446 C H I 
Ipble of the 'Population and Extent of China Proper, nvithin 
the Great Wall. Taken in round Numbers from the State¬ 
ments of Cbow-ta-Zbin. 
v— - - 
Provinces. 
Population. 
Square Miles. 
Acres. 
Fe-tcbeli 
Firing-nan 
38,000,000 
l 
5 8 > 949 
37 , 7 2 7 > 3 6 ° 
59 . 495-040 
2 diftridts 
> 32,000,000 
92,96 1 
Ki.ang-fi 
T 9 , 000 ; 000 
72,176 
46,192,640 
Tche-kring - 
2? ,000,000 
39 - 1 5 ° 
25,056,000 
Fo-kien 
Hou-pe 
1 5^000,000 
1 
53 > 4 8 ° 
34,227,200 
Hou-nan 
Hou-quang 
1 diftridts 
( 14,000,000 
13,000,000 
| 144,770 
92,652,800 
Ho-nan 
25,000,000 
65,104 
4t,666,560 
Chan-mng . - 
24,000,000 
65 >i o 4 
41,666,560 
Chan-fi 
Shen-fi 
27,000,000 
/ 1 3 ,000,000 
f 12,000,000 
55,268 
35-37 *> 5 20 
Kan-fou 
2 diftridts 
[ 154,008 
98,56 5,120 
Se-chuen 
27,000,000 
166,800 
106,752,000 
Quang-tong - 
2 1,000^000 
79>456 
50,851,840 
Quang-fi 
10,000,000 
78,250 
50,080,000 
Yunnan 
8,000,000 
107,969 
69,100,160 
Koei-cheou - 
9,000,000 
64,554 
41-314,560 
333,c)oo,000 
1 
y 5 2 97>999 
8 3 °- 7 I 9 - 36 o 
Over this imraenie tradt of country, and over the lives 
and fortunes of fuch a multitude of lubjedts, no monarch 
in the world pofieffes fo unlimited a controul as the em¬ 
peror of China. All authority is veiled in him alone; 
and no fentence of death, pronounced by any of the tri¬ 
bunals, can be executed without his content. Every ver- 
didl in civil affairs is fubjedt to the fame revifion; and no 
determination is of any force, until it has been confirmed 
by his afi’ent. On the other hand, whatever fentence he 
palfes is executed without delay. His edidts are refpedted 
throughout the whole empire, as though they proceeded 
from a divinity, and are publilhed and regiltered without 
the leaft delay. This abfolute power in the head of the Chi¬ 
nefe empire, appears to be as ancient as the empire it- 
felf; and all the revolutions which have taken place have 
tended to confirm it. 
The emperor alone has the difpofal of all the offices of 
Hate : and thole who hold them are wholly dependent on 
his pleafure. No employment is purchaled in China; 
merit, for the molt part, taifes to preferment, and rank is 
attached to preferment only ; thus, whatever may be the 
defpotic power of the emperor, the government has an 
eminent advantage over molt; of the political fyltems of 
Europe : the offices and honours of which are, for the 
molt part, as faleable as their mercantile commodities. 
On this principle, of merit only qualifying for office, the 
emperor has the right of choofing a fuccetlbr either from 
among his own children, from the reft of his family, or 
from among any of his own fubjedts; thus Chun, prime 
minifter of the emperor Yao, was chofen by that mo¬ 
narch to fucceed him, on account of his fuperior abili¬ 
ties. Should the lucjceltor thus named by the emperor, 
be wanting in that refpedtful fubmiffion which he con¬ 
ceives is due to him, or manifelt fome natural weaknefs 
of which he was not before fufpedted,. the fame hand that 
made him heir apparent to the throne, can remove him 
from his exalted llation. In fuch cafe another fucceffor 
5 s chofen, and the former is entirely forgotten. The em¬ 
peror Kaung-hi, grandfather of the emperor Tchien- 
lung, thus excluded his eldeltfon from the throne, though 
he had once nominated him his fuccelfor. Yet a prince 
of the blood is held in high efteern in China, .notwith¬ 
standing the emperor can prevent thofe from aftuming 
that title who have a natural right to it; and if they are 
permitted to enjoy their rank, they have neither influ- 
i 
N A. 
enc® nor power: they pofiefs a revenue proportioned to 
their dignity, and have a palace, officers, and court; but 
they have lefs authority than the loweft of the man¬ 
darins. 
