A Glossary of Reference - Forgotten Books

EXTRACT FROM PREFACE TO FIRST EDITION .

The fo llowing curious passage occurs in an able article

on 7758 Anglo-Indian Tongue publ ished in Blackwood

’s

Magaz ine fo r May 1 877

No man can ever expec t to be app rec iatedi

in Anglo-Ind ian soc ie ty un til he hascaugh t up its Sh ibIe th

,no matter how great his o ther accompl ishmen ts may be

In Madras the na tive domestics speak English o f purity and idiom wh ich rival in

e ccentric i ty the famous p idgz'fl English o f the trea ty ports in China;and the mastersmechan ically adop t the language o f the ir se rvan ts . Thus an Englishman w ishing toassure himself that an order has been duly executed, asks , “ Is tha t done gone finished

,

Ap p oo?” and Ap p o o repl ies in the same elegan t phraseology , “Yes

,sare

,all done

gone finished W hole .”

Now it i s partly as a key to the Shibboleth of AngloChinese soc iety that this Glossary has been designed , though

to j udge by the opening l ines of the same article , which the

writer tells us would be perfectly intell igible in a Calcutta

drawingfroom,there is no compari son between the p hrase o

logical di fficulties i n the way o f new arrivals in the FarEast and those to be encountered by the “ griffi n ” who

wishes to be appreciated in Anglo- Indian soci ety . These

I ’m dikk’

ed to death ! The khansamah has go t chhu t ti, and the whole bangla isulta-pul ta . The khidmatghars loo t e ve ry th ing, and the masalchi is breaking all thesu rwa-basans;and when I give a hukhm to cut the ir tallabs

,they ge t magr a and

ask their jaw abs . And then the maist ri es are pu tt ing up j ill-m ills , and making sucha gol-mol ( “ pompon bobbery” in Japanese Pidg in-English ) that I say darwaza bandto eve rybody. But when all is tik

,I hope you wi ll tifl'

w i th us .The translation o f this is —I

’m bo thered to death ! The bu tler has go t leave , and

the whole house is turned ups ide down . The table-servan ts s teal every th ing,and the

scullion is breaking all the soup-pla tes;and when I order their wages to be cut, theyall grow sulky and give warn ing . And then the carpenters are putting up vene tians

,

and making such an uproar,that I am obliged to say “

no t at home” to everybody .But when all_is p ut to rights, I hope you w ill lunch w ith us .

A GLOSSARY OF REFERENCE

ABACUS or SW AN -P‘AN : awe — calculating tray . A

wooden frame in which are fixed a number of beads

strung upon parallel wires . I t is used by the Chinese for

all kinds o f arithmetical calculations . The system is one

o f decimals,and the beads are div ided into two sections;

the lower containing five beads,each representing 1 or

unit,and the upper only two

,but each representing

.

5 .

Thus,to wri te down I

,one of the beads on the lower

half o f the frame is pushed up to the division between

the sections,and so on up to four;five i s written by

bringing down a bead from the top section to the other

side o f the division ;n ine by pushing four up from below

and bringing down a five from above;and ten by pushing

up one o f the lower beads on the nearest left-hand wire

to that on which the calculator first chose to represent

his un its,and so on . Very intricate calculations can be

performed by an expert on the -

sw an -p‘afl

,and quite as

rapidly as with pen and ink,but wi th the signal dis

advantage o f no t being able to work backwards in search

o f a fault,each step di sappearing a s the work proceeds .

Abacus is from the Hebrew word aéaé (dust), tables

covered with dust hav ing been used in early ages among

A GLOSSAR Y OF REFERENCE

the Jews for purposes o f writing and calculation . The

abacus which replaced these original ly contained six wires

with ten beads on each .

ABHIDHARMA : éfi . The philosophical section of Buddhist

l iterature . SeeACCAD or AKKADIA. The south -eastern division of

ancient Babylonia,mentioned as a city in Genesis X .

1 0 . Its people appear to have been the originators o f

Babylonish civi l isat ion and of the earl iest form o f cuneiform

writing,which w as vertical . They were also called “ the

black -haired; and from these and a few other p o ints~

o f

contact the late T . de la Couperie j umped to the conclusion

that Accad was the cradle of the Chinese race . The

following is a specimen of his arguments . He identifies the

monarch Nakhunte of E lamite history with the legendaryChinese Emperor Nai Huang Ti . But JVaz

'

was a mistaken

reading published by the late W . F . Mayers in his

chronological tables . We are told in K ‘ang Hsi ’s lexicon

that the character in question should be read H siw zg.

ACTOR . See Tfieah'e .

ACUPUNCTURE : fi 35 . Has been known and practised

in China for the past years .

AGAR-AGAR : The Malay term for a kind of sea

weed [Fucus saccfiam’

nus), used in China to express edible

sea-weed generally .

AIMAK : fi ffigfi A Mongol ian “ tr ibe fill.

AINOS or AINUS : fifi fi — crab barbarians . The name of

a tribe of aborigines,also called Jebis

,extending from Japan

to Kamschatka .

“They pass their t ime in running up huts“ of leaves , planting vegetables , stitching skins and pieces“ of bark for cloth ing

,and catching salmon

,which they

“salt i n huge quantities .


The above tw o characters are used by the Chinese,

interchangeably with 43A “ hai ry people, (Jap . mosz

’

n)for the people o f Yesso

,who were bel ieved to burrow in

the ground l ike crabs . The inhabitants o f the island of

Saghal ien are similarly called 3m — northern crab

barbarians .

“The original inhabitants,the A ino are now only to be

“ seen in the northern island o f Yezo . Adams .

Their numerals are

1 —Schnap e 6— U -an

2 —Tup aisch 7-Aruan

3— Le p aisch 8— To p aishi

4-Mede 9

;Schnap aishi

5— Aschke i Io -Wambi

“ Aino,l i teral ly man

,i s the name by which the Aimos

“ designate themselves .”

B . H . Clzaméer laz’

n .

Aino is also said to be a corruption of {flu “

k a dog .

ALCHEMY : fi fi fi ififi . Has been practised in China

for many centuries . Dr . Martin (C/zz'

na R eview,vol . VI I

,

p . 242) would have us bel ieve that “ alchemy is indigenous“ to China

,and coeval with the dawn o f letters . His

proofs however are drawn from works admittedly spurious,

and in one case (page 2 54 ,note 2) he quotes in connection

with alchemy a poem which refers only to the el ixi r of

l i fe . Altogether it would appear that alchemy was unknown

in China before the 2 nd cent . A.D .,and its existence even

then i s probably due to Greek influence .

ALEUR ITES : Z;Egg— stone chestnuts . The frui t o f the

A . tr z'

loéa,a handsome tree belonging to the N . O . Eup fior

éz'

aceae,and a native of Polynesia

,southern Asia , and

some o f the Malay islands . ls grown in the south o f

4 A GEOSSAK Y OF REFERENCE

China,

. and the word frequently appears in the Hongkong

market l i st . The seeds are said to be aphrod isiac,and

yield an o il used for burning .

ALMARI . A wardrobe . Commonly used in India ;also

in Hongkong and the Straits . From the Latin armar z’

um

through the Portuguese almo r z

'

o .

ALMOND EYES : 11? HR. This is a common metaphor in

Chinese,and is not

,as i s usual ly supposed , the exclusive

product o f the English language .

A-LUM . The famous Hongkong baker whose bread was

poisoned with arsenic by some person never discovered,

in the hOp e o f destroying all the foreign residents in the

Colony : January 1 857.

AMAH : milfi . A nurse;from the Portuguese ama . Used

in India of w et nur ses only . In the north o f China met -ma

i s frequently heard,meaning either mother o r nurse

,and

may be compared with the Sanskrit ammo which has thesame sign ification .

Ayah,also from the Portuguese and

,i s not common

in China .

AMAINU . Japanese name for the stone l ions at the gates

o f temples and elsewhere .

AMBAN : 5 A Manchu word,signifying gover nor .

Frequently appl ied by European writers to the pol iticalrepresentatives of China in Mongol ia and Turkestan .

AMBER : £ 1313. Believed by the Chinese to be resin,

which after lying in the earth fo r a thousand years is

changed into $5K China Root (go ) , which in turn changesinto amber . I t is mentioned in the history o f the Han

dynasty as coming from KOp hene o r the modern

Cabulistan and Ta-ch ‘ i n (go ) or Syria . Others say i t is

made from burning bees-wax,while the Pen -ts

‘ao explains


it as R fifi the soul of the tiger which goes into the

earth at death .

AMHERST ’S EMBASSY,LORD . A mission dispatched

from England to China in 1 8 1 6,during the reign of the

Emperor Chia Ch ‘ ing,with a v iew to putting trade upon

a more satisfactory basis . Among the Ambassador’s suite

were S ir G . Staunton,Dr . Morrison

,and S i r John Davis .

Lord Amherst,however

, fefused to perform the kotow ,and

returned from Peking without having seen the Emperor .Bonaparte said that he thought “ the English ministers“ had acted wrong in no t having ordered Lord Amherst“ to comply with the custom o f the place he was sent“ to

,or that they ought no t to have sent him at all .

“ I t i s my opinion that whatever is the custom of a nation“ and is practised by the first characters o f that nation“ towards thei r chief

,cannot degrade strangers who perform

“ the same .

”

I/V. For syttt .

AMIDA BUDDHA . See Ometo Fa .

AMOK or AMUCK . A term used by Malays to signify

an ungovernable state o f mind,i n which a desire to

murder is predominant . I t has been supposed to be a

kind o f monomania induced by disorder of the dige stiveorgans

,but i s frequently indulged in to gratify revenge .

A crowd will sometimes (as when Mr . Birch was killed)raise a cry of “Amok

,amok ' “Ta

,ta ! foo .) in

China .

“An Amok took place last n ight , by a Malay , which“ resulted in the loss of h is own li fe and the wounding o f

1 6 persons . The Chinese in the Campong (9 . 7L) came“ forward

,and this appeared to excite h im to a violent

“ degree . He ran amok among them,and wounded a

“ number before he could be seized .

”

Stra its Times .

6 A GLOSSAR Y OF REFERENCE

AMOOR or AMUR : fig[Ii — black dragon river .

Amoor '= great river .

AMOY : E Pal— gate o r harbour of Hsia . Also known to

the Chinese as — Egret I sland— from the large

number of white egrets which annually frequent this

local ity . I t was one of the fiv e ports opened by Nanking

Treaty of 1 842 ,but v isited by the Portuguese as early as

1 544 ,and later on by the Engl ish until 1 730 ,

when trade

there w as forbidden to al l nat ions except the Spanish ,though as a matter of fact it continued much as usual .

Our word is from the local pronunciation o f the first two

characters . See K i t -tang Sn .

AMUY : E5 16k. Younger sister . Cantonese amahs frequently

give the above as their name,whence results the edifying

spectacle of a European mistress call ing her Chinesenurse “ sister . As a rule

,foreigners in China who do

not understand the language wil l do well to avoid names,

and address their servants as “ boy,coolie

,o r

“ amah,

”

as the case may be . I n one well-known instance a Chinese

valet said his name was Tek-koh,and his master forthwith

proceeded to call him so,i .e .

— brother Tek .

AN/ESTHET I CS : ids n . Said to have been first used

in the form o f hashish by a famous surgeon named

fi fe Hua T‘o who died A.D . 2 2o .

ANALECTS : éfi A name chosen by Dr . Legge fo r his

translation of the th ird of the Four Books (go ), contain ingthe D iscour ses of Confucius with h is disciples and others .

The Confucian Gospels . They were compiled,according

to Chinese accounts,by the actual disciples of Confucius;

but Dr . Legge shews that it was more probablyby t/zeirdisciples towards the end o f the fifth o r beginning o f the

fourth century B C.

A GLOSSARY OF REFERENCE 7

“The Book of Proverbs 15 not a whit better than the“maxims of Confucius

,so far as we know them . Inman ’s

Ancien t Fai t/i s , I I . 76 1 .

E . G .

“ Love one another . ” “ Return good for good“ for evi l

,j ustice .

” “What you would no t others should do“ unto you

,do no t unto them .

“Le t\loyalty and truth be paramount with you. Have

“no friends not equal to yo urself. I f you have faults

,shrink

“ not from correcting thein .

“Man is born to be upright . I f he be not so,and yet

“ l ive,he is lucky to have escaped .

“ I n mourning,i t is better to be sincere than to be

“ puncti l ious . See Confucius .

ANCESTRAL WORSHIP . A Chinese religious ceremony

performed on stated occasions before tablets inscribed with

the names of deceased ancestors,and consisting o f prayers

,

prostrat ions,and offerings

i

o f food and paper-money to

the spirits of the dead . The early Jesui t fathers (go )tolerated this harmless custom among the first converts to

Christiani ty;but the jealous rivalry of other orders brought

about a direct prohibition from Clement XI. against the

establ ished practice,a move which only resulted in the

ultimate col lapse o f Roman Catholic influence in Chinaand the subsequent persecut ion o f all Catholic missionaries .

Abusive language is commonly used amongst the Chinese

in j est;but the l ine is drawn at a man’s progenitors

,

whose persons o r memories,as the case may be

,are

always held strictly sacred . I t is only in serious brawls,

when words have already given place to blows,that mutual

v ilification of ancestors i s heard,though relatives of the

same generat ion may be freely abused without fear of

disastrous consequences .


ANDIJANI,THE . A term which has occasionally been

applied in the Peking Gazette to the late Yakub Khan orYakoobBeg (Iii

—ll once designated Ameer o f

Kashgar,from Andijan fiz fi fl the town in Kokand

whence he and many of h is followers came . He has also

been styled Q‘ fi “ the An[dijani] chieftain .

ANDON . The oil lamp of the Japanese , enclosed in a

square or circular frame covered with paper .

AN-HUI Q {aft — “ Peace and Beauty . one of the E ighteenProvinces . So called from the first characters in the names

o f its tw o largest cities , fi g H? An-ch ‘ ing Fu the

cap i tal,and 155?HIIf} Hui -Chou Fu. O ld name

ANNA . The sixteenth part of a rupee . Eurasians (go )are often spoken o f as so many annas in the rupee ,

referring to the proportion of “ dark blood in their veins .

Thus,

“ four annas in the rupee” would be the equivalent

of Quaa’r oon .

ARGOLS . Cakes of dried camels ’ dung,used in Mongol ia

for fuel .

ARHAN or ARHAT : Iii—li ffi E — “ deserving and worthy .

The term applied by Chinese Buddhists to the 500 disciples

o f Shakyamuni Buddha . Same as Lo-nan .

The E ighteen Arhans,so often seen in Chinese temples

,

are regarded as the personal disciples o f Buddha . S ixteenof these were Hindus , and tw o Chinese have been added .

ARIMAS . Japanese equivalent o f “ have got

ARIMASEN . Japanese equivalent of “ no go t .

ARMS : Ji 25 Bows and arrows,swords

,and spears

,have

been employed in China from time immemorial . In later

ages cross-bows drawn and discharged by machinery,

huge ball istae,etc .

,Were much used . Then came rude

matchlocks (see yingat), and cannon which the yesuits


(go ) taught the Chinese to - cast,which state o f things

lasted unti l after the war o f 1 860— 1 86 1 . In ancient

times,buff j erkins and armour were worn by combatants .

ARMY,THE CH INESE . Looks well on paper

,consisting

,

according to statute,o f about infantry in garrison

,

infantry,and cavalry

,besides about 2

Manchus arranged under the E ight Banners (o n) . Many

o f these warriors , howeve r , appear only on the pay-sheets

,

and have no real existence .

“ARROW ” CASE,THE . On Oct . 8

,1 856 , a party of

Chinese under an officer boarded a lorcha,called the

Ar r ow,i n the Canton river . They took off tw elve

'

sailors

on a charge of piracy,l eaving tw o o f their ow n men on

the lorcha . The Ar r ow was declared by its owners to be

a Brit ish vessel . Our Consul at Canton,Mr . ( afterwards

S ir Harry) Parkes , demanded from Yeh , the Chinese Viceroy ,the return o f the men . Yeh contended

,however

,that the

lorcha was not an Engl ish but a Chinese vessel— a Chinese

pirate,venturing occasionally fo r her ow n purposes to fly

the flag o f England which she had no right whateverto hoist . The Ar r ow had somehow obtained British

registration,but i t had expired about ten days before

the occurrence in the Canton river . As a matter o f fact,

the Ar r ow was not an English vessel,but only a Chinese

vessel which had obtained by false pretences the temporarypossession o f a British flag . S i r J . Bowring sent to the

Chinese authori ties,and demanded the surrender of all

the men taken from the Ar r ow . He insisted that an

apology should be offered for their arrest , and a formal

pledge given that no such act should ever be committed

Yeh sent back the men . and he even undertook to promise that fo r the future great care should be


taken that no British sh ip should be visited improperly

by Chinese officers . But he could not offer an apology .

Accordingly S ir J . Bowring immediately made war on

China,and Canton was bombarded by the fleet which

Admiral S i r Michael Seymour commanded .

ASANKYA . A Buddhist number,extending to 1 4 1 places

o f figures .

ATHALIK GHAZI . “ Champion Father,

-a ti tle conferred

in 1 874 by the Ameer o f Bokhara upon the celebrated

Yako obBeg .

ATTAP . The dried leaf of the nipah palm ,doubled over

a small stick o f bamboo,and thus used in the Malay

peninsula for roofing houses .

AV VABI. A kind o f shell -fish found i n Japanese and Korean

waters .

BABA . A local name for Chinese born in the Strai tsSettlements

,and for the children o f foreigners . Used in

I ndia as a respectful form of address towards a man of

the lower o r middle classes . From the Turki and father .See Sinéen.

BABOO . The Bengal i equivalent o f “Mr .

BABY TOW ER : Brick receptacles for dead children

o f both sexes,below the age which qual ifies for burial

i n the usual way . The Chinese have been falsely accused o f

depositing l iving chi ldren in these Towers . See [nfan ticia’e

BADGES,MANDAR IN ifi $2 Large pieces of embroidery

worn on official robes,the different grades o f civi l o fficials

being distinguished by various birds,those o f military

officials by animals .

BAIL . I s personal,no t pecuniary

,in China . That is

,i f the

bai lee absconds,the bai lor has to take his place .

BAJU . The upper portion o f the Malay dress .


BAKA : fi —Qhorse deer . A Japanese term of abuse

— Foot .

’

BAKIN,KIOKUTEI. A .D . 1 767

— 1 848 . The famous

Japanese novel ist,author of about 300 works , many of

which are very voluminous .

BALACHONG . A relish made o f pickled fish . From theMalay oa/acnan .

BAMBOO : fi‘ Originally mamou

,as known to the early

Portuguese settlers in India,and possibly a Canarese

word . Hence is said to be derived the word “ bamboozle ,”

the allusion being to a certain treacherous kind of swimming

belt made o f bamboo .

The bamboo is the common instrument fo r. flogging

cr iminals in China,and consists o f a strip of spli t bamboo

planed down smooth . Strictly speaking,there are two

kinds,the Aw ay and the ugh , the former , however , i s

now hardly if ever used . Until the reign of K ‘ang Hsi,

all strokes W ere given across the back , but that Emperorremoved the locus ofi erana

’i l ower down,for fear o f

inj uring the l iver o r the lungs— a curious fact when taken

in conj unction with the statement by the late Dr . Ayres ,Colonial Surgeon at Hongkong

,that flogging Chinese on

the back i s apt to bring about congestion o f the lungs

o r other pulmonary complaints .

In point of util ity to man the bamboo is probably

unrivalled . I t is employed in t he manufacture o f almost

every conceivable object of household furniture or domestic

use,and is frequently spoken of as “ the friend of China .

I ts varieties are numerous . The thorny bamboo W 1?grows to nearly 50 feet in height , with a diameter of

from 2 to 3 feet . The Speckled bamboo £3 17? i s pretti lymottled; —it shaded the grave o f the famous Shun (see

1 2 A GLOSSAR Y OF REFERENCE

Yao), and was thus marked by the tears of his tw o

disconsolate widows . A variety with a square stem grows

in the Fuhkien province .

A oamooo i s the slang term for a wine-glassful o f sherry

and vermouth in equal proportions .

BAMBOO BOOKS,THE : fir $13. A collection o f

ancient writings inscribed in the Lesser Seal character onsl ips of bamboo

,and said to have been discovered A.D .

2 79 . Among the rest was a copy of the Book o f Changes

Bamboo tablets were commonly used in China

before the invention o f paper

BAMBOO CHOW -CHOW .

“ St ick food . The pidgin -Engl ishterm for a thrashing

,an idiom no t altogether unknown e ither

in English o r in the elegant book-l anguage of China

1 gal?HQHQE?g TE“ I f you don ’t

,you

’

l l leave a

tas te of the stick .

” A Mahommedan who is bastinadoed

is said to be made to“ eat stick .

BAMBOO GROVE : fi fii . A famous club,founded in

the 3rd century A.D . and consisting o f seven members

4: g o f strong Bacchanalian tendencies . The most famous

o f them was Liu Ling,who expressed a wish to be buried

near a pottery,in order that his body might re -appear

on earth under the form o f wine-cups .

BAMBOO OYSTERS . A small and del icately-flavoured “

species of oyster found at the port of Foochow . Large

bamboos are cut down and planted deeply in the water,the

ends being first fired to prevent decay,and upon these stakes

the oysters collect in large quanti ties . Hence the name .

BAMBOO SHOOTS : Are given by the Chinese to

suckl ing mothers to increase the flow of milk . Europeanseat them served like asparagus .

BANANA . See Plantain .

A GLOSSAR Y OF REFERENCE 13

BANGLE . A bracelet or anklet . From the Hindi word

oangr ee or oangr é a bracelet of glass .

BAN IAN or BANYAN Kali l. ( I) The fi cus w zgntiana ,

Wall .,common in China . ( 2) The name by which Hindi

traders are known abroad,e .g. at Muscat and Zanz ibar .

I n this sense a corruption of Baniya o r Yaniya,the name

of a trading caste in India with which sai lors were early

brought into contact . In common with most other respectable

castes,i ts members abstain from flesh . Hence the old term

“ Banyan days at sea,sc. Mondays

,Wednesdays

,and

Fridays,when no meat was served out .

BANIAN CITY,THE : legin. A fancy name for Foochow

,

from the number o f banian trees which grow there .

BANNERS,THE E IGHT : The eight divisions

under which the Manchus are marshalled,first established

in 1 8 1 4 to supersede the div i sion o f the Manchu army

under three nationali ti es . The banners are red,yellow

,

white,and blue;four being and four bordered

fl(g ) with a margin o f another colour . Hence Manchus

v

are often spoken o f as Bannermen . There are also eight

Mongol and eight Chinese “ banners,the latter being

descendants of those natives who assisted in consol idating

the Manchu dynasty . See Army .

BARBAR IANS . The common Chinese designation fo r al l

foreigners . By Treaty o f Tientsin,1 858, i t was agreed

that thenceforward one o f the worst characters i should“ not be applied to the government or subjects of her“ Britann ic Majesty

,in any Chinese official document i ssued

“ by the Chinese authorities either in the capital or i n“ the provinces .

”Ar t . L ] .

The use of thi s term has now almost disappeared

amongst the people as well;but only to be replaced


by such synonymous words as fan and g i,by

55- 5? mao tzu’

(go ), by fl? leuei—tzu’ “ devils

,etc .

etc . The character fan ,which is quite as disrespectful

as the Treaty-tabooed i 1,may stil l be seen in use all

over Hongkong,and is often publicly placarded before the

shops o fChinese tradesmen,washermen and others . Another

term is “ red-haired barbarians” fl fé fi ,

explained in

the H istory of the Ming dynasty [w51 to be a commonname for the Dutch fiflfi . But the most curious title

o f all i s that frequently bestowed by the people o f Swatowand its neighbourhood upon the various foreign Consular

officers residing there . They are called “ Jesus mandarins”

Eflfi fi ,shewing

,in this instance at any rate

,how

intimately the masses o f China connect the presence o f

foreigners among them with other obj ects than that of

legit imate trade alone .

Of the term 732A yang j en“men from beyond the

sea,

”

now generally accepted on all sides as the best

equivalent for “ foreigners,it is only necessary to say

that,as far as mere phraseology goes

,these words by

no means place us on an equal i ty with FF A “ the

men of the Middle Kingdom,though infinitely superi or

to fil‘ A “ outside nation men,an expression which

has a force peculiarly i ts ow n . E A “men o f the

western nation is the least obj ectionable of all,now

generally understood to include citizens o f the United

States;and if i i s prefixed,the term becomes as

respectful as the most exacting can require.

BARBAR IAN EYE : E An opprobrious epithet applied

1 It is worthy o f no te that Tso Tsung-t‘ang,in his last memorial on Coast

defence,spoke o f fore igners collectively as

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join


“Oargain

-cfiofi s do l ikewise ? T/i e CninaM a il: 2 7Oct . , 1 877.

BARR IERS : 5;D Lesser or subordinate Customs ’ stations,

placed along the inland trade -routes for the collection

o f duties o n passing goods .

BASCHPA . See M ongol.

BATS : F ive bats ( 35. RE

w u f u) are frequently seen painted

on Chinese plates . They stand for the F ive Blessings

(Eli m5 w u f u) longev i ty , wealth , mens sana in corpor esano

,l ove o f virtue

,and a peaceful e ndfi the character

for Oa t being identical in sound with that fo r Olessing.

BATTA . A Hindi word,correctly written Mata,

meaning

an extra allowance to tr00ps on service .

BAT ‘URU : B E . A Manchu word meaning “ brave .

l nsti tuted as a kind o f order by the Emperor Shun Chih

”E for rewarding mil itary prowess ;but only bestowed

on such officers as have been previously decorated with

the peacock’

s feather .

BAYAN : {a The famous Mongol general whose prowess

so greatly assisted Kublai Khan in his conquest o f China .

The name is sometimes written a HR p ai yen o r p ol:

yen— “ hundred eyes

,from the extreme vigi lance for

awhich he was noted . Marco Polo speaks of him as a“ Baron whose name was Bayan Chingsan ,

which is as“much as to say ‘Bayan

,hundred and Col . Yule

adds,

“ Bayan (signi fying gr eat or noble) i s a name o f

“ very old renown among the Nomade nations .

”

BAZAAR . From the Persian Oazar a market,in which

sense i t i s commonly employed in China .

BEAN -CAKE : fi at of £ 5 . The refuse o f the bean

after al l the o il has been expressed . Largely exported

from Newchwang and Chefoo to Swatow fo r manuring

the sugar planta tions in that neighbourhood .


BEAN -CURD : E Q . A thick jel ly made from beans,and

much eaten in the north of China . Yamen runners (go )are sometimes cal led “ bean-curd officials g E E

BEAST IE or BHEESTY . A water-carrier;li t .

“ angel

Corruption o f the Persian Oifi isfi ti,from Oinist “ Paradise .

This is one of the honorific titles by which servants i n

India Speak of or to one another . The tai lor i s cal led

[( lcalifa“ Commander of

'

the faithful;”

the sweeper is

called M efi tar “ Prince (Of the w e .) etc .

BEG : {a A title,equivalent to Chieftain

,in use among

the Chinese Mahommedans o f Turkestan,etc . With this

term Sung-yilu ( 1 82 3) has identified Hi p i , the rulers

o f the Cossack tribes .

BEGGARS : it ‘P or[a H} . An organised fraterni ty , acting

under the orders o f a head beggar for each particular area .

Shops which pay a fixed periodical sum to the Beggars’

Guild,exhibit i n their shops the legend FE

Great joy and plenty o f trade . These characters are usually

written on a gourd , the emblem of beggardom . O thershops are l iable to visi ta tions during business hours from

beggars with gongs,dead animals

,or even snakes

,w ho

remain until bought off.

BEGGAR KING,THE . A name given to the founder of

the Ming dynasty,A.D . 1 368, in reference to his lowly

origin .

BEGUM . A Persian word meaning Queen or Pr incess .

BEILEH : E E . The Manchu ti tle bestowed on the sons

o f the Imperial Princes o f China . O ften preceded by theword EJ

’

J zealous .

BEITSZE : E The Manchu title bestowed on the sons

o f a be iléh .

BENKE I . The Hercules o f Japan .


BENTO BAKO. A Japanese luncheon box .

BER I BER I . See Kakke .

BETEL-NUT : AL

Em5 p in [meg— an imitation of the Malay

word f irming. The leaf of the s ir e/z o rbe telp ep p e r smearedwith chunam

,o r l ime

,and tobacco

,and the nut of the

areca palm,chewed together by the Chinese and other

eastern nations .

BETTO . A Japanese horse-boy or groom .

BEZOAR :i ii fi . A valuable substance found in the

stomachs of ruminant animals . Used by the Chinese as

a paint and a drug .

BHAR . A Malay w e ight= about cwt .

BICHO -DA -MAR or BECHE-DE -MER : fags A large

kind of sea -slug much rel ished by the Chinese . Found inthe Pacific and Indian Archipelagos .

BIKSHU or BH IKSHU : rt 5 : (f em . bikshuni Ll;E:A wandering Buddhist mendicant

,generally credited with

the power of performing miracles . From Weeks/La to beg .

B ILLAL . The Mussulman assistant preacher or parson of

a Malay vi llage . See [( fiazeeé .

B ILLS OF EXCHANGE : E (or Q ) Came into use

under the Emperor Hsien Tsung o f the T ‘ang

dynasty,A.D . 806— 820

,and were then known as

B IOGRAPHY . Has occupied a prominent place in Chinese

l iterature from the earl iest ages . The various dynastic

histories since the time of Christ contain biographies of

all the eminent personages who figure in their pages .

The biographies of Emperors are written up daily duringthe l ife of each monarch

,who i s not al lowed to know

what will be publ ished about him after death.

BIRDS ’-NESTS : $2fl. The gelatinous nests o f a swallow


(H ie/ undo eseulen ta) found in the Malay archipelago , from

which is made the celebrated “ birds’

-nest soup .

”

The

nests are formed of a kind of seaweed .

BITESHI or BITGHESHI: fi lth-

fl. A Manchu word

meaning scholar or clerk,the sound of which is imi tated

by the above three Chinese characters . Those Manchus

w ho have passed the examination for éz'

tesfiz'

are employed

as scribes i n the publ ic ofiice s at Peking . S imilar to theChinese ska -p an (gm) , i i i -lee being the Manchu word

for a book .

BLACK CROWS . The followers o f a Turkic chieftain w ho

assisted the Emperor Hsi Tsung o f the T ‘ang dynasty

to defeat the rebel Huang Ch ‘ao (A .D . 884) were so

cal led from their black uniform .

BLACK FLAGS : ffi fl . Part of a band of desperadoes

who passed across the south -western frontier o f China

after the T ‘ai-p ‘ ing rebelli on . After having ravaged the

prov inces to the north o f Tongking there w as a spl it i n

the camp . The other portion essayed,under the style

o f the Yellow F lags,to found an independent principal ity

at the head o f the river Claire . The Black F lags,com

manded by an able chieftain named $1i t m5 Liu Yung-fu,

took up a position at Lao -kai and offered their services

to the Annamite government . Liu subsequently fought

for China against the Japanese in Formosa,1 894,

but

with very indifferent success .

BLACK-HAIRED PEOPLE : xR . A name for the

Chinese people (see Accad), because o f the ir black hair .

This is the explanation given in K ‘ang Hsi’

s dictionary,

but its accuracy has been questioned by some Europeanscholars . Occurs in the Gr ea t L ear n ing (gem) ch . X

,1 4 :

a fi l; Q E “ preserve my sons and grandsons,


“ and élacé -fiaz'

r ea’ people . The name $2 fi “ black heads

was given to the Chinese by 113Q ‘fi‘ Shih Huang Ti

,some

200 years before the Christian era .

BLOCKADE,THE HONGKONG . The establ ishment

,by

the Chinese Superintendent of Customs at Canton,o f a

system for the protection o f his revenue from the great loss

entai led thereon by the smuggling o f dutiable goods into

China in j unks by native merchants from the neighbouringisland of Hongkong . Customs

’ stat ions were accordingly

placed at {fla E and w 7k FE] , and when

once a suspected j unk was well outs ide the Hongkong

port l imits,she was chased and seized by one o f the

revenue cruisers employed,and if detected in smuggling

,

vessel and cargo were confiscated .

BLUE (more correctly “ blue and white A kind o f Chinese

porcelain which is much prized in Europe and has anespecial charm for collectors from the fact that i t cannot

be reproduced . Blue and white,

blue paint ing on a

white ground is to be found of all periods,some o f i t

dat ing from the time of the Mings . The merit o f the

most ancient consists principally in the texture o f the

porcelain and excellence of the designs . That blue and

white,however

,which is most h ighly prized in Europe

is of a much later period,v iz .

,K ‘ang H si and Ch ‘ ien

Lung (ya );and in this the ground is of translucent blue ,the design being in white . I t i s said that thi s particular

blue,which is certainly very beauti ful

,was produced with

pounded lapi s lazul i,and certain i t i s that the best o f i t

has a decided resemblance in colour to that stone . The

Hawthorn pattern is o f the greatest value in England,and

a good pot of this sort has a market value o f,say £500 .

BLUE -CAP MAHOMMEDANS,THE : fi rb’é [E] I} . A

A GLOSSAR Y OF REFERENCE 2 1

name applied to the Jews,most of whom came to China

from Persia .

BO TREE,THE : fi fi fi } , i . e . the Bodhidruma or Tree

of Knowledge (firm r e/zgz'

osa also known as the

g ‘Pfi l‘fil o r Tree o f Meditation . The original Bo tree

grew near Gaya in Bengal,and was so cal led after the

seven years of penance which Shakyamuni spent underi ts shade before he became a Buddha . A sl ip of it was

taken and planted in theisacred city o f Amarap oora,

in

Burmah,BC . 2 88. This is said to be in existence stil l .

S ir j . E . Tenne t refers to historic documents in which it

is mentioned at different dates,as A .D. 1 82

,2 2 3, and

so on to the present day . There is another flourish ing

specimen in the Buddhist temple at Pt . de Galles,also

said to have come from the parent tree at Gaya .

BOARDS,THE SIX :

“

f i fii . The Government offices at

Peking,nearly equivalent to our Admiralty

,Treasury

,etc .

They are

I . i fi — L z

’

fiu ,Board o f Civi l O ffice

,which manages

the civi l serv ice o f the empire,so called since 3rd

cent . A.D .

F7“

Eli — H z;p a ,Board o f Revenue

,which collects

duties and taxes,and superintends fiscal arrangements

general ly,so called since 7th cent . A.D .

figfifi~ L i fi zz, Board of R i tes , which directs theceremonial Observances

,l i terary distinctions

,etc . etc .

,

so called since l o th cent . A.D .

fi fi i— n p a ,Board o f War

,so cal led since

7th cent . A.D .

5 . fillfili— H sz

’

ng p a ,Board of Punishments

,which is

entrusted with the due administration o f the laws,

so called since 7th cent . A.D .


6 . I {fig— K in g p a ,Board of Works

,so cal led since

7th cent . A.D .

The S ix Boards were known under the Chin dynasty

as the 71?75 ,

and under the 55 Sui dynasty their names

were (05? (Ma (M EIw i t (s)%«ma,the order

in which they are enumerated being also the order of

their relative importance . I n addition to these names ,

which are stil l in l iterary use,No . 2 i s known as

“

3K

S/mz'

fi zz.

BOBBERY . From the Cantonese "Eg a noise . Commonly

used in pidgin -Engli sh;e .g.

“What for you bobbery my ?

i.e .

,scold o r abuse .

The term éoééery is a corruption o f the H indi Bap r e

“O father ! ”

BODHISATVA : fiz

fi fi ffi or more frequently

P‘u-sa= one whose essence has become intell igence . A

being that has only once more to pass through human

existence before it attains to Buddhaship . One who hasfulfi l led all the condit ions necessary to the attainment of

Buddhahood (and its consequent Nirvéna), but from

charity continues voluntarily subj ect to re - incorporation

fo r the benefi t o f mankind . O f the Bodhisatva there arethree degre e s z— he who attains qu ickly

,less quickly

,and

least quickly .

BOGUE,THE : R P

EI— “Tiger

’

s Gate,otherwise called

Bocca Tigris . The principal embouchure o f the Canton river,

near which may sti l l be seen traces o f the celebrated

forts captured 2 6 Feb . 1 842 by the Brit ish forces unde r

Commodore S ir Gordon Bremer . B ogue i s a corruption of

the Portuguese rendering— éoca tnr e— o f the Chinese term .


BOY . The common term in China for a servant,such as

a house-boy,o ffice -boy

,etc . I t has been suggested that

th is is a mere corruption of the H industan i “bhaie e,

which means a servant;but i t seems almost equally

probable that the English word has been adopted in thesense o f the French gen /

yon .

“Ajeebthen said to the eunuch , Boy , I long for a“ l i ttle diversion. [

“The term éoy is not used here to

“ imply that the eunuch was a youth , but in the sense in“which it is often employed by us;as synonymous with

'

Lane’

s Ar aéz’

cm N zgfi ts .

BRAHMANISM . The ancient H indu rel igion,or rel igion

o f caste,against the thrall of which Buddhism was a

protest . I ts chief doctrine was that by severe penances

and torture o f the body a man may acquire perfect

wisdom .

BRAVES : Chinese soldiers . So called because theywear the above character which means “ brave upon

their backs .

“ Braves” are stri ctly speaking irregular levies,

called into existence a nd disbanded as occasion may

require , but among foreigners the word has come to be

used in the general sense given above .

BR I CK TEA : A common kind o f tea prepared

in the tea districts of Central China by softening refuse

leaves,twigs

,and dust with boil ing water

,and then

pressing the compound into large slabs l ike bricks .

Subdiv ided into ( 1 ) Large Green , (2) Small Green , and

(3) Black . I s consumed in great quantities in S iberia andMongolia

,where it is also used as a medium o f exchange .

“The Mongol tests the soundness o f tea by placing a“ brick on his head

,and pull ing the extremities downwards

“with both hands;i f the brick does not break or give,


“ i t i s sound;i f i t breaks or bends it is comparatively“worthless . Gr an t.

