Nations who make 
Ufe of black, and wear all white Cloaths ; in which 
Drefs they keep a long Time for any of their Relations; 
and for a Father or Mother they mourn thus three Years. 
A Wife alfo continues in Mourning as long for her 
Husband. But the Husband does not hold it above a 
Year on Account of his Wife’s Death ; which is the 
Term commonly obferved by a Brother or Nephew for 
their refpeiftiv^ Brothers or Uncles. Children for at leaft 
the Death of their Father or 
avoid lying on any Bed, but 
the Earth, and daily celebrate 
Tears ; befides all which, they 
are obliged for three Years to avoid all matrimonial 
Converfation with their Wives ; and if any of them 
ftiould happen to be pregnant in that Time, they are 
liable to be puniftied. They fequefter themfelves from 
Treats, Nuptials, and other Entertainments ; they con- 
fine themfelves to their Houfes, without ever ftirring 
abroad, and lay down their Oflices for above a Year, 
and fome for three Years. Whenever they are abfo- 
lutely obliged to go Abroad, they caufe themfelves to be 
carried in Coaches or Chariots covered all over with, 
clofe Mourning to the intended Place. 
of Quality, Midling Perfons, and thofe of the loweft Their Obfequies are not much different from their 
Condition. Amongft Perfons of the fi^rft Quality, no Converfations, with Refpedl to Ceremonies : What firft 
Marriages are concluded without the Emperor’s Con- appears in the Funeral Parade, is the Reprefentation or 
fent, great Care being taken that young People are al- Figures of Men, Women, Lyons, and other Animals 
ways matched to Perfons of equal Defcent. Thofe alfo painted on Paper, which are carried in State ; the 
of a lower Degree are defirous of allying with and mar- Bearers of thefe are followed by feveral Incenfe-Carriers, 
rying into as good Families as their own ; but their next which comes the Bier and Coffin born by feveral 
Concubines they either take or buy from their mean Men, and is followed by the Sons, and all other Rela- 
Parenrs, and this to an unlimited Number. The law- tions and invited Guefts : The Sons are dreft all in white, 
ful ^Yife is only honoui d as Mother or Miftrefs of the and carry ^Wands in their Hands ; next which come the 
Family, and refpeded and attended by all the reft as Women in cover’d Chariots or Chairs, hung with 
Mourning fo clofe, that no Perfon can fee them. The 
Graves or Tombs are all without the City, fome of 
them are magnificently adorned with Marble, like a 
Palace, enclofed on the Outfide, and planted with fe- 
veral Trees in the Way to the particular Burying- place ; 
To which being come, the Corps, enclofed in a Coffin 
of coftly Wood, after the Paper Figures and Images 
are burned, is laid in the Tomb, and upon it are 
placed fome Scone Figures, and an infeription in Praife 
of the Deceafed. And at certain Set- times of the Year 
the Chinefe vific thefe Tombs, offering there Meat and 
•Pv-- U '-n J T ■ n I 
Chambermaids ; and on her Death 'tfie Concubines 
Children are obliged to a three Years Mourning, which 
they are not obliged to for their own Mothers. The 
Children of the loweft Rank of People are in like 
Manner married by their Parents, and the Girls are in 
a Manner fold ; for it is the Husband which gives the 
Portion, and the Bride hath only a few Trifles, though 
when file is led to the Bridegroom’s Houfe, fhe feems to 
bring a large Share of Ploufhold Furniture along with 
her ; but ail of it is bought before by the Bridegroom 
befides which, he gives the Parents a Sum of Money in 
Proportion to ' - - - 
whence he is 
Nobleman or Perfon of Quality dies, the Widow muft 
not marry again ; but this perpetual Widowhood is not fo 
much regarded by Perfons of meaner Condition, though 
even aniongft them, the Widows, which yield to a fe- 
cend Marriage, thereby lofe, or at , leaft leffen, their 
their Charafter, for their Daughter, Drink, Tears and Lamentations, in Remembrance of 
or may be faid to buy his Wife. If a the Dead. 
“ There are, fay the Jefuits, three Seafons when the 
“ Dead are honoured in different Manners in .* 
“ Firft, before the Interment, when the Corps are ex- 
“ pofed to View, or laid in State, together with a 
‘‘ wooden Image with the Name of the Deceafed, which 