The mandarins in China, compofe ejcadtly what are 
called in Europe the nobility. There are-only two ranks 
in China, the nobility, and the people; but the former 
is not hereditary. Thefe mandarins may, in cafes of 
neceffity, remonftrate with the emperor, either individu¬ 
ally, or in a body, upon any adtion or omiffion on his 
part, which may be thought contrary to the interefts of 
the empire. Their remonftrances are feldom ill received, 
but the emperor referves to himfeif the right of paying 
that attention to them which lie thinks they delerve. 
From this view of the l'overeign authority, it is evident 
that nothing limits its power; but the emperors find, 
even in this extent of power, the ftrongeft motives for 
not abufing it. Their private intereft, and that of the 
nation, are infeparably united ; and one cannot be con- 
fulted without the other. The Chinefe confider their 
monarchy as a large family, of which the emperor, who 
ought to govern with parental affedtion, is the head. Tne 
prince himfeif, in his education, imbibes the fame prin¬ 
ciples; and it mult be admitted, that no country was 
ever ruled by more good princes, or ever produced fewer 
bad. Such are the fruits of the education they receive, 
and fuch is the leffon which this nation holds out to 
every monarchical form of government. 
Huttner, who accompanied the Britiffi embaffy in the 
charadter of preceptor to fir George Staunton’s (bn, and 
who publilhed a German account of it at Berlin, in 1797, 
defines the word mandarin, as follows: Mandarin is a 
Portuguele word, from mo.ndare ; and denotes every pub¬ 
lic officer in the Chinefe empire, whether his dignity be 
great or final 1 , military or civil. This term, however, is 
never ufed by the people of China ; thejr word for it is 
quang, or quangfu .” The rank of the mandarinate is as 
various, as the various dignities in lo extenlive an em¬ 
pire muft certainly be. The precedence, or Icale of dig¬ 
nity, is known by the colour of the button or ball which 
the mandarins wear on the middle of their hat: red is 
the firll or higheft; then follows white, blue, and gilded. 
Red and blue have alfo fubordinate diftindtions, in opake, 
and tranfparent. China contains about fifteen thoufand 
mandarins of letters, and a ftill greater number who af- 
pire to that title. Their intereft muft be very powerful, 
lince it triumphed over the Tartars, who conquered 
China, who lubmitted to the laws and cultoms, and, 
what is ftill more, adopted the charadter and genius, of 
the people whom they had lubjedted. To arrive at the 
degree of mandarin of letters, it is necefiary to pafs 
through leveral others; fuch as that of bachelor (fie, or 
tfai,) of licentiate (kin-gin,) and of dodtor, (tfing-ffee.) 
The two firft, however, are only abfolutely necefiary; 
but even thole on whom the third is conferred, obtain 
for a time only the government of a city of the fecond 01- 
third lize or clafs. 
There are eight orders of mandarins in China. The 
firft is that of the calao. Their number is not fixed ; but 
wholly depends on the will of the prince. Minifters of 
ftate, preiidents of the fupreme courts, and all the fupe¬ 
rior officers of the militia, are chofen from among this 
order, the chief of which is named ckeou-Jiang, or the 
great calao, and is prefident or prime minifter of the em¬ 
peror’s council. From the fecond order of the manda¬ 
rins; called ts-hiofe, are feledled the viceroys and prefi- 
dents of the fupreme councils of the different provinces. 
Tchong clmeo , or fchool of jnandarins, is the title given to 
the third order; one of the principal fundtions of which 
is to adt as fecretaries to the emperor. The mandarins 
of the fourth order, it'\\ed y-tebuen-teto, when no particu¬ 
lar government is entrufted to them, or when they belong 
to no fixed tribunal, have to keep in repair the harbours, 
royal palaces, and the barks of which the emperor is pro¬ 
prietor, in their diftridts. The fifth order , ping-pi-tao, 
have 