BR IDGES : The earliest mention o f a bridge in

China will be found in the Canon of Poez‘ry ,and refers

to a bridge o f boats . S tone bridges,and even suspension

bridges, have been in use for many centuries . A fine

specimen of the former is to be seen at Foochow . I t w as

buil t about 800 years ago ,i s about

fi

l

l, o f a mile long

and 1 4 ft . wide . The Poiam bridge,some 20 miles from

Amoy,i s buil t of huge blocks o f stone

,the longest being

70 ft . by o ft . wide and 7 ft . in depth .

BR INJAL : 55 A kind of egg-plant (solcmum melongena ,

L .) found all over China . The name is derived from the

Portuguese ér z'

ngeZ/a . Known in Bengal as éangzm or

n .

BU : A Japanese silver coin equal to about i l4d,now

no longer in circulation . 4 674 were equal to I or tael .

BUBBLING W ELL : ifi flfi — eye of the sea . A well about

3 miles from Shanghai , near the Q Ching -an temple,

the water o f which i s mere drainage,the “ bubbl ing being

caused by the passage of carburetted hydrogen .

An ornamental wal l has been built around the well,

bearing the following inscriptions : 75‘

F 71;51 “The

“ sixth of the springs under heaven — (the other five being

in various parts of the empire);and Hf flg “The“ spot where the ”Hz/ as were l istened to

,— in reference

to a certa in priest who l ived hard by and recited the

Buddhist l i turgies so eloquently that the very frogs sat

up to hear him .

BUDDHA : {93[32 or Ji

g-E o r Literally,one who

knows or is awake;hence , the enl ightened , or he who

has perfect wisdom . Every intel l igent being who has


thrown off the bondage of sense,perception

,and self

,

and knows the utter unreal i ty of all phenomena,and i s

ready to enter into Nirvana . The first person o f the

Buddhist Trini ty .

The great founder of Buddhism,Prince Siddartha ,

known

as Shakyamuni Gautama Buddha,was born B C. 6 24 at

Kap ilavastu on the borders of Ne p aul, and died in his

8o th year . He was the son of a king;but renounced

the pomps and vanit ies of th is wicked w orld to devote

himself to the great task of overthrowing Brahmanism,

the rel igion of caste .

BUDDHA,THE LAUGH ING . A name for Maitreya

Buddha (y a) .

BUDDHA,LIVING : iii “ . A popular name for the

Hutukhtu (ya ) . Also appl ied to very worthy persons .

BUDDHA,THE SLEEPING : EA A recumbent figure

of Buddha , found in certain temples known as S leepingBuddha temples .

BUDDHA ’S F I NGERS : fiB—z

f‘ . A k ind of citron,almost

all rind,found on the ifl tree . One end o f i t terminates

l ike a hand,with fingers . Used by the Chinese for scenting

rooms,at rel igious sacrifices

,etc .

BUDDHA SHELLS : fitA vi i . Mussel-shells found i n S iam,

contain ing one or more figures o f a sitting Buddha,in

relief;and regarded by the simple as material evidences

o f the truth o f the Buddhist faith . The figures however,

are produced by human agency . Pious priests watch for

half-open mussels,and sl ip into their shells thin clay

images o f the World-honoured One,over which the

mussel in process o f t ime deposits a th ick layer o f nacre,

with the result described above .

BUDDHISM : E (o r 1915)fi According to Buddhism there


i s no Creator,no being that is sel f-existent and eternal . Any

being whatever may be a candidate for the Buddhaship;but it i s only by the uniform pursuit o f thi s object

throughout innumerable ages that i t can be obtained .

The power that controls the universe is karma,l iterally

“ action,

” consisting o f merit and demerit . There is no

immaterial spirit,but at the death o f any being the

aggregate of his merit and demerit is transferred to some

other being,which new being is caused by the karma

o f the previous being,and receives from that karma al l

the circumstances o f i ts existence . The cause o f the

continuance of existence is ignorance . Hence,merit and

demerit,consciousness

,desire

,reproduction

,disease

,and

death . Thus there is a regular succession of birth and

death;the moral cause o fwhich is desire , the instrumental is

karma . I t is therefore the great obj ect o f all who would

be released from the sorrows of rebirth,to destroy the

moral cause . This may be accomplished by a course of

discipl ine,leading into one o f the Four Paths and thence

to N irvana (on ) . See Pr ecious Ones,T/zr ee .

The earl iest appearance o f Buddhism in China w as

dur ing the reign o f the F i rst Emperor,B .C. 2 59

— 2 1 0,

when certain Shamans, g 7T“,7? Shih -l i -fang and others

,

w ho came to proselyti se,were seized and put in pri son .

They escaped however through the aid o f Q A an angelw ho appeared to them in the middle of the n ight and

opened their pri son doors . Later,in A .D . 6 1

,the reigning

Emperor is said to have had a dream,in consequence

o f which he sen t a mission to India and obtained the

serv i ces of Kashyap matanga and Gobharana,who translated

the Sutra of Forty-two Sections . Buddhism w as introduced

into Japan about A.D . 550 .


The Buddhism o f China,Japan

,Mongol ia

,Tibet

,and

Ne p aul, i s known as Northern Buddhism,being the system

developed after contact with the northern tribes settled

on the Indus . Southern Buddhism is common to Ceylon ,Burmah

,and S iam

,and represents the primitive form o f

the faith as it came from the hands of its founder and

his immediate successors .

BUDMASHES . From éaa’ “ bad and 7naa

’

sfi “ l iv ing .

A Persian and Arabic compound term for rowdies or

professional bull ies,occasionally used in China .

a local outbreak in the district of P‘u-ch ‘eng

,

where a band of budmashes under the leadership o f a

man heretofore .

—N . C. H era/a’,2 5 ffe OCR,

1 877.

BUGIS,THE. A race of people from the southern part

o f the island o f Celebes,now found as colonists in Perak .

They are distinct from the Malays in point of language

and in intel l igence,though very simi lar in appearance .

BUKIT . A Malay word meaning hil l or mountain,commonly

occurring in names of places .

BUND . The common term in China for a quay,such as

those along the banks o f the Seine in Pari s,less the

parapet . The part alone o f the onna’ at Shanghai whichfronts the British Settlement is some 3,500 feet in lengthby sixty-five in breadth . I s the same Persian word which

appears in a n fneronna’

(on ) , and is common all over

India .

BUNDER . Any startl ing story or rumour which turns out

to be untrue . From énna’ (on ) . French,

oanara’. A

volume o f “ Bunders”

was published some years ago in

Shanghai , containing several amusing skits upon localcelebrities

,i ts forthcoming appearance being heralded by

an “ express — THE BUNDERS ARE COMING !


The ponies for hire on the bund at Tientsin are also

called énna’er s .

Bunder (Pers . oana’ar ) i s used in H industani for a

“ port

Cf. the Bombay terms “bunder boat and “Apollo Bunder .

BUNGALOW . From the H indi onngala . S trictly speakinga one -storeyed

,thatched house

,generally surrounded by

a verandah . Also said to be derived from Bengal .BUR IAT MONGOLS : fli fij fi zfi . A tribe of Mongols

subj ect to Russia .

BURLINGAME MISS ION . A Chinese Embassy to foreignStates i n 1 86 9 , under the leadership o f W fit aMr . AnsonBurl ingame

,then American Minister at Peking

,as chief

Ambassador,with Mr . McLeavy Brown , then of H .M .

Consular Service,as Secretary o f Legation and interpreter

to the mission;the other important members being tw o

associate Chinese Envoys,Sun and Chih

,both men o f a

certain rank and posit ion . This embassy is commonly

supposed to have been sent to Europe and America tobring to the notice of governments China ’s right

,as an

independent power,t o manage her internal affairs without

undue interference from outside . I t was then that Mr .

Burl ingame spoke o f China as longing only to cement

friendly relations with foreign countries,and declared

,i n

a now celebrated phrase,that with in some few short

years we should be gratified by the sight of “ a shin ing“ cross on every hill i n the Middle Kingdom . But Mr .

Burl ingame himself knew nothing o f the Chinese language;hence probably the allusion in I nman

’

s Ancient Fair/i s

(I . 2 -“ as completely as we should disbel ieve a man

,

“who,call ing himsel f ambassador plenipotent iary from China

“ to Britain,brings credentials written in English

,and only

“ speaks our mother tongue .


BURNING o r THE BOOKS . The F irst Emperor of theCh ‘ in (fl) dynasty issued instructions , at the suggestiono f hi s prime min ister , that al l records o f previous dynasties

and all copies o f al l existing books,with the exception of

such as treated o f medicine,div ination

,and husbandry

,

should be forthwith burned . The advice was given partly

out of flattery to the Emperor from whose reign l iteraturewould take a fresh start

,and partly with a vi ew of

strengthening the recently-establ ished dynasty o f Ch ‘ in .

At any rate it w as immediately put into force as law,

about BC . 2 1 2 ;and subsequently several hundred scholarswere buried alive for their disobedience in conceal ingforbidden volumes . Thus perished many valuable works

,

and it was only by accident that the prohibited portions

o f the Chinese Classics , hidden away by devoted enthusiasts ,

were subsequently discovered and preserved for future ages .

A second Burn ing o f the Books was perpetrated by

75 fi‘ the Emperor Y iian of the Liang dynasty

,A.D .

55 2—555 , w ho i s said to have destroyed one hundred

and forty thousand volumes of ancient and modern works .

BUSS . Stop ! Can do ! etc . Used in the Straits and in India .

From the Persian oas .

BUTTONS : IE or ini t . The knobs adopted by the

Manchu dynasty to indicate rank and worn at the top

o f the official hat . They are

1 . Transparent red button— ruby;fo r half dress , coral .

2 . Opaque red button— coral;for ful l dress “ flowered“ coral .

3. Transparent blue button— sapphire .

4 . Opaque do . do . lapis lazul i .

5 . Transparent white do .

—crystal .

6 . Opaque do . do .

—stone .


Gem of the orient earth and open sea,Macao ! tha t in thy lap and on thy breas tHast gathered beau ties all the lovelies tWhich the sun smiles on in his maj es ty .

B ow r ing.

Patané ! lieu charmant e t s i cher au poete,

Je n’

oublirai j amais ton il lus tre re traite,

Ici Camoens au bruit ‘

du flo t re ten tissan tMéla l’accord plain tif de son luth gémissan t .

Anonymous .

And one in Chinese :

"3

55“ Surpassing o thers in genius andv irtue

,because o f j ealousy he

j ? g suffered ev il .”

R AJ L 5

“To commemorate his marvellouspoetry and h is noble charac

m ter,

this s tone is now p ut

up .

CAMPO,THE . The foreign settlement at N ingpo is so

called,the term being a corruption o f

‘

il iflj K ong p o

(l ocal pronunciation) north o f river,i .e . the north bank

o f the river on which the foreign houses stand .

CAMPOI: fi fi fl care fully fired,

or selected for fir ing .

A selected variety of Congou tea . From the Cantonesepronunciation o f the above two characters .

CAMPONG . A Malay word meaning enclosur e . Generally

used for a village .

CANDAREEN : The hundredth part of an ounce of

pure si lver . From the Malayan K ena’er i

,which is one

eighth of a w ang and is represented in weight by a bean

o f the Aér as p r eeaz‘or ins .

CANDLES : mfi k’éfi. Were first used in China in the 4th

cent . A .D .

A GLOSSAKY OF REFERENCE 33

CANFU : fi ffi . The old port o f Hangchow,visited by

tw o Arabian travellers in the 9th century , and by MarcoP010 in 1 2 90 ,

but now washed away or submerged .

An attempt however has been made to discredit this

identification in favour o f Canton,through the Chi nese

Kuang-Cfiow Fa .

CANGO . See Kago .

CANGUE . The heavy square wooden collar— necktie 7k

a 4? as the Chinese humorously call it —worn by criminals

for such offences as petty larceny , etc . I ts maximum weight

is regulated by law,as also the l imit o f time for which

it may be imposed . I t is generally taken o ff at night;but during the day the wearer must be fed by friends

,

not being able to reach his mouth h imself.

From the Portuguese canga ,yoke .

CANTON . A corruption o f Kuang-tung Em,from the

Portuguese method o f writing it— Rarn ton . The capital

ci ty o f the province of Kuang-tung,said to date back to

the fourth century B C. F irst vi sited by the British in1 637, but not formally opened to trade unti l 1 842 ,

under

the Treaty o f Nanking . The Portuguese had arrived a

century earl ier they were followed by the Dutch,

but by the end o f the 1 7th century the trade w as almost

entirely in the hands of British merchants . Canton was

captured by the al l ied forces o f England and France inDecember 1 857, and was held for about four years . The

city wall dates from the r 1 th century,and has a circuit

of somewhat over six miles .

CAPITALS OF CH INA under the various dynasties .Ch ‘ in

, B C. 2 49 ,at at}; Hsien -yang in Shensi .

W . Han,

200, E fi ' Ch ‘ang-an

E . Han,A.D . 2 5 , Lo -yang


Chin,A.D . 2 80

,at 7% Lo -yang in Honan .

E . Chin 31 7, E Chien-yeh Kiangsu .

Sui, 582 , E f

‘ Ch ‘ang-an Shensi .T ‘ang

, 904 , ifi Lo-yang Honan .

960 ,Pien - l iang

Sung,

1 1 2 9 , Eff, f ‘ Lin-an Chehklang.

Yuan,

1 2 80,

“

it fit Yen -ching Chihl i .

1 368, g 5 1 Nan-ching Kiangsu .

1 403, i t: i Pei -ching Chihl i .

[S ince 1 403 the capital has been Peking , in spite o f

Ming,

the change o f dynasty ]CAPITAN E? M‘fl . Malay corruption o f the word

“ captain,

the sounds o f which are imitated by the

Chinese .

CAPOOR CUTCHERYfi

fi or : a?‘

tfi or if;A root found in Fuhkien and Ssuch ‘uan , and powderedfor making plasters . The Indian name means “ root of

camphor .

CARAMBOLA : 55. f? “3: vulgarly known as g (or 3150195The curious p olyagonal

“ Canton gooseberry” i s so called .

CARDS,PLAY I NG : REM . Are of various kinds

,with

many varieties in the method of playing . I n Peking,the

ordinary pack consists o f 1 60 cards . They are about

X inches in size,and have black backs so as not to

show the dirt . The date o f thei r invention is not known .

CARDS,VIS ITING : Fe . As used in China by men

only,are oblong pieces of red paper

,about 5 inches in

length,inscribed with the name and surname of the

owner . On the back,there i s often an inscription in small

characters,stating that the card is only for ceremonial

purposes,meaning that it may no t be used as a receipt

for letters or money,

o r i n ev idence of any business

A CLOSSAR 1/ OF REFERENCE 35

transaction . Han -l i n scholars of no t less than three years’

standing are permitted as a mark o f distinct ion to use

larger-sized cards,inscribed with proportionately larger

characters written down the middle o f the paper;but o f

late years it has been customary for the high authorities

to use these in their intercourse with foreign officials .

During the period o f 2 7 months mourning foraparent ,either the colour o f the card is changed to l ight brown , or

the characters E g“with a clod (for a pil low),

‘

o r $0“ statute

,are added to the name . S imilarly

,

‘ during the

year ’s mourning fo r a grandfather or a brother, 33] (read

Cki) is used;and dur ing the lesser period of 5 and 3months

,the character y} ;but i n these cases the colour

i s not changed . When visiting at houses where festivity

i s the order o f the day,the mourner

,in deference to his

friends ’ feelings,substitutes fl you in your joy,

for the characters above mentioned .

The form of v i siting-card used between officials of the

same o r similar rank is called a E $35;as handed by

an inferior to a superior,a

-EFZ1K. This latter is in effect

a petition,stating the rank and titles o f the petitioner .

Red paper was first used under the Ming dynasty,when

the famous eunuch QUE Liu Chin (a’. A.D . 1 5 1 0) was

at the head o f the government;before that time the

paper was white .

Women,instead of putting the surnames o f the husband

on their visiting-cards,use the name of the family district .

Thus flM W R l%fl “Mrs . Y ing-chou,ne

'

e Ho,

presents her compliments” would be understood by everybody to mean Mrs .[Q Ch ‘en , Y ing-chou being the original

home o f the Ch ‘en family .

CASH : Fancy names EVE,Tfbj i t Fill etc . From

36 A GLOSSARY OF REFERENCE

caixa,the Portuguese name for the tin coin found at Malacca

in 1 5 1 1 and brought there from the Malabar coast . Cf.

Sanskrit kar sfia . [93U? i s said to be a Manchu term for

cash ] Now used of the only“

coin cast i n China,one

thousand o f which were originally equal to one tael or

Chinese ounce o f si lver . Each cash has a square hole i nthe middle for convenience in carrying a large quantity;hence the expression “ strings o f cash . Hence

,to o

,the

j en -a’e-mots that a man should resemble a cash and be

his"(or fi r onna

’ in a’isfios ition squar e in aci ion

,

or,by reading the first character g — then

,r onna

’ in

s/cape,conven ient f or use .

Rare specimens are frequently worn as charms bychildren and even by adul ts .

Copper cash seem to have been first coined in B C.

1 36 , previous to which time pearl -oyster shells (old

form resembl ing an open shell) were used l ike cowries .

Some authori ties date the coinage o f cash as far back

as the Emperor E;Ching of the Chou dynasty , B C. 544 .

CAT,THE : 3g in iao .

. Cats,which are not mentioned in

the Bible,are referred to in the Oa’es (on ) . The character

i s said to be so written because rats inj ure cereal sprouts

(7n iao H) and cats catch rats ! Dead cats are no t buried ,

but hung on trees . A cat washing its face portends the

arrival o f a stranger . Its nose is always cold,except o n the

day of the summer solstice . Kittens have great di fficulty

in surviving the s th day o f the s th moon . Directions

are often given in almanacs for tel l ing the time by cats ’

eyes , which have been observed to change between morningand night .

CATALOGUE OF THE IMPER IAL LIBRARY : DHEé figE . A descriptive Catalogue of the books in


the Imperial collection at Peking,publ ished in 1 782 by

order of the Emperor Ch ‘ ien Lung . The works are

arranged under four heads as Classics,History

,Philosophy

,

and Belles Lettres,in zoo sections .

CATECHU . See Culen.

CATHAY . China . Said to be a Persian corruption of

flf } ,i .e . the Kitans who ruled northern China from

A.D . 1 1 1 8 to 1 2 35 undergthe name of the Q fill Golden

Dynasty,and were so called from their tattooing . Marco

Polo always speaks of China as Kitai,and Tennyson

writes— “ Better fifty years of Europe than a cycle o f

“ Cathay . I n reference to which i t has,however

,been

somewhat waggishly remarked that a Chinese cycle consists

o f only 60 years .

CATTY : fibor H‘

. The Chinese pound= 11

/3 16 . avoirdupois,

is so called . Catty,o r kale

,i s a Malayan word for the

Chinese pound . N .B. Although the decimal system otherwise

prevails throughout the Chinese weights and measures,

the catty or 15 . i s,as with us

,divided i nto 1 6 parts .

CAVAN or CABAN . A grain measure used in the Phil ippine

I slands= 3.47 cubic feet .

CELESTIAL EMPIRE . A common name for China,taken

probably from the phrase f $5 Heavenly Dynasty , whichhas been for many centuries in use amongst the Chinese

themselves . Under the Han dynasty,China w as often

called 36g “Heavenly Han; and generally speaking ,the epithet i s a favouri te one with the Chinese .

CENSOR : fffl] Q 07 figfé‘

fi . A member o f the Censorate

fillg lg?“ which i s a body of men stationed at Pek ing

under two presidents,one Chinese and the other Manchu ,

the officers of which are sent to various parts o f the

empire as Imperial inspectors . They are priv ileged to


censure the Emperor for any act which they consideril legal

,extravagant or unjust

,without risk of losing their

l ives,though they are sometimes degraded for unpalatable

adv ice . Also called “ the ears and eyes of the Emperor

E B ?CENSUS

,THE . I s an old-establi shed institution in China

,

but i s taken in a very irregular manner both as to timeand method . House-t ickets are served out to the head

of every household in each ward,and he is responsible

for the return of all inmates,including lodgers;but as there

is no fixed day on which these t ickets are returnable,the

results are approximate rather than exact . The population

o f China has been recorded as fol lows :

By Pere Amiot in

Lord Macartney,

Official CensusSacharoff

CENT . The hundredth part o f a dollar . From the Latineenz

‘mn a hundred . Written ff;ER? or fill at Hongkong

5 at Amoy , TJ‘

at Foochow;at Shanghai 53“

CENTIPEDES : ‘kfi Ski} . Are common in most parts o f China,

and especially i n the south -western prov inces . They are

much used in medicine,the “j u ice ” of a centipede being

said to be good for thrush . Chickens eat them readily;hence probably the popular notion that the sal iva of a

fowl is a cure for centipede bites .

CHA -NO -YU or Hot Water Tea . An elaborate ceremonial

in connection with tea-drinking among pol itical or l iterary

friends,practi sed in Japan at least since the early part

of the 1 s th cent .,according to fixed rules and “ in puri ty

,

“ peacefulness,reverence

,and abstraction .

CHAAM FA : g 732. Cocoons produced from eggs which


“Ten Dollars who shal l utter Shouts or Cries or make“ other Noises while playing the Game known as Cnai“M a i

,between the Hours o f 1 1 P.M . and 6 A.M .

,with in

“ any District or Place not permitted by some Regulation“o f the Governor in Counci l — H ong,éong Ordinance

,

No . 2 o f 1 872 .

a . F irst on the l ist at the three great publ ic examinations .e. Alluding to the

'

five sons of Tou Yen -shan w ho all

took high degrees .

e . The six cardinal points;— north , south , east , west ,above

,and below .

a’. The seven pieces o f the Chinese puzzle .

e . The eight Immortals of the Taoist religion .

f . it, n ine here stands fo r A long,i n the sense of a

long li fe .

CHA IRS (SEDAN) : 35 . The Emperor alone is entitledto employ 1 6 bearers fo r carrying his chair;a prince o f

the blood 8 , the highest provincial authori t ies also 8, a

privi lege o f which,however

,they never avail themselves

except on occasions o f religious or state ceremonial , all

other officials down to a Prefect 4 ,including a District

Magistrate,if in office

,but not i f merely expectant;below

thi s grade 2 . A bridal chair is red;that o f all offi cials

down to and inclusive o f the Commissioners o f Justice,

F inance,and the Salt Gabelle (E —

green;belowthis

,blue

,with sl ight variations o f detail . A Tao t ‘ai

’

s

chair would strictly speaking be blue;but he usually has

brevet rank as Commissioner o f Justice,on the strength

o f which he changes the colour to green . Foreign Consulsin China use green chairs

,as being the highest local

officials o f their particular national ity,and by Treaty o f

equal rank with Tao t ‘ais . Chinese etiquette makes i t

A GLOSSAK Y OF REFERENCE 4 :

necessary to get out o f a chair to speak with a passing

acquaintance . When two or more officials travel together,

the highest i n rank takes the foremost chair;were they

on horseback the same official would be the second o f

the fi le,a servant always riding in front to clear the w ay.

Within the city o f Peking,only princes o f the blood and

some o f the highest officials are permitted to use chairs .

CHAM . A mediaeval corrup tion of [( kan (W 551: or

the title Great Cfiam o f Tartary having been first appl ied

to Genghis Khan (go ). Dr . Johnson was spoken o f

by Smollett as that “grim Cham of l iterature . Has

occasional ly been wri tten Gfiane .

CHAMBER OF HORRORS : imfi or [321 Ffi — purgatory .

That section of every municipal temple (fig[lgE ) whichcontains models o f sinners undergoing the various punish

ments o f the Taoist-Buddhist purgatory . The term is a

fanciful one,in imitation o f the celebrated Chamber at

Madame Tussaud ’s wax-work exhibition . Fo r a full account

o f the ten courts into which it is divided,with a description

of the tortures therein infl icted,see Appendix to Sinange

Stor ies f r om a Ckinese Staa’io .

CHANDOO . (Malay ) Opium prepared for smoking .

CHANG : Bt . A Chinese measure=to 1 4 1 English inches .

CHANGES,BOOK OF : 455fig. Contains a fanciful system

o f philosophy deduced from the combinations o f the

E ight Diagrams (go ) . Possibly composed BC . 1 1 50 by

5C};W en Wang . I s one of the F ive Classics (go ) ,the text consisting of sixty -four short essays

,enigmatically

and symbolical ly expressed,on important themes

,mostly

of a moral,social

,and pol i tical character

,and based upon

the same number of l ineal figures,each made up of s ix

l ines,some o f which are whole and the others div ided .


The text is fol lowed by commentaries,called the Ten

W ings , probably o f a later date and commonly ascribed

to Confucius,w ho declared that were a hundred years

added to his l ife he would devote fifty to a study o f

the Yifi -Ring .

The following is a specimen

Tex t . The first l ine,divided

,shows one moving his

great toes .

The fifth line,undivided

,shows one moving the flesh

along the spine above the heart . There wil l be no occasionfor repentance .

W ing. He moves his great toes — his mind is se t on

what is beyond himself.

He moves the flesh along the spine above the heart;— his aim is trivial .

CHARACTERS,CHINESE : Since the reign o f the

F i rst Emperor, grd cent . B .C .;before that time o r a

They are symbols of ideas,abstract and concrete . They

are neither agglutinative nor inflexional,but vary in

grammatical value as verb,substantive

,or adj ective

,with

their position in the sentence . K ‘ang Hsi’

s (go ) lexicon

includes more than separate characters,the origin

o f which appears to have been thisA few simple shapes of visible objects were followed

up by others more or less easy to be identified,unti l the

impossibil ities of a whol ly pictorial language gave place

to the phonetic system upon which the present characters

are based . Thus,the ancient Chinese drew a rude picture

to represent the sound by which they designated a horse,

v iz : I% ma . But with a very l imited number o f vocables

it fol lowed that the sound ma,with differences of intonati on

,

did duty i n the spoken language for other ideas , as ma

A CLOSSAR Y OF REFERENCE 43

mother,ma agate

,ma a locust

,7na prawns

,ma to curse

,

7na the head o f a bed,etc . By the phonetic System

,the

Chinese wrote down each o f the above as 7na horse,and

then added a distinguishing symbol o n the left,now known

as the r adical [go ] . The new combinations formed would

read thus : 115 Woman -horse=mo ther;ffi jade-horse=agate;

flfi insect-horse z locust;$5 fish-horse z z

p raw ns;Hfi mouth

horse=to curse;1‘%wood-horse=head o f a bed . I n many

cases these composite cliaracters became the phonetics

of other sets of characters,distinguished in like manner

by appropriate radicals;besides which there i s a small

class of so -called “ ideographic characters,where the

sense of the component parts yields the sense of the

whole;e .g.

, 7k a tree , fit a forest , and a dense , obscure;western -nation -man

,so. Buddha . See Seal Cfiaraeter .

CHARPOY . A bed . Term used in India and the Strai ts .

From the Persian Cli ifiar -p ai four-footed .

CHAYA . A Japanese tea house .

CHEE -CHEES . Anglo- Indian term of contempt forEurasians .From a native expression o f disgust .

CHEFOO : g i o r Z fit £115 . A small headland on the

coast of the Shantung province,which has given its name

to the celebrated watering-place and sanitarium o f China;though as the foreign settlement l ies close to the hi ll

and village of Yen -t ‘ai (mé — Smoke Terrace) , thiswould be its more appropriate designation . Was occupied

instead o f fi ”1 Teng-chou,which was opened to trade

by Treaty of Tientsin 1 858 but possessed no suitable

harbour .

CHEFOO AGREEMENT,THE . A stil l unratified settle

ment of the Yunnan outrage (go ) arranged at Chefoobetween S ir Thomas W

'

ade , and HE . the Grand

44 A GEOSSAR 1/ OF REFERENCE

Secretary,Li Hung-chang

,in September 1 867. Popularly

known as the Chefoo Conven tion .

CHEHKIANG : fill o r fit?“

LI — crooked river . One of theE ighteen Provinces . So called from the C/zé r iver whichtraverses its southern part . Capital city Hang-Chou Fu

H1JET. O ld nameCHE IROMANCY . See Palmistry .

CHEMULPO : 4%fl. A port in Korea opened to trade

by Treaty o f 2 6th November 1 883.

CHESS . Has been known to the Chinese for many centuries

under a form no t very unlike our ow n game . The board

has 64 squares , i s played with 1 6 men on each side,

the tw o at the corners having equal power,and the next

two (called li or ses) having a move equivalent to that

o f our knight . The chief differences are that the Chinese

adversaries are separated by a river over which somepieces cannot pass

,while the “King is confined to a

square o f nine moves only;and that the pieces are placed

upon the intersections of the l ines forming the board,

i nstead of on the squares .

CHETTIES . The usurers or money- lending section of the

Klings

CH ‘ I . See D octr ine of tfie Cfi ‘ i .

CH ‘ IEN : fi . ( 1 ) A mace,or tenth part of a Chinese

ounce . (2) Cask;money .

CH ‘ IEN LUNG : Eff.Fé — enduring glory . The style o f reign

adopted by the great Emperor who ruled China from1 736 to 1 796 . Fourth of the present or Manchu dynasty .

Received Lord Macartney ’s embassy 1 794 . Same as theKien Long mentioned in De Quincey

’s magnificent essay—The Revolt of the Tartars— and elsewhere .

CH ‘ IEN -LUNG :5

5? —cash dragon . The harmless hundred


“ legs,

so common in northern China;not to be confounded

with the centipede Elli} . Called “ cash dragon by the

Chinese,because supposed to resemble a string of cash

,

and therefore regarded as rather an auspicious visitor .

CH IH -FU on CHE -FOO : 931 Eff — no who administers the

f a or prefecture . The Prefect . [See Fa ] Has the generalsupervision of the civi l business in his own prefecture .

CH IH -HS IEN,CH I -HEEN

, :or CHEHIEN : 931 fi — he w ho

admin isters the Es ien or District . The District Magistrate .

Famil iarly called the “ father and mother” o f the people,

(in common with Prefects), because o f his close relations

with them . I s responsible for the peace and order o f his

D istrict . Has summary jurisdiction in civ il and criminal

cases;and as Coroner is bound to hold an inquest in

al l i nstances o f death under unusual circumstances . I s

directly subordinate to the Prefect [see CAM-f a ];sometimes‘

to the Magistrate o f an Independent Department . All

transfers o f l and must be stamped with his seal .

CH IHLI : E fi — direct rule . The most important o f the

Ezgfi teen Provinces . So called because from this province

(i .e . from Peking) emanates the supreme power which

governs the empire . Capital c ity Pao-t ing Fu fi fi if}O ld name E

CH IKAMATSU,MONZAYEMON . The Japanese Shake

speare,A.D . 1 653

— 1 724,said to have been a priest in

early l i fe . The selected edition o f his works contains fifty-one

plays,almost al l o f five acts;and he rivalled the fame of

Lo p e da Vega by composing an entire play in a single n ight .

CH ‘ I LI N . See K i/in .

CHIN -CHIN . A corruption o f the Chinese Salutation a?cfi ‘ ing ek ‘ ing,

which answers to our good -bye,presents

compliments,etc . To “ ch in-chin Joss” i s to perform


religious worship of any kind . The Chinese,however

,

regard the expression as purely foreign,and are quite

unaware that i t is a mere imitation o f their own term .

CH IN -SHIH : i‘

E i — the entering scholar . Graduate o f the

third or doctor’s degree

,the examination for which is held

once in every three years at Peking,whither intending

candidates proceed from all parts of the empire . Only cfi i'i -j en

(av ), who have not already taken office , are allowed to

compete . This degree was establ ished in the year A.D . 606,

under the reign of the first Emperor of the Sui dynasty .

CHIN -WANG-TAO or CH ‘ I N -HUANG-TAOA Treaty Port in the Gulf of Peichil i

,between the mouth

o f the Peiho and Shan -hai Kuan .

CH INA . The Chinese themselves have no term for the ircountry which can be identified with th is word . I t may

possibly be derived from the name o f a dynasty— Ch ‘ in or

Ts ‘ in fi — which flourished B .C. 2 55— 207, and became

widely known in I ndia , Persia , and other Asiatic countr ies ,the final a being added by the Portuguese . Chinese

Buddhists write the Indian name i 335 Cote—m ;also

E E CEén -tan,the last syllable being intended for the

’

Sanskrit s tan a country . This word,i n the sense of

fashionably pronounced in England duringthe 1 8th cent . as Chaney .

CHINA CLAY . A fine white potter ’s clay,known to the

Chinese as Rao tin (av ), derived from the felspar of

disintegrated granitic rocks and used in the manufacture

of porcelain by the Chinese .

CH INA CONSUL,THE . The Magistrate o f the Mixed

Court (av ) at Shanghai is so called , being often addressedas “ Consul in Open Court . He is actually so styled

in the H u-fiao o f 1 2 July 1 884 .


junction of the Grand Canal and Yang-tsze . Opened byTientsin Treaty 1 858 . Was captured by the British forces

in 1 842 ,and by the T ‘ai -p ‘ ing rebels in 1 853, from whom

it was retaken in 1 857. I t i s sometimes called“

51“

E]

Mouth o f the Capital,i n al lusion to the tribute rice which

was formerly sent V ia Chinkiang up the Grand Canal

to Peking .

CH IT . From the Hindi word cki ttfii a letter,specially used

o f l etters of recommendation given to servants . Used in

China for all kinds o f letters,notes

,penci l scraps

,I . O . U

’

S,

etc .,etc .

CH IT-BOOK . The book which in China invariably accom

p anie s letters or parcels sent,i n order that the receiver

may sign hi s in itials against the entry relating to h imself,

as a proof to the sender o f due del ivery .

CHO : HIT. A Japanese measure equal to 60 ken (av ) o r

360 feet Engl ish . Also,land measure of tsaoo (av) .

CHOGOLGAN . A league o r association of Mongols .

CHON NOOKEE . See yon -nuke.

CHoo HE or CHU -FU-TZU : g ift . The great critic,

historian,poet

,and commentator on the Chinese Classics

,

A.D . 1 1 30— 1 200 . His is the system o f i nterpretation

which obtains at the present day,i ts secret being nothing

more than uniformity o f exegesis . He refused to interpret

the same combination in various ways merely to suit the

supposed exigencies o f the text . I t i s related that after

death his coffin was seen suspended in the air,three feet

from the ground,unti l at length his son -in-law approached

,

and kneel ing down cried out“Master ' the holy doctrine

“o f Confucius should be paramount (96 3

: a la 35 5“

fi fi g );implying that supernatural manifestations i l lbefit ted a disciple o f the materiali stic Sage . The coffin


then descended,and resumed its original position . See

CHOP : or f? i f . A mark,number

,o r brand . Hence

a cfiofi o f tea means a certain number of chests of tea

all bearing the same brand . A trade-mark o r trade-name,

imitation of which is no t allowed in China,the rule being

now extended to the trade -marks o f foreign merchants .

Anything is said to be fir s t cfiop when i t is o f first-rate

quali ty .

“ But oh,you should se e her ladyship ’s behaviour

“on her fi r s t-Mop dinner-parties , when Lord and Lady

“Longears come . TEacReray . Put your c/i op on itz p ut

your seal o r stamp on i t . Also see B argain Cfiop ,

Secur ity Gfiop ,etc .

Said to be derived from the Cantonese pronunciation o f

£9] to puncture . But c/i fia’

p na' i s the H indi verb fo r

“to stamp . Thus

,cka

’

fia’

fefia’

na i s “ a printing-o ffice .

CHOP . A hulk,in which in the old days foreigners used

to reside .

“The Austral ian mai l steamer B r isOane,which has

“ been anchored a l ittle westward o f the Police C/zop ,in

“getting up her anchor last even ing to leave the port,

“ found i t foul o f the chop moorings . ” Hongkong D a ily

Pr ess, 9 Oct . 1 877.

CHOP,THE GRAND :flg or Hw . The port clearance

granted by the Chinese Customs when all duties have

been paid is so called,because formerly i t was the most

important o f the cfiop s (av ) known to foreigners . I t i s ,l iteral ly

,r ea

’ chop,from the large vermil ion official seal

upon i t;and th is name is sometimes used by merchant

captains and others .

CHOP-BOATS :E M £35 . Lighters or cargo -boats . Literally,“water-melon boats

,from the resemblance o f the roof


to half a water-melon . The last character i s sometimes

wrongly written aCHOP CHOP . The fi ia

’

gin equivalent o f “make haste .

From the Cantonese pronunciation o f fi g fi z— cup cup ,

“ quick,quick !

CHOP-DOLLAR . A dollar chopped or stamped with a

private mark as a guarantee of its genuineness . Many

doll ars are quite defaced by the repetit ion of this process;hence the phrase cfiop a

’ottar face for a man deeply

pitted with small -pox . A stand has recently been made

in Hongkong against this practice which is confined to

Chinese firms in the south o f China only . Sometimesthese dollars are chopped unti l the middle is broken out

,

leaving a large hole . They are then called “ spectacle

dollars .

CHOP-HOUSES . Customs'

stations between Whampoa and

Canton were formerly so called,from the chops o r seals

there used .

CHOP -STICKS : Ht —T-_hasteners . Vulgarly written 5’s

.

I n the book- language or $5 “ helpers .” The bamboo

or ivory sticks which take the place of knives and forksamong the Chinese . The native term has been absurdly

rendered “ nimble lads,from a misconception o f the value

o f the second character . I t i s said by g g Lij a former

Minister of State,to have been substi tuted for which

has the same sound and tone as fif to remain , and i saccordingly an inauspicious word for travellers and othersw ho would rather “ hasten ” home .

CHOSEN : The Japanese-English transli teration ofthe two characters which form the Chinese official name

o f Korea (av) .

CHOTA HAZR I . The “small breakfast

,or the early tea

A GLOSSARY OF REFERENCE 5 1

and toast . Recently extended to 1 2 o ’clock breakfast,as

commonly taken in China . Corrupted form o f the Hindi

c/z/coti fzazr i .

CHOU HAN : E g . A native of Hunan,who has

distinguished himself of late years by leading a v i olentcrusade against foreign missionaries i n China

,coupled with

the publ ication o f much disgusting anti -foreign literature .

CHOW or CHOU : fl. A ?“Celebrated dynasty which lasted

from B C . 1 1 2 2 to B C . 2 55 . The C/zozv te fiigfi ,or

“ Chow R i tual,an elaborate detai l of the various officers

o f the Chow dynasty with their respective duties,i s

assigned to this period .

CHOW or CHOW -CHOW . Food o f any kind . Pidgin

term invented by Europeans probably in im itation o f

Chinese sounds . A cfiow -cfiow amah is a wet nurse . To

“ chow-chow Joss” i s a phrase which il lustrates both the

adaptabi lity and the undesirabil i ty of pidgin -Engl ish as ameans o f communication with the Chinese .

CHOVV-CHOW . A preserve in syrup,made up o f odds

and ends of orange-peel,ginger

,pumelo -rind

,and leavings

generally from the preparation o f other preserves . Hence

cfiow -cfiozo pickle,which means nothing more than “mis

cellaneous o r“ assorted .

CHOW -CHOW (of cargo). Miscellaneous , as opposed to

staples . “ He’

s a cfiovv-ekow man”=a dealer in al l kinds

o f goods,such as matches

,musical-boxes

,photographs

,

etc .

,etc .

CHOW -CHOVV WATER . Same as our nautical term race .

An overfal l o f water produced by strong currents dangerousto smal l boats . Also used o f eddying water . Origin ofphrase unknown .

CHOW FAH .

“ Celestial Prince . The child of a king o f


S iam by a wife who w as herself the daughter o f a king .

Children by o ther mothers are Pfir aong Cfiozvs . Daughters

o f princes are M auni Cfiozvs .

CH ‘OVV-FANG : fi lby— take measures fo r defence . The“ defence tax .

" Originally known as H ui-fang M— j oin

in defending . Was first imposed,in the shape o f a

voluntary capitation tax,for the recovery o f the city o f

Soochow,taken by the T ‘aip ‘ ing rebels May 1 860;and

subsequently continued,under its changed name

,as a

tax Upon inland trade,chiefly in the neighbourhood o f

ShanghaiCHOWRY : E E or E j : m. From a H indi word meaningfly-brush . Special ly appl ied to the Buddhistic emblem ,

which is generally a yak ’s tai l and is commonly use d in

China as a fly-flap p er mfllfi . The'

chowry,under the

Chin jg dynasty , was the distinguishing mark of a great

conversationist .

CHRONOLOGY,CHINESE . Begins

,according to the

historian Ssr’I-ma Ch ‘ ien , with the Yellow Emperor , B C.

2 697;but B .C. may be roughly fixed upon as the

earl iest date of which there remains any satisfactory record .

CHRYSANTHEMUM : 776 16 Has been a favourite flower

in China for many centuries,though without any special

significance . The Imperial badge o f Japan was long

regarded as a sixteen -petalled chrysanthemum;Mr . Haite,however

,has recently shown that th is so -called flower

is really a device representing the sun .

CHRYSE. A term vaguely appl ied by Ptolemy to the

border regions o f Indo -China .

Col . Yule says “ Chryse i s a l iteral version o f the“Sanskrit Suvarnabhumi

,o r Golden Land

,appl ied in

“anclent I ndia to Indo -Chinese regions .

A GEOSSAR Y OF REFERENCE 53

CHU HS I . See Cfioo H e.

CHUANG YUAN : lik jT

U. The first on the l ist at the

final contest for admission to the Han -l in Academy (av )between candidates successful at the great triennial

examination for the e/t in-sfi i/i or doctor'

s degree . This

examination is called Bfi”

git ,because held within the

palace at Peking;and the position o f a cfiuang yuan may

be compared with that o f a Senior Wrangler,as being

the first man of his year . I t was instituted under the

Empress who ruled China from A.D . 684 to 705 , when

the ti tle of the first candidate w as also 5k EE .

CHU—JEN ;aA— the raised man . A graduate o f the

second or master’

s degree,the examination for which is

held trienn ial ly at al l the provincial capitals . F irst createdunder the T ‘ang dynasty

,during the reign o f the Emperor

i t T ‘ai Tsung,A.D . 6 2 7

— 650 . The name , however ,goes back as far as the Han dynasty .

CH ‘UN CH ‘ IU . See Spr ing ana’ Autumn Annals .

CHUNAM . A Sanskri t word meaning time . A mixture o f

l ime,oil

,and sand

,used in China for paving yards

,

paths,racquet courts

,etc .

CHUSAN : F} Lil— boat island . So called because it was

thought to resemble a boat . Occupied by the Britishforces in 1 842 . Lies o ff the mouth of the Ningpo river .

Towards the end o f the 1 7th century theEast I ndia Companyestabl ished a factory here

,but met with no commercial

success,and abandoned i t only a few years afterwards .

CHUTNEY . A Hindi word (chatn i), meaning a kind o f

pickle .

CLANS (Chinese) : or $ fifié. Hamlets,villages

,and

sometimes even country towns,are inhabited by people o f

one common surname and ancestry,forming a tribe o r clan .


CLASS ICS,THE . A term which i s appl ied by foreigners

to what would be more appropriately called the Sacr ed

B ooks o f China (se e Four B ooks and Cfi ing). These

were dil igently sought out and recovered some few years

after the Burning o f the Books (av ) , and were formed

into a Canon,the whole being engraved on 46 tablets o f

stone under the superintendence of a scholar and statesman

named Ts ‘ai Yung about A.D . 1 72 . See Pr in ting.

CLEPSYDRA,THE : E (E . A water-clock or arrangement

o f several water-j ars,the regulated leakage from which

is shown upon a bamboo index . This method o f keeping

the time seems to have been known at a very early

date;the term however does no t occur in l iterature unti l

about B C. 1 00 .

CLO ISONNE. The French term for enamel (av );so called

because o f the cloisons o r partiti ons o f metal by which

the colours are divided .

COCHIN CH INA . ( I). This country w as,under the Han

Dynasty,subject to China

,and constituted the 38Ell:

(or 51k) £13, which name , as pronounced in Canton— Kau

chi— seems to represent with sufficient accuracy the modern

Cocfiin . See K iao-tcki .

From Kow cfiin 71. fi a name for Annam and

Cambodia .

COCK,THE . I s highly esteemed by the Chinese as possessing

five excellent qual ifications . He wears a hat (comb) l ike

a civ il ian;he wears spurs l ike a soldier;he is brave infight;he is chivalrous towards his hens;and he is

faithful i n announcing the dawn .

COCK -F IGHTING : Was practised i n China some

five hundred years B.C .

COCOON : Has been derived from the Latin coccum,

56 A GEOSSAR Y OF REFERENCE

black clothes . Official underlings are cal led the “ black

band . Dev i ls are always depicted with black faces .

Dragon-boats (av ) are of all colours except black . Op lum

is cal led “ black dirt,and “

to be stained black is to

be addicted to the pipe .

comMANDMENTs ,THE TEN : +fl§ (Buddhist).

1 . Thou shalt not take li fe .

2 . steal .

3 commit adultery .

4 l ie .

5 drink wine .

6 . recl ine on fine couches .

7 wear flowers o r ribbons .

8 . S ing,dance

,or witness plays .

9 wear j ewels .

1 0 . eat except at fixed hours .

Lay Buddhists are,however

,only bound to observe the

first five o f the above;the others are fo r the priests .

COMPASS,MAR I NER ’S . Said to have been invented by

Chou Kung (BC . under the form o f a “ point

south -chariot,in order to guide on their return j ourney

certain tribute -bearing envoys who had come to China

from Tongking . This however is pure legend;and although

the Chinese may have been acquainted with the properties

of the magnet as early as the Christian era,there appears

to be no authentic record of the use of the compass as

nautical instrument by them previous to the 1 2 th century

o f our era .

COMPOUND . The common term fo r a wal led enclosure

such as those in which stand the dwell ing -house and

offices of fore igners in China . The etymology of this

word is unknown;i t is said , however to be a corruption

A GEOSSAR Y OF REFERENCE 57

o f the Portuguese camp anfia derived from cam/50 a plain .

Compare the Malay Ramp ong.

COMPRADORE : fi‘

ifi — negotiator of purchases . Fromthe Portuguese comfi rar to buy . The name given to the

Chinese agent through whose means foreign merchants

in China effect their purchases and sales . Chinese store

keepers and ship-Chandlers are also thus designated . The

word comfi rador e i s ofte n transli terated as follows :

dbj r o r fi él fi or fi lfififi .

COMPRADORE ’S ORDER;A draft payable by the

compradore,i n whose hands a sum of money is usually

placed to meet the current expenses of a firm .

CONCORDANCE,THE . See P ‘

ei w én yu’

n fu .

CONFUCIAN PENCIL : fi fi fi . Stone columns andsmall pagodas in the form o f the ordinary Chinese

writing-brush o r pencil are frequently erected to improve

the Féng-Shui (av ) o f a local ity . One of the former

k ind may be seen at Ningpo;the smal l pagodas of that

shape are common all over the south o f China . Two

may be seen close to Whampoa .

CONFUCIAN TEMPLE : REE. To be found in every

Prefecture,

sub-Prefecture,Distri ct

,and market-town

throughout the empire . In i t stand tablets o f the Sage,

his four evangel ists [E] Ell , twelve apostles + 2 25 ,

and other disciples,besides numerous famous l iterary men

o f all ages who have contributed to a better understanding

of the Confucian doctrines .

CONFUCIUS or CONFUTZEE or QUANGFOUTCHEE'

jfi.‘ 96 — K ‘ung the Master . The Jesuit missionaries

took the Chinese sounds o f these three characters , K‘ung

fu tzti , and Latinised them into their present form .

The great ethical,not religious

,teacher o f China .


F lourished B .C. 55 1—479 . [For specimens of his writings

and sayings,

se e Spr ing and Autumn and Analects . ]Like many others o f the world ’s prophets

,he was neglected

i n li fe to be honoured after death . Hereditary rank was

bestowed by the Emperor Kao Tsu o f the Han dynasty,

B C. 200,upon his senior descendant

,and the family

sti l l continues to enj oy many privi leges and immuniti es

to th is day . The personal name o f Confucius was 5 :

Ch ‘ iu,a word which now is never uttered o r written in

ful l by devout Confucianists . fl mou“ a certain person

is substituted in speech,and in writing a stroke is left

out . Confucius was placed by Comte in the second rank

of teachers;but his name was wholly omitted from G .

A . Sala ’s l i st o f the Hundred Greatest Men,publ ished

a few years ago . Tennyson mentioned him in the I stedition of Tfie Palace of Ar t

,as follows

Isaiah with fierce EzekielSwarth Moses by the Cop tic sea,Plato

,Petrarca

,L ivy

,and Raphael

,

And Eastern Con futzee .

“ i s“ Confucian l iterature,says the Rev . J . Chalmers

“so pure as no t to offend even virgin chastity . The

following quaint description o f a man who fo r centuries

has influenced hundreds of mill i ons,i s given in ch . x of

the Analects,which makes it i ncumbent upon us to accept

its details as exact :“ Confucius

,i n h is vi l lage home

,looked simple and

“ sincere,as though he had nothing to say fo r himself.

“ But when in the ancestral temple o r at Court,he spoke

minutely,though cautiously .

“He did not use deep purple o r puce colour in the“ trimmings o f his dress . He required his sleeping-dress“ to be half as long again as his body.


“He did not disl ike to have his rice finely cleaned,

“ nor to have his minced meat cut quite small . He did“ not eat meat which was not cut properly

,nor i f served

“without i ts proper sauce . Only in wine he laid down“ no l imi t

,but he did no t allow himself to be confused

“ by i t . He was never without ginger when he ate . He“ did not eat much . When eating

,he would no t talk .

“When in bed he would -n o t speak . I f hi s mat was not“ straight

,he would not sit on it .

“When he saw any one i n mourning,he would change

“ countenance . When he was at an entertainment where

there was an abundance o f provisions se t before him,

“ he would change countenance and rise up . On a sudden“ clap o f thunder

,or a violent wind

,he would change

countenance .

Hence the following sk i t,from the pen of Bret Harte °

Confucius— His Habits — In walking the Master usually

put one foot before the other;when he rested i t was

generally on both legs .

I f in walking he came upon a stone,he would kick i t

out o f the way;i f i t were too heavy he would step over

o r around i t .

Happening once to kick a large stone,he changed

countenance .

The Superior Person wore hi s clothes in the ordinarymanner

,never putting hi s shoes upon his head

,nor his

cap upon his feet .

He always kept the skirts o f hi s robe,before and

behind,evenly adj usted . He permitted no t the unseemly

exposure o f his undergarment o f l inen at any time .

When he met his visi tors he rushed towards them with

his arms open l ike wings .


H is Poetry— The following was wri tten in his sixty-fifth

year,on leaving Loo

Oh,I fain would s till look toward Lo o ,

But this Kwei h ill cu ts o ff my viewW ith an axe I will hewThis thicke t all throughThat obscures the clear prospect of Loo .

I n later years the following w as composed by his

disciple Shun :

There once was a sage called ConfuCius

,whose remarks were no t few

He said,

‘1 w ill h ew‘Th is blas ted h ill through .

’

Whil e his friends remarked qu ietly,

‘Do . ’

His Ethics — The Master said,

‘One virtue goes a great‘way . I n a jar of chow-chow

,properly flavored with

‘ginger,even a dead mouse is palatable .

’

On Wau asking him if i t were proper to put dead

mice in chow-chow,he repl ied

,

‘ I t is the custom .

’

When he heard that Chang had beheaded an entire

province,he remarked

,

‘This is carrying things to an‘excess .

’

On being asked his Opinion of impalement,he repl ied

that ‘ the end did not j usti fy the means .’

H o p Kee asked him how to tel l the superior man .

The Master repl ied,

‘How i ndeed !’

The Duke Shang asked him one day,

‘What consti tutes‘ the State ?’ Confucius repl ied

,

‘The question is asinine .

’

His Jokes — One day being handed a two -foot rule,

Confucius opened it the wrong way,whereupon it broke .

The Master said quietly,that ‘ i t was a poor rule that

‘wouldn’

t work both ways . ’

Observing that Wau S ing was much addicted to opiumthe Master said ;

‘F i l ial regard is always beautiful .


‘Why ?’

asked his d isciple .

‘He loves his poppy,

’ repl ied

the Master,changing countenance .

‘ I s that nankeen ?’ asked the great Mencius,as he

carelessly examined the robe that enfolded the bosom o f

the fair Yau S ing .

‘No,

‘ that ’s Pekin .

’

CONG FOU. See M esmer ism .

CONGEE : or A? thickened decoction made o f

rice or mil let boi led very soft . From the Hindi Ran/i

7

repl ied the Master,calmly

,

“ rice-gruel . ” Congee-house is sai lor Slang for “ gaol . ”

CONGOU : I ale— labour . A kind o f black tea,including

several varieties,said to be thus named from the labour

o f prepari ng it . From the Amoy pronunciation o f the

above two characters .

CONSOO HOUSE . The public bui lding belonging to the

old hong-merchants (av .) at Canton . From the local

pronunciation o f i } a company .

The Consoo fund w as original ly started to defray the

debts of bankrupt Chinese hongs at Canton,dealing

with foreigners under the old monopoly system . I t was

the proceeds of a tax o f about 3 per cent . on all foreign

exports and imports .

CONTRACTS : é.“ 51 . May be written or verbal . In the

former case,the contract should be signed and sealed i n

the presence o f witnesses . I n the latter,i t i s necessary that

bargain -money Should have passed before the agreementcan be held to be binding .

COOLIE . The menial of the east . Tw o etymologies have

been given K /zolees o r K olis,the Hindi name o f

a degenerate race o f Rajpoots i n Guzerat . (2) A Tamilword Kali

,meaning wages . A third and more likely

etymology is the Turkish word leuli a slave . The Chinese


write the word in various ways without reference to itsmeaning; though we have seen K ‘

u,

“ bitterness,

and j ] li ,“ strength .

COOLIE CH INESE . A term used for the distorted Chinese

employed by compradores,shroffs

,and servants generally

,

with reference to their foreign masters and mistresses;

e .g.,the use o f EJEi

‘

mo-s/zi/i fo r M r . instead o f the

proper Chinese equivalent; BEping - t‘ao

“ soldier boss

for H . E . the Governor o f Hongkong;VI E1: K ong-sfian

i n imitation Of the word “ Consul,etc .

,etc .

COOLIE ORANGE : The citr us aur an tium or common

orange . Cool ie he re=common,j ust as mandar in (av )

often signifies super ior kind of anything .

COPRAH . Hindi K lzofi ra. The dried kernel of the coco-nut

from which a valuable o il i s expressed .

COPYRIGHT . Although no written copyright law exists

in China,i t i s open to an author to prosecute any one

who publishes hi s works,always provided that he carefully

keeps the blocks under h is ow n control and notifies the

same on the ti tle-page . And in 1 896 i t was announced

at the Mixed Court,Shanghai

,that foreigners producing

works in China would be entitled to claim the same

privi lege . The phrase W i llM\ 58= aAll rights reserved,

”

i s often seen UPO“ title-pages o f the better class o f books .

CORAL : fill] fill. Was known to the Chinese before the

Christian era,and is mentioned as coming from Persia

and Ceylon . I s used as a medicine,small quanti ties of

powdered coral being administered i n certain diseases of

chfldho od.

COREA . See K or ea .

CORIT : 713“M\

. A i clzang o r measure o f 1 0 Chinese feet .

CORMORANTS . See Fislcing.


Gordon,who obtained a patent for th is powder

,i n order

to connect i t inseparably with his ow n .

CUE : The tail o f hai r worn by every Chinaman .

Introduced into China by the present (Manchu) dynasty

only about 2 50 years ago , and long resisted by the nativeso f the Amoy and Swatow districts

,who

,when finally

compelled to adopt the distasteful fashion,concealed the

badge o f Slavery beneath cotton turbans,the use o fwhich

has survived to the present day . I t i s said to have been

originally adopted by the Manchus in imitation of a

horse ’s tai l,as a graceful tribute to the animal to which

they owed so much .

CUMMERBUND . A sash worn round the waist instead

o f braces . From Ramar the lo ins,and Oand a fasten ing .

[Persian compound ]CUMQUAT : fi j‘é — golden orange . A k ind of small

orange . The ci tr us j apon ica ,Thbg. Found in the south of

China,and so called in imitation o f the Cantonese sounds .

The Chinese term is used metaphorical ly i n the sense o f

dar ling,much as cfiou “ cabbage in French .

CUMSHAW . A present of any kind . From the Amoypronunciation o f E ail— grateful thanks . Often used byChinese beggars to foreigners i n the same sense as

“ baksheesh,which word is unknown to the phraseol ogy

o f the Far East .CUR IO . Abbreviati on for cur ios ity,

as appl ied to bronzes,

netsukes,specimens o f o ld china

,etc .

,etc . The word is

now commonly used o n sign-boards exhibited outside the

shops o f Chinese tradesmen in this particular l ine who

desire to attract foreign customers .“The vendor of small and second-hand curios

,exposes

“ upon some door-steps his brass trinkets,his vases

,his


“ l i ttle snuff bottles,and a multitude o f trifl ing articles

“ difficult to guard from thieves,with no other protection

“ than eternal vigilance . B i ts of Clt inese Travel.

CURRY . A corrupted form o f the H indi word Edr fii , a‘ Stew . Usually written Car i o r Rar ick by the French .

CUSPIDOR . From the Portuguese cusp ir to sp it . Theornamental Chinese vases used as spittoons are usually

so called .

CUSTARD APPLE : — the foreign licfiee . The

fruit of the anona sauamosa . IS a native,according to

Dr . H . F . Hance,of the West Indies and o f Braz i l;but

was introduced into Asia more than a hundred years

ago . So called because the pulp has a white,custard- l ike

appearance .

CUSTOMS,IMPER IAL MAR ITIME . See I. G.

CUTCH : 2335 . An extract obtained by boil i ng the brown

heartwood o f the Acacia ca tecfiu . So called from the

Runn o f Cutch,near which the tree g row s . Used by the

Chinese as a dye and medicine,and Otherwise known as

Ter ra Yap on ica ,from the o ld bel ief that i t was an earth .

CUTCHA . The opposite to p aééa (av ) .

CYCLE,CH INESE . Consists o f 60 years

,designated by

the/ combination o f a se t o f ten and a se t o f twelve

characters,taken two together in order . Said to have

been invented B C. 2 637, though i t is di fficult to trace

it back farther than the Historical Records by Ssl‘i -maCh ‘ ien

,I st cent . B .C.

DABAN . A Mongol word sign ifying moun tain pass;e .g.,

Yanghi Daban .

DAGOBA or DHAGOBA. From dfiatu gar éka“ rel ic

- preserver . See Stupa .

DAI-BUTSU or DAIBOOTS : fi at — great Buddha . A


term applied by the Japanese to images o f Buddha,and

especially to the three principal ones at Nara,Kamakura

,

and H iogo . That at Nara,which was the capital of Japan

in the 8th cent . A.D .

,i s o f bronze

,washed with gold ,

and represents Amida Buddha in a si tting position . I t is

formed o f large plates o f bronze,soldered together

,i s

53 ft . 6 in . in height,and dates from 747. The image at

Kamakura is 49 ft . 7 in . in height,and dates from 1 2 5 1 .

Its eyes are pure gold,and the boss on the forehead is

of silver and weighs over 30 lbs . The length o f one of

the eyes i s 3 ft . 1 1 in .

,and the circumference of one o f

the thumbs is 3 ft . The image at H iogo i s 48 ft . in height

and 85 ft . round the waist . I t i s no t gilt,and dates only

from 1 89 1 . See Lama Temple .

DAIDJI: if,” Japanese hereditary nobles w ho claim descent

from the founder o f the Mongol empire,

o r from the

Khans or titular princes and dukes o f the various Mongol

tribes . May be compared with the Chinese “Yellow Girdles .

DAI IN KUN : i t (955 73 . The late father o f the King o f

Korea . Some years ago he became involved in pol iticalintrigues

,and was carried o ff to China

,but was subsequently

permitted to return to Korea .

DAIMIO : i t — great name . A Japanese feudal chief o r

prince . Now called Rw azoéu fi fifi ,the other two classes

of Japanese society being the s/zizoéu i ié'

é o r vassals ,formerly known as samurai

,and the lzei -min ZF‘ R or

people , including manufacturers , agricultural ists , artisans ,and citizens generally .

DAISAKAs t E . The old term for Japanese Government

clerks o f the Ist grade;now changed to [ttozoéu £2? EDALADA . The left canine tooth o f Buddha

,now preserved

at Kandy , where i t was exhibited to the Prince o fWales .


DALAI LAMA : g a llium One of the two popes o f

the yellow o r reformed church of the Lamas . Resides atLhassa

,the capital of Tibet . The other is the

'

Lama

Panchhan Rinbochhi of Tashilunpo . Also called Te shulama

or Fanshen Erdeni . D ala i i s a Mongol word signifying

the “Ocean .

DALNY . A corruption of fi flifi fi Ta- l i -an-wan (or

Ta- l ien -wan), part of Russia’s newly-acquired territory at

the entrance o f the Gulfto f Peichil i . The town o f Dalny

i s connected with Port Arthur by telephone and by

telegraph . The bay affords a good anchorage,although

it is rather shallow near the shore .

DAMAR or DAMMAR : PBHRtin. I s a kind of resin dug

out o f the forests by the Malays,and apparently the

fossil ised j uices of former growths of the j ungle,probably

o f palms . I t i s used by the Malays for torches,and by

the Chinese for caulking boats . D . i s the Malayan term

fo r resin generally .

DANCING . Was not unknown to the ancient Chinese,

though . o f a character all ied rather to the minuet than

to the valse and performed by bands of male dancers

only,chiefly as a State ceremonial . May stil l be seen

upon the Chinese stage . For dancing in Japan,se e Fan

D ance and yon -nuke.

DANDY . A name applied to the tw o -wheeled vehicles of

Province Wellesley in the Malay pen insula . I n India,the

dandy is a hammock slung on a staff,i n which the rider

sits sideways or l ies on his back . Much used by ladies

at h il l-stations . From the Hindi dandi a staff.DEATH -BLOW TO CORRUPT DOCTR I NES : fi fliflE . A scurri lous and disgusting Chinese pamphlet

publi shed in 1 870 ,byE [2225EET

‘ang Chi -shéng,

Provincial


Treasurer of Hupeh , and directed against the propagation

o f Christianity in China . Translated into English by Dr .Nevius of Chefoo . With the above was incorporated

,

under the title of fi ffli éfi ,the famous anti-Christian

pamphlet entitled x fE’f E,

“ I was obliged to” by 7%fl“;ff;Yang Kuang-hsien of the 1 7th cent . , to which FathersBugl io and de Magalhaens replied in 1 66 2

DEER ’S HORNS : E E Imported into China (exported

from Newchwang) in large quantities , and used as a

stimulant medicine,the only explanation for which seems

to be the quantity o f ammonia therein contained;though

it is quite possible that the sound of the character for

deer (identical with that offl emolument,and in some

dialects pleasure,ease) and its emblematic meaning

have not been without their influence upon a superstitious

people .

DELEGATE B IBLE . A version o f the Bible in Chinese,

originally intended to be the j oint work of Delegates

from the various Protestant missionary societies in China .

On this plan the New Testament was completed in 1 850;

but at the 9th ch . of Deuteronomy there w as a spl it

i n the camp,and Messrs Boone and Bridgman retired

,

leav ing the O ld Testament to be comp l eted (in 1 855)by Messrs Medhurst

,Stronach

,and Milne . The style i s

professedly high-class;but the result i s for the most part

either unintelligible or obscure .

DENGUE . The Indian name o f a kind of fever . Pronounced

in various ways,but generally dongoc with a hard g .

Has been derived by some amateur philologue from“Aden ague”— Aden being the place from sw hich it was

introduced—by an el ision o f the two a’

s .

DEVAS . Divine beings,resident either upon earth or in


one o f the S ix celestial worlds (feminine devi). They areo f three kinds z— ( l) Kamavacfiera

,or those sti l l under the

dominion o f the passions . (2) Rup avacfiera ,a higher class

,

though stil l trammelled with a form . (3) Amp avacfiera ,

the highest in degree of purification,devoid of form .

DEVILS : Strictly speaking,the disembodied spirits o f

dead people,but popularly appl ied to al l kinds o f ghosts

,

bogies,the den izens of the Chinese infernal regions

,and

last,though not least

,to

’

foreigners (se e Fanauz) because

of the ir blue eyes and shril l voices . Devils often mingle

with the l iv ing in order to work some mischief;but theymay always be detected by their want of appetite

,their

disl ike to the smel l o f sulphur,and the fact that their

bodies throw no shadow . Sometimes they are o f a milder

d isposition,a case being on record in which a devil gained

a l iterary degree for his friend and benefactor . They too

suffer death and become fl.

DHOBY . The Hindi word (dfiolz) for a washerman . Used

in Hongkong,but seldom heard in the north of China .

DHYANA :mi x-E . A state o f abstract meditation,leading

to the entire absence of any desire for existence,cult ivated

by Buddhist priests . There is a Hal l of Meditation in all

large Buddhist temples,where priests may be seen sitting

with their eyes closed,as though wrapt in contemplation .

DIAGRAMS,THE E IGHT : fi x E ight combinations

or arrangements of a l ine and a divided l ine,either one

or other of which is repeated twice,and in tw o cases

three times,in the same combination . Thus there may be

three l ines,or three divided l ines

,a divided l ine above

or below two lines,a divided line between tw o l ines

,

and so on,eight in all . These diagrams are sa id to have

been invented tw o thousand years a nd more B .C. by


the monarch Fu H si who copied them from the back of

a tortoise . He subsequently increased the above simple

combinations to sixty-four double ones,on the permutati ons

o f which are based the philosophical speculations o f the

Book o f Changes (av ) . Each diagram represents somepower in nature

,either active o r passive

,such as fire

,

water,thunder

,earth

,etc .

,etc .

“Whoever the author of the Diagrams may have been,

“ he seems to have arrived,whether by inspiration o r

“ observation,induction

,deduction

,or whatever process

,

“ at the simple conclusion that al l things visible are but“ the phenomena consequent on the acti on o f certain“ forces . AlaOas ter . See Yin and Yang. The following

are specimens o f these Diagrams etc .

DIALECTS : i fi‘

fi . The chief dialects o f China Proper

are those spoken at Canton,Amoy

,Foochow

,Ningpo

,

Pek ing,and by the Hakkas (av ) . Natives o f these

places are mutually unintell igible,although al l the dialects

are really o ffshoots from one parent stem . The written

language,however

,i s practical ly the same all over the

empire .

DIAMOND Sl’

JTRA zé {fillfit . A favouri te Buddhist sutrain China

,first translated into Chinese by Kumaraj iva

who died A.D . 4 1 7. I ts concluding words declare that“ all objective existence is l ike a dream

,l ike a vision

,

“ l ike a bubble,l ike Shadow

,l ike dew

,l ike lightning

,and

“ should be regarded as such .

”

DICE : Said to have been invented by fi g ICh ‘en Ssh-wang o f the Wei dynasty

, 3rd cent . A.D .

Chinese dice are pecul iar in that the ace and four are

invariably red,while the other points are black . That the

ace should be thus marked is easi ly intell ig ible,both on


have also been arranged under the Initial s (av ) , andagain according to the Phonetics . The first dictionary

published in China was the S/zuo W én (av ) . The last

o f any importance w as that of the Emperor K ‘ang Hsi

(av ) , which contains about different characters .

Both are arranged under Radical s .DISTR ICT MAGISTRATE . See CEili -lcs ien .

DITCHERS . ( I) Calcutta Engl ishmen are so called,from

a fosse dug round the city in 1 742 ,as a defence against

the Mahrattas .

(2) The long narrow steamers bui lt for the China trade

subsequent to the Open ing of the Suez Canal,which is

the “ ditch .

DIVORCE : {ifa . A Chinaman may divorce hi s wife for

any one o f the following reasons :

( 1 ) Barrenness;(2) Lasciviousness;(3) Neglect o f his

parents; (4) Talkativeness; (5) Thieving; (6) Jealous

temper;(7) Loathsome disease .

But no t under any one of the following extenuating

circumstances

( 1) I f the wife has been in mourning (av ) for her

husband ’s parents;(2) i f the husband has grown rich

since their marriage;(3) i f the wife has no home to

which she can go back .

DOCTR INE OF THE CH ‘ I ( i ). [Before perusing thefollowing quotation from S i r C . Alabaster

’

s exposition o f

thi s difficult subj ect,the reader i s requested to refer to

( 1 ) D iagr ams and (2) Yin and Yang ]“TO class

“ phenomena was his next thought,but ere he could

“ conven iently do so,he needed now a name not only

“ for his symbol but for its parts;and from the sound

of the wind which had breathed the dead water before


“ him into l ife and motion,he called the Initial Force

“ Cfi ‘ i,adding thereto the word by which they already

“ expressed grandeur,T ‘ai Ch ‘ i

,the Great Breath

,the

“ l ife,the soul

,the spirit of the Liv ing Universe .

”

DOCTR INE OF THE MEAN : q: E — invariable medium .

One of the Four Books,the title o f which was translated

as above by Dr . Legge . A phi losophical work,ascribed

to K ‘ung Chi,otherwise known as Tzii SSli

,the grandson o f

Confucius . Traces the rul ing motives o f human conduct fromtheir psychological source . The following is a specimen

In archery we have something l ike the way o f the

superior man . When the archer misses the bull’s-eye

,he

turns and seeks for the cause o f his failure in himself.

How abundantly do spiri tual beings display the powers

that belong to them ! We look for them,but do not se e

them;we l isten for,but do not hear them;yet they

enter i nto all things and there is nothing without them .

DOGS : i t and Are classed among the six domestic

animals o f China and are much valued for their fidel ity,

although looked down upon for other reasons so that the

word i s regarded as a term of abuse . The flesh o f dogs

is very Sparingly eaten,and then only when the animal

has been fed for the table . The dog-butchers in Canton

are almost as much a curiosity to Chinese from the

north,where there are none

,as to foreigners from the

other side o f the world .

DOKMA. The Parsi burying-ground or Tower o f S i lence

(av ) .

DOLLAR . From the German tlialer,which word was taken

from the name of the place “ Joachims-thal,where

,i n

the 1 5th century, the Counts o f Schl ick coined the silverextracted from their mines into one -ounce pieces . The


symbol has been supposed to be the monogram o f

U .S .

— United S tates;but others maintain that i t i s an

imitation o f the pi llars and scrol l on the Spanish Carolusor

“ pillar” dollar (av ) . Another suggestion is that i t is

the old cancelled figure o f 8,sometimes written a

distinguishing mark in account-books of Spanish dollarswhich were worth eight reals and were known as pieces

o f eight (see RoOinson Cr usoe).

DOLON NOR . (See Lama M iao).A famous place in

Mongolia,so called from the seven lakes (nor) there .

DOMA . Court-yard in a Japanese house .

DOMINOES : fi‘m. A se t o f dominoes

,consisting o f 32

tablets with 2 2 7 spots in all , was presented t o the

Emperor in the year A.D . 1 1 20 . The spots were explained

as referring to various categories such as “ the four seasons,

“ the twenty-four solar terms,etc .

DOTCHIN : E fl: tu cfi ‘e‘

ng,to weigh . A steel -yard .

DOUBLE ISLAND . (See Sw atow ). The Chinese name

M aE-soo i s either ifm,lit .

“ double i sland,

or 115mfrom the name o f a goddess who has a small shrine

there . I s cal led fit RE111 “ release-fowl-hill i n the H ist .

of Chao-chou Fu.

DRAGON : fag. The Chinese emblem o f Imperial power .

A fabulous monster whose habitat is in the clouds,by

which it is concealed from view . The Imperial dragon

is distinguished by the addition of a fifth claw to the

usual four .

DRAGON ’S BLOOD : Jfil ta. A resin yieldedby the $5 aD oemonor ofi s draco

,a sort o f palm found in Sumatra .

Used as an astringent,styptic

,tonic

,etc .

DRAGON BOATS : iii? fill . The long boats used for racing

at the Dragon Festival .

A CLOSSAK Y OF REFERENCE 75

DRAGON FESTIVAL : his or ifi AP. A river festival,

annually celebrated with boat-racing on the s th of the

s th moon in memory o f the poet and patriot Ch ‘ i‘l R ing o f

the 4th cent . degraded by his prince and disgusted

with the world,drowned himsel f in the river ”QBE

DRAGON THRONE : figIi . So called because the dragonis the Chinese emblem of Imperial power .

DRAMA . See Tlzeatf e .

DUBASH . A tw o -tongued man,sc. l i nguist

,or interpreter .

From the H industani doéfis/zi .

DUCKS . See B oméay D uck .

DUIT . At S ingapore,equals cent .

DUNGANS . Mahommedan subj ects of China w ho in very

early times were colonised,under the name o f Gao-tchan

,

in Kansuh and Shensi,and subsequently Spread westward

into Chinese Turkestan and Jungaria . Some howevermainta in that the D . are a distinct race

,w ho in the fifth

and sixth centuries occupied the Tian Shan range,with

their capital at Karashar . But Tungam'

means in the

dialect o f Chinese Tartary “ converts,

i .e . to Mahom

medanism,to which they were converted in the time of

Timour by an Arabian adventurer . Were finally destroyed

as a people by the Chinese in 1 876 .

DUR IAN [D ar io A fruit found in the Malay

Archipelago,

o f about the size o f a man's head

,with a

th ick ri nd containing a creamy pulp of a delicious flavour

but so horribly offensive in smel l that few Europeans canbring themselves to taste i t .

DUTCH FOLLY : fi ffikfi or Sea-Pearl Rock . A small

island in the river near the city o f Canton,said to have

been originally a pearl dropped into the water by a

merchant . Another account says it was so named by the

76 A GLOSSAK Y OF REFERENCE

Chinese as resembling a pearl floating on the water . I t

appears that the Dutch once built a fort on the island;hence the foreign name . I n the war which arose out o f

the “Arrow” case,the island was used as a coign of

vantage from which to bombard the adjacent city .

DUTCH FORTS . These remains o f the Dutch occupation

of Formosa (see Kox z'

nga) are sti l l to be found . The

best preserved is at Tamsui,where it now forms part

o f the British Consulate . I t i s buil t o f red brick,and the

walls are 1 0 or 1 2 feet in th ickness . See Z ealandia .

DUTCH WIFE . A light frame , either o f rattan o r lacquered

wood,used in bed as a kind o f leg and arm rest

,with

a view to coolness,by persons who sleep badly in ho t

weather . Those in use among the Chinese are hollow

cyl indrical frames of bamboo,and are called

,by a curious

coincidence, fi

‘

96A “ bamboo wives .” Also mentioned by

[Q fi ,Lu Kuei -meng

,the celebrated poet o f the T ‘ang

dynasty,under the name 16 $5 §3§ “bamboo leg rests .

”

Apropos o f this entry,we may add that a Chinese

bed-warmer is called a i A or [wt w ater 20s ,being

generally a hollow earthenware figure,

fi l led with ho t

water and used as a hot bottle with us .

DYAKS : fl 1gi . More correctly D eg/abs . Used by the

Malays as a generic term for all the wild races o f Sumatraand Celebes

,but now especially o f Borneo

,where they

are most numerous in which sense i t i s equivalent to

our word “ savages .

DYNASTIES,CH INESE .

Legendary Rulers B .C. 2 85 2— 2 205

Hsia dynasty E 2 205— 1 766

Shang E3? 1 766— 1 1 2 2

laChou 1 1 2 2— 2 55

A GLOSSAK Y OF REFERENCE 77

Ch ‘ i n dynasty fi BC . 2 55— 206

Han g 206— A.D . 2 2 1

Minor dynasties A.D . 2 2 1 6 1 8

T ‘ang dynasty 6 1 8 907

F ive dynasties i f. R 907 960

Sung dynasty 5k 960 1 2 60

Yuan (Mongol) 71: 1 2 60 1 368

Ming w 1 368 1 644

Ch ‘ ing (Manchu) 7? 1 644

DZASSAK : fi fi . The chiefs who rule the Mongolian

Banners are so called . The office is in some cases

hereditary;in others , conferred by Imperial appointment .

EARTH,TEMPLE OF : RIDE— altar o f Earth . A large

enclosure with in the walls o f the Chinese or outer portion

o f the city o f Peking,dedicated to the worship o fE arth

as one of the Three Forces 5 1 ,i .e . Heaven , Earth ,

and Man . I t i s here that the Emperor,ploughing with

his ow n hand,annual ly turns the first sod o f the year

,

desiring by his example to glori fy agri culture,the mainstay

o f the Chinese people .

EAST.

IND IA COMPANY . F i rst establ ished a factory(ya ) at Canton in 1 684 . Monopoly terminated 1 834 .

The characterfl for i } ff] company ,as prefixed to opium

(AM company opium) and other goods , i s a surv ival

o f the old days when the name o f the celebrated “Kumpani”

was sufficient guarantee for the qual ity o f its goods .

E IGHTEEN PROVINCES,forming China Proper .

1 Chihli 5 . Kiangsu

2 . Shantung 6 . Anhui

3. Shansi 7. Kiangsi

4 . Honan 8. Chehkiang


9 Fuhkien 1 4 . Yunnan1 0 . Hupeh 1 5 . Kueichou

1 1 . Hunan 1 6 . Ssli ch‘uan

1 2 . Kuangtung 1 7. Shensi1 3. Kuangs i 1 8. Kansuh

To these might now be added Shing-King (ya ) which

is virtually a n ineteenth province,its administration having

been changed since 1 876 from military to civ il

[For Chinese characters , old names,cap ital c1tle s etc .

,

see under each heading ]The thirteen provinces of the Ming dynasty may be

obtained from the above table by striking out Nos . 1, 5 ,

6,and 1 8

,and combining No s . 1 0 and 1 1 into one .

ELEUTH MONGOLS : IE (or 85 ) fi rst . Same as the“Kalmucks

,which is the western name o f this division

o f the Mongols .

“Eleuth” or “Oelo t

” i s probably from

Wara or Oirad fi lfi'l, the name of the leading tribe

known to the Ming Emperors .

EMPERORS OF THE PRESENT DYNASTY,KNOWN AS THE

TA TSIN G oa“GREAT PURE.

Shun Chih 1 8 yearsK‘ang H si or Kang H iYung ChéngCh‘ien Lung or Kien LungChia Ch‘ing or Kia KingTao KuangHs ien Feng or H ien FungT‘ung Chih 1 3

Kuang H sii


fl,arranged as above and profusely il lustrated . I t

was originated by the Emperor K ‘ang Hsi and completed

under his successor in 1 72 6 in books deal ing with

sub-heads . Only 1 00 copies were printed,from

movable copper types,for presentation to deserving officials

and others . That the types were movable can be proved

from the fact that here and there characters wil l be found

upside down o r o n their sides,which could not possibly

occur in block-printing . The whole has been beautiful ly

reproduced by photo-l ithography by Messrs Major Bros .,

Shanghai,and fi l ls 1 6 2 8 vols

,8vo

,o f about 200 pp . each .

EPICURUS (of China , The). A name which has been

applied,though without the sl ightest j ustification

,to Lao

Tzfi (OIL) .

ERDENI . See Pam km .

ERH YA . See Ur /z Ya .

ETA . A pariah class under the old regime of Japan , whose

disabil i ties have since been removed . Their business was

with hides,dead animals

,etc .

ETIQUETTE . (Chinese). Never sit down while your visitor

i s standing,nor pass before him through a door . Never

speak to an equal from a chair o r from on horseback,

but dismount,nor without first removing your spectacles .

Always place a visitor on your left;and in handing

anyt hing to him,i nvariably use Oot/z hands . When he

takes his leave , accompany him to the front door .

Chinese servants should not (strictly speak ing) appear

before their masters in short clothes,nor without socks

,

nor with shoes down at heel,nor with the ta i l t ied round

the head . They should not 1011 about,but stand in a

respectful attitude with the ir hands down;and on meeting

their employers in the street,they should stand aside and


yield the path . They should no t wear gaudy clothes,

nor blue socks,and should be shaved regularly at short

intervals .

Chinese street etiquette i s also quite different from our

own,a fact usually ignored by blustering foreigners who

march through a Chinese town as if the place belonged

to them,and no t unfrequently complain that cool ies and

others wil l no t “get out of their way .

” There is,

‘

i n fact,

a graduated scale of Chinese street rights i n th is particular

respect,to which

,as being recognised by the Chinese

themselves,i t would be advisable for foreigners to pay some

attention . I n England it has been successfully maintainedthat the roadway belongs to all equally

,foot-passengers

,

equestrians,and carriage-passengers al ike . Each is bound

to respect the rights of the other,and i s responsible for

any accident arising from disregard o f this principle . No t

so in China;the ordinary foot-passenger is bound to“get

out o f the way” o f the lowest cool ie who is carrying a

load;that same cool ie must make way , even at great

i nconvenience to himself,for a sedan -chair;an empty

chair yields the way to a chair with somebody inside;a

chair,inasmuch as being more manageable

,gets out o f

the way o f a horse;and horse , chair , cool ie , and foot

passenger,all clear the road for a wedding o r other

procession,o r for the retinue o f a mandarin . Apropos of

the custom of getting out of a chair or getting o ff a

horse on meeting a friend who is walking,we have

omitted to state that i n such cases i t i s considered the

duty o f anyone on foot,observing the approach of an

acquaintance in a chair or on horseback,to screen his

face with his fan and prevent the other from catching

his eye,thus saving him the trouble o f dismounting . Thus

6


when two high mandarins o f equal rank,such as a Viceroy

and Tartar General,find themselves face to face in their

chairs,those attendants among their retinues who carry

the enormous wooden fans rush forward and insert them

between the passing chairs,

so that their masters may

be presumed not to see each other,and consequently

no t be obliged to get out . No subordinate can ever meet

a higher mandarin in this way;the former must turn down

some by-street immediately on hearing the approaching

gong of his superior officer . At interviews with their

superiors,subordinates should not use fans

,even in the

hottest weather . See Pr esents,

EUNUCHS : jK Are employed in the Imperial palace

at Peking,for the service ( 1 ) o f the Emperor , who should

have in al l;(2) o f princes and princesses of the

blood,sons

,grandsons

,great-grandsons

,and great-great

grandsons,

o f Emperors;and (3) o f the descendants of

the eight Manchu chiefs who assi sted in the establ ishment

o f the present dynasty . The use of eunuchs in China is

said to date back to B C. 1 1 00 . From time to time theyhave p layed very prominent parts i n the history o f China

,

and have even been al lowed to adopt sons to inherit

their honours . I n A.D . 1 90 ,a eunuch named Chang Jang

actually kidnapped an Emperor . In the early part o f the1 5th cent . , another eunuch named Cheng HO commanded

several important expedit ions,even reaching Ceylon and

Hormuz in the Persian Gulf. The fal l o f the Ming dynasty

in 1 644 has been traced to the pernicious i nfluence of

eunuchs in pol itical matters and the present dynasty has

kept a tight hand upon them . In 1 869 the favouri te

eunuch of the present Empress Dowager was summarilybeheaded fo r violent behaviour i n the province of Shantung,


whither he had proceeded to make purchases for his

mistress .

EURAS IAN . The offspring of a European father and anAsiatic mother . There is a Eurasian school in Shanghai .

EVER VICTORIOUS ARMY : E The Imperial

army which ultimately,under the leadership o f Colonel

Gordon (otherwise known as“Chinese put an

end to the T ‘ai-p ‘ ing (ORA) rebell ion . So named because“ never defeated .

EXAMINATIONS,COMPET ITIVE . Have been carri ed

on in China for many centuries,though the modern

system,i n regard to its various deta ils

,dates only from

the Sung dynasty,A.D . 960

— 1 2 60 . Three degrees are

granted,each o f which confers special privileges . They

are those o f As ia ts‘az

'

,ekz

’

i fen ,and C/ez

'

n s/zz'

lz, [gym/J.

The examination for the first degree i s held twice in

every three years by the Literary Chancellor at theprefectural ci t ies of each prov i nce . I t occupies only o ne

day . The candidates assemble at the place o f examination

be fore dawn,and are provided with seats and paper .

They are carefully searched on entering,but often find

means to elude the vigilance of their searchers;and

instead of having the Four B ooks at their fingers’

ends,

they have them,i n the form of diamond editions

,concealed

up their flowing sleeves . As soon as i t i s l ight enough,

tw o themes fo r prose essays,and one for a poem

,are

carried round on l ong poles and are copied down by all .

Then ensues a struggle as to w ho shal l finish first,a

certa in proportion of marks being allowed for speed in

composition;and by degrees al l the papers are handed in ,and the candidates disperse . Some few days afterwardsthe list i s i ssued;and i t i s a j oyful moment for those


who find themselves in possession o f the fi rst l iterary

degree,a degree which launches its owner fairly in a

recognised career,entitles him to wear official dress with

a gi lt button o f the low est grade,and exempts h im as

a prisoner,

or as a witness,from the indignity of the

bamboo,at any rate unti l such time as his case shall

have been reported to the higher authorit ies and his

d iploma cancelled .

The examinat ion for the second degree is held in the

autumn of every’

third year,by an Imperial Commissioner

,

usually spoken of as the Grand Examiner,who is special ly

deputed by the Emperor for that purpose . On his arrivalfrom Peking his residence is formally sealed up

,and

extraordinary precautions are taken to prevent friends of

intending candidates from approaching him in an improper

sense . At an early hour on the appointed day the candidates

begin to assemble,and by-and-by the great gates o f the

examination hall are thrown open and heralds shriek out

the names o f those who are to enter . Each one answers‘Adsum ’ in turn as his name is called

,and forthwith

rece ives from the attendants a roll of paper marked with

the number o f the Open cell he i s to occupy in one o f

the long al leys into which the examination hall is divided .

Other writing materials,as well as food

,he carries with

him in a basket,which i s always carefully searched at

the door . When all have found their seats,the Grand

Examiner burns incense and closes the entrance gates,

through which no ingress nor egress wil l now be permitted

on any pretence whatever,unti l the afternoon of the

third day,when the first of three bouts or sitt ings i s at

an end . I n case o f death , which is by no means unusual

where a large number o f human beings are cooped up day

A CLOSSAKY OF REFERENCE 85

and night in a confined space,the body i s always hoisted

over the outer wall;and this rule would be carried out

even were it the Grand Examiner himself,whose place

would then be taken by his chief Assi stant-Examiner,a

functi onary who is also nominated by the Emperor andaccompan ies the Grand Examiner from Peking . The

themes are next exhibited and copied down by the

candidates . For this first bout there are three for prose

essays,always taken from the Four B ooks

,and one

subject for a poem . An essay should consist of about

700 to 800 characters in length,and the poem o f

twelve l ines,both to be correctly written and the latter in

a stated metre;the paper , moreover , no t to be soiled

or torn . On the afternoon o f the third day the candidates

hand in their composi tions,and are then released unti l

the next morn ing,when they reassemble for a second

bout of three days,as before

,to compose five essays on

themes taken from the Five Class ics . On the afternoonof the third day the results o f their labours are again

handed in by the candidates,and the gates thrown open

,

to be closed as before on the following morning for a

third and last bout o f three days,devoted to answering

questions on miscel laneous topics selected by the examiners

from any source they may choose .

The examination for the th ird degree is held in Peking

once in every three years,in the spring directly following

the examination for the second degree . This examination

is conducted upon lines almost identical with those o f the

provincial competit ion for the preceding degree . I t i s

similarly div ided into three sittings,

o f three days to

each,and the subjects

,taken from the same sources

,are

necessarily of the same character . Some to


candidates compete,and among them about 300 degrees

are distributed . The winners o f thi s degree are divided into

three classes . Upon the first are bestowed appointments

in the National Academy o f Literature;upon the second ,subordinate posts in government Offices at Peking;and

upon the third,nominations to the ranks o f ‘expectant ’

officials,under the various provincial administrations .

Any Chinaman may present himself for the Is t degree

w ho can show that none o f his ancestors for three

generat ions have been either actors,barbers . priests ,

executioners,official servants

,etc . There is no l imit of

age,an instance being recorded o f a man w ho took his

third degree at the age o f seventy-two .

EXPRESS,AN . A public notification or advertisement o f

any k ind,generally printed and circulated by one of the

printing-o ffice s in Shanghai on behalf of those concerned .

I n an article on . Ola’Expr esses once published in the

N or l/i -C/i ina D aily N ew s,the writer says

,

“They com

“memorate occurrences that were important at the time“ to somebody

,and they contain the names o f many

“ persons who have passed away . See B i ma’er .

EXTRA -TERR ITOR IALITY . The exemption o f foreigners

residing in China ( formerly in Japan , but abol ished 1 899)from trial and punishment according to the laws o f that

country .

“British subj ects w ho may commit any crime in China,

“ shal l be tried and punished by the Consul,or other

“ publ ic functionary authorized thereto,according to the

“ laws o f Great Brita in . Tr eaty Of Tiem‘

si i i : Ar t . XVI .

“What tome or treatise can explainThy individuality ?”

“ 1 spring from Treatie s,

” whispered backExterritoriality .


is marked by undulations o f the body,w aving the arms

,

and deft manipulation o f a fan . One movement succeedsanother by transitions singularly graceful

,the arms

describing innumerable curves,and the fan so skilfully

handled as to seem instinct with a li fe and l iberty of

its own .

FANG TAN : j i g — square document . Local Shanghaiterm for a titl e-deed to land

,i ssued in l ieu o f original

deeds which may have been lost . Properly aglg [Ha ,

and called fang tan ( 1 ) because the character [B i s

square,or (2) because it i s sealed with a square seal , o r

(3) because the document itself is square .

FANQUI or FAN KUELTzu; fi ,_fore tgn devils ,

i .e .,foreigners . An absurd attempt was once made to

shew that the epithet “ devils”

was applied to foreigners

more as a “ term of endearment”

than anything el se,o n

the ground that the Chinese have good devi l s as well asbad in their unseen universe

,and that there is no reason

to bel ieve they necessarily connect us with the latter .

Mr . Wu T ‘ ing-fang,Minister to the United States

,formerly

known as Mr . Ng Choy , th inks that the term fan -

gn i

has now lost much o f i ts i nsulting significance,and that

the common word fan (see B arOar ians) i s used by the

Chinese without the sl ightest reference to its original

meaning;but although there may be much truth in his

latter p rOp OSlt lon ,it 18 none the less desirable that both

these expressions should disappear . The same gentleman

states that the Cantonese slang term for missionaries isN

Yefi -soo kiw i,

“ Jesus devils . Pidgin -Engl ish-speak ingChinese have mixed up fan with our word f or eign ,

in

w hich sense it is often used in conversation .

The following story,bearing out the V iew that the


Chinese often term us“ devils without reference to the

meaning of the word,w as vouched for by Mr . Mongan

,

H . M . Consul at Tientsin . Shortly after the Opening o f

the Tientsin Consulate,a Chinaman presented himself

before Mr . Mongan with a present of some kind , which

he said he had brought from his home,several hundred

li distant,i n obedience to the command of his dying

father w ho had formerly been cured o f Ophthalmia by a

foreign doctor at Canton,and who had told him

,upon

his death -bed,

“ never to forget the Engli sh . Yet this

“H is Excellency the Great English Devil,Mongan .

See D evils .

FANS : 5 . Were made in early ages from feathers , the

symbol fo r which appears in the lower portion o f the

written character . The Chinese fan proper i s now a l ight

frame of bamboo or ivory,round o r otherwise

,over which

silk has been stretched,since the 4th cent . A.D .

,for

purposes o f painting or calligraphy . The 1133E folding fan

was invented by the Japanese,and was first mentioned

in the l 1 th cent . by Su Tung-

p‘o as having come to

China through Korea . I n the early years o f the 1 5th

cent . folding fans formed part of the tribute sent from

Korea to Peking,and one writer mentions

,as a curi osity

,

four Japanese folding fans which had been given to him

by Father R i cci,the eminent Jesuit

,whom by the way

he calls a fil‘ i A . Fans are used by the Chinese,

men and women al ike,from the highest officials down to

the lowest cool ie,and even by the very soldiers i n the

ranks . Different k inds are used at different seasons by

all who can afford to pay for this form o f luxury;and

it is considered ridiculous to be seen with a fan either

90 A CLOSSAKY OF REFERENCE

to o early or to o late in the year . They are made to

serve the same purpose as an album among friends o f a

l iterary turn , who paint flowers upon them for each other

and inscribe verses in what is sometimes called the “ fan

language . They are also used to circulate the news o f

any important event among the people at large;e .g.

,

the T ientsin Massacre,the brutal ities o f which were depicted

in glowing colours upon cheap paper fans and sold in

large quantities until prohibited by the officials . At Canton,

and probably elsewhere,fans may be purchased having

on one s ide a plan of the ci ty with the names o f the

principal streets,temples

,yamens

,etc .

,printed in smal l

Chinese characters .

Mr . Sten t publ ished the I ndex to his vocabulary on

photographed sl ip s pasted on to the frame o f a common

fan . Others are sold which are fans only in form ,being

really sheaths for daggers,as carried by street rowdies

,etc .

A deserted wife is spoken o f metaphorical ly as “ an autumn

fan, fl Fifi . See Umbr ella

,R ea

’

,and E tiquette .

FAN -T ‘AI : rag A high provincial authority in China,

known to foreigners as the Commissioner o f F i nance orProvincial Treasurer . I s charged with the fiscal or financial

administration o f a province . Controls,as head of the

civi l service,the nomination to

,and distribution of

,nearly

all the minor appointments therein,subject always to the

approval o f the Fu-t‘ai o r Governor .

FANTAN : fi rm. The celebrated method o f gambling

with cash common in China . (Fan here means“ number o f t imes

,

’ and t‘an

“ to apportion,in al lusion

to the payment o f stakes so many times the original

amount according to circumstances). A pile of the coin

is covered with a bowl,and the players stake on what


the remainder wil l be when the heap has been divided

by 4— namely 1,2, 3, nothing . The croupier then counts

the whole rapidly out by subtracting 4 cash at each

sweep o f a small rod used fo r that purpose . Players w ho

stake on fire w inning numOer,get 3 t imes the amount

of the ir original stake,less 7 per cent commission for

the good o f the house . Thus,a dollar wil l return

clear profit . Suppose however that the dollar is placedm ia

’w ay Oetw een tw o numOer s

,and one of these turns

out to be the winning number,the bank pays once the

amount o f the stake,less commission=$ net profit .

Again,supposing the dollar to be placed between numbers

1 and 2,so as to be more on 2 than on 1 . I f 2 cash are

left,the player receives twice his stake

,less commission

,

and i f 1 i s left,he receives h is dollar back .

FAR EAST . Fr . L’

Extréme -Or ient . A term which includesChina

,Japan

,the Phil ippines

,the

'

Malay peninsula,

S iam,etc .

FA Tl: K im— flow e r grounds . The wel l-known Chinesegardens on the opposite bank o f the river to the city o f

Canton are so called .

FAVOURED -NATION CLAUSE . The article in a Treaty

the Treaty concluded at Tientsin,1 858, between

the British and Chinese Governments—by which i t isst ipulated that “ the British Government and i ts subj ects“will be allowed free and equal participation in all“ privi leges

,immunities

,and advantages that may have

“ been,o r may be hereafter

,granted by His Majesty the

“ Emperor o f China to the Government or Subjects of“ any other nation . Ar t . LIV .

The term originated from the frequent occurrence

in such clauses of the actual words “ favoured nation .

”


See Treaty between Russia and China,Engl ish version

,

Art . XII.

FEAST OF LANTERNS : m: tit . Held annually on the

1 5th o f the first Chinese moon,i .e .

,at the

“

first full moon

o f the year,when coloured lanterns are hung at every

door . Originally a ceremonial worship in the temple ofthe F i rst Cause

,dating from about the time o f the Han

dynasty . The mid -autumn festival o f the 1 5th o f the 8th

moon is sometimes so called by foreigners .

No respectable Chinaman is ever seen out after dark

without a lantern .

FEET . See Small Feet .

FEMALE CH ILDREN . See Infan ticia’e .

FENGH UANG or FUNG -HWANG : E a . A fabulous

bird o f good omen . Said to appear in times of nationalprosperi ty . General ly translated by p koeuix .

FENGS HU I or FUNG-SHW UY :m7k— wind and water ,or that which cannot be seen

,and that which cannot

be grasped . The great geomantic system o f the Chinese,

by the science o f which it is possible to determine the

desirabil ity of sites whether o f tombs,houses

,or cities

,

from the configuration o f such natural obj ects as rivers,

trees,and hil ls

,and to foretel l with certainty the fortunes

o f any family,community

,or individual

,according to the

spot selected;by the ar t o f which it is in the power o f

the geomancer to counteract evil influences by good ones,

to transform straight and noxious outl ines into undulating

and propit ious curves,rescue whole districts from the

devastations of flood o r pesti lence,and “ scatter plenty

o ’er a smi ling land which might otherwise have known

the bl ight of poverty and the pangs o f want . I t i s said

to have been first appl ied to graves by 555 Ii Kuo P‘o,

A CLOSSARY OF REFERENCE 93

a learned scholar who died A.D . 324 ,and to house

bui lding by 351K Wang Chi , a scholar o f the Sungdynasty .

For many years the Chinese urged that the introductiono f rai lways and telegraph poles would seriously inj ure the

Féng-Shui o r prosperity o f the districts through which they

might be carried;but this view is gradually melting

away,even in the eyes of the most b igoted of Chinese

statesmen,

“ into the infinite azure o f the past .

As one example among many,we may state that the

roofs o f adj oining houses are never built on the same

level . Hence the Feng-sfiui of Oxford Street would in

this respect be considered good;that of most Parisian

thoroughfares,bad . For a grave

,a wide river in front

,

a high cl iff behind,with enclosing hills to the right and

left,would constitute a first -class geomantic posi t ion .

Houses and grave s’

face the south , because the annual

animation o f the vegetable ki ngdom with the approach o f

summer comes from that quarter;the deadly influences

o f winter from the north .

FER INGHEES . Franks . Epithet first appl i ed by the Chineseto the early Portuguese traders . See Enamel.

FESTIVALS,CHINESE . See M oon . The more important

o f these are

( I) New Year ’s Day,when all business is absolutely

suspended .

(2) Feast of Lanterns (an), 1 5th day o f 1 st moon .

(3) Festival of Ancestral Worship 1 9th o f 2nd moon .

(4) Festival o f Dragon Boats (o n) , 5th of 5th moon .

(5) Festival of Mid-Autumn , 1 5th o f 8th moon .

(6) Festival o f All Souls (in Purgatory), I st to 9th of

l o th moon .


FEUDATOR IES,THE THREE : 55. g 515 . Three powerful

leaders who were appointed by the Emperor K ‘ang Hsi

to rule over large portions of the empire in a semiindependent fashion . They were ffi] FTg Shang K ‘

o -hsi,

Hkfi {l} Kéng Ching-Chung,and 91 fi W u San -kuei .

F IG,CH INA . The persimmon (an), i s SO called;but the

Chinese grow real figs,which they call fit 32 o r the

flow erle ss fruit .

FI-HI: ‘Hfi fi — fast crabs . A class o f war-j unk is SO called .

F ILIAL PIETY,THE CLASS I C OF : fi ns . A record

of a conversation between Confucius and a disciple,named

Tseng Ts ‘an,on the subj ect of fil ial piety . I ts genuineness

has been doubted,though i t is at least as old as the

Ist cent . B .C . Confucius declared in the Analects that true

fi l ial piety does not consist in to il ing fo r and support ing

parents,but rather in guarding them from mental annoyance

while al ive,and in following out their inj unctions when

dead . He also insists upon a reverential care o f the person,

as a Sacred trust which may no t be regarded l ightly .

F ILIP INOS . The native inhabitants o f the Phil ippines (see

Luzon). They are of Malay origin , and number from Sixto eight mill ions . They are div ided into various tribes

,

scattered over the numerous i slands o f the Phil ippine

group . Many of them are civil ised,while others l ive in

a savage state . Some are no t o f ful l Malay blood,but

are half-breed Negritos .

F INALS . See Spelling System .

F I NGERS : if? E . The following are common names for

the fingers : A176 or fig416 the big finger or commanding

finger thumb), fi if? the tasting finger,FF$6 the

middle finger, fili g iffi the nameless finger

,Ibiffi‘ the

l ittle finger . For purposes o f numeration every finger on

96 A'

GLOSSARY OF REFERENCE

and accordingly gave Orders for the destruction o f al l

l i terature . See B ur ning of tire B ooks . Built the tGreat Wall .

F ISHES,TWO . Often seen on Chinese envelopes

,from

an old story o f a letter hav ing once been conveyed in afish ’s belly . Also

,as a fanciful shop -Sign to aid customers

in finding the house they want,when two tradesmen i n

the same l ine and o f the same name happen to carry on

their business i n adjoin ing houses . Huge gi lt cash and

other ornamental designs are often suspended outside

shOp doors with the same object .

F ISHING CORMORANT : $ 55 P/zalocr ocor ax carOo .

Found in many parts o f China and taught to catch fish,

at first with a ring round the neck to prevent it from

swallowing the quarry. Also called r%R the Clack devil,

and 64] flEBcalcic fi s/i gen tleman ,the latter term being

a borrowed name of the kingfisher .

F IVE CLASS ICS,THE . See C/i ing.

F IVE HUNDRED GENI I . The F ive Hundred Lohan (go )are so called .

F IVE RELATIONSHIPS . See Sacr ea’ Edict .

FLOWER-BOAT : TEfl. A large ornamental barge,used

by the j eunesse a’or e

’

e o f China for drinking bouts,picn ics

,

suppers,etc . In some districts these boats are painted blue .

FLOWERY LAND,THE : fl A common Chinese

name for China,S imilar to la Oelle France

,and not

necessari ly implying the presence o f flowers .

FO or FOH : W or ig See Cfiaracter s . The first o f the

Chinese characters employed to represent the sound

B ua’a’fia [o n ] . Now universal ly used in China for the

whole word .

A resemblance has been pointed out in the compositi on

o f W to the monogram of the letters I . H . S .

,which are


vulgarly supposed to stand for 7csus H om inum Salva tor,

whereas they are really nothing more than the three first

letters o f the Greek name IHZOYZ— Jesus . This faint

similarity i s of course beneath notice , and not to be

compared with the startl ing resemblances between the

instrumental and other parts o f the Buddhist and RomanCatholic rel igions . Among the most striking points may

be cited the use o f candles,flowers

,vestments

,beads

,

holy water,relics

,and masses for the souls i n Purgatory;

not to mention cel ibacy,fasting

,the shaven heads of the

priests,the robe folded over the breast in the form of

a cr oss,the immaculate conception of M ayci 213 the

mother o f Buddha , etc .

,etc .

FOKIEN or FUHKIEN : FEafi — happi ly establ ished . Oneo f the E ighteen Prov i nces; capital city Fu-chou Fu

figMH? on the Min [if] which latter character is also

the old name of the province .

FOOT-B INDING . See Small Feet .

FORB IDDEN CITY,THE : %mor figE . The inner

area of the Tartar section o f Peking,upon which stands

the Imperial palace,i s So called by foreigners

,being a

translation of the first Chinese phrase given above . Also

known as fig 932 the Purple Forbidden City .

FORB IDDEN LAND,THE . A name formerly appl ied to

Korea (o n) .

FORE IGN D IRT . A name for Opium (o n) borrowed from

the Chinese use of the word ear tfi .

FOREST OF PENCILS . A name applied by foreigners

to the Han - l i n College,being a l iteral rendering of the

Chinese characters .

FORMOSA .

“ Beautiful . The Portuguese name for the

i sland o f Taiwan (o n) . Partly occupied i n the seventeenth


century by the Dutch (see K ox inga);now ,by 53%

savages on the hills in the interior,by Japanese and

Chinese along the western seaboard,and by Pepo -hw ans

fo o .) between the other two .

FOUR BOOKS : [If]1 .

— The Great Learn ing .

2 .

— The Doctrine o f the Mean .

3.

— The Confucian Analects .

4 .

— The Works of Mencius .

See sa w.

The first portion o f the Chinese student ’s curriculum,

from which are invariably taken the themes se t at the

examination fo r the degree of ns iu-ts‘a i or bachelor

o f arts .

FOUR SEAS,THE : [E] E The seasby which the Chinese

bel ieve that the Middle Kingdom (9 .7L) i s bounded . Now

often used for the whole world;e .g.

— “ all wi thin the“ Four Seas are brothers .

FOUR WONDERFUL WORKS [12] i tif}

( 1 ) $ 5 % Four novels which

(2) fi fiifi a are held in high

(3) Q lam estimation by the

(4) 7k Fifi ”I5 Chinese .

Another classification i ncludes the works designed by

the Emperor K ‘ang Hsi,namely

mm fl se e D ictionar ies .

m. i f 55 If? see Concordance .

fi bi see Encyclop aea’ias .

flifl flFE} an encyclopaedia in 1 50 vols .

FOXES . Are regarded as uncanny creatures by the Chinese ,

able to assume human Shapes and work endless mischief(chiefly in lOve affairs) upon those who may be unfortunate


may be not unfrequently heard to designate a Chinaman

as a “ dirty fukey.

FUN or FEN : fi — a share . The 1 00th part of a Chinese

ounce of silver . A candareen .

FUNERALS . At death,the Chinese close the eyes o f the

corpse,put a l ittle rice and money o r powdered jade in

its mouth,cover the face with a napkin

,clench the two

fists,remove all curtains (as l ikely to retard the passage

o f the Spirit), and then keep watch round it al l night .On the second day the body is washed

,and dressed in

warm clothes l ined with red (see Colour s), the head and

face being entirely concealed . Priests are hired,and they

begin their duties by “warming the coffin ” with Smallhand-stoves

,after which the body i s carefully deposited

therein . The family tai lor then steps forward,and with

a pair of sci ssors rapidly cuts away an oval o f cloth so

as to expose the face to view . The family crowd round

to take a last look,and the lid is fastened down . A

curtain i s hung up in front o f the coffin,and friends are

admitted to Rotow to the spirit Of the dead .

Sometimes the coffin remains for months,and even

years,i n the house

,before a burial-ground can be obtained

or an auspicious day arranged for the funeral . Sometimesit is deposited on the premises of the Guild to

which deceased belonged,or in a neighbouring temple;

unti l , preceded by a tablet carried in a sedan -chair,to

represent the spiri t o f the deceased,and accompanied by

a train of mourners in coarse ashen -coloured garments,i t

i s gently carried to i ts final place o f i nterment .

FUNG SHUEY . See Féng Sfiui .

U -NING FU : $555 ET} . A Treaty Port near the Samsah

i nlet in Fuhkien .


FUSAN or PUSAN : III. A port in Korea opened by

the Treaty o f 2 6th November 1 883.

FUSANG : 56 or fill A country named after a plant

so called which was seen growing there,and is said

,but

without foundation,to be the Mexican aloe . Identified

by Klaproth with Saghal ien;by Leland , with part of theAmerican continent;and by others , with Japan . Visited

by a Chinese Buddhist priest in the 5th century , to whom ,

were Leland’

s view correct,would be due the honour of

the discovery of America .

FUSIYAMA : ( 1 ) {BILII— the incomparable hi l l;(2)Eif LII— learned scholar

’

s hi ll . The celebrated mountain

— an extinct volcano— o f Japan . Is about feet

above the level o f the sea,and i s composed chiefly of

cinders which swarm with myriads of small insects . Lady

Parkes was the first European lady who ever reached itssummit . Last eruption took place in 1 707. The following

is an imitation o f a Japanese ode in which the word is

introduced as a pun .

Now hid from s ight are great M t . Fusi ’s firesM t . Fusi

,said I ? ’

Tis myself,I mean !

For the word Fusi s ignifies,I ween

,

Few see the cons tant flame of my desires .B . H . Chamber lain .

FUSUMA . Japanese Sl id ing screen , covered with wall paper .

FUT ‘A I or FOO -YUEs f;or rmgin— the tranquill iser .Governor o f a province . Ranks with the Governor-Generalo r Viceroy , and exercises much the same functions in a

Sl ightly inferior degree;but in provinces where there isno Viceroy

,wields the supreme power .

FUTURE STATE . The bel ief in Spirits and in a futurestate generally has prevailed in China from the earl iest

ages,though not in any w ay recogn isedby Confuci an ism


which preserves an agnostic attitude towards all Spiritualquestions . A heaven and a hell were introduced by the

Buddhists,and borrowed by the Taoists (9 . 7L) as a

defensive measure against their more attractive rival . Thepopular bel ief now is that there i s a world of Shades

,

an exact model of the present l ife,with penalties and

rewards for wicked and deserving persons .

GAGS : Mi . Are used to prevent soldiers from talking

during a night attack,in ambuscade

,etc . They are first

mentioned in B C. 208,and as late as 1 874 when Li

Hung-chang made his famous forced march to Pek ing to

the aid o f the Empress Dowager .GALANGAL : E é — “ Liang” ginger

,o r ginger from

E E K? Kao -l iang Fu,which is the old name of the

modern mIf} Kao -chou Eu i n the province Of Kuang

tung . The word Galangal i s probably a corruption of

Kao-liang—Riang or Kao -l i ang ginger .

GALAV V 95 ”75 . A meaningless term pecul iar to the

Cantonese dialect,employed to finish Off a sentence

euphoniously,at the same time adding an indefinable

something to the force of the words Spoken . May be

compared,i n some respects

,with the French allez;e .g. ,

“

Je me moque pas mal de lui , allez !”

Has been introduced

into pidgin -Engl ish;e .g.

“You too muche e saucy,galaw !

GARDEN OF AS IA . A name given to the vicinity o f the

three cities o f Kashgar,Yangy Hissar , and Yarkand , from

the great ferti l i ty o f that region,which was artificially

induced by the admirable irrigation system o f the Chinese

settlers .

GARDEN OF CH INA . The province o f Shansi has been'

SO called . SO also the province of SSl‘i -ch ‘uan;see Sfiang/ca i

M er cury,1 4 November 1 884 .


ginseng plant changes into a man with white blood,which

is the veritable el ixir of immortal ity,a few drops being

sufficient to raise a dead man to l ife .

Ginseng is of two distinct kinds,

v iz .,that which is

found wild and commands fancy prices,and that which is

cultivated for the wholesale trade and is o f incomparably

less value . The latter fetches from tw o to twelve taels

a catty,while the former is sometimes worth as much as

one thousand taels a catty . The older the plant,the

more i t is valued;and the age o f the wild root may be

ascertained by marks upon the stem and other pecul iarit ies

of structure .

Ordinary ginseng is prepared by S imply drying the rootin the sun

,or over a charcoal fire . To prepare the red o r

clarified ginseng,the root is placed in wicker baskets

which are put in a large earthen vessel with.

a close-fitt ingcover and pierced at the bottom with holes . This is set

over boil ing water,and the roots are steamed according

to their age,about four hours being an average time .

GIORO or GHIORO : é: The Manchu surname o f the

present Imperial family o f China . The legendary progenitor

of the Manchu chieftains w ho subsequently reached the

throne bore the surname o f A isin Gior o fi fi fior

“Golden Race,and the Manchu nation w as known

to the Chinese at the time o f the Sungs (go ) as the

Q fill or “Golden Dynasty .

” All Red Girdles (go ) arecalled Gior os

,as Opposed to Yellow Girdles who are

firt i — “o f the Imperial family .

”

AS to pronunciation,

this word would be more accurately written giolo, the gbeing soft . I s often seen on visiting cards

,as a title

,

preceding the name .

GIRAFFE : $ 35 Egfi’fl. This animal i s figured and


described in the T‘u sfiu (see Encyclopaedias) as a native

of Libya . I t is there,

said to turn round and show off

its beauty to Spectators,as though quite enj oying being

looked at . See K ilin .

GIRDLE,RED : fir st?

If A distinctive badge worn bymembe rs Of the collateral branches o f the present Imperial

family o f China in the male line for ever,dating from the

Manchu chieftain now known as f fi “ By Heaven’

s

command,A .D . 1 6 1 6 . Those entitled to wear the red

girdle are also called Gioros (go ) .

GIRDLE,YELLOW : IS worn by the direct

issue o f the Emperors o f the present dynasty and their

descendants in the male l ine for ever,dating from the

Manchu chieftain f A.D . See Gior o .

“Each“generation becomes a degree lower in rank

,unti l they

“ are mere members o f the family with no rank whatever,

“ though they sti l l wear the girdle and receive a trifl ing“ allowance from the Government . Beggars and even“ thieves are occasional ly seen with this badge o f relationship“ to the Throne .

— G . C. Sten t .

“The imperial family wear a golden yellow sash , and“ the gioro a red one;when degraded , the former take“a

’

red sash,and the latter a carnation one .

— C/cinese

Cfir estomat/cy .

GLASS : £2352 p O-li . F irst manufactured in China , A.D .

424 . The term fi o-li,which occurs as early as A .D . 643,

and which is evidently of foreign origin,has been the

subject o f much discussion,and has been identified with

the Turkish Oillur,with f olis/c, with vidr o (l) and recently

by Dr . Hirth with “Oelor or Oolor

,meaning glass or crystal

“ in several Central Asiatic languages . See M ir r or s .

GO-BANG . The now celebrated Japanese game recently

106 A CLOSSAKY.

OF REFERENCE

introduced into England . Called by the Japanese gomo-Eu

nar aOe’

i aHIE,i .e .

,five eyes in a row

,the book name

being E i f. “ draw five .

Go-Oang i s simply 25fl or checker-board . The obj ect

Of the game is to get five checkers or counters i n a row .

GO ON :bi g . The pronunciation of Chinese as first

learnt by the Japanese at the end o f the 3rd and beginn ing

o f the 4th centuries , A .D .

,representing the dialect o f

modern Nanking and Soochow . See Kan On.

and To On .

GOD . See H eaven and Term Question .

GODOWN i E or TEE . ( 1 ) Originally a cel lar or placeto which i t was necessary to go dow n . Now

,a warehouse .

(2) From the Malay gedong,a warehouse .

GOL . A Mongol word Sign ifying r iver;e .g.,the Erguo gOl.

GOLD,SWALLOWING : a: Q . Euphemistically used

among the Chinese for suicide by poison,ch iefly in the

case Of h igh Officials who have received intimation from

Peking that their l ives are no longer wanted . Absurdly

supposed by some foreigners and many ignorant natives

to signify death from swallowing lumps o f gold,or inhal ing

,

or suffocating onesel f wi th,gold-leaf. This m istake has

been made by most writers on Chinese subj ects,such as

Doolittle,Williams (M iddle K ingdom ,

I I . 543) and others;and a qualified European practitioner wrote as fol lowsin the Customs ’ Gazette , No . XXXI I I

,January— March

,

1 877“Gold-leaf poisoning appears to be seldom practised

“ here (Kiukiang) as a method o f committing suicide ,“as I have heard of only o ne case during my three years

’

residence Gold -leaf,where it does not suffocate

,

“must act Simply as an irritant,and therefore I Shbuld

“ consider that the rational treatment would be the


are i n S iamese called P/cra-Oat;hence the confusion .

Again,Rees says (see B irman) the queen and princes

have the title of “Pr aw,and it is probably from the

similari ty o f th is word to P/cra that a further confusion

arose between the title o f the King o f S i am and that o fthe queen and princes o f Burmah . O f the S i amese

,Capta i n

James Low wri tes,

“ everything holy o r magnificent is“with them

,as with the Burmese

, golden .

GOLDEN LILIES : fi g . A poetical name for the cramped

feet o f Chinese women . From an expression used by themonarch Tung Hun Houm5 fi ,

A.D . 498—50 2 , in

admiration o f his concubine P ‘an fi fiflas she danced

upon a stage ornamented with lilies z— “ Every foots tepmakes a l i ly grow .

GOLDEN ORCH ID SOCIETY : é Q . A secret

association o f unmarried girl s w ho bind themselves no t

to cohabi t wi th their husbands after matrimony (which

they are unable to avo id), but to leave them and return

to their old homes or go elsewhere . S tri ctly prohibitedby the Officials i n China .

GOLDEN SAND,R IVER OF : $ 9 71 . The name o f

the Yang-tsze (av) above HSii -chou Fu i n Ssu-ch ‘uan .

Thence to the borders of Koko nor,the name is further

changed to iffi g fi fl. I n Kokono r i t is known as

AV 5 J%fi and fi 5 Q l%fi ,i .e . Murus-usu;and

near its source as gfl r% Kachi -uran .

GOLDEN TARTARS : Q A . A tribe o f Tartars,also

known as i t fl N il-chem,w ho under the leadership o f

a chiefta in named [83E:

3? Akuta , threw o ff allegiance

to the Kitans and establi shed an independent empire,

A.D . 1 1 1 4 . I n 1 1 2 2 Peking was captured,and the Kitan

power came to an end .


GOLDEN YOUTH,THE . A name applied to Hung

Wu,the founder o f the Ming dynasty

,A.D . 1 368, in

reference to the good luck which attended him . SeeB eggar K ing.

GONGEN . General designation of native ShintO[gv ] gods

in Japan .

GONGS : Are beaten at intervals before the cavalcade

of a Mandarin to warn the people to stand aside . Fo r the

Viceroy and officials o f equal rank 1 3 consecutive blows

are given;for the Fan -t ‘ai,Tao - t ‘ai

,etc .

,1 1 ;for the

Prefect 9 . O fficials below this rank are only entitled touse gongs beyond the l imits of the capital Of a province

,

e .g.

,in D istrict cities

,where 7 blows would signal the

coming o f the magistrate . Gongs are much used in

rel igious ceremonies,and as salutes by passing j unks

belonging to the same fleet . Hence the proverb } if?not to Oeat gongs , i . e .

,not to salute Said of persons no

longer on speaking terms . AS to etymology,Webster

g ives “Malayan (Java) gong; but the Chinese word ERe

‘

ng (the Cpronounced l ike the u i n sung) the night-watch ,may possibly be the true source o f the term

,and the

origin of the Malay word . Substi tuted by foreigners inChina for

that all-soften ing,overpowering knell

“The tocsin of the soul— the: dinner bell .

At wrecks o f j unks the Chinese are very careful to

save the gongs,and will no t ever part wi th them under

any consideration . To do SO would entail “ bad j oss” on

further enterprises .

GONSA I . (Jap .) A concubine , as Opposed to the li onsai or

real wife .

GON -TENJI: f i t The Imperial concubines o f Japan .


Gon i s an honorary prefix,almost equivalent to Her

H ighness .

GOOSEBERRY,THE CANTON . See Caraméola .

GOSSAMER . I s supposed by the Chinese to be the remains

o f birds which have flown too high and become dissipated

in mid air . Compare the German bel ief that i t is the

winding-Sheet of the Virgin Mary,which fel l off when

she was taken up to heaven .

GOVERNMENT OF CH INA . I s nominally an autocracy,

but really a democracy . The Emperor i s supposed to bethe Vicegerent o f Heaven

,with the l ives and properties

of the Chinese people at h is absolute di sposal . He reigns

however rather than rules,leaving the admin istrat ion in

the hands o f the S ix Boards [av ] . The provinces are

under the charge o f Viceroys and Governors,responsible

only to the Throne (see Tar tar General). Below them

come the Treasurer,Judge

,and Sal t Commissioner . Then

come the Tao- t ‘ais,Prefects

,District Magistrates

, (gov ) ,and a host o f subordinate officials

,each o f whom is

responsible to his immediate superior fo r the proper

administration o f his department and the peaceful behaviour

o f the people with whom he i s brought in contact . Anything

in the way of Oppression or inj ustice i s met by a popular

rising,and the career of the Official in question is generally

at an end . Taxes are rarely imposed o r increased without

a previous consultation with the local merchants o r elders

concerned,

o r they would be resisted to the death . In

other words,the people tax themselves (se e Likin).

GOVERNOR . See Fut ‘ai .GOVERNOR-GENERAL . See Tsung-tick .

GRAMMAR . Every word in Chinese being a monosyllable,

i ncapable o f inflexion,agglutination

,or change of any

1 1 2 A GLOSSAR Y OF REFERENCE

backs of mirrors (an) as first pointed out by Dr . Hirth .

Grape-wine was also made,and it is frequently mentioned

as in use under the T ‘ang dynasty . The Chinese term

p‘n -t

‘ao

,which is evidently of fore ign origin

,has been

identified with the Greek a cluster of grapes .

GRASS CHARACTER : E. $ _plant character . The

Chinese running hand . So called because o f i ts irregular

plant-l ike appearance . Chiefly used in business;never in

official documents . Dates from the Han dynasty,previous

to which there w as a kind o f writing known as EGRASS-CLOTH : E fi — summer cloth . A kind of l inen

made from the fibre of a hemp-producing plant called

China Grass

GREAT DEVELOPMENs r fi — Mahayana . A150 called

vefiz’

ele and conveyance . The system developed by the

northern Buddhists o f I ndia about the time o f the Christian

era,and propagated in China

,Japan

,Mongolia

,Tibet

,

and Nep aul. I ts chief features were the addition of a

number of new Buddhas and Bodhisatvas,new worlds

for them to l ive in,and a general extension of the

mythological element . The Lesser D evelop menz‘

/J\ or

Hinayana,i s based upon the original books o f Buddhism

,

and i s the system o f the Cingalese,S iamese

,and Burmese .

GREAT LEARNING : fi g . One o f the Four Books

(an) .

“What the Great Learning teaches i s— to i l lustrate“ i l lustrious v irtue;to renovate the people;and to rest“ in the highest excellence .

— L egge’

s Transla tion .

I ts author i s unknown . Chu Hsi attributes a part to

Confucius h imself,regarding the rest as commentary;but

Dr . Legge thinks it was more probably the work o f K ‘ung

Chi XLW ,grandson o f Confucius and author o f the

D oetnz’

ne of ilze M ean . The following is a specimen .

A GLOSSAR Y OF REFERENCE 1 1 3

“There is no ev i l which a mean man will no t perpetrate“when he i s alone . But when he sees a superior man

,he

“ instantly tries to dissimulate,conceal ing what i s evi l and

“ displaying what is good . The other,however

,sees into

“ his very soul;so that dissimulation avai ls him naught .“So true is the saying that that which is really within“will be manifested without . Therefore the superi or man“must be watchful over h imself when he is alone .

The term Great Learn ing,adopted by Dr . Legge

,

rather obscures the meaning of the Chinese,the latter

being in real ity i t A Z g Learning for Adults . SeeTne L i ttle Lear n ing.

GREAT WALL,THE : a E fi fi — the ten thousand

mile rampart . Designed and for the most part built bythe first un iversal monarch o f China

,Shih Huang-ti

ilfi 55 fi ,w ho came to the throne BC . 2 2 1

,as a means

o f defence against the Mongol ian hordes,and named by

him the “ Red Fort” Q3g ,as being an addition to the

nine old frontier forts which guarded the Empire of China .

I s about 1 400 miles (Engl ish) in length , twenty-two feetin height

,and twenty feet in thickness . Passes over hil ly

districts,sometimes to an elevation of ft . At intervals

of 1 00 yards or so are towers,some forty feet high;the

whole being buil t of brick,except towards its western

extremity,where i t i s barely more than a huge mud

bank . Is the most noticeable work o f man on the globe .

GREEN HEADS,THE : ARE . A soér z

’

gnet given to

the Anglo-Chinese contingent at N ingpo,long and ably

commanded by Colonel Cooke,formerly of the “Ever

Victorious Army (an) .

GREEN TEA . Generally bel ieved to be prepared from

the leaves of a different species o f plant from that which8


furnishes black tea,whereas the distinction between the

- two l ies only in the mode o f preparation .

for I grow pathe tic,

Moved by the Chinese nymph o f tears,green tea.

Byr on .

GRIFF I N . A new arrival in the East;equivalent to a“ freshman at Oxford . See t itl e-page .

Also,a racing pony that runs fo r the first t ime .

GROSVENOR MISS ION . A mission consi sting o f the Hon .

T . G . Grosvenor,A . Davenport

,and E . C . Baber

,sent to

Y iinnan to enquire in to the circumstances of the murder

o f Mr . Margary. See Yannan On tf age .

“GUESS F INGERS . See Gna t' M a i .

GUILDS : Q fiE~ —meeting houses . The trades’

-unions o f

China,except that there is here no combination of

Labour against Capital as with us,but merely a union

o f merchants or traders i n any particu l ar branch o f

commerce,with a v iew to faci l i tate and render more

successful the business Operations of each individual

member . The buildings in which these associations meet

are often very handsomely decorated,and are always

provided with a stage for theatrical performances .

GUNONG . A Javanese word meaning hil l o r mountain,

commonly occurring in names o f places .

GUNPOWDER . Under the name o f lzno-

yao Kg ,first

occurs early in the seventh century,when i t w as used

for fireworks . Guns,said to be o f western origin

,were

first used by Genghis Khan and Kublai Khan ;but were

first systematical ly employed in warfare during the reign

o f Yung Lo o f the Ming dynasty ( 1 5th century).

GUP . The Hindustan i for gossip or scandal . . A few years

ago some letters were addressed to one o f the Shanghai


Thieves invariably wear false cues which come o ff i n the

hand when seized . The famous Empress Wu,who ruled

China from A.D . 684 to 705 , used to wear a false beard

when presiding at State Councils .

HAKKAS : g ZE— strangers . A race said to have migrated

from the north o f China (Kiangsu or Shantung) to theKuang -tung province at the time o f the Yiian dynasty

,

A.D . 1 206— 1 368. Fo r an elaborate account of this

people,se e an article in N otes 69" Quer ies on C/zina ana

’

yapan ,V o l. I

,No . 5 , by Dr . E i tel .

HAKODATE : fi éfi . A port i n the northern island of

Japan .

HAMPALANG : “a “ii

i/

j A common expression in the

Canton and Swatow dialects meaning “ all . Like much

o f the fia tois of China , i t cannot , properly speaking , be

written;the three characters above giving only the soundwithout conveying any meaning . Said by Mr . G . Minchin

to be a corruption o f the Cantonese Fififi fl3K “wrap

up all and come,

” as used by the bum -boat men at

Whampoa when directing their assi stants to take away

whatever old clothes,etc .

,the sai lors on the foreign ships

might have given them in payment for their eatables .

Being subsequently imitated by the Jacks themselves,

their corruption “ hamp alang” passed into the Cantonese

dialect as a convenient expression for “ al .l

HAN,SON OF : Q lF. That is

,a man w ho l ived under

the Han dynasty,B .C. 206 —A.D . 2 2 1

,the epoch of the

R enaissance of Chinese l iterature,often spoken o f as the

brightest page o f Chinese history . The name of the dynasty

came to be used as a synonym for China,i n which sense

it i s st ill employed .

HANG -CHOW tinill The capital o fChehk iang,remarkable


fo r the beauty of its surroundings . Div ides with Soochowthe honour of being a terrestrial paradise .

J: E 35 i 73 7fi fl 1512Above

,there is the Hal l o f God;below ,

there is

Soochow and Hangchow .

HANKOW : tie [II— mouth of the Han (river), which herej oins its waters with those o f the Yang-tsze . A port on

the Yang-tsze,openedby the Treaty o f Tientsin in 1 858,

though not occupied until 1 86 1 . I s 582 geographical

miles‘

from Shanghai;one of the five commercial centres

of China,and once the starting-post fo r the great annual

Ocean Race (o n) .

HAN -LIN : iii — forest o f penci ls . A College in Peking,

the members o f which are charged with the compilation

o f dynastic hi story,Imperial decrees

,and l iterary matters

in general . They draw up prayers and sacrificial addresses,

honorary t itle si

for Dowager Empresses , patents o f dignityfo r the chief concubines of a deceased Emperor

,make

offerings at the tomb o f Confucius,etc .

,etc .

,while a

number of them are required to be in attendance on the

Emperor as readers,instructors

,advi sers

,and so forth .

Admission to th is body is the highest l iterary honour

obtainable by a Chinese scholar . Establ ished early inthe 8th century by the emperor H stian Tsung of the

T ang dynasty .

Seniority in the Han -l in College being determined bydate of entry

,it often happens that an older man in

years has to address his younger but senior col league in

a form which in every other Chinese walk of li fe would

be due from the younger to the older .

HANO I : W W . The capital of Tongking .

HAPPY VALLEY,THE : fi flgifié —yellow mud creek .


A valley in the island o f Hongkong,covering about

thirty acres of ground,and used as a race -course . At

one side o f i t l ies the beautiful cemetery where foreigners

are buried . The ‘ term H apfiy Valley belongs originally

to Dr . J ohnson’

s Rasse/as,the history of a prince of

Abyssin ia w ho travelled far and wide i n search o f true

happiness .

HARA KIR I : 119w— heuy cutting . Disembowelment;the

form of suicide formerly in vogue among the Japanese .

Familiarly known to Europeans as the “ happy de‘

spatch .

HARE,THE : or Lep ns s inens is . Much legend and

supersti tion has gathered around this an imal,which has

been for many centuries associated with the moon,the

first mention being in the poems of Ch ‘ ii P ‘ i ng, 4th cent .

B C. I n later times the bare i n the moon w as bel ieved

to be occupied in pounding drugs for the el ixir o f l i fe .

The Chinese do no t seem to make any distinction between

hares and rabbits .

HATOBA : $5 35 . A pier,

or landing-place . [Japanese ]Used much as ma tow (an) in China .

HATS,CH INESE OFF IC IAL . Are of two kinds , for

winter and for summer;called“warm hats” Ji ll)? and

“ cool hats” 735: g,respectively . The latter are made o f

a yellow grass : the former of black cloth,velvet

,and

satin . Both have red tassels . The days for changingfrom one to the other in spring and autumn vary in

various parts of the empire,as fixed by the provincial

officials in each case;but they are always ( 1 ) very shortly

before or after the “ Beginning o f Summer at the endo f the grd or in the early part of the 4th moon , and (2)some time between the mid-autumn fest ival on the 1 5th

of the 8th moon and the oth of the oth moon .


“ he can pray,the learned commentator Choo He (an)

added i anfi ll}“ by Heaven is meant abstract right .

"

(3) Fate , Kismet;e .g.

,the phrase used in

.

deeds of sale

o f girls : “ I f she should die,both parties agree to accept

“ such event as the will of Heaven .

In il lustration of No . 1,the character 35 i s often drawn

with men and women leaning against it eating from the

usual rice bowl,the whole forming a picture conundrum

and explained by i 35@ fi “ they rely on Heaven for“ their daily food .

"

HEAVEN,TEMPLE OF : f ig— alte r o f Heaven . A

large enclosure within the Chinese or o uter portion o f

the city o f Peking ‘where the Emperor sacrifices andperforms various religious ceremonies i n honour o f Heaven

,

the great unseen.Pow er which directs the affairs of men

,

from which the Emperor himself holds his commission torule over the whole w orld lf TS ), and to which he is

personally responsible fo r the well -being o f his people . .

A list of al l those e xecuted ' during the year and of

their crimes,i s burned by the Emperor on the Altar of

H eaven at the winter solstice;he is thus supposed to

i nform heaven o f the manner in which he has used its

delegated authority .

HEAVEN -SENT BARR IER: A name applied by the

Chinese to the W u-sung (o n) Bar , as protecting Shanghaifrom the promiscuous ingress of large ships o f war . Com

pare— “Many o f us have thought that our sea-wall i s a“ specially divine arrangement to make and keep us a nation“ of sea-kings after the manner of our forefathers

,secure

“ against invasion and able to invade other landswhen we“ need them . [int r ess ions of Tneop nr astns Sac/

1c.

HEEN or HIEN . See H s ien .


HEH -LUNG-KIANG :3

5gfl—black dragon river . Oneo f the Manchurian provinces

,and a favourite destination

for banished Chinese officials .

HE IM IN ZF‘ E . The so -called “ common people or working

classes of Japan .

“The shizoku (go ) have ceased to carry swords , but“ they retain power over the lzeifn in

,as they did in former

“ times .

— H iogo N ew s .

HELL . See Cnani oer of H or r or s .

HERBAL,THE CH INESE . See Pnn-ts

zao .

HERMIT LAND,THE . A name formerly appl ied to

Korea (on ) .

HIBATSHI: k fiI— fire bowl . A portable stove used in

Japan fo r warming rooms,etc .

HIEN FUNG'

or HS IEN FENG : Ri g — genera abundance . The style of reign adopted by the Emperor whoruled China from 1 85 1

— 1 86 2 . F led from Peking on its

capture by the all ied forces,and died at Jehol

H IN IN : £5 A— “No t humans . A class o fJap anese paupers ,formerly allowed to squat on waste lands .

HIOGO : fi fi . A port in Japan . Same as Kobe llllllF7

HIOUEN THSANG . French orthography o f Hsiian Tsang

(on ) .

HIRAGANA or HIRAKANA : qi fi i . The Japanese

runn ing hand o r simpl ified form o f the Kana The

common symbols used in writing the native language,

resembling the Chinese “ grass character . Said to have

been introduced into Japan by Kobodaishi who diedA.D . 835 .

The Hiragana consists of 48 primary characters , but

numbers nearly 1 50 ,i f Varieties o f form be included

With the addition of some 500 curs ive characters , i t forms


the syllabary employed by women,and in novels and all

publ ications for the i l l i terate . Chinese characters are added

where necessary to prevent confusion .

H ISTORY,BOOK OF . See Snoo K ing.

H ISTORY,FATHER OF. A name given to 61 5

Ssii -ma Ch ‘ i en , who flouri shed B.C . 1 45— 87 and produced

the first systematic h istory o f China,known as the i 53

Historical Record,covering a period from the earl iest

ages down to his ow n day . I t contains words .

S ince then,histories of the various dynasties

,twenty-four

i n all,have been regularly publ ished after the close o f

each dynasty,and fi ll

,in the uniform editi on of 1 747,

no less than :

2 1 6 large volumes .

H IUNG -NU : fa] fill . See H s inng-nn .

HIYAKSHO : a iElE. The Japanese “ farmer class .

HOANG -HO : fi ifl— yellow river . So called from the

yellowness of its water,caused by the vast quantity of

mud which is swept down by its rapid current to the sea.

Pronounced H w ong naw in the Mandari n dialect . Known

to the Mongols as Kara mouran o r the Black River .

I t is now nearly fifty years since the Yellow R iverdeserted the channel through which i t formerly found its

way across Kiangsu into the Yellow Sea;and , turningnorthward at a point near Lan -

yi, in the north -east.

of

Honan,found for itself a new outlet into the Gulf of

Peichil i . Several times before the river has dev iated in asimilar way

,always with disastrous results . I ts present

channel is so narrow that,even at normal height

,the

water i s level with either bank;but when it rises withthe sl ightest increase in volume

,i t spreads out l ike a sea

over some thirty miles o f ground . See Cnina ’

s Sor r ow .

HOEY : Q . A commercial Gui ld . A secret society .


called each block a aong. Now used of al l kinds o f

mercanti le houses .

HONG-BOAT : E fil— three oars . A Chinese sampan with

a smal l wooden house in the middle,capable o f holding

about eight persons . Said to have been rowed originallyby only tar eo men sitting in the bow

,with a fourth

scull ing at the stern— whence the Chinese name;but

now the number varies according to the fancy o f the

owner . Used by foreigners residing at Canton . Same asM atr imon ial.

HONGKEW or HONGQUE : ERI E] . The site o f the

American Settlement at Shanghai . From the local p ronunciat ion of the above two characters

,l i teral ly

,r aifloow

moa tfi or por t,the Chinese name o f the place .

HONGKONG : fi fi — fragant lagoon . There has been

much controversy as to the correct interpretation o f the

above two characters .

“ Fragrant Streams” and “ Incense

Harbour” are among those given . The use of the term“ lagoon” i s based upon the fact that the inlet of water

which forms the harbour of Takow,Formosa

,and i s

unquestionably a lagoon,i s wri tten down in Chinese maps

of the place as a Our word H ongkong i s a corruption

of the local pronunciation o f the Chinese name . SeePetticoat Str ing.

Hongkong was ceded to the Engli sh in 1 84 1 and by

Treaty o f Nanking in 1 842 ,but i s stil l frequently spoken

o f by the inaccurate as being in “ China,and sometimes

even as a Treaty Port . Was formally erected into a

British Colony s th Apri l 1 843. I s 2 6 miles i n circumference

and nine in length by eight in breadth . The “ Peak,

upon which stands the signal staff,i s 1 82 5 feet high .

There is now a funicular rai lway to the summit . Just as

A GLOSS/IR Y OF REFERENCE I25

Gibraltar dominates the entrance to the Mediterranean Sea,

so does Hongkong dominate commercially the entrance

to the China Seas . Like Gibraltar it is close to the

mainland of an al ien power,and has sim ilar physical

aspects— a rocky height r ising abruptly from the sea,

with the town at the foot o f i ts slopes . Like Gibraltar

too it i s almost entirely unproductive .

HONG MERCHANTS . The securi ty merchants o f former

days,w ho

,for the privilege o f trading with foreigners

coming to Canton,became security to the mandarins for

their payment o f duties and their good behaviour while on

shore . Monopoly broken up by Treaty o f Nanking 1 842 .

HONSAI. See Goma i .

HOO SZE : $49] Em. Abbreviation for it]?$ 3111 “ silk expert’

or “ si lk toucher . Compare cfiaaHszo Known in Canton

as g Eifi or Yfifl fliflfifpfi standing fo r raw si lk from

Hu-chou Fu i n Chehkiang.

HOPPO,THE . The Haikwan (go ) o r Superintendent of

Customs at Canton,has been so called for many years .

The term is said ( 1 ) to be a corruption o fH oo t oo fi3

55— the Board o f Revenue

,with which office the Hoppo

,as

collector o f duties,i s i n direct communication;(2) to be

from H o p ofi E YE! originally “ god o f the rivers but

subsequently appl ied to the Canton river-pol ice magistrate .

A well -known native work,however

,states that 3

315

the Superintendent o f Customs is called in English é} Q

HOTOV V : 913} Efi ~ head of the river . Name o f a large

kind of boat used by foreigners at Canton for going up

country,picnics

,etc . So called from the name o f the place

at which they are built . Are usually distinguished by

three o r four red doors,called F

EJ, on each side .


HOUSE -BOAT . The common name among foreigners in

China fo r small sai l ing boats housed over and fi tted up

with sleeping bunks,cook ’s galley

,and other European

appliances . Are much used on the river Yang-tsze by the“ shooti sts” o f Shanghai

,Chinkiang

,etc .

HOWQUA : fli E . The popular designation of the famous

co -hong merchant,named Hi. ‘J

‘

é’ 11] Ng E-w o (i n Pekingese

Wu I-ho), who was one o f the intermediaries,under the

old system,between the Chinese officials and foreigners

at Canton,and whose house there is sti l l one o f the

show sights . He died in 1 843. Howqua was an Amoy

man,and the word seems to be an attempt at representing

the Amoy sounds of the above tw o characters . Mr . Parker

writes in the Cfi ina R eview,XVI I

,p . 53,

“ Is evidently the

word 5 Ea as written by the Portuguese .

” The Portuguese,

however,sound gaa not as (ea but as Ema/z;e .g. quadrado .

HS IEN : Efi . A district under the immediate control of a

magistrate called a e/t i/i -ks ieri (go ), o r simply a H s ien .

HS IEN PI : fi g . A tribe which original ly occupied the

mountains and glens of south-east Mongolia,and gave

great trouble to the Chinese for some centuries after

the Christian era . They were the progenitors o f the

Kitans

HS IN CHING LU : g ifi fi . The B ook of Exper imen ts ,or first handbook o f the Court Dialect publ i shed by

S i r T . Wade .

‘Nas witti ly travestied into fi r?! $5 “ the9new road to Peking

,

’ the sounds o f the two sets of

characters being sufficiently near,for a foreign ear

,to

admit of such a pun .

HS IU -TS ‘AI : 7? — cult ivated talents . A graduate of the

lowest rank . Generally translated oat /zetor of ar ts .

This was the general term fo r scholar or man o f letters


mentioned as surnames,besides 1 68 double and 8 triple

names;while in the biographical section o f the T ‘n s/i a

(see Encyclopaedias) there are single names and

double,triple

,and quadruple names

,making a

grand total o f i n all . Chinese o f the same surname

(with some few exceptions) may not intermarry . The four

common names— our Brown,J ones

,and Robinson— are

Chang 9E,Wang SE,

Li and Chaofl. These names

are in many cases translatable,and yield such meanings

as Fieta’,Fox

,Cr ao

,Spr ing,

H ome,B etty/

”a t

,Farmer

,

W fi ite, Gota’

, 7oy ,B all

,etc . Tradition says that there

were originallyI

only eight clan -names,all o f which are

written with the Radical (go ) woman;and this , takenin connection with the fact that the Chinese word for“ surname” contains the same Radical

,seems to show that

in early times the family l ine was traced through the

mother . I t is also noticeable that in the maj ori ty of cases

surnames were derived from places,and not place-names

from persons as with us .

HUNG -LOU -MENG : ain‘

t;g , A famous Chinese novel

in the Peking dialect,popularly known as the Dream o f

the Red Chamber,deal ing chi efly with events of domestic

l i fe which are very graphically described,and attributed

to Ts ‘ao Hsij eh-ch ‘ i n of the 1 7th cent . Many Chinese

are said to have died for love of the heroine,Miss Lin

,

so exquisi tely has that young lady been portrayed by the

author;but the book be ing considered a dangerous one

to fal l into the hands of youth was accordingly placed

in the Index Exp arga tor ins o f China,though at present

i ts sale is carried on much the same as that of any other

work . I t i s generally issued in 24 vols , 8vo ,containing

about pages,and the number of personages


introduced to the reader runs to over 400 . There is

something distinctive in the del ineation of each o f these;in V iew however of the confusion l ikely to arise from

such a bewilderi ng maze of names,a smal l dictionary

has been published in which each individual is more

o r less described . The titl e should properly be “The“Dream of the Red-storeyed Mansion

,the allusion being

to the wealthy establishment at which the scene o f the

story i s laid,and to the pomp and power o f i ts inmates

,

destined by the inevitable turn o f Fortune ’s wheel tolapse into poverty and decay .

HUNG-MO or HUNG-MAO : H EB— the red-haired . A

term first appl ied by the Chinese to the Dutch,in the

1 7th century , and now to all white foreigners . I s slyly

used to a great extent,as also fan barbarian

,among

the Chinese o f Hongkong . The writer has even received

a letter from his washerman addressed fl I: aTfie r eel-li air ecl Vice Consul

,though even this will hardly

bear comparison with a title he once obtained in Swatow,

where it is commonly used,namely HI] E T/ée 7mm

M andar in— an appellation which tells i ts ow n tale . I n

Amoy and Swatow,the term “ red-haired ” i s now reserved

for the Engl ish .

HUNS,THE . See H s iang

-nn .

HUPAO,THE : YE ER_Shnngne i News . Name o f a

Chinese newspaper issued from the D aily N ew s office .

F irst appeared i 8th May , 1 882 .

HUPEH or HU-PEI: snai ls— north of the (Tung-t ‘ ing

75] E ) lake . One of the E ighteen Provinces . Capital

city W u-ch ‘ang Fu if ER3. O ld name 5,a3rnnHUTUKHTU : B?order in the hierarchy o f Lamaism (on ) . The three chief

The cardinals,or second


Hutukhtus reside at Urga,Kuku Khoto

,and Peking

the latter representing Lamaism at the Court . I n Tibet

they wield temporal as well as spiritual power,the

admin istration being entirely in their hands . Popularly

known as“ Living Buddhas . The term H . i s derived

from a Mongol ian word which is interpreted i n Chinese as

sign ifying tsai lai fen E 3KA— ie . one who returns

again,an Avatar .

HWANG-POO or WANG-PU : fi tE— Yenow Reach . The

river whereon,at a distance o f about 1 2 miles from the

Yang-tsze into which it flows,stand the town and foreign

settlements o f Shanghai .HWANG -TI : (a)fi fi — the Yellow Emperor . A legendaryruler

,who is said to have flourished nearly years

before Christ and to have been the pioneer o f the early

civi l isation o f mankind by the invention of wheeled

carriages,a medium of exchange

,music astronomical

instruments,etc .

,etc . Was called “ yellow because he

reigned under the influence of ear th (whatever that may

mean), and yellow is the colour o f earth . Must not be

confounded with the next .

HWANG-TI : (e)gFifi— supreme ruler . The title o f every

Emperor of China since the days o f the F irst Emperorbefore which time the title I w ang

“ prince" was

employed . When the Mongols conquered China in the

early years o f the 1 3th century , and adopted the title

Hwang Ti,they analysed the character 5 i nto its com

ponent parts 9 wnite and I fi r inee , and translated

them literally into Mongolian as Tchagan Khagan or

“White Khan . This was subsequently adopted by the

Russians for Asiatic use in the various forms o f Ak-khan,

Ak-Padshah,and Biely Tsar or “White Czar .

I32 A CLOSSAKY OF REFERENCE

foreign department of the Chinese Customs . During the

occupation of the native city of Shanghai by the T ‘ai-p ‘ ing

rebels 1 853—55 , the collection o f the Customs ’ revenue

was temporari ly placed in the hands o f three foreign

officials deputed by the British,French

,and American

Consuls;and this system was found to answer so well that

it was continued,even after the evacuation

,under the

guidance o f Mr Horatio Nelson Lay at the head o f a

small staff of European assistants . The arrangement wasfinal ly extended to all the Treaty Ports

,and has developed

into what is now known as the Chinese Customs ’ Service-hitherto one o f the most ably conducted organisations

in the world .

IKKU . A well-known Japanese poet and humorist . Died 1 831 .

IMM0RTALs,THE : ill! A . A term which is somewhat

loosely applied to the r icki of Buddhism and to the saints

o f Taoism (go ) .

INCHHON . Same as 7eno/znan (on ) .

I NDIAN INK . A misnomer for the slabs o f Cfi inese ink

used all over the empire since the third century of our

era;though , according to one native authority,i t was

manufactured as early as B C. 1 40 . I t is prepared chiefly

in Anhui,from a lampblack produced by burn ing either

sesamum oil o r the o il o f the seeds o f ster culia platan i

f olia ,Linn . f.

,with varnish and pork-fat . A paste is made

from this lampblack and some glue i s added,also musk

o r Baro o s camphor to scent it,and some gold-leaf to

give it a metallic lustre . The paste i s beaten on wooden

anv i ls with steel hammers,and then placed in wooden

moulds and ornamented with gold or coloured characters etc .

From their habit o f putting the writing brush or penci l

into the mouth in order to give a fine point,the


Chinese have come to employ the phrase “ eating ink

as a metaphorical equivalent for study .

INFANTICIDE . The prevalence of th is crime in China

has been greatly exaggerated,while the harrowing stories

connected with Baby Towers [go ] have been shown to

be ridiculously untrue . I t i s now quite an Open question

whether infanticide is more practised in China than in

Europe and elsewhere . E'

o re igners often fai l to understand

how it is that,if infanticide does not exist

,stone tablets

engraved with warnings against thi s crime can stil l be

set up near ponds,and endless pamphlets be produced

illustrating the crime and the dire effects upon those

who perpetrate it . The explanation however i s simple .

Any Chinaman w ho makes money is compelled by public

opinion to do something in the philanthropic l ine . He

may build a needed bridge,or mend a road

,or publ ish

a pamphlet setting forth the terrors of Purgatory (see

Lepr osy). I nfanticide (girls only), which o f course does occur ,as in every other country

,i s one convenient outlet fo r such

philanthropy . Happily for the honour o f the Chinese

people,who are very fond o f chi ldren

,i t i s possible

actually to prove a negative,and show that extensive

infanticide cannot be practised in China,as follows . Every

Chinaman throughout the empire,with the very rarest

exceptions,marries young . I f his wife dies

,he marries

again;i t i s not thought proper for widows to remarry ,though some do so . Many well-to -do Chinamen take a

concubine , some two , three , and even four . Therefore ,unless there is an enormous disparity in the numbers o f

boys and girls born,infanticide must be reduced to very

narrow l imits . Yet,as late as May 1 897, Mrs Isabella

B ishop said at a meeting of the Zenana Missionary

1 34 A GLOSSAK Y OF REFERENCE

Society that “o f eleven Bible women whom she had seen

“ at a meeting in China,there was not one that had not

“ put an end to at least five girl babies . I t i s a work

of supererogation to add that few Chinaw omen bear five

chi ldren .

I N ITIALS . See Spelling Sys tem .

INLAND SEA,THE . The sea which is almost surrounded

by the three southernmost islands - Nip on ,S ikok

,and

Kiusiu— o f the Japanese empire . I t i s about 2 so miles in

length,and contains some fine pieces o f scenery .

INNER LAND,THE . See Nm '

tz'

.

INQUESTS . Are held in China upon the bodies o f all

w ho die by v iolence or are found dead under suspiciouscircumstances . Also

,in cases o f grievous bodi ly injury

,

when a l imit is fixed within which the accused is responsible,

and during which the inj ured man is handed over to his

charge . The inquest i s held by the District Magistrate

or his Deputy,without a j ury

,within V iew of the body

,

on the very spot where found o r struck down .

INTERCALARY MONTH : E5 fj . (Accented on the

second syllable). A thirteenth month inserted seven times

in nineteen years,or about once in every third year

,i n

order to make up the annual deficiency o f the lunar year

of twelve months as compared with the solar year . The

four following methods,the last o f which is sti l l i n use

,

have been adopted at various times for determining the

incidence o f this month .

( 1 )— The redupl ication of every 3grd month . Thus in

the 3rd year there would be an intercalary oth month ,in the 6th year an int . 6th

,in the 9th an int . 3rd, i n

the 1 1 th an int . 1 1 th,i n the 1 4th an int . 8th , in the

1 7th an int . 4th ,and in the 1 9th an int . 1 2 th .


A.D . 835 . I t was an attempt to assimilate the letters as

much as possible to the Bonj i (i .e . Pali) used in the

sacred books of the Buddhists .

ISHI -DDRC) : Z;5% A stone lamp . [Japanese].

JADE : EB Yie'

(said to mean {fie gem p ar ex cellence). A

species of nephrite,the green and white kind o f which

(35 3

5 . f ez’

fs‘m

’

,kingfisher plumes) i s highly valued by

the Chinese . Rings,bracelets

,vases

,and various other

ornaments are made of this stone,which i s also largely

imitated . The Chinese word is extensively employed in

ceremonious language ;e .g.

, £ 52 “j ade (i .e . honour

able) person and 71 3 FE Ell:“ do not spare your jade

footsteps,i .e .

“ come and see me,etc .

,etc .

,j ade being

considered as emblematical of most of the virtues,and

as a product o f Heaven and Earth . Whole ship - loads of

i t have been brought as ballast from other countries to

China,but have found no market

,the Chinese declaring

that i t was not the same article as their own,which

comes from the mountain-ranges o f Tibet .

JAMBARREE . A festive party,involving much noise .

[Slang ] Analysed by a wag at Swatow°

Alcohol 75 parts .

V ox humana 24

Water . I

JAPAN : B ZX— Sun Root . Hence i t i s called “ Land o f

the Ri sing Sun,the extreme Orient . Our word is from

yew-

15m ,the Dutch orthography of the Japanese N i—p on ,

as represented by the above two ' Chinese characters .

Formerly known to the Chinese as W e,the Country

o f Dwarfs,which character w as altered by the Japanese

to Also called film the nation of gods,and 2 g

the Imperial nation . [See s m and Yamaz‘

o ]

A GEOSSAR y OF REFERENCE I37

The Chinese written language and Confucian books

were introduced into Japan in A .D . 2 86,on the adv ice

of Atogi, son of the King o f Korea,who v i s ited that

country. Until they became acquainted with Chinese,the

Japanese had no written character . When the Japanese

began to write their ow n language phonetical ly,they used

Chinese characters (se e Kama). Later on they l imited

the number of characters for use as phonetic signs,and

then wrote these in an abbreviated form (see Ka taéema)or in a cursive form (se e H iragana). The Japanese

alphabet,consisting o f 47 syllable- letters , was invented by

Kudu-no-Madu, A .D . 693

—755;and the first Japanese

written book dates from 71 2 (see K oj z’

é z). The Japanese,

l ike the Chinese,write from right to left in vertical

columns . Diplomatic relations between China and Japan

began about the end o f the 6 th century,and continued

for some time under the T ‘ang dynasty,during which

period Japanese students were sent to China to study the

Chinese language and l iterature . Kublai Khan sent an

armada against Japan in A.D . 1 2 8 1 . I t was destroyed in

a storm,aided by the attacks o f the Japanese

,and only

3 men out o f are said to have escaped .

JEHOL : fi ffij — ho t river . A summer residence o f the

Emperors of China,lying about 1 00 miles north o f

Peking,beyond the Great Wall

,and built i n 1 780 on

the model o f the residence o f the Panshen Erden i (gm)at Tashilumbo in Tibet

,when that functionary proceeded

to Peking to be present on the seventieth ann iversary of

the Emperor Ch ‘ ien Lung ’s bi rthday . I t was here that the

Emperor Hsien Feng died in 1 86 1,subsequent to the

capture of Peking by the British and French forces . Ourname is an imitation o f the Chinese sounds

,through the

I38 A GEOSSAR Y OF REFERENCE

French , the final being due to the French transl iterationo f the Peking FE, which is usually added in the north

to the two characters given above .

JENCHUAN 1: J”. A Prefecture in Korea,in which is

situated the port o f Chemulpo

JESUITS , THE . This term,as used in China

,refers to

the highly-educated Romish missionaries o f that particularsociety , w ho resided at Peking during the seventeenth

and part o f the eighteenth centuries,and employed

themselves chiefly in the translation o f scientific works,

i n teaching astronomy,etc .

,etc . Matteo Ri cci and Adam

Schaal are among the most famous . They have found

no t unworthy successors in the Jesuits o f today,among

whom may be mentioned PP . Zo ttoli,Couvreur

,Havre t ,

and others . See Sz'eaw ei .JEWS : 3m, fi fl T ‘

z'

ao-Cfiz'

n -efiz'

ao— sect of those who take

out the sinew . Are said to have carried the Pentateuch

to China shortly after the Babylonish captiv ity . They

founded a colony in Honan in A.D . 72 ,and erected a

synagogue at K ‘ai -feng Fu in A.D . 1 1 64 . Were discovered

by R icc i (see 7eszez'

ts) in the 1 7th century . Hebrew rolls

o f parts o f the Pentateuch in the square character,with

vowel points,were obtained in 1 850 . The Jews are

mentioned in the H e

'

sf. of Me Ye'

z’

an (M ongol) Dynas ty ,

1 32 9 and 1 354 A.D .

,as flfifl,

the equivalent o f the

Chaldaean Yé’

fiua’.

J IGGY J IGGY or J IKI J IKI : aE . Japanese equivalent

for “make haste !”

J IMMU TENNO . The first Mikado o f Japan,BC . 660 ,

with whose reign the historical period begins .

J INGAL . The Chinese blunderbuss . From the Hindustani

j n eil,a swivel

,a large musket . Generally fired in China


sometimes used by Chinese shop -keepers as a shOp-sign;

e .g. 1mfi fi “ as you wish stockings (sold here)”

The Buddhist Mani ti ,a gem which was said to

remain always brill iant,was called the Ju-i Pearl . I t is

enumerated as one of the Seven Precious Things .

JO-RO : E“. A prostitute [Japanese] . So Yor oya a houseo f i l l fame .

JOSS . A Chinese idol;also appl ied to the Christian God.

The word i s a corruption of the Portuguese D ear,God

,

and has come to be used in pidgin -Engl ish in thesense o f luck

,as good j oss or bad j oss

,according to

circumstances .

JOSS-HOUSE . A Chinese temple;e .g.

,the “Treaty Joss

house where the Treaty of Tientsin was signed . Also

used by the natives to designate all foreign churches

and chapels .

JOSS-HOUSE MEN . Missionaries are so called by pidgin

English speaking Chinese .

JOSS-PAPER . Pieces of gold and silver paper worked

into the form o f shoes o f sycee (ya ) and burnt by the

Chinese at masses for the dead,before the shrine o f the

God o f Wealth etc .

,etc .

JOSS-PIDGIN . Any form o f religious ceremony,foreign

or native,including cracker-firing,

processions,etc .

,etc .

JOSS -STICK . A stick o f incense made from the dust of

various scented woods mixed with a l ittle clay,and used

in temples for worship,in houses for l ighting pipes

,etc .

Some for the latter purpose are prepared so as to hang

over a wire frame in a spiral form;and being l ighted at

the bottom,burn slowly upwards and last for many hours .

Carefully regulated j oss-sticks for marking the time are

sold at the famous “Water Clock” in the city of Canton .

A GEOSSAR Y OF REFERENCE 14 1

JUDGE,PRov1Nc1AL z1§1 Q fi at/ Ea Ff] . A high official

,

ranking with the Treasurer or Fan -t ‘ai (gm),°

who is

responsible fo r the due administration o f j ustice in the

prov ince to which he has been appointed .

JUDICIAL PROCEDURE . I n the case,for instance

,of

a murder,a prel iminary investigation is held before the

District Magistrate,and i f there is sufficient ev idence

against the accused,he i s committed for tr ial before

the Prefect . I f the Prefect confirms the view o f the

Magistrate,the case is sent on to the Provincial Judge;

and,similarly

,by him to the Fu-t ‘ai or Governor . The

Governor then holds a trial and reports to the Board o f

Punishments in Peking,and the Board lays the case

before the Emperor . The Emperor commands the Boardto examine and report;and i f the Governor

’s view is

confirmed,the latter receives instructions to that effect .

Otherwise,the case is referred back for reconsiderat ion

,

the Governor usually getting a strong hint as to the

direction his reconsideration is expected to take . He

himself refers back to his subordinates,and so on .

JUDY . Slang term for a Chinese courtesan . See Pane/i

and 7zea’

y

JULAI . See Ta t/zeigata .

JUNK . According to Ibn Batuta,only the larger kind of

Chinese sail ing-vessels should be so called;but the term is

now used of all sea-going boats and o f the more bulky of

the river craft . I t i s a notable fact that single j unks arerarely seen at sea;they generally sai l in pairs , even downto the small fishing-j unks which ply their trade along the

coast,the object being no doubt that o f mutually rendering

assistance . Probably from the Malay aj ong or fang,which

means a large boat,corrupted by the Portuguese into j uneo .


KABAYA . The long upper dress worn by Malay women

and largely adopted as a déshabil lé by the Dutch ladies

in Java .

KAGO — riding basket . A bamboo palanquin formerly

used in Japan,but now superseded by the j z

'

nr z

'

kz'

slza (av .

KAKEMONO . A Japanese hanging picture .

KAKI . The Japanese name fo r per simmon (GO ) .

KAKKE : W i — foot humour . The Japanese name for

B er e

’

éer z’

(said to be a Cingalese word meaning “weak

A locally endemic contagious disease,probably

o f a malarial character,showing itself in two forms

,the

dropsical,and the atrophic (the so -called wet and dry

forms). I t is now bel ieved to consist essential ly in a

multiple degenerative inflammation o f the nerves .

KALMUCK TARTARS . See Tar tan and Eleut/eM ongols .

KALPA : fflflfi . [Sanskrit]. An immense period of time .

A “great" Kalpa= 1,

years,or 80 small kalpas .

KAMAKURA . Residence of the Shoguns o f Japan

from the close o f the 1 2 th cent . A.D . to 1 867.

KAMI : W . A god or spirit o f the ancient religion (Shin to)o f Japan .

KAMPONG . See Camfi ong.

KAN ON : fi g . A pronunciation o f Chinese according

to the dialect of S ingan Fu,capital of Shensi

,introduced

into Japan through Korea about A.D . 600 and especially

used by Confucianists . See Go on .

KANA : [E i — borrowe‘d words . Contraction for Kar ina .

Chinese characters used phonetical ly to represent Japanese

sounds . These are o f tw o kinds;Kalabana and H iragana(ORE) .

KANG or K ‘ANG : ”fit . A brick bed,with a fire under

neath it . Used all over the more northern parts o f China .


776 . Little used except in dictionaries for explanatory

purposes,to express grammatical terminations

,and to

spel l foreign names .

KAUTCHEW S . The people from PramKaic-lekew (in

mandarin Kao-cfioa) to the south -west of the Kuang -tung

province . They emigrate in large numbers to the Straits ’

Settlements .KAY-TOW : g Eng— head of the strangers . An employer

o f Chinese labour in the Straits . ‘

KE IBU :3

5K. A Japanese sergeant o f pol ice .

KELUNG : llfi $3? or E Fé or QR Subsidiary port toTamsui at the north end o f Formosa

,Opened to trade

by the Treaty o f Tientsin,1 858. Was once a Spanish

and subsequently a Dutch settlement . Coal is found in

the neighbourhood . The name Keli mg was once applied

to the whole island of Formosa .

KEN : P5 . Japanese term fo r a “ district . Equivalent tothe Chinese lzs ien (go ) .

KEN : FEB. A measure o f s ix Japanese feet inches).

KENCHO : fi fig . A Japanese magistrate’s offi ce .

KENREI: lg A Japanese District Magistrate .

KHALKAS,THE : 05 mg, The Khalka nation comprises

those tribes o f Mongols which,owing probably to their

remoteness,maintained to a late date their independence

o f the Manchu sovereignty .

KHAMBALU . From [( fiamp alik o r K/i an Oalzgfi ,the city

o f the Khan . The Mongol name for what is now the

Tartar portion o f the city of Peking . Mentioned by Marco

Polo as Caméali cc.

KHAN : EI‘H: or more often Zr? and F . A Mongol ian

term fo r “ prince The Pathan Mahommedans in India

are called “Khan .

A GEOSSAKY OF REFERENCE 145

KHATA or KHADAK . Ceremonial scarves interchanged

between a Mongol host and guest .

KHATEEB. The Mussulman preacher in a Malay village .

See B illal.

KHUTUKHTU . See H awk/eta .

KIANGNAN . The' old name o f Anhui and Kiangsu . See

KIANGS I : [EE — west of the river . One o f the E ighteenProvinces . Capital cityNan-ch

‘ang Fufi 5 RI} . O ld name

KIANGSU : VI fi . One o f the E ighteen Provinces . Fromthe first syllables o f Kiang-ning Fu VI flR1} ,

the capital,

and Su-chou Eu fi J'HHid—3 the celebrated ci ty ofbeautiful

women . O ld name 91 W u .

KIAO -CHOU :@ H] . A port on the southern shore o f the

Shantung Promontory,ceded to Germany in 1 898. I t

was reached by traders from the Erythraean Sea , B .C.

680— 642;and the Buddhist monk Fa Hsien landed thereat the end o f his voyage from Ceylon in A.D . 4 1 4 .

KIAO -TCH I or GlAO name formerly

bel ieved to have been given by the Chinese to the

inhabitants of Cochin -China (go ) because in that country

the sexes bathed together . Now ascerta ined to be a native

name for the aborigines o f Annam,derived from the

separation o f their big toes from the rest o f the foot

l ike thumbs .

KIEN LUNG . See Gfi ‘ ien Lung.

KI-LI -SSU -TANG : g i llmfg . The Roman Cathol icpass-word among converts in China

,being an imitation

o f the Latin Ckr islia i i ics . Thus,

“ Lao -tang” (the last

syllable with “ old . p refixed) i s used as a form of address

among native converts,as opposed to “ Lao Par or “O ld

[0

146 A GEOSSARY OF REFERENCE

Genti le,the Pai representing the first syllable of Pontius

Pilate ’s name .

KILIN or CH ‘ I -LIN (i n Japanese flfi . One o f

the four fabulous creatures o f China,generally translated

“ unicorn .

” I t i s mentioned in the Odes,and is also said

to have appeared just previous to the death of Confucius .

The Spring and Autumn Annals (go ) end with therecord of this fact . An attempt has been made by some

foreign scholars to identify the Kilin with the giraffe .

KIMONO . A long robe with sleeves,open in front and

folding,worn by Japanese o f both sexes

,with a girdle .

KIN : Fr . A catty (go ) .

KING,THE . See Ching.

KINGHITAO . See Seoul.

KINSATSZ : $ 11, Japanese bank-notes first issued in

1 868,when the Daimios who overthrew the Tycoon found

it necessary to raise a loan .

KINSAY or QUINSAY : 5 1 gm— capital . The modern cityo f Hang-Chou Eu

,the capital of the empire at the time

o f the Sung dynasty . [( imay i s a corruption o f the sounds

o f the above tw o characters .

KIOJEN . A Japanese farce,i n col loquial .

KIOKA. A comic variety o f the Japanese Tanka (go ) .

10 01 0 or KIYOTO : a gas. The cap ital o f the Mikados

of Japan from A.D . 794 to 1 868. Also known as Heian -jo

or the City o f Peace . See Kamakura .

KIRGHIS or KASAKS . Nomads who inhabit the great

desert lying between S iberia,China

,Turkestan

,and the

Caspian Sea . [f ir means field,and gis or gez is the root

o f the word gizmelt to wander . Hence,K irg/i is is a man

that wanders over fields : a nomad .

KIR IN i fM —j oyful forest . One o f the Manchurian provinces .

148 A GEOSSAR y OF REFERENCE

K ‘ I UNG-CHOW : J‘H— red marble region . A port in

the I . o f Hainan,Opened to trade by the Treaty Of

Tientsin,

1 858, but not formally occupied until 1 876 . I t

was proposed in S i r R . Alcock’s unratified Convention

Of 1 869 to substitute VVénchow (on ) as more likely to

be a profitable centre Of trade .

KLINGS,THE . The common term in the Strai ts ’ Settlements

fo r all I ndians . (See Clcellies). The German traveller ,

Jagar, suggested Tel inga , a part of the Coromandel

coast,as the original word of which [f ling may be a

corruption .

KNIFE MONEY : flfi . Some of the earliest Chinesecoins

,dating as far back as and more years before

Christ,were cast in the shape of a razor blade;hence

the name . Genuine specimens o f “ knife money are

exceedingly rare and much prized by Chinese numismatists;but the market i s flooded with spurious imitations Of

all kinds .

KNOTTED CORDS : {swag Said to have been used byprimitive man in China before the invention o f writing;but how or to what extent

,there is no record to show .

KOBANG : /J\ $1] — small division . A Japanese gold coin

equal to 4 On : (on ) .

KOCHO : F7 E . The superintendent of a street or block

in a Japanese town . Cf. Chinese ‘

li -p ao .

KODSKI: Ahfi . A servant . [Japanese ]KO IAN . See Coyan .

KOJ IK I : 53 or Records o f Ancient Matters . The

earliest surviving book written in Japanese,containing

the first traditions o f the Japanese race,from the myths

which form the basis o f the Shinto rel igion down toA.D . 6 2 8. Completed in 71 2 ,

by Yasumaro who declared

A GEOSSAKY OF REFERENCE 149

that'

he took it down from the words o f o ne H iyeda

no Are .

KOKINSHIU :”

5 4‘ fi A famous Japanese anthology,

i ssued in the 1 0th cent . A.D . and covering the previous1 50 years . Arranged under categories .

KOKUSHI: 51 . The title of the eighteen principal

D a im ios (go ) Of Japan .

KO-LAO SOCIETY :Ts} @_ e1der brother society . One

of the numerous secret fraternit ies of China,membership

Of which i s strictly forbidden by the Government,and

is punished on discovery by death . Penal Code,Bk . I I .

,

Sect . 1 6 2 .

“The arrest and execution of an individual found guilty“ of connection with the secret Brotherhood known as the“N 0 Lao H w ei .

— PeRing Gazelle,8 Sept . 1 877.

KONG : Q . A large glazed earthen j ar for hold ing water .

KONGS I or KONGSEE : é } fil— company or guild . An

association of Chinese formed for purposes Of mutual

protection,etc .

KOOSBEGE :“ lord o f the family . A title bestowed in

1 847 upon YakoobBeg , and equivalent to “Viz ier .

KOREA . An imitation o f the sounds Kao li g fi ,the

common Chinese name for th is country,pronounced K or i

by the Koreans . [E w as formerly written 2 a quiver ] .

I t i s incorrect to speak of cli e Korea,which is merely a

word-for-word rendering o f the French La Kor e’

e,j ust i n

the same way as it is strictly speaking wrong to say tne

Tyrol .

Otherwise known as $5fi Chao sien,a name adopted

in A.D . 1 392 ,from the name o f a district in the north

west Of the pen insula,signifying the country nearest to the

rising sun . The Koreans themselves employ both names ,


the official designation being Chao sien . The Japanese

pronunc iation of th is name is Chosen .

The kingdom o f Korea,for many centuries a vassalage

Of the Chinese empire,i s said (but without foundation)

to have been establ ished about 1 1 00 B C. I t is known

in the historical annals as fl H an,the name o f the

Three States which formerly div ided the Korean peninsula,

unti l o ne o f them,KO -rye

,absorbed the other two

,

about the close o f the 1 1 th cent . A .D . Hence the

name Korea . I n A.D . 1 39 2 ,the capital was fixed at

E‘

EE Han -yang o r Seoul (go ), and the country wasdivided into 8 provinces

,80 districts

,and 360 cit i es .

Korea was conquered by the Chinese under the T ‘ang

dynasty,and remained more or less in subjection until

quite recently,when its autonomy was restored . The

population is estimated at 7 to 8 mill ions;including

islands,1 5 mill ions .

Korea was visited by Henrik Hamel,a Dutchman, i n

1 653, and since then by voyagers o f various national ities .

I n 1 866,a French expedition to avenge the murder of some

priests w as repulsed . In 1 868,an American expedition;

said to be o f a filibustering character in connection withtreasure hidden in some mausoleum

,returned without

having accompl ished anything . In 1 835 , two Cathol ic

missionaries entered the country,and many afterwards

maintained an incogn ito there by the adoption of mourning ,

which completely covers the face,and in the case Of a

noble,exempts the mourner from all stoppages and

questionings atI

CuStoms’ barriers

,etc .

Chinese is the Official language o f Korea,but p rocla

mations appear in Chinese and Korean,side by side . The

native language is alp habe tic ,_hav ing 1 1 vowels and 1 4

1 52 A GEOSSAR Y OF REFERENCE

chiefly from mare ’s mi lk,and largely consumed by the

Mongols . Said to be beneficial in some forms of phthisis .KOW LOON : fi r fig. A peninsula on the mainland Of China

,

Opposite to the i sland Of Hongkong . A portion Of i t was

leased to England in 1 860,and a further sl ice was added

in 1 899 .

KOXINGA or KOSHINGA : jet fi — lord o f the

country ’ s famil ies . The celebrated chieftain gsECy] who

expelled the Dutch from Formosa in 1 66 2 . Kox inga i s

derived from the Portuguese method o f writing the first

three characters given,a title by which this leader was

commonly known . Known to the Japanese as Kokusenya.

His battles formed the subject o f a play published in

1 71 5 by the famous Japanese playwright Chikamatsu (on ) .

KR IS or KAR IS . Pronounced Rr ees or cr eese . A dagger

Of irregular shape,worn by the Malays in a sheath at

the girdle . That a mere scratch may be effective,i t i s

occasionally kept poisoned;and streaks Of blood upon

i t are careful ly preserved as honourable marks . I tsbladeis wavy or flame - shaped

,from 1 to inches wide and

from 1 4 to 1 8 i nches i n length,capable Of infl icting a

dreadful wound . The finer Specimens are Often beautifullydamascened . Etiquette demands that during a friendlyinterview the kris should be concealed and the handle

turned with the point close to the body;otherwise it i s

exposed,with the handle turned the reverse way . The

K r is f anfang and the K r is p ana’ak are the long and

short kinds,respectively .

KU-LANG so ;H ifi llfi — drum-wave i sland . A small

i sland to the west Of the harbour Of Amoy,nearly 3 miles

in circumference,and about 1 mile in length by mile in

breadth,upon which stand the Consulates and private

A GEOSSAKY OF REFERENCE 1 53

residences Of merchants and others co nnected with the

trade o f the port . The name “ drum-wave has been

given to this island from a certain drum -l ike noise made

by the plashing o f the waves at a particular point upon its

western shore . Upon a rock near the German Consulate,

the following legend is carved in large characters :

Ku-lang-su i s a Paradise upon earth;The Egret River is s

’

h cond to none .

Chinese population,about

KUANG HSUor KWANG fag— bril l iant succession .

The style Of reign adopted by the present Emperor ofChina

,who came to the throne in 1 875 , aged four . His

name is Tsai T‘ ien fi fi ,and he is the son of the late

Prince Ch ‘un,famil iarly known as the “ seventh Prince

,

seventh son Of the Emperor Tao Kuang . The style

Kuang Hs ii i s from a sentence in a State paper of theSung dynasty : i f;5 , flfig “bri l l iantly renew the dynastic

succession .

”

KUANGSI: E E . The western div i sion of the ancient

E N] . One o f the E ighteen Provinces . Capital city

Kuei- l in Fu fi fi‘ Hi} ,or Cassia-forest;so called from

the cassia which grows in the neighbourhood . O ld nameE Ynen-nsi .

KUANG -TUNG : EK . The eastern division of the ancient

E N . One o f the E ighteen Provinces . Capital city

Kuang-Chou Fu E H] E? (Canton). O ld name fi fi

KUBLA I KHAN sf-F. The founder o f the Mongol

dynasty in China,A.D . 1 2 80 . Grandson of Genghis Khan .

KU-CHO : [5 E . The superintendent Of one of the “ quarters”

or parishes into which all Japanese towns and cities

are divided .


KUGE : fi zz— noble fami ly . The name o f the ancient

nobili ty o f Japan,residing at Kiyo to and attached to the

Court of the Mikado,as opposed to the territorial nobles

or Daimios (go ) . The Kuge are hereditari ly noble,by

virtue of their blood-relationship (however distant) to the

Mikado .

KU JEN . se e C/mj efl.

KUMPANI . See Eas t India Company .

KUMQUOT. See Cumquat‘

.

KUNG : E . Tribute .

KUNSAN . A port on the left bank o f the Changpo river

in Korea,about 1 0 hours by steamer south o f Chemulpo .

KUO TZU CH IEN : 3 g . The Imperial Academy o f

Learning .

“Rather an assemblage o f titled l i terary dignitaries“ than a body of officials wi th active funct ions . M ayer s .

KURA . A Japanese “ godown” (ya ) .

KURUMA . See 7z'

nr icés/za .

KUW AZOKU : fi fifi — noble class . The modern name of

the Daimios

KWAN The Chinese Mars o r God of War .

A celebrated warrior,named Kuan Yij m,

who livedat the close of the second and beginn ing o f the th ird

century of our era . Originally a hawker of bean-curd ,he was one o f the three heroes who entered into a

confederacy to support the Han dynasty against the

rebell ious Yellow Turbans . He played a leading part in

the wars of the Three Kingdoms (see San -kuo-cfiz’

lz) unti l

he was finally taken prisoner and beheaded,after which

he was canonised,and subsequently (A .D . I594) raised to

the rank o f a God. A particular cash,struck during the

reign of the Emperor Ch ‘ ien Lung,i s call ed “Kwan Ti

’

s

knife from its supposed resemblance to that weapon .


LAC or LAKH . A Hindi word,meaning

Correctly written Zak/z. The Malay laésa=

LACQUER : (g . From the Arabic Zak . A lustrous,highly

pol ished kind o f wood-ware,pecul iar to China and Japan .

This lustre is due to the use o f the sap o f a varnish-tree

[REM ver n icif eraj , which is dissolved in spring-water

and mixed with oi l and other ingredients,and then laid

on to the article in question with as many as ten or fifteen

applications for the best specimens . The lacquer made in

Foochow is the only kind which can compete with the

Japanese;and this i s said to be itself o f Japanese origin .

LADRONES,THE; i .a.

“The Pirates . The group o f

i slands which includes Hongkong has been so called,i n

imitation o f the more celebrated group discovered by the

Portugese-Spanish voyager Magalhaens i n 1 5 2 1 , and for

precisely the same reason— the piratical disposition o f

their inhabitants .

LA I -OK : g Q . A fast-sai l ing,heavi ly-armed boat

,built

,

expressly for smuggl ing purposes,at Lai -ok near Canton;

whence the name . The smugglers were protected by

sh ields,from behind which they could work their guns;

and this made them very di fficult of capture . Their boats

have now disappeared,their very existence being prohibited

by the authorities .

LALLY-LUNG or LA -LI -LOONG : adj E fig. Pidgin term

for a thief. Said to be a corruption o f the Portuguese

Laa’rao . See Laa’r ones .

LAMA : fifl‘fi . A priest of the Tibetan form of Buddhism .

This word,

“ according to the Chinese,has the meaning

“o f w i t Mang 11135L ,

i .a.

‘unsurpassed ’ or ‘without aQ ) ,— M ayer s . Colonel Yule

,on the other hand ,superior .

says i t means “ spiritual teacher .


LAMA MIAO : fid‘fi fi . (See D olon N or ). A famous

mart upon the plains of Mongolia,so called because of

the tw o temples (miao) there .

LAMA TEMPLE : 712area A monastery at Peking in

which about 1 500 Mongol and Tibetan pri ests study the

Law of Buddha and other subjects . I t is remarkable for

a colossal figure o f Mai treya Buddha, 70 ft . i n height .

See D aiéa tsu .

LAMAISM . The form of Buddhism prevailing in Mongol ia

and Tibet . “ I s the Romanism of the Buddhist church .

LANGSON ai mAFFAIR,THE

,which resulted in

hosti l i ties betw een France and China,occurred on the

2 3rd June , 1 884 ,and arose out o f an alleged breach o f

the Li-Fournier Convention Colonel Dugenne ,commanding a small French force

,was marching to

occupy Langson ,a town near the borders o f Tongking

,

which it w as known was garrisoned by Chinese regular

tr00ps . According to the official report,the French column

w as fired upon a day or two before i t reached the defi le

where the Chinese Opposed the advance in force,but i t

was subsequently contended by the Chinese that this firing

was by banditti not under the control o f the mandarins .

When Colonel Dugenne found his advance opposed by a

large Chinese force some parleying took place . The

French themselves admit that the Chinese asked for a delayo f two or three days in which to obtain instructions and to

evacuate their position . Colonel Dugenne sent an ultimatum

later on i n the day stating he would continue his march

forward in an hour . He did advance at the end of that

period,the result being that h is column w as received

with a heavy fire,and had to beat a hasty retreat .


LAO TZU : old philosopher . The founder o f

Taoism,and reputed author of the Tao Te“ Cfi ing (gm) .

He was the old philosopher of China p ar ex cellence,and

fragments o f his wisdom have been preserved in the

works o f Chuang Tzii as wel l as in the treatise mentioned

above . His birth has been fixed at B C. 604 . Said tohave had an interview with Confucius

,who remarked

afterwards that he could understand the fl ight o f birds

and the movement o f fishes,but could no t comprehend

Lao Tzii ;concluding by saying . that he could only compare

him with the dragon . The story o f this interview however

has now been recognised to belong to the category o f

pious frauds . He is said to have foreseen the fall o f the

Chou dynasty,and to have finally taken his dep arture

on a j ourney to the west,after which he was never seen

again . As a mythological being,he is known as the

O ld Boy, because born with white hair and eyebrows .

This event took place at the v i llage o f Oppressed-Virtue,

i n the pari sh of Cruelty,in the district of B itterness

,

which w as i n the state o f Suffering . His mother conceived

him in consequence o f the emotion she felt at the sight

of a fall ing star,and she is said by some to have been

a v i rgin (Eli r fi fi 96 . See art . in i t ? E 5B).He was carried i n the womb for 8 1 years

,and had large

ears with three orifices,j agged teeth

,a square mouth

,

and ten fingers on each hand .

LAO-YEH :% fi — old father . Equivalent to “ His Honour .

The ti tle of Chinese officials below the grade of Subprefect .Assistant Subprefects

,Department and District Magistrates

are,however

,accorded by courtesy the higher title of

Ta-lao-

yek .

LARN -PIDGIN,A . An apprentice “boy, who attaches


LI: fl . Abstract right . The phrase “I don ’t see the a,

i .e . the force , o f doing so and so i s not unfrequently

heard among foreigners in China .

LI : fig . Etiquette;pol iteness .

LI KI . See R i tes , B ook of .

LI ’S LAMBS . A satirical term formerly appl ied by foreigners

to the soldiers under the command o f Li Hung-Chang,

late Viceroy of Chihli,and expressive o f their feroci ty '

towards innocent tradesmen rather than of any signal

prowess on the battlefield .

LI SHU . See Seal Cfiaraeler .

LI T ‘AI -PO : i i i E} . A celebrated poet,the Anacreon

of China,who flourished A.D . 669

—76 2 . He was admitted

to a close intimacy with the reigning Emperor , but ultimatelylost favour and ended his days in obscuri ty .

LIANG or LEANG : W . A Chine se'

ounce . A tael .

LICHEE or LYCHEE : 1a. A fruit found in the south

o f China,and eaten both in its fresh and dried forms .

The “ foreign lichee” fl i s the custard-apple .

LIE TEA . A mixture o f willow and other spurious leaf

with genuine tea leaf,to be fraudulen tly sold as tea . The

spurious leaf is fired and carefully manipulated - in the

same way as the genuine leaf,but its true character is

easi ly detected by a tea -taster .

LI -FAN YUAN : fi ifi lfi — the manage-feudatory-(states)office . The Chinese “ Colonial O ffice

,now replaced

,as

far as western nations are concerned,by the Tsung-l i

Yamen Has general supervision over the nomad

tribes o f Mongolia and other dependencies of the Chinese

Empire .

The Russian Treaty,signed at Tientsin in 1 858,

contains (Art . I I .) the following words z—“Dorénavant


“ les communications entre le Gouvernement supreme de“ Russie

,e t le Gouvernement supreme de Chine

,ne se

“ feront plus comme cela étai t jusqu’

a présent par le“ Sénat d ’

une part e t le Tribunal L i -fan-

ynan de l’autre

“mais

LI -FOURNIER CONVENTION,was a settlement of the

Franco -Chinese difficul ty in Tongking,drawn up and signed

at Tientsin,

i l th May;1 884 ,by H . E . Li Hung-Chang

,

Viceroy of Chihl i and Captain Fournier of the Volla .

The Convention provided for the immediate withdrawalo f the Chinese forces from Tongking;respect for Frenchtreaties with Annam past and future;a treaty o f commerce

open ing for free trading in merchandise,with guarantees

,

the frontiers common to Tongking and China throughout

their length;and the waiving o f the indemnity claimed

by France . One o f the most extraordinary diplomatic

incidents on record occurred in connection with this

Convention . Captain Fournier drew up a memorandum,

when the Convention was signed,fixing a date for the

evacuation o f Tongking by the Chinese tr00ps . After the

Langson affair had occurred Li Hung-Chang officiallydeclared that Captain Fournier had erased the importantclause relating to the evacuation in this memorandum

and had attached his initial s to the erasures . A facsimile

of the memorandum with the erasures was published .

On the other hand,Captain Fournier declared on his

honour that he made no such erasures,and he has fought

a duel with a Parisian j ournal ist who commented on his

declaration . There was no European present but CaptainFournier when the erasures are alleged to have beenmade

,but two Chinese officials who were with Li Hung

chang at the time have placed on public record theirI I


corroboration of Li Hung-Chang’

s declaration . E i ther LiH

y

ung~ chang or Captain Fournier must have been guil ty

of the gravest falsehood .

LIKIN or LEKIN : ig é —a honsandrh or cash money;from li the thousandth part o f a tael (go ) which is

nominally one eask (go ) , and kin metal , here used for

money . [Also written E fig— cash contribution ] A tax ,originally o f one cash per tael on all sales

,voluntarily

imposed upon themselves by the people , among whom it

was at first very popular,with -

a view o f making up the

deficiency in the land -tax of China caused by the T ‘aip ‘ ing

and Nie nfe i troubles . I t was to be set apart for mil i tary

purposes only— hence its common name and

was said by the Tsung-Ii Yamen to be adopted merely asa temporary measure . I s now collected at rates differing

in different provinces and at different times . The Chefoo

Agreement (go ) makes the area of the Foreign Concessions at the various Treaty ports exempt from the levy

o f liré in .

“ I nstead of abol ishi ng the tax,the Chinese

,through

“ the kind offices of S i r Thomas Wade,are endeavouring

“ to legal ize it .

”— S/zangna i Cour ier .

LIN,COMMISS IONER : fit an] fie. The special Com

missioner sent by the Emperor to Canton in 1 839 to put

an end to the opium trade . These orders he attempted

to carry out by seiz ing and destroying some chests

o f the drug,owned by foreigners

,an act which led to the

so -called “ Opium War" of 1 84 1—4 2 . While in office he

dispatched a long letter to Queen Victoria , call ing upon

her to prohibit the export of Opium from her dominions

to China .

LING CHE or LING CH ‘ I H : The “ ignomin ious


started in an official career, (2) those who have taken one

o r more degrees and are preparing fo r the next, (3) those

who have fai led to distinguish themselves at the publ icexaminations and prefer to eke out a smal l patrimony by

taking pupil s rather than engage in the pettifoggings o f

trade,and (4) those who , though possessed o f sufficiently

high qual ifications,have no taste for official l i fe

,and are

in a posit ion to pass their t ime in the enviable seclusion

o f “ retired scholars if .

LITTLE LEARNING : /J\ Q or Learning for Children

(see Gr eat Lear n ing). An elementary treatise , prepared

by Chu Hsi as a first reader for boys and a stepping

stone to the Four Books,but superseded some five to

six centuries ago by the Trimetrical Classic [go ] . I t is

written in a difficult style,quite out o f keeping with the

subject matter . The following is a specimen :“ Do not snatch your food

,or eat or drink to excess .

“Do not make a noise when eating,or gnaw bones

,or

“ take food out o f your mouth,o r throw bones to dogs

,etc .

”

LIVING BUDDHA : fi fi . A popular name for the

Hutukhtu (go ) .

LOCKS,THE R IVER OF : F115m. A translation o f a

Chinese name for the Grand Canal (one ) upon which there

are a considerable number of large locks,each being under

the control of an offi cial appointed fo r that purpose .

LOHAN : ffi Same as Ar /e'

an .

“ Lohan cash” were cast

i n the reign of the Emperor K ‘ang H si,and were thus

honourably named because bel ieved to contain gold . The

character for Hsi appears upon them in its proper form

and not JLEI;as i t was subsequently written . The

change is sa id to have been made in o rder to mark the

reign of this truly great Emperor .


LOKSOY : fl7k— green water . A green dye . From theCantonese pronunciation of the two Chinese characters .

LOLOS : Haan or JRw or fl JR. Wild hill -tribes of

Ssii ch‘uan and Yunnan . Sub-divided into White and Black

Lolos,the latter being so called from the independence

o f thei r character and the efforts which they have made

so far to avoid - intermarriage with the Chinese . The word“Lolo ” i s a term o f rep roach , said to be a redupl icate

o f the native word N a . Hence Laos .

LONG ELIZAS . The trade term for certain blue and white

vases ornamented with figures of tal l,thin Chinaw omen

,

i s a name derived undoubtedly from the German or

Dutch . German sai lors and traders called certain Chinese

vases,from the female figures which distinguished them

,

‘ lange Lischen ’— Dutch

,

‘ lange lijzen’

,—lall L izzies

, and

the Engl ish sailors and traders promptly translated thisinto ‘ long E l izas .

’

LONIN . See Ro’

nin .

LOO -CHOO or LEW CHEW : 3571 fit . A group o f i slands,

sovereignty over which was in recent years claimed by

China against Japan,and at one time nearly brought the

two countries into hosti le coll ision . I t i s clear,however

,

even from Chinese historical sources,that the dress

,

manners and customs,language

,and currency o f Loo -choo

are o f Japanese origin;and by a treaty made in 1 874,

subsequent to the dispute . above-mentioned , China formally

acknowledges the Loo chooans to be subj ects o f Japan .

LOQUAT : E — rush orange . A fruit found in the south o f

China . Our word is the Cantonese pronunciation of the abovetwo characters . The story o f the supposed resemblance

of the loquat leaves to a donkey’

s ear i s apocryphal .

LORCHA : A vessel o f about 1 00 tons burthen,


having a hull o f European build,and originally commanded

by a European captain;but rigged with Chinese mastsand sails

,and manned by Chinese sailors . The word

lor e/ta is usually believed to have been introduced fromSouth America by the Portuguese;but Mr . Justin McCarthy

says i t i s taken from the Portuguese settlement at the

mouth o f the Canton river .

LO -TI SHUI : fi flfim— arrive at destination duty . A

duty originally levied by Chinese o fficials on foreign -owned

goods sent into the interior under Transi t Pass,af ter tlze

saia’

gooa’s naa' passed in to na tive liana’s at their place o f

destination . Now irregularly levied at some ports on

goods brought from the interior by natives for sale to

foreign merchants . The term E has been substituted

in certain parts o f Kuangsi, with a V i ew to shew that

the tax is incident upon the resident merchant and no t

upon the foreign importer .

LOUVRE or LOUVER . The half—doors, common in the

E ast,which prevent people from seeing into bedrooms as

they pass by,while at the same time admitting the

necessary current of air . Used chiefly in the south of

China . From the French l’onoer t , from oz wr ir to Open .

LOWDAH : fi — the old great one . Captain o f a j unk .

Foreigners call their head boatmen low a’a/zs

,chiefly in

Shanghai and at the Yangtsze ports;tai -kong (go ) beingheard more frequently in the south .

LUCRABAN SEEDS : i sm—“

F. Brought from S iam,and

used as a medicine by the Chinese .

LUKONG or LOKONG : % E - old watchman The

Hongkong native constables are so called . Satirical lyspoken o f as “ look-ons

,from absence of energy in the

discharge of their duties .


a resident mandarin . The said payment ceased in 1 849 ,

after the war betw een Portugal and China,and the

barbarous assassination by the Chinese of Ferrei ra deAmaral

,Governor of Macao . Meanwhile

,the colony was

(until 1 844) under the j urisdiction o f Goa,and was in

every way the property o f Portugal . Of late years Chinahas endeavoured to resume her lost suzerainty

,and the

inabil ity o f Portugal to negotiate a Treaty with China is

due solely to the fact that the former refuses to surrender

Macao . The Portuguese name is said to be derived from

A-ma-ngao fi fifi‘zfi — the port of the goddess A-ma .

I s sometimes called the Holy City (go ) .

The term ma-én as appl ied to tobacco (Ff fli‘i'

M) andseen in Canton at shops and stal ls where cigarettes are

sold,i s probably a reproduction o f the European word

Macao,especial ly as cigarettes are so commonly smoked

by the Portuguese .

“The birthday o f the King o f Portugal was celebrated“ yesterday in the usual way

,a goodly number o f Chinese

“merchants assembling to make the customary éotan

“

(see éotow ) to the effigy o f the King .

”-Ckina M ail

Ist Nov . 1 877.

MACARTNEY ’S EMBASSY,LORD . A mission dispatched

from England to China in 1 79 2 ,at the close of the

glorious reign o f the Emperor Ch ‘ i en Lung,for the

purpose of placing mercantile relations between the two

countries on a better footing . S ir C . Staunton,who had

picked up a knowledge o f Chinese i n Italy,w as a page

in Lord Macartney’

s suite and was specially noticed by

His Imperial Majesty w ho patted h im on the head and

gave him an ornamental purse from his own person .

MACE : fi C/z‘ ien . The tenth part o f a Chinese tael o r

A GLOSSAR Y oF REFERENCE 169

ounce . From the Sanskri t mas/ta a bean;hence a weighto f gold o r si lver .

MADAT (M alay) . An inferi or preparation of opium,made

from the covering which encloses the drug .

MAFOO : Ji — horse-man . The Chinese groom o r

“ horse-boy.

”

MAGISTRATE,DISTR I CT . See Cfii/t -fis ien .

MAGO . Japanese term fOr a pack-horse leader .

MAHARAJA . A Sanskrit compound,meaning Great King .

Maharani=Great Queen .

MAHOMMEDANS : [E] [E] . F i rst settled in China in the

Year of the Mission,A .D . 6 2 8

,under Wahb-Abi-Kabcha

,

a maternal uncle of Mahomet,w ho was sent with presents

to the Emperor . Wahb -Abi-Kabcha travelled by sea to

Canton,and thence overland to S i-ngan Fu

,the capital

,

where he was well received . The first mosque was built

at Canton,where

,after several restorations

,i t sti l l exists .

Another mosque was erected in 742 ,but many of these

M . came to China S imply as traders,and by and by

went back to their ow n country . The true stock of the

present Chinese Mahommedans was a small army o f

Arabian soldiers sent by the Khale ef Abu Giafar i n 755to aid in putting down a rebell ion . These soldiers had

permission to settle i n China,where they married native

wives;and three centuries later , with the conquests o f

Genghis Khan,large numbers of Arabs penetrated into

the Empire and swel led the Mahommedan community .

MAI-PAN . See Comp raa’or e .

MA-KW A or MAGWA : fail— horse jacket . The short

outer jacket,chiefly worn by the northern Chinese . A

yellow ma -Rw a i s a distinction conferred by the Emperoron high officials;sometimes called the Yellow R ia

’ing


yaeéet, and said to have been first bestowed on the

famous Viceroy Tseng Kuo-fan in 1 855 by the EmperorHsien Féng,

w ho drew o ff the j acket he w as wearing

at the time and placed i t on the shoulders of hi s great

Min ister and General . I t is supposed to bring the wearer

into close proximity with the Emperor and Imperialinterests . Hence

,i n Cantonese slang

,a Yellow Jacket is

a person chosen from among the near relatives o f a

merchant or Shop-keeper to exercise certain responsible

functions connected with the business that could hardly

be delegated to a stranger .

MAITREYA BUDDHA : mot — t he Merci ful One .

The coming Buddha,expected to appear and open a new

era about years hence . I s often depicted as a

laughing god i n Ch inese temples .

MAKURA -KOTOBA . See Pillow - W ords .

MAKURA ZOSHI or Pillow Sketches . A collection o f

miscel laneous j ottings by Sei ShOnagon ,a Japanese lady

o f high rank w ho l ived in the 9th and 1 0th cent . A.D .

MALAY : fiifiK d} . From the native word M alain .

MALOO,THE : lass— horse road . Name o f a street

running east and west through the middle of the British

Settlement at Shanghai . From the Mandarin pronunciationo f the above tw o characters

,which were used for “ high

road” as early as the 6th century B C.

Hence the term [E Maloo Mixture o r i?Resurrection Tea

,a medley Of used tea-leaves , the leaves of

various other plants,and rubbish o f all kinds , manufactured

in Shanghai and shipped to England as tea .

MAMEY : fi fli — l i ttle S ister . A common Chinese term ,

learnt by European children in the north of China fromnative nurses

,and applied to their younger Si ster .


acquire . Southern Mandarin is based upon the Nank ingesepronunciation;and differs from the northern dialect in the

substitutio n o f if and ts for ca,e .g.

,éz

’

a for t /tz'

n“gold

,

ts‘z

'

en for t k ‘z

'

en“ a thousand

,

” and other similar letter

changes . Strictly speaking,

“Mandarin i s a mistranslation

o fH

E”

which is here equivalent to é } “ publ ic” or“ common

to al l”— the vulgar tongue,the use of which dates from

the 1 3th cent . A.D .

MANDAR I N DUCK : a . A beautiful Species o f duck

(anas galer z'

ea tataj , so called because o f i ts superiority

over other k i nds of ducks,and not because it i s se t apart

for mandarins . Emblem o f conjugal fidelity . Hence,a

k ind o f sword,with two blades i n one sheath

,i s known

to the Chinese as ag fill“mandarin duck sword .

”

MANDAR IN ORANGE : ( I)w (2)Efiawfi . The loose

ski nned orange o f China . The first kind i s sometimes

called the “ cool ie-mandarin,because resembl ing the cool ie

orange in colour and having a rather tighter skin

than the latter which is also o f a much deeper hue . The

slang phraseology of Europeans at Canton div ides thetwo species into “ tight and “ loose mandarins .

MANDOLIN . The Chinese guitar is sometimes so called .

From the Ital ian mandolz’

no .

MANDOR . A Malay corruption o f the Portuguese mana’aa’or .

A superintendent;an inspector of workmen;a headman

or“ boss

,

” etc .,etc .

“Yesterday afternoon,the Mandor

,

“who is a Hadj i appl ied for his ow n and the“ other cool ies ’ wages —H ong/eong D aily Pr ess o f

2 2 Sep . 1 877 (from the Straz'

ts’

Times).

MANGO : or fi‘r‘

z fi . The fruit of the M ann era

From the Malay mangga ,o f which the Chinese

characters imitate the sound .


MANGOSTEEN . The frui t of the Gar ez’

m’

a mangostana .

From the Malay manggz’

stan .

MANICHAEANS : E, or ate These worshippers of

the Chaldaean Mani o r Manes,who died about A.D .

2 74,appear to have found their way to China in the

oth cent .,a Manichaean temple at S i-ngan Fu

,the

capital o f Shensi,being mentioned as early as 6 2 1 . I n

807 they made formal appl ication to be allowed to haverecognised places of meeting .

MANILA LOTTERY . A lottery formerly held once every

month at Manila under the sole management and

proprietorsh ip of the H ispano -Philippine Administration .

The number o f t ickets (which were at each,but

subdivisible into ten parts at apiece) was

monthly . The highest prize fo r ten months o f the year

was the total amount o f the monthly prizes

being divided between 487 t ickets , the rest

being blanks . But in June and December the price o f a

ticket was 20,and was divided between 453

winning tickets,the highest being the next

the five next each,etc .

,etc . The profits

of the Government were 4 per cent . Some said thedrawings were fairly conducted;others maintained a

contrary Opinion . The tickets and coupons,the sale of

which was i l legal in China,were at first numbered in the

ordinary way,but an attempt at forgery by the addition

o f a figure compelled the management to adopt the

system o f having all marked with tae same numéer ofplat es;hence 1 2 3 w as written 00 1 2 3, etc .

,etc . Moreover

,

the l ine where the ticket was separated from the foi l was

wavy,not straight;holders had therefore to be careful

no t to attempt to improve the edges o f their paper.

174 A 6 1. OSSAKY OF REFERENCE

MANJ I or MANZI . O ld name for that part o f China

south o f the Hoang-ho . From fi at man ten, the

savages o f the south .

MANJUSR I . See W en Sine.

MAN -MAN : lé -

go slowly . A common phrase in use

all over China . To go slowly;to wait tel l my

chair-cool ies to man -man,t .e .

,to wait for me .

MANTRA . The name o f a charm practi sed by the H indus,

i n which sense i t i s found in Buddhisti c writings.

MANTUY or MANTOO . A corrupti on heard in Central

Asia o f the Chinese ntan-t‘on fig E steamed flour

dumpl ings .

MANYOSHIU . A collection o f Japanese poetry of the 7th

and 8th"

cent . A.D . The modern official edition runs to

1 2 2 vols,containing 4000 pieces in all , mostly Tanka .

MAO -TZU :SE — hairy ones . A common term for

foreigners among the Chinese at Tientsin . Mr . Swinhoeis said to have translated this expression by “ hats

from the identity in sound,but no t i n tone

(an), o f the two characters 55 and dag—3

MAQU I or MA-K ‘UA I : lye— swift as a horse . A kind

of detective pol iceman employed at all Magistrates ’

Yamens in China . Sometimes used for the constable of

a foreign Consulate,i n which sense {Kimwould be a

more appropriate term .

MARCO POLO : 15 ffi . The celebrated Venetian traveller

who visited China in 1 2 74, bearing letters from Pope

Gregory X to Kublai Khan and who spent 24

years in the East . During three years of this time heheld high civi l office

,and was also sent on a mission ‘to

the king of Annam under the t itl e o f fife EUQ {éPr ivy Counci llor

,Assistant Envoy

,Polo . Was afterwards


MASAMUNE. A famous Japanese swordsmith,A.D .

1 2 64— 1 343.

MASKEE . Pidgin term for “ never mind,

” “ no matter,

etc . Possibly from the Portuguese disj unctive mas .

MASSANPO . A port on the south -west coast o f Korea,

possessing one of the finest harbours in the Far East .MASTER OF HEAVEN . An inaccurate rendering of the

term 35 fill? o r Divine Teacher,found i n the works of

Chuang Tzii (ch . 1711? figE ). I t has long been applied

to the Taoist pope,i n whose body is supposed to reside

the soul o f a celebrated Taoist, g [a Chang Tao- l ing ,

who discovered the el ixir o f l ife and became forthwith

an immortal,some eighteen hundred years ago . The

people believe him competent to effect marvellous curesand work other miracles;and from the proceeds o f an

extensive business in charms etc .,he manages to derive

a not inconsiderable income . At his death,the precio us

soul above mentioned will take up its abode in the body

o f some youthful member o f the family whose name will

be hereafter revealed .

MATA -MATA . L i t .

“ al l eyes . A pol iceman . From theMalayan mata an eye .

“ I n any case I can allege from personal knowledge“ that bribery is an every-day matter in S ingapore from“ the lowest mata -mata to the highest— (better not say“what

,perhaps). - Cnina M ail (copied from Strai ts

’

Times).

MATE -MATE . Japanese for “wait a l ittle; equivalent to

the Chinese man-man .

MATOW : Eé— horse’s head . The Chinese for j etty or

pier,in common use among foreigners . No satisfactory

explanation o f thi s term has been found h itherto . The


execution ground at Canton is called 35 1%E probably

from the name of a j etty or landing place at no great

distance . 35 ? here means e/Lief ,th is being the point

at which all high officials land,and near which their

boats may be seen anchored in large numbers .

MATR IMONIAL . Another name for the hong-boat (go )i n use at Canton . So cal led because well adapted for

ladies .

MAUM CHOW . See Close/fan.

MAYA: gm] . The immaculate mother of ShakyamuniBuddha , whose name is strikingly similar to that o f Mary

the mother o f Jesus . Among other similarities existing

between the Roman Cathol ic and Buddhist churches maybe mentioned cel ibacy

,fasting

,use of candles and flowers

on the altar,incense

,holy water

,and ceremonials general ly .

See Fo .

MENCIUS : fi ¥ — the philosopher Meng,often spoken

of as BEflagthe Second Sage , Confucius being the first .

The Chinese sounds me‘

ng-tzz

‘

t were latinised by the Jesuit

missionaries into the ir present form . F lourished B .C.

372— 2 89 . His works form one o f the Four Books (go ) ,

and the following are specimens

Mencius said,I l ike fish and I also like bear

’

s paws .“ I f I cannot have both

,I wil l forego the fish and take

“ the bear ’s paws . S imilarly,I l ike l iving and I l ike doing

“my duty to my neighbour;but i f I cannot do both ,“ I will forego l i fe in preference to foregoing my duty .

“Mencius said,Take a man whose third finger i s bent

“ and cannot be stretched out straight . I t i s no t painful,

“ neither does it interfere with his work;yet i f there were“ any one w ho could make it straight

,he would think

“ nothing o f j ourneying such a distance as from Ch ‘ in to


“ Ch ‘u,simply because his finger is not as good as

“ those o f other people . But to be grieved because one ’sfinger is not as good as other people

’

s,and no t to be

“ grieved because one’

s heart is no t as good as other

people ’s— thi s i s cal led ignorance o f the relative importance“o f categories .

MENG -TZD : a. A Treaty Port in the province of

Yiinnan .

MERMAN o r MERMAID . Thc Chinese have for many

centuries bel ieved in the existence o f creatures half human

half fish . A nation of such beings is described and figured

of the i 4th cent . , under the name o f

MESMER ISM : 115 Was once widely known in China

as a cure for various diseases,but is now prohibited and

only practised in secret . The moa’ns operandi i s as follows .

A Taoist priest,known for his skil l in the art

,i s requested

to attend at the house of a sick person for the purpose

o f administering Rang-f a;and accordingly , after arranging

what is to be paid for his services and securing part 01

the sum in advance,he proceeds to fit up withi n the

patient’

s room an altar fo r burning incense and joss-paper

and for worship generally . Muttered incantations follow,

as the priest walks slowly and with prescribed steps round

and round the room . By-and-by, he approaches the sick

man and partly raises him,or turns h im on his back or

side,or l i fts up a leg o r an arm

,or gently shampoos

him,the obj ect being all the time to bring the sick

man’

s mind into r appor t with his own . When the priest

th inks he has accompl ished this,he commands the patient

to perspire or to become cool,or gives instructions for

the regulation of pulse and heart,in each case according


MIKOTO : Q . An honorific epithet o f a Rami (an) . Has

been wrongly bel ieved to be a ti tle o f the Mikado .

MING DYNASTY or THE MINGS : [w ming,bright .

A dynasty which ruled China from 1 368 to 1 6 2 8 and was

noted for the severi ty o f i ts laws . A piece o f pottery o r

a curio of that date i s often spoken of as “ a Ming; at

the same time,not one -tenth o f the china stamped with

the i t gr eat M ing brand really belongs to that epoch;in fact

,i t i s roundly asserted that the presence o f the

stamp is now conclusive evidence o f a spurious imitation .

See B lue .

MING TOMBS : Ifi [Q The tombs of the Emperors ofthe Ming dynasty . Some of these are near Nanking;therest

,and by far the finest

,about one day

'

s j ourney from

Peking,whither the Emperor Yung Lo transferred his

court i n 1 4 1 1 . The chief obj ects o f in terest at these

tombs are the avenues o f enormous animals and human

figures carved in stone . See Stone Figur esMIRROR OF HISTORY zia Name of a famous history

o f China from the 4th cent . B C. to the 1 0 th cent . A.D .

,

completed by if] 1% if Ssti -ma Kuang in 1 084 . I t was

subsequently rev i sed by Chu Hsi,which work is known

as the fi fi E .

MIRRORS : 593912

. or Circular mirrors of pol ished metal,

often beautiful ly chased at the back,have been known

to the Chinese from the earl iest ages,though now

superseded by glass .

Confucius said,

“As you l ook into a bright mirror to“ see your face

,so you must look back into the past to

“ know the present .

Chuang t i , 3rd and 4th cent . B .C.

,wrote

,

“The“ perfect man employs his mind as a mirror . I t grasps

A GLOSSARY OF REFERENCE 1 8 1

“ nothing;1t refuses noth ing . I t receives,but does not

“ ke e p f’

“To a beauty,mankind i s the mirror in which she

“ sees herself. I f no one tel ls he 1r

that she i s beauti ful,she

“ does no t know that she i s so .

MISS IONAR IES . See Pr otes tan t and R oman Ca tfiolio.

MIXED COURT,THfi zfi fi Ag . A tribunal

,instituted

at Shanghai i n 1 869 ,forlthe hearing ( 1 ) of all cases between

Chinese resident within the settlements, (2) o f all civi l and

criminal cases (except murder and certain serious charges

between Chinese and foreign residents), in which Chinese

are defendants,and (3) of cases in which foreigners are the

defendants,prov ided always they are unrepresented by a

Consul on the spot . The Court consists o f a Chinese official

having the rank of sub-Prefect and a foreign A ssessor,the

latter being always,i n civi l suits

,a representative o f the

national ity involved . O therwise,a Bri tish Assessor sits

three times,an American twice and a German once

,

a week . The Court was formerly held at the Briti sh

Consulate,but has since been transferred to a bui lding

in the Maloo (o n), at the entrance to which may usually

be seen a number of conv icted prisoners wearing thecangue (go ) . The punishments infl icted range from 20

blows with the bamboo to three o r four years’

penal

serv i tude . Over the outer gates may be seen the followinglegend : ii 3KiE ‘lfi , Q E

“men flock from afar“while those w ho are near rej oice . Business brisk and the“ people prosperous .

MODEL SETTLEMENT,THE . A local name for Shanghai ,

once characterised by the Duke o f Somerset in Parliamentas a “ sink of in iquity

,this generous estimate hav ing

been based,as the Duke himself explained

,upon the


reports o f naval ofi oer s ana’

otfier s zo/i o fiaa’ o is itea’

tfie plat e .

“ I am not burning to return to the M odel Sink .

Letter from E . C . Baber in the N or t/i -C/t ina H erala’.

MOGUL,THE GREAT . The Persian corruption o f Mongol

(go ) . The ti tle o f the Emperors w ho,after the conquest

o f Hindustan,ruled at Delhi from A.D . 1 5 2 6 to 1 803.

The first occupant o f the Imperial Throne w as Baber,and

among his most i l lustrious successors may be mentioned

Akbar and Aurungzeb .

MO -LI -HWA or MOLY : fi i fim The jasmine . Name

o f a celebrated Chinese tune . Compare Oa’yssey ,X

, 305 ,

Haiku dé jun: xake’

ovoz Osoc'

identified with the mandrake . See Pliny,N at . H ist

,XXV

, 4 .

MOME IN . The Burmese name for ll? T‘éng-yueh in the

province o f Yiinnan .

MONGOL : $ 1? Said’

to be an imitati on of moengel

celestial,

o r as some writers say,“ brave . The great

Turanian stock,whence have come

,at different epochs

of the world ’s h istory,the Scythians

,the Huns

,the con

querors o f China (see Gengfi is Kkan), and o f I ndia

(see M ogul).H“Baschp a Mongol i s the name of a form o f writing

,

invented A.D . 1 2 69 by a E}. [E Baschp a or’

Phagsp a,

a Tibetan lama,under the direction o f Kublai Khan .

I t was based upon Ouigour which had been based upon

Syriac (se e M ane/ta), and i s written in vertical l ines and

connected by l igatures .

MONSOON . From the Arabic maus im “ season; the

season winds .

Monsoons are shifting trade winds in the East I ndianocean

,which blow periodically

,some for half a year one


The 2ND MOON is called fir: E i t $11: E NJ E72? E or Apr icot monlfi .

I st day of the 2nd FFThe 2nd day of 2nd i s called fig Eli

1 2 th Tz éfiv fi fl:

3RD MOON flEJFJdeHfl ’

fi H fiEH

or Pear/z mow /z.

3rd day of the 3rd J: E .

4TH MOON fi li flgfl i ifi ffls’lfi fi

o r Sofi lwra mom‘lz.

8th day of the 4th

51 11 MOON

s th day o f the s th

1 3th

6 1 11 MOON

6th day o f the 6th

24th

71 11 MOON

7th day o f the 7th

1 s th

81 11 MOON

s th day o f the 8th

1 s th

fi fl ibfi fi fi ifi fi i ifi fl,

1? E ,o r Pornoguanale

moulk .

“W h i t!“

171M

g fil’ fi filfi ffii filLotus nzona .

Effi g

E‘ Flfi fi fl’ fifi floi fi fi ’

[IRE o r M elon monl/z.

qfi md t fi

{WE E fi fil

Cassia monl/z.

4 a .

“PWt Fl 47


The 91 11 MOON is called f l] E*, é E , fl,

7511? E or Cnrysan t/zemum

mon tn.

oth day o f the oth a fi ,

1 01 11 MOONfl‘ % E , W E or Plum

monlfi .

1 5th day0f the 1 0th , TS 713

1 1 1 11 MOONH z

'

oisous nzon tn.

I 2TH MOON fi fi flmfi an i fi s fi

E or the Sacm’

fi oz’

almonl/z.

8th day of the 1 2 th E? B

3o th

N .B .

-Those names marked with an asterisk are taken

from the 51] o r Book o f Changes (on ) .

MOORMEN (corrupted to Mo rramen) : 9 A— white

head men . A common term in Canton for the miscellaneous

natives of India who go there to trade . The Chinese

name is taken from the turban worn by Mahommedans

and others;while our word has been fancifully derived

from fi lflfij mao lou men,

o r“ ugly face

”

people . The

Parsees,formerly called fi flfi ,

a name now used fo r

Persia,are included in this category .

MORTGAGES o f land o r tenements in China should ,

according to the Penal Code,be duly registered at the

office of the local magistrate . Second mortgages areillegal . I f the mortgagor

,at the end of the period

specified in the deed,i s unable to discharge the mortgage

,

he may either retain his right to recover the land at any


future period,i n which case the mortgagee may re -mortgage

to another party;or he may surrender the land absolutely ,

i n consideration o f a further sum to be agreed upon

between himself and the mortgagee .

MOSQUITO . From the Latin musea a fly,through the

I tal ian,Spanish

,o r Portuguese

,77205661 . The Engl ish

orthography should therefore be inusé i io . Tincture o f

Pyr elnr um 7’ 05 8Zl7fl appl ied to the skin i s recommended as

an excellent protection against mosquito b ites . The best

local sedative of the irritation caused by bi tes i s l iquid

ammonia,but any strong spiri t i s also effectual .

Fo r a valuable discovery,by Dr . P . Manson formerly of

Amoy,that a certain species o f mosquito i s the intermediate

host o f the fi lar ia sanguin is lzofn in is , and probably the

carrier of infection in elephantoid diseases,see the Chinese

Customs ’ M ea’ioal R epon ‘

s,No . 1 4,

page 1 0 .

MOTH EYEBROVVS :[HEE Eyebrows which resemble the

markings over the eyes o f the si lkworm moth,considered

a great beauty by the Chinese . This simil itude is a favouri te

with poets

And as the strains s teal o ’er meHer mo th-eyebrows rise b efore me .

The term has been wrongly referred to the antennae

o f the same insect .

MOTOORI. 1 730— 1 80 1 . A voluminous Japanese writer .

His'

chief work w as the Koj iki -den,a commentary on the

Koj iki

MOUKDEN . The Manchu name of Feng-t ‘ i en Fui i if} ,

the capital of Manchuria .

MOURNING . On the death o f a parent the Chinese son

refrains from shaving either head or beard for one hundred

days , and dresses in comp lete white , even down to the


which being appl ied to the skin and set o n fire (properly ,

with the aid o f a burning-glass), burn slowly down and

leave eschars . At one time Moxa acquired a considerable

reputation amongst French physicians , but both thatand acupuncture— equal favourites with Far-Easternpractitioners— are to o heroic remedies to find favour with

Europeans . I s employed chiefly for neuralgia , sciatica ,

and such complaints , and also among Buddhist pr iests ,

for branding the heads of novices when taking the usual

vows on entry into a rel igious life . Corruption o f the

Japanese M ooéasa .

“Moxa, p raestantissima caute rio rum materia

,Sinensibus

“

Jap onibusque multum usitata .

— Kaemp fer’

s Amwm’

tafos

Ex otz’

ow,fasc . i i i

,obs . 1 2 .

MUCK -AND -TRUCK . A department of trade in the

Far East,which deals with hides

,bristles

,bones

,etc .

,

and is much looked down upon by the ordinary British

merchant .

MULLS . Madras Engl ishmen are so called because o f

their good mulligatawny .

MUNDOO or MENDU . A Mongol ian form of salutation

H ow d’

ye do ?

MUNSHANG : FElI . The door-keeper o f a yamen (go )

or any large establ ishment . This functionary receives no

pay,but takes squeezes from suitors

,commission from

tradesmen on sales,etc . etc .

MUS I C : ( I) Ancien t . Said to have been invented byHwang Tia (go ) , but few traces of i t surv ived theBurning o f the Books (go ) . We know that it was

reckoned very powerful as .an agent o f good government ,

and was part o f the ordinary curriculum of an educated

man in early ages . As to qual ity,Confucius h imself w as


so impressed by the execution of a piece composed by

the Emperor Shun,sixteen centuries previously

,that “ for

“ three months he could no t tell one kind of meat from“ another . ” This too when there were only 5 notes .

(2) flfoa’omz. Sub -div ided into ri tual music

,which i s

general ly of a minor character, ,and popular or theatrical

music . The notation is cumbrous . A note indicates simply

a certain sound at a Eertain height , but there is no

indication o f i ts value .

i

Thus,i t i s quite impossible to

learn a tune from the written notes . The characters”8“ IE] L I, R I H, 7

1? 55. correspond to our five lines

and four spaces . Rests are marked,but their duration

is a matter of taste . The only recognised measure is in

four time , others are however admitted , especial ly thatin three time . There are no sharps

,flats

,or naturals .

The scale i s neither major nor minor but participates

in the two . I t i s not tempered . There is nothing like

flarmofly;the only association o f different and simultaneous

sounds being that produced by two strings at a distance

o f a fourth,a fifth

,o r an octave .

MUS ICAL INSTRUMENTS . According to the Chinese

these are o f eight kinds,being made either from the

gourd,earthenware

,leather

,wood

,stone

,metal

,si lk

,or

bamboo,and comprise such varieties as the reed-organ

,

the ocarina,the drum

,castanets

,the musical stone or

stone-chime,cymbals

,the guitar

,and the flute .

MUSK : E fi . A favourite perfume with the Chinese,

obtained from the civet ( Vz'

oom'a zz

'

ootm) , which an imal ,when pursued by hunters

,i s fict itiously said to tear out

i ts scent-gland with its claw s and so escape death .

MBSMEE : 115 . A waitress at a Japanese tea-house .

Literal ly : a girl .


NACODAH . Correctly fzaéfioo’a : a Persian word meaning

the captain o f a boat .

NAGAS . The “ dragon race . A tribe o f the Tibeto

Burman family,now occupying the eastern boundary of

Bengal,said to be a remnant o f the powerful people who

inhabited the Gangetic valley before the Aryan invasionof India .

NAGASAKI : 5 ma. A port in Japan .

NAGA -UTA . The “ long poetry o f the Japanese . I n point

of metre i t is the same as the Tanka (go ), with an

additional phrase o f 7 syllables , making 38 syllables to

each stanza,but without any l imit to the length of

the poem .

NAGOYA . That quarter o f the yasfiz'

éz'

or feudal mansion

of a daz’

mz

’

o (9 .7L) occupied by his tw o -sworded retainers .

NAKCDDO . Matrimonial go-betweens employed by the

Japanese .

NAILS . Many educated and wealthy Chinese allow one

o r more of their finge r-nails to grow long , as a sign that

the owner does not earn his l iv i ng by manual labour .These nai ls are occasional ly from to 2 i nches in

length,and are guarded by elegant silver sheaths .

Est -ce par l'ongle long qu’

i l porte au petit doigt

Qu'i l s ’est acquis chez vous l’e st ime ou l

'

on le voit ?

Moliere,Le Mz

'

san tkr ofio, Acte ii . Sc . I .

NAI -MAH : 11751195. A wet-nurse .

NAMAH (in Pal i“ namo AMITABBHA : Qm{HE

W 'fi“ Hear us

,0 Amida Buddha ! ” A formula o f

adoration used by Chinese Buddhists in their l i turgies,at

the invocation o f the Trinity,etc . , also frequently seen

written on walls,

o r cut o n stone tablets both in town

and country . (See O-mo-fo f u).


by the exhaustive monograph of Pere Havre t,S . J.

,

entitled La S iélo do Sz'

ngan .

NETSUKE 07’ NETSZKE : J‘EFfil . Small Japanese carvedfigures

,of wood o r ivory . used as buttons for suspending

to the 065 or belt the tobacco pouch,pipe

,snuff o r water

bottle , medicine or seal o r brush case , etc . Their use is

said to date from about the middle of the 1 7th cent

when tobacco was first introduced into Japan . Known

col loquially as /J\ i t .

NEW CHV VANG 07” N IUCHUANG :[if—fif — cow town .

The inland town in the extreme N . E . o f China,Opened by

the Tientsin Treaty of 1 858;but which , from the si lting

up of the river,was unfit for trade

,and was exchanged

for Y ing-tzii g ? ” five mi les from the mouth o f the

river . The present port,however

,i s sti l l called N ew

okw ang. by foreigners .

NEW YEAR,CH INA . Begins on the first day o f the

lunation in which the sun enters Pisces , which may be

any date between 2 2 January and 20 February,i nclusive .

This is the season chosen for the great annual holiday

of the Chinese . For a month no official documents are

stamped,and to obviate inconvenience blank forms are

prev i ously p re p ared p but i t is obvious that such a rule

could not be strictly adhered to . All accounts have to

be settled up by New Year ’s Eve,on which night no

Chinaman goes to bed . On New Year ’s Day,absolutely

no work is done from one end o f the empire to the

other . F i re-crackers,feasting

,and congratulatory visits are

substituted for the ordinary routine of l ife . See M oon .

NGO -ERH -CH ‘ IN : The name given to the

Tibetan envoy to China .

NIEH T ‘AI . See 7udgo, Pr ovincial.


NIEN -FE I : Mounted banditti who for several yearscommitted much havoc in the northern prov inces ofChina . In 1 868 they approached within a few miles o f

Tientsin;and Mr . Burl ingame , then proceeding with his

family as Chinese Ambassador to foreign nations,had a

narrow escape from fall ing into their hands . Said to havebeen so called because they wore twisted greased turbans :

fill—

35Tl? la ‘

(lll history of the suppression of

this rebell ion has been publi shed in Peking entitled

N IGOR I : A term used by the Japanese

to denote the transformation o f a surd (e .g. thi) into a

sonant (e .g. dhi).

N IHONGI . A collection o f the nat i onal myths,legends

,

poetry,and history o f Japan

,from the earliest t imes

down to A.D . 697, prepared under official auspices in

A .D . 720 ,and written in the Chinese language .

N I IGATA : fi fi . A port in Japan .

NIMBLE LADS . See Cfiop s tz'

oés .

NINGPO : fi flfi — tranquil waves . One of the five ports

opened by the Nanking Treaty o f 1 842 . Also known to

the Chinese as [E] w W as occupied by the Portuguese

for purposes o f trade so early as 1 5 2 2 .

NINJIN . The Japanese term for Ginseng (go ) .

NIPON or NIPHON : El ZK— Sun Root . The land wherethe sun ri ses . A Japanese name fo r Japan

,from the

name of the largest island of the group . Was long he ld

to be a Chinese term fo r that country;but the balance o f

ev idence appears to be in favour of its Japanese origin .

“This i sland,by the w ay,

i s generally called N ippon o r

“ Nihon by foreigners,and no greater mistake can be

“made,as that word in real ity denotes the whole territory

13


“o f Japan What is generally termed Nippon by

“ fore i ners ma be desi nated as the ma in islana’.g Y g

Aa’ams .

NIRVANA : 7711325 or

“

Efl . The summum oonum of the

Buddhists,consisting in ( 1) separation from li fe and death ,

i .e . from the circle o f transmigration , (2) absolute freedom

from passion;and (3) the highest state of spiritual l iberty

and bliss . Popularly speaking,

“ to enter into Nirvana”

corresponds with “going to heaven .

“The extinction of that sinful grasping condition of“mind and heart , which would otherwise , according to“ the great mystery of Karma

,be the cause of renewed

“ i ndividual existence . Rfiys D azzia’s .

“A condition of total cessation of changes;o f perfect“ rest;of the absence o f desire and i llusion and sorrow;“ of the total obliteration o f everything that goes to

“make up the physical man . Olooz‘t .

“All that words can convey is that N irvana is a subl ime“ state of conscious rest in omniscience . Sinneli

‘

.

S ir Edwin Arnold in his L ig/zt of As ia has given a new

and original view o f Nirvana,partly from a conviction

that “ a third o f mankind would never have been brought“ to believe in blank abstractions o r i n Nothingness

,as

“ the issue and crown o f Being . After due perception

of the Four Tmetfis,safe passage along the Eig/zlf ola

’

Pat/i o f doctrine,and through the Four Stages , viz :

Love o f Self,False Faith

,Doubt

,Hatred

,Lust , Love

o f Life,Desire for Heaven

,Self Praise

,Error

,and

Pride,— then

As one who stands on yonder snowy hornHaving naught o ’e r him but the boundless blue

,

80,these s ins being slain

,the man is come

N irvana’s ve rge un to .

196 A GLOSSAR Y oF REFERENCE

N il-CHEN TARTARS . See Gola’ei i Tar tar s .

NUI TI 07’ NEI TI: fi i tfi— the inner land . China as

opposed to the “ outside nations” fil‘ or,in a more

restricted sense,the interior o f China as Opposed to the

sea-board . Hence mi i ti ska i “ i nland duties .

”

NULLAH . Correctly nola . A small river,or watercourse .

NUMBA SATU . Used in the Malay peninsula as “ numba

one in pidgi n -English , so. first-rate . A race at the

S ingapore meeting is called the “ Numba Dua Cup,i .e .

Number 2 cup .

NUMERALS,THE CH INESE .

a . As seen in books .o. Commonly used fo r accounAre said to be o f Bactr ianPhoen ician origin

,but are kno

to the Chinese as

713:

e. Adopted as being less liato alteration o f any kind

,a

used on drafts,pawn-ticke

e tc .

,e tc.

Soo-chow characters,or

bus iness charac te rs . Theywritten horizontally

,excep t w h

I and 2 or 3 come togethThese are then written alternatvertical and horizontal to preveconfusion . Thus

,

would be IIE lllz b”, tunit place being indicated


OATHS . Are never administered in Chinese courts o f j ustice

in any shap e or form . See Ora’eal.

OBANG : — great division . A Japanese gold coin

worth 30 ounces o f si lver .

OBO : Elll’é . The sacred cairn

,o r grave -mound

,o f the

Lamas . The line o f frontier between the Khalka terri tory

and Russian possessions is marked by such pi les,and

the spaces between them are called saoi i g 115 by the

Mongols .

OCEAN RACE,THE . An annual contest— formerly

,

between tea-cl ippers sai l ing from Foochow round the Cape;afterwards

,between steamers from Hankow and Foochow

passing through the Suez Canal— to be the first to

del iver in London a cargo o f the new season ’s teas . The

chief interest of the public centred in the race between

the steamers which left Hankow generally about the

beginning o f June .

ODES,BOOK OF THE : 35: One o f the F ive Classics

,

and perhaps the most valued of al l by the literati o fChina . Is a collection of irregular lyrics in vogue among

the people many centuries before the Christian era,said

to have been collected and arranged,to the number o f

3 1 1 , by Confucius himself. Of six o f these,however

,only

the titles remain,and the whole collection is popularly

known as the Three Hundred . These are subdivided

under 4 heads , namely Ballads , Greater and Lesser

Panegyrics,and Sacrificial Odes .

“ Have you learned the

Odes ?” inquired the Master of h is son;and on receiving

an answer i n the negative,immediately reminded him

that unless he did so he would be unfit for the societyof intel lectual men . Mr . H . J . Allen has recently started

a theory that they are the work of Ssu-ma Ch ‘ ien


(see H istory ,Falfier of ). A quotation from the Oa

’es is

however to be found on the Stone Drums Translated

into Latin by Lacharme,circa 1 733;into Engli sh , ( I) l iteral ly

and (2) metrical ly , by Dr . Legge,1 871 and 1 876 . The

following is a specimen

The cricke t chirrups in the hall,

The year is dying fast;Now le t us hold high fes tivalEre the days and mon ths be pas t .

Ye t push no t revels to excessThat our fair fame be marred;

Les t pleasures verge to w ickednessLe t each be on his guard .

OHAGURO . A dye used by Japanese women for blacking

the teeth at marriage . I t is made o f iron scraps soaked

in water with a li ttle sake added,and then mixed with

powdered gallnuts .

OHIO or OHYO : 5? E‘. Japanese equivalent o f

“ good

morn ing !”

but used only on meeting a person,and

before 1 0 a . m .

ox GUE : $ 3 . A kind o f fig,the seed of which is

used in preparing j el ly as i singlass i s in Europe .

OKRAS : SE55 . Are the miniature fruit of the H iOisCas

esculen tus,much used in various parts of the world

as a vegetable and for thickening soups;especially in

the southern United States,where they are known as

“Gumbo . The name frequently appears i n the Hongkong

market l ist .

OM MANI PADME HUM or OMMANY PEMMINY

[IQ WE"ll.“fl“35 the jewel in the lotus ! Amen ,”

or according to Professor Wilson,

“Glory to Manip adme !”

A magic formula much used in Mongolia and Tibet as

a charm against ev i l i nfl uences,etc . The primeval six

syllables,as the Lamas (go ) say. The only prayer


(see P‘iz H s ien), and famous for a halo , known as the

“Glory o f Buddha,seen from its summit . Only one

European lady,Mrs . A . Little

,has so far reached

the to p .

“What a number o f pilgrims one meets here at certain“ seasons

,and from how far they come . Aged women on

“bound feet are to be met trudging up and down these“ torturing steps . S/zang/ia i M er cury ,

1 2 July,1 89 2 .

ON I . Devil (Yap anese). Used as a name for a dog or cat .

OOLONG : Jafig— black dragon . A kind of tea .

OONAM . Same as H i maii (go ) .

OOPAK . Same as H avei (go ).

OPIUM . From the Greek o’

nég“j uice . I t i s the dried

j uice o f the unr1p e capsules o f the Papaver Somi i if er um

o r Common Poppy,and is known to the Chinese under

the following designations z— figH: (said to be derived

from W i tself an imitation of the Arabic name

Afiyun ,sti l l used in the Straits ’ Settlements);E R :

‘

ffll i‘lfi;g; RAC E-fletc .

,etc .

I t i s uncertain when and how opium first became

known in India;but in the Ain -i—Aleéar i (circa 1 590)the poppy is noticed as a staple crop . In 1 773, Warren

Hastings,then Governor o f Bengal

,assumed

,on behalf

of the English East I ndia Company,a monopoly o f all

Opium produced in Bengal,Behar and Ori ssa

,with certain

allowances o f the drug to the French,Danes

,and Dutch .

I t i s acknowledged beyond doubt,that long before the

English had intercourse with China,o r had anything to

do with the cult ivation o f opium,the drug used to be

carried in quantities overland from India by ‘way o f

Burma,Yunnan

,etc . In A.D . 973 the reigning Emperor


ordered the preparation o f a new Herbarium,and the

poppy w as inserted as a cure for dysentery . Later on the

Portuguese trading vessels were in the habit o f importing

it into Macao and Canton . The Chinese gradually coming

to relish Opium -smoking,which is said to have been

introduced by the eunuch general and traveller, Elia

Cheng Ho,who died in 1 431 , i t took i ts place as an

article o f regular trade } When Bombay passed into the

hands of the British Government,opium continued to be

shipped in smal l -sized sail ing vessels,which used to take

three o r four months to perform the voyage to Whampoa .

There are two descriptions of the drug imported from

India,under the denominations respectively o f Bengal

and Malwa opium .

Of Bengal Opium,the growth is monopol ised by the

Indian Government in this way . They advance annually

to the growers , w ho are named “Ryots,money for the

cultivation o f the poppy,

on the distinct understanding

that the produce is to be sold to the Government at a

given rate . The product is then manipulated,formed

into cakes and packed in chests o f 40 Balls each , under

Government supervision,brought down to Calcutta

,and

a stated quantity offered monthly by public auct ion at

the upset price o f Rs . 450 per chest , being the actual

cost o f production . But the competition amongst the

buyers to supply the China markets is so great,that a

chest generally realises about Rs . which therefore

leaves a surplus o f Rs . 800 per chest for the benefit o f

the Indian Government exchequer .On the other side o f I ndia

,however

,the Government

has nothing whatever to do with the cultivation o f the

poppy , or with its manipulation . I t i s grown in native


States,principally in Malwa and Indore . The Government

levies a tax of Rs . 600 per chest when brought from theinterior for exportation to China

,which forms all the

profit or i nterest of the Government i n the trade in Malwaopium . This is why Bengal opium always turns out of

good and even qual ity and is never inspected by the

Chinese dealers,the Government ticket which is placed

on each chest being accepted as sufficient guarantee fo r

the qual ity of the drug . I n Malwa opium there is always

an admixture of quali ties whose touch varies from 50 to

75 per cent . I t has to undergo a process Of boi l ing and

testing through the pipe before a bargain can be made

with Chinese .

The cultivation of the poppy has of late years increased

all over China,more especial ly in the prov i nce of Sstj ch‘

uan,

i n the north of Shensi and Honan,and in Manchuria .

The native drug i s much adulterated with l inseed and

other stuff. Indian opium is confessedly far superior in

every respect to the indigenous,and the Chinese show

their appreciation o f i t,by paying for it double the price

o f the native Opium . The comparative quotations are Tls .

500 for a picul o f Malwa against Tls . 2 50 to 300 for

the native product . The touch of native opium is from

50 per cent downwards .

OPIUM WAR . See L in .

“ Reduced to plain words,the principle for which we

fought in the China War was the right of Great Bri tain

to force a pecul iar trade upon a foreign people . 7aslin

M oCar tfiy .

OPPOS ITES . I n many of their manners and customs the

Chinese are diametrical ly Opposed to Europeans . Forinstance

,i n Ch ina the left hand is the p lace of honour ,


ok’

s,besides other changes

,in accordance with the sounds

heard in the city of Peking;and as students of Mandarin

now invariably begin with Wade’

s Tai‘z-érn-oni (av ), i t i s

no longer a question which is the best orthography,but

which i s in general use and most l ikely to continue so .

S i r T . Wade’s system may not be the best

,and it

certainly i s no t perfect,no difference being made

,for

instance,in the vowel sounds of 11: o r JE and E o r F

i

fi ,

though the distinction between them is as clearly defined

as that between the a and o i n the French words mangerand plonger . The ch ief objection to it is that the great

maj ori ty o f Mandarins use the Nanking sounds;on the

other hand,a slightly modified Pekingese is intell igible

to all . As to names of places,it would be impossible

to make any beneficial change .

“Kiu-kiang must be

always thus spelt,and not altered to the Pekingese

“Chiu-chiang;” and so with other well-known proper names .

Meanwhile,in V iew of the great scientific disadvantages

of Wade’

s orthography,the Oriental Congress o f 1 897

appointed a Commisslon o f Chinese scholars to consider

the position and endeavour to construct a new orthography

on l ines acceptable to all . This scheme w as carried out

and the result presented to the Oriental Congress of1 899 ,

but with no practical result .

OSAKA : i t fit . A port in Japan .

OUIGOURS or UIGOURS : E1] fill: or IE . Descendants

of the Hsiung-nu or Huns,

first heard o f under the

Northern Wei dynasty,A.D . 389 ,

when they were known

as Es?E.

“ high carts” from the vehicles they used . Under

the T ang dynasty they were called IE]fl,and were the

rul ing race in the regions now known as the Khanates

o f Khiva and Bokhara,being the first o f the tribes o f


Central Asia to have a script of their ow n which was

based upon the Estrangelo . Syriac o f the Nestorians .

These characters are now cal led by the Chinese 553

The latest date at which the Ouigours sent

tribute was 1 2 96 , under the Mongol dynasty , about which

period the term seems to have come to mean Mussulmans,

the modern [5] E . I t is the origin of our word “Ogre .

”

PADDY : Ri ce in the‘

husk;from the Malayan Paa’i .

Also used of rice as i t grows in the paddy-fi elds .

PADDY-B IRD : E] E . The white egret (Egr ez‘

ia moa’es taj .

So called because frequently seen wading in paddy-fields .

PAGODA : g fi — precious t‘a or pile . Formerly known

or i? E —L—Buddha . The Indian toran . A circular

or octagonal building,always o f an odd number o f

storeys,originally raised over rel ics of Buddha

,bones o f

Buddhist saints etc .,but now built ch iefly in connection

with Feng-shui [go ] . At Lo -yang,under the Chin dynasty

(A.D . there were forty-two pagodas,from three to

n ine storeys high,r ichly painted and formed after Indian

models . The word has been derived from the Portuguese

p agao= Latin paganas;also from the Portuguese pro

nunciat ion o f the Indian a’agoéa (av ) , in addition to

which we commend to our readers a common term in

use among the Chinese themselves,v iz Q E

‘

fi — white

bones tower,pronounced p ofi -Rnfi - i

‘

a . See Slnp a .

“ I feel satisfied that we may take i t as now establ ished“ that the Chinese pagoda was copied from the Topes o f“ the I ndus valley and Afghanistan . W . Simpson .

PAGODA . A small gold coin,used in Madras

PAGODA ANCHORAGE : fi g % 0r % E . The an

chorage fo r foreign ships at the port of Foochow , from

which city i t is about ten m i les distant . Scene o f the


destruction o f the Chinese fleet by the French underAdmiral Courbet

,2 3rd August , 1 884 . Pagoda Anchorage

and I sland are both so cal led from the existence o f a

small pagoda on the latter . The Chinese have namedthe island after a star— y in Capricorn .

PA ILOW : W E . An ornamental gateway or arch,put

up in memory of some deceased person o f transcendent

loyalty,fi l ial piety

,chastity

,and similar virtues .

PAKHO I : l j fQ— north sea . A port o n the extreme

southern coast o f the Kuang-tung province,opened to

trade by the Chefoo Agreement o f 1 876 .

PAKKA . A Hindi word meaning ( 1 ) ripe , cooked , and (2)genuine

,proper . The appl ication o f this word in Anglo

I ndian and Anglo-Chinese parlance i s practically unlimited .

I t is generally understood in the sense o f “ real . Thus,

a pony may be a p akéa pony , and a man may be a

p aéka fool . (Cn ioka is “ raw o r“ crude

,and is largely

used in India i n antithesis to pakka;no t i n use in China).PALAMPORES : BS . The chintz coverlets used by

the Chinese . From the town of that name in the provinceOf Guzerat , where these counterpanes are manufactured .

PALANQUIN . A term a pplied in the Strai ts ’ Settlementsto four-wheeled close carriages . I n India it means a l itter .

PALMISTRY . Has been practised for centuries by the

Chinese . The T ‘n snn (see Encyclop aea

’ias) deals ful ly

with the subj ect and gives about 80 i l lustrations of hands,

with all the l ines marked and expla ined . As with us,

good and bad fortunes can be foretold from inspections

of the hands . The Chinese however carry the science to

its logical conclusion,and give a section

,with i l lustrati ons

,

treating o f the l ines on the sole o f the foot .

P ‘AN -KU or PW AN-KOO . Popularly known as the Chinese


The invention of paper however is generally credi tedto the eunuch-scholar Ts ‘ai Lun

,who died A.D . 1 1 4 .

He is sa id to have manufactured i t out of tow,Old l inen

,

fishing-nets

,etc . Paper is now chiefly made ( 1 ) from

bamboo,by soaking the woody fibre and then rubbing

it to pulp in a mortar,after which it is taken up in

moulds;(2) from the bark o f the B r oussonetia p apyr if er a ,

th is kind being a tough article used for windows instead

of glass;and 3) from rice straw ,being coloured on one side

by hand and used fo r rel igious and ceremonial purposes .

Paper which bears any traces o f writing should not be

thrown down on the floor to be trodden upon,nor used

for any unworthy purpose,not even to wrap things in

,

but should be reverentially burnt . Small crematoria forthis purpose are often built by philanthropic persons in

the streets of towns and elsewhere .

Japanese hand-made papers are div ided into tw o classes .The so -called “ hansi

,or half paper

,i s loaded with

about 20 per cent of rice starch;the“minogami

” consi sts

entirely of fibre . Jackets and trousers made o f strong

hand-made paper were suppl ied to the Japanese soldiers

during the late war with China .

Korean hand-made papers are o f a yellowish colour,

with a si lk-l ike gloss,and o f extraordinary strength . I n

puri ty they are beh ind the better grades o f Chinese papers .

PAPER-BOAT : g fig— passenger boat . A large roomy

boat used on the rivers in the neighbourhood of Swatowfor the conveyance Of passengers and o f cargoes o f

p ap erfl w hence the foreign term has been derived .

PAPER MONEY : I t i s supposed that five centuri esand more before Christ the Chinese used pieces of stamped

line as a circulating medium . About 240 B C. str ips o f


leather were used in the same way . In 806 A .D .

“ flying

money,which has been identified with a paper currency

,

w as introduced . From 1 1 54A.D . paper money became quite

common,and is sti l l i n general use al l over China

,notes being

issued in some places for amounts less even than a sh ill ing .

PAPICO : B fi fiQ— Whi te stern . A small j unk,

Of the

fishing-boat class

,seen at N ingpo and in the Chusan

archipelago . Has a white stern;hence the Chinese name ,

o f which p ap ioo i s an imitation .

PARANG . A large Malay knife for cutting wood; a

snikkersnee . . . whereupon the Mandor (av ) drew his“

f ar ti ng and chased him round the monkey-house , but“Mr . Murton got away .

—~H ongéong D aily Pr ess (from

Strai ts’

Times), 2 2 September,1 877.

PAR IAH . ( 1 ) From the Tamil paraiyan a drummer (2) Acorruption o f the I ndian word paraya

“ strange . Pariah

dogs,i .e .

,dogs with no owners , are not uncommon in

large Chinese towns .

The Pariahs of India are men without caste,who

notwithstanding keep up a kind o f caste among them

selves’

,being quite as j ealous Of their impurity as Brahmans

are o f their puri ty .

PARSEE or PARS I . Descendants o f the Persians,o f which

Parsi is the old form,w ho left their native country and

settled in India,to avoid Mahommedan persecuti on . They

are Zoroastrians o r F i re Worshippers . Bombay Parsees

are establ ished in business at several of the Treaty Ports,

notably Canton,Amoy

,Shanghai

,and Foochow

,deal ing

chiefly in Opium . Their complexions having caused them

to be confounded by the Chinese with Moormen (o n) ,they are known by the same name

,

“Whiteheads” Q E .

7258 .


PA-T ‘U -LU . See Eaz‘

nr n .

PAVVN SHOPS . Are common all over China , and are no t

i nfrequently owned by Mandarins . They may be known,

sometimes by their greater height than the surrounding

buildings,always by a huge character (either 5

”

or gexhibited in some conspicuous place . The interest charged

is 3 per cent fier mon t/i,the pledge to be redeemed

within sixteen months . About half the value o f the article

i s generally given . Unl icensed pawnshops, W ,

receive

pledges for three months,on more l iberal terms

,both as

regards the amount of the loan and the interest charged .

PEACH -ORCHARD CONFEDERATION : fit Z i .

A solemn covenant sworn to in a peach -orchard,between

Liu Pei,Chang Fe r

,and Kuan Ti [av ] , that they would

fight side by side and l ive and die together .

PEACOCK ’S FEATHERS . A badge o f meri t conferred

by the Emperor . The highest grade,o r 22534 “ flowery

feather,

”

i s actual ly from the peacock ’s tai l and has either

one,tw o

,o r three eyes

,according to the merit of the

wearer . The other kind,or — blue feather

,o r

plume,i s from the raven ’s tai l;but both are

‘ equally

known to foreigners under the above name . I ntroduced

only since the beginn ing of the present dynasty .

PEACOCK,TO . S lang term for “ to call on ladies

,as

implying a more elegant costume than usual . Brought

to China from India where it i s much used;se e f70/zn

N eville,vol. i .

,246 .

PEAR-GARDEN,PUPILS OF THE : i t [ 51 33 The

first two characters form the name of the site of the

Dramatic College founded by the Emperor Hs '

uan Tsung

of the T ‘ang dynasty . The whole is a popular name for

actors .


PEKING GAZETTE : Iii;fit or fit . The small official

record,i ssued daily throughout the year (every other

day during the annual New Year ’ s festival) at Peking ,and containing the Court movements

,l i sts of promotions

,

selected memorials from high officials,Imperial Rescripts

,

Edicts,and so on;but no news o f any kind . I s known

to have existed as far back as the T ‘ang dynasty,A.D .

6 1 8 —907.

PEKOE : 9 %_white hair . A kind o f tea,so cal led

because the leaves are picked very young,with the down

or“ hair” o n them . From the Cantonese pronunciat ion

of the above two characters .

PENAL CODE,THE : This work contains ( 1 )

the immutable statute laws of the Chinese Empire underthe present Manchu dynasty

,derived in great part from

the previous code of the Ming dynasty;and (2) such

modifications,extensi ons

,and restrictions o f these funda

mental laws as time and circumstances make necessary .

A revised edi tion is publ ished every five years . Has been

translated into Engli sh by S i r G . Staunton .

Sect . zgz z— All persons playing with the fist

,with a

stick,

o r with any weapon,or other means whatsoever

,

i n such a manner as obviously to be l iable by so doing to

ki ll,and thus kil l ing or wounding some individual

,shall

suffer the punishment provided by the law in any ordinary

case o f kill ing o r wounding in an affray (v iz : death by

strangulation or punishment in proportion to the inj uries

inflicted).

All persons w ho k i l l or wound others purely by accident

shall be permitted to redeem themselves from the punish

ment,by the payment in each case o f a fine to the family

of the person deceased or wounded .


By a case o f pure accident is understood a case o f

which no sufficient warning could have been given,either

directly,by the perceptions of sight and hearing

,o r

indire ctly, _by the inferences drawn from judgment andreflection ;as for instance , when lawfully pursuing o r

shooting wild animals;when for some purpose throwing

a brick o r a tile,and in either case unexpectedly kill ing

any person ;when aften ascending high places , sl ipping

and fall ing down,so as to chance to hurt a comrade

o r bystander;when sail ing in a ship o r other vessel,and

driven involuntari ly by the winds;when riding on a horse

or in a carriage,being unable

,upon the animals taking

fright,to stop

,o r to govern them;o r lastly , when several

persons jo intly attempt to raise a great weight,the

strength o f one o f them failing,so that the weight fal ls

on,and kills or inj ures his fellow-labourers : -in all these

cases there could have been no previous thought or

intention o f doing an inj ury,and therefore the law permits

such persons to redeem themselves from the punishments,

by a fine to be paid to the family o f the deceased or

wounded person . (SeePENANG

,PULO : a? mum— Be telh ut Island . A British

settlement i n the Strai ts o f Malacca founded 1 786 and

originally known as Prince o f Wales Island .

PENANG LAWYER . A large heavy walking-stick with

a big knob,sold at Penang and in the Straits generally .

Said to be so called because : ( I) the strength of lawyers

l ies in their noes;(2) because formerly there was l i ttle or

no law in Penang,and people were forced to “ take i t

i nto their ow n hands . Really a native name for

the kind of cane o f which i t is made .

PEN TS ‘AO . See s ts‘ao.

2 14 A GLOSSARY OF REFERENCE

PEON . One who serves on foot . A S ingapore nativeconstable .

PEPO -HWAN :zFifi fi m —barbarians o f the plain .

“The“ name Pepo -hwan is appl ied to all the civil i sed aborigines“ l iv ing near the mountains in the southern part o f the“ island (o f Formosa). The one name includes a number“ of ancient tribes which were formerly distinct and spoke“ separate dialects . At the present t ime

,however

,Chinese

“ is the language used by all . — T. L . Bullock . SeeFormosa .

PERAK .

“S i lver; a name derived from the large amounto f silvery-looking tin which i s found there . Pronounced

Faye/ ab.

PERS IMMON : The date plum found in great

quantit ies in China,often cal led the “ China fig . The

Peking variety i s Bunge’

s D z

'

osfiyr os Schi-z‘se;the persimmon

o f South China and o f Japan i s the D z

'

ospyr os Kaéz’

.

PESANG . The Malay word for éemcm a,i n common use

among foreigners in the Straits .PETITIONS : E M . Should be w ri tten in very smal l

characters,as a mark of the peti tioner ’s respect;and

should be '

handed in i n dupl icate,one o n red paper for the

perusal o f the official addressed and to be kept on record,

the other on white paper,to be returned with the reply

written i n bold characters at the end and stamped with

the seal of office . Petitions from the people to Mandarins

should have nine columns o f characters on every page;'

from subordinates to their superior officers,only five . .

The following mnemonic l ine i s wel l known to all scribes

and clerks employed in Chinese Yaméns z— i g 71? 19

IE] HfiQ} “ five for a peti ti on,six for an enclosure

,four

for a dispatch . Petitions are not dated,there being


and deviations are so numerous as to render this system

o f only comparative value .

PHOONGYE . See Talap oz'

n .

PHRAONG CHOW . See Cfiow f em.

PICTURE CHOPS . See Cfiofi .

PIDGIN . Business of any kind,from which word the

term pe’u’ge’

n i s said to be derived,through the Chinese

imitation of our word,i .e .

,business

,bizzin

,pishin,pidgin .

By others,from the latter half of the Portuguese occup aeé o .

Also,from the Hebrew word meaning ransom or redemp

tion,from a ritual observance sti l l found among pious

Jews;v iz .

, p z'

a’

j afln o r the redemption o f the firs t-born

from the priesthood,to which they have been held to be

specially devoted ever since the act o f grace by which

the firs t -born o f Israel were spared . This word passed into

the common language,and Jewish merchants in Poland

may even now be heard to ask about the “

p idgen ,

’

i .e .

business;and as Pol ish Jews emigrated in large numbers

to England it is bel ieved that they may have carried thisslang term with them . A further etymology has been

suggested i n the Sanskrit flake,to pursue .

Commonly used as an affix— amah-pidgin,cool ie-pidgin

,

etc . Any servant called upon to perform another ’s workwill reply “ no belong my pidgin .

“A second man had to be flogged,and a different

“ officer had to flog him . This second officer ’s physique“was no t by any means equal to that o f the first

,and

“ the blows came down with far less force . He w as

consequently voted not up to his pidgin .

- Hongkong

D a ily Pr ess, 4 Oct . 1 877.

P IDGIN -CH INESE . The Chinese spoken by foreigners

w ho have not the gift o f tongues,and persist in arranging


their sentences according to the idiom of their native land .

See Coolz'e Clzz'

nese .

PIDGIN -ENGLISH : Q FEJE}? or Macao talk . The lz

’

ngua

f r anca o f China , used by foreigners o f all national ities

w ho do not talk Chinese in speaking to native servants ,shop-keepers

,chair-cool ies

,sailors

,etc . Also frequently

spoken to each other by Chinamen of different parts o f

the Empire,whose dialects are mutually unfamil iar and

who do no t understand their own common medium,

Mandarin . The following is a specimen,by an anonymous

author,o f a celebrated English poem translated into th is

strange jargon .

EXCELSIOR !

That n igh tey time beg in chop-chop,

One young man w alkey— no can s top .

Maske e snow ! maskee ice !

He carry flag w id chop so n iceTops ide-galow

He too muchey sorry , one p iecey eyeLooksee sharp— so— all same my .H im talkey largey, talkey strong .Too muchey curio— all same gong

Topside-galow !Inside that house he look-see light

,

And eve ry room go t fire all right,

He look-see plenty ice more high,

Inside he mou th he plen ty cryTopside-galow

O lo man talkey“no can walk !

“By’mby rain come— welly dark ,

“Have go t water , welly wide .”“Maskee ! My w an tchey go topside .

Tops ide-galow !“Man-man !” one girley talkey he;“What for you go tops ide look- see ?”And one time more be plen ty cry

,

But all time w alkey plen ty high .Tops ide-galow !

“Take care that sp o il’

um tree,young man .

“Take care that ice ! He wan t man-man !”That coolie chin-chin be good n ight

,

He talkey “My can go all right .”Topside-galow !

Joss-pidgin man he soon begin ,Morning-time that Joss chin-chin;He no man see— he plenty fear

,

Cos some man talkey— he can hear !Tops ide galow !

That young man die,one large dog see ,

Too muchey bobbery findey‘ he;He hand belong colo— all same ice

,

Have go t that flag, with chop so n ice .Topside-galow !

M oral

You too muchey laugh ! What for sing ?I think-so you no savey what thing !Sup p o sey you no b ’ long clever inside ,More better you go walk topside !

Tops ide-galow !

2 1 8 A GLOSSARY OF REFERENCE

There is also

My name belong Norval;tops ide that Gramp ian h illMy father catchee chow-chow pay he sheep— etc.

The following is a good prose specimen of pidgin

English as actual ly spoken in China . I t i s supposed to

be from the pen o f a Nai -ma;or Chinese wet-nurse ,

disappointed that the colours were not trooped as usual

on the Queen’s birthday .

QUEEN’

S BIRTHDAY.

SIR,—Long time my have stop Hongkong side

,any

year Queen’s bursday have go t that soldier man play

pidgin Ci ty Hal l overside . My chin -chin you tluly talkee

my what for this year no got —no have got largee lain !

How fashion ? Some flen talkee my that soldier man

b’

long alla same 010 man— two time one day he no can

some man talkee that soldier man taipan he more likee

w alke e that horse go topside sleep ! Spose b’ long tlue

talkee my so fashion no like e . To o sp ensee my have

catche e that seelick j acket,that bangle

,that diamond

ling,allo that thing . Tluly to o muchee trub— long time

stop that side w aite e,no man talkee my no got .

Spose soldier man b ’ long so fashion no can take care

people that smallo pidgin,more better my chop -chop go

Macao— that side have go t plenty number one soldier

man —no got fear .

My too muche e no like e that foolo pidgin j ust now

Hongkong any tim have go t . Chin-chin .

NAA I MA.

H o n g k o n g,2 7th May , 1 878.

PIDGIN -JAPANESE . A species of hybrid,ungrammatical


capital,and scene o f a great v ictory by the Japanese

over the Chinese on 1 5 September , 1 894

PIONEER of COMMERCE . The late T . T . Cooper has

been frequently so called,from his book “Travel s of a

P . of C . i n Pig-ta il and Pett icoats .

PIVOT-WORD . A word or part o f a word used by Japanese

poets i n two senses,i .e . in one sense with what precedes

and in another sense with what fol lows . I t i s the “ sandwich ”

boat o f poetry,rowing in both the first and second

divisions,and so belonging absolutely to neither .

PLANCHETTE : HefiL. Has been well known in China

for centuries,and is ch iefly practised by priests as a means

o f extorting money from the credulous . A forked stick,

having a short tooth-l ike piece projecting at r ight angles

from the point o f bifurcation,i s grasped by two men

standing back to back . By simultaneous movement of

the operators the “ tooth" i s made to describe circles on

a table covered with sand and placed before the shrine

o f some god, unti l i nsp iration comes , and characters are

traced legibly on the sand,forming an appropriate response

to any question that may have been put .

PLANTA IN : B A tropical plant o f the genus M nsa,

and order M usacea,which bears a highly nutritious fruit

,

nearly akin to the banana .

I long my careless l imbs to layUnder the plan tain ’s shade .

“The banana tree (M nsa sap ien tam) differs from the“ plantain in having its stalks marked with dark purple“ stripes and spots

,and the fru it i s shorter and rounder .

“ Some botanists,however

,consider them as o nly one

“ species .

- Loudon,Encycl. of Garden ing.

PLUM CASH . Pidgin-Engli sh imi tation o f“ prime cost .


POCKET SONS . Sons purchased for adoption by childlessChinese . S imilarly

,

“ pocket mother”

i s generally used o f

women who buy girl s for prostitution .

POETRY,CH INESE : iii . Fo r ancient poetry

,see the

On’es . In modern v ersification

,al l measures from four to

eleven characters in a l ine are to be found,and poems

varying in length from a couplet to several hundred l ines;but what may be cal led orthodox poetry

,dating from the

beginn ing of the T ‘ang dynasty (6 1 8 i s subj ect

to the following condi tions . Measures of either five o r

seven characters to the l ine,both forms dating from the

2nd cent . B .C.,may be employed

,and there should

not be more than sixteen l ines; at the great publ ic

examinations the poems handed in by the candidates may

no t exceed 1 2 l ines in length . There must be rhyme,

i .e . according to the rhymes found in the Oa’es,though

many o f these no longer rhyme to the ear . When five

characters are used al l the even l i nes rhyme;but i f seven ,then the first l ine rhvmes too

,the rhyming character

being always in the “ even ” tone . The other tonal

arrangements,the choice o f any one o f which is optional

,

are shown in the annexed tables,the lines to be read

downwards from right to left as in Chinese .

GLOSSAR Y OF REFERENCEA

Di

DiZF2F2F

Di

Di

ZFZF

IR

Di

ZFZF

a

a

a

a

h

a

a

a

h

a

a

a

h

h

h

a

a

a

h

h

h

a

a

h

h

a

a

S

h

a

h

a

a

a

h

h

y

a

a

h

a

a

a

h

a

a

h

a

a

a

a

h

h

S

h

h

aa

h

a

a

a

a

h

h

a

s

a

a

a

as

a

h

h

a

a

h

a

a

;

h

a

a

a

a

a

a

h

h

a

a

S

h

h

3 +3!

$1

$1

A common and useful formula among versifiers i s— i xa maI t may be added that every such Chinese poem should

contain i f possible some historical or mythological al lusion,

and deal with the elucidation o f a single thought .

The output o f Chinese poets during their long ages o f

civil isation has been enormous,and contrary to general ly

received notions,women have been large contributors .

The Wade Library at Cambridge contains among many

other such works the “ Poetry o f the T ‘ang Dynasty,

comprising no less than poems,some o f them

being o f c onsiderable length . The Emperor Ch ‘ ien Lungalone published 3 poems

,mostly short ones

,not to

mention a large number which were never printed .


for all kinds o f gods and idols . The eyes o f large idols

are sometimes made to move,l ike those o f the Virgin in

Cathol ic churches,by a very ingenious device . A white

mouse is secreted ‘ i n a small box inside the head,and

by a simple mechanism the eyes move every time the

l ittl e creature runs across i ts prison .

POOTOO :m:[it o r

I

E? 3 or 3115E or A sacred

island in the Chusan archipelago,between Shanghai and

Ningpo,where Kwan -yin [ov ] i s said to have resided

for n ine years . Inhabited by Buddhist priests,who do

not permit any l iving thing to be kil led upon the island .

Neither are women al lowed to l ive there,no r i n fact

any one unconnected with the priesthood .

POO -TUNG : mE — east o f the POO . The eastern bank

o f the Huang-

p‘u river at a point opposite the Briti sh

Settlement o f Shanghai .POPE

,Taoist . See M asfor of H eaven .

POPE,Tibetan . See Pansfien Era’en i .

POPULATION . See Census .

PORCELAIN TOWER,THE : W E,

Eff . The celebrated

n ine -storeyed octagonal pagoda at Nanking,destroyed

by the T ‘ai -p ‘ ing (av) rebels . So cal led because itwas faced over with variously coloured porcelain bricks

,

highly glazed . I t was about 200 feet in height,and the

circumference of the lower storey was 1 20 feet,each

face being about 1 5 feet i n breadth . There were 1 90

steps leading to the to p . Bells hung from every corner

o f the roof of each storey , and part of the roofing is

said to have been inlaid with gold . Built A.D . 1 4 1 1 ,

on the site o f former structures

PORT ARTHUR : fifiMEI] . Also known as Port Li,in

honour o f Li Hung-Chang . A Chinese naval port establ ished


near Chin ' chou T f ing in Shingking,and strongly fortified .

Captured'

by the Japanese under General Oyama,

2 1

November 1 894 . Leased to Russia 1 898 .

PORT HAMILTON : TE ar% . A small island off the

Korean coast,occupied and fortified by England ‘

in 1 885 ,

as a possible base o f operations against Russia . Evacuated2 7 February , 1 887.

POSTAL SYSTEM . I t has always been possible to send

a letter with comparative safety from one end o f China

to the other . In al l large towns there are postal hongs

which undertake the j ob for a smal l fee,half payable i n

advance,the remainder on del ivery . Steamer communication

dealt a severe blow to this business,and now China i s

organis ing a Government Postal Service . Publ ic letter

writers for the convenience of the uneducated are to be

seen sitting at tables in the streets . A corner burnt o ff

an envelope intimates that the communication inside i s

urgent . Sometimes two and even three corners areburnt . A feather sticking out o f the letter has the

'

same

sign ification .

POUCHONG : fi — folded sort . A kind o f tea,so cal led

from the method of packing it . [Cantonese ]POW :Efi— to run;to gallop . A native word in use amongstthe foreign racing communities o f China .

“The course,especial ly at the Foochow-road corner

,

“ i s i n a miserable condition,and “

p ow ing” i s only possible

“ fo r the quarter-mile distance .

— Fooenozv H er ald.

Also used as a substantive;i .e .

,

“ Come and have a

pong” and sometimes of a match between tw o ponies .

-PO-YAH or PO-RAH (Enoo-raj . The Burman term for

pagoda (ov ) . The great Shwe Dagong Poyah, o r GoldenDagong Pagoda at Rangoon

, is 372 feet high , with a1 5


circumference of 600 feet . The gil t li tee or umbrellaat

the summit cost about in gold and j ewels alone .

PRAHU or PRAU . A Malay sea-going vessel,as opposed

to a sampan .

PRAYA . A quay or esplanade . From the Portuguese

fi raia ,a shore o r beach .

PRAY I NG-WHEEL : is};figm— Mongol ian dragon cave .

A machine into which written prayers are thrown in great

numbers and then worked round by the hand . The efficacy

of these churned prayers is the same as if each were

repeated,with the additional advantage o f speed .

“Hundreds of Tibetan priests idl ing away their l ives“ turning prayer-cyl inders

,and reciting the everlasting

“Hung-mani Peh -man Hung (see Om mani fiaa’nze fiunz).

“The prayer cyl inders are called Koh-loh,and some of

“ them are turned by water-wheels .

— Sfiangnai Cour ier

7ih Nov .

,1 877.

PRECIOUS ONES,THE THREE : g . The Buddhist

Trin ity of Buddha,Dharma

,and Samgha

,o r Buddha

,the

Law,and the Priesthood

, 1343, if , f@. Sanskrit Tr iraz‘na .

“The philosophical atheistic school s now place D /iarma“ i n the first rank as the first person in their trin ity“ and explain it as the unconditioned underived entity

,

“ combining in itself the spiri tual and material principles“ of the universe . From Dharma proceeded B ua’a’lza by“ emanation

,as the creative energy

,and produced in

“ conj unction wi th Dharma the third consti tuent of the“ trin ity

,v iz . Samgka ,

which is the comprehensive summa“ of all actual l i fe o r existence . The common people ,“ however

,know little o r nothing of this esoteric view o f

“ a trin ity;they speak of and worship a triad o f images“which they regard as three different divin ities

,total ly


PRESTER JOHN . The ruler of a tribe i n Central Asia

who was converted to Christian ity by the Nestorian

missionaries . Said to have been overcome by Genghis

Khan in A.D . 1 20 2,and his Skull se t i n silver as a

trophy . Mentioned by Marco Polo,ch . xcii .

,as “ 11 Preste

Giovanni . ” Our name,sometimes written Pr esoyz

‘er yokn ,

i s a corruption o f the Mongol term “ Prestar Khan,by

which title he was commonly known . Gibbon calls him“ a Khan of the Ke raite s . According to the most recent

authorities,this once mythical personage now seems to

be thoroughly identified with Yeh-lii Ta-shih,founder o f

the Western Liao dynasty or realm of Karakitai,who

,

after h is conquest o f Eastern and Western Turkestan,

became known by the title of Gur-khan,and had his

capital at Bala Segun .

‘ Mr . Parker however has thought

fit to identify him with Chao Yuan -hao (whom he wrongly

cal ls Yuan -min,mistaking for Q), the founder of the

E Hsia State .

“ His second name was $ 321 Wei -Ii ,which looks very l ike Will iam .

”

Cfi ina R eview,XIV

,p . 342 .

PR ICKLY HEAT . A severe form of the skin -disease

known as lie/zen tr ofi ieus , which begins to show itself as

soon as the thermometer rises much above 80° Fahr .The appearance of fi r iekly fieaz‘ i s sa id to indicate free

action of the Skin,and consequently a good state of

health . Warm water baths,with a few handfuls o f bran

thrown in,are sometimes found to allay the irri tation;

but unquestionably the best remedy is a lotion o f 1 5,o r

20 grains o f sulphate o f zinc to 4 oz . of water,applied

n ight and morning to the parts inflamed .

“ Sponging with“ toi let vinegar and water

,or dusting with ordinary toi let

“ powder,will probably be found more beneficial than

“ anyth ing else .

—D iseases of Anglo-Indians

,by R . Mair .


The Lancet gives the following remedy,declared by Dr . J .

R . Somerville late of Foochow to be very efficacious :Subl imed Sulphur 80 per cent .Magnesia 1 5

Oxide o f zinc 5“The skin is first to be bathed with warm water and

“ a little soap;some of the powder is then placed in a“ saucer

,and a squeezed. sponge pressed on the powder .

“A portion of the powder will adhere to the sponge;this“ i s to be rubbed carefully in al l the patches o f prickly“ heat

,and the process i s to be repeated morning and

“ even ing .

PR INCE OF KUNG,THE : firfi 512. S ixth son of the

Emperor Tao Kuang,uncle of the present Emperor

,and

for many years Regent and President of the Tsung- l i

Yamen (av) . Died 3o th May , 1 898.

PR INTING . Has been extensively practised by the Chinese

since the middle o f the 1 1 th cent . A.D . ;and even as

early as the sixth century the idea of taking impressions

from wooden blocks seems to have arisen,though it was

no t widely applied to the production o f books unti l about

A.D . 930 when the Classics were so printed for the first

time . Movable types are said to have been invented byan alchemist o f the 1 l th cent . named Pi Sheng

,and

under the Ming dynasty these were made of copper or

lead;but they have never gained the favour accordedto block-printing

,by which most of the great l i terary

works o f the Chinese have been achieved . The newspapers

of modern times are all printed from movable types,from

to separate characters being required . These

are arranged under the 2 1 4 Radicals , and sub-arrangedaccording to the number o f strokes in the non-radical portion .


“ PROMOTION FEE“

l . A favourite game with the

Chinese,played upon a board representing an official

career from the lowest to the highest grade;the element

of chance is represented by the fall o f four dice,and the

object of each player is to secure promotion over theothers . I s a useful and agreeable means o f acquiring

famil iari ty with the value o f Chinese official ranks .

PROTESTANT MISS IONAR IES . I n 1 799 the EnglishBaptist Mission sent out the Rev . J . Marshman

,who

published at Serampore,1 807,

“The Works of Confuci us,

co‘

ntainmg the original text , with a translation .

” Then

followed the Rev . Robert Morrison o f the London Mission,

1 807, author of the first Chinese-English and EnglishChinese Dictionary

,and also o f a translation o f the Bible;

the Rev . W . Milne o f the same,1 8 1 3, translator o f the

Sacred Edict;and the Rev . W . H . Medhurst of the same,

1 8 1 7, lexicographer , translator of the“ Shoo King

,

” etc .

Among : other eminent Missionaries are the Rev . E . C .

Bridgman,American Board ’s Mission

,1 830;the Rev .

J . Legge,London Mission

,1 840;Miss Lydia Fay , Am .

P . E . Mission 1 850;the Rt . Rev . Bishop Moule , Church

Miss . Soc .,

1 858;the Rev . J . Edkins,London Mission

,

1 86 1 ;and Miss A . M . Fielde,Am . Bapt . Mission

,1 866 .

The Protestant faith i s known to the Chinese as EHflflthe Jesus Teaching (see R oman Catfio/ic M issionar ies).

PROVERBS : 35 53512 Are so nume'

rous in Chinese as to

be quite a feature of the language . Many of the most

original have found their way into!

Japanese l iterature

and have often been quoted as the product of Japan .

The following are a few specimens

I f you bow‘

at all,bow low .

A man thinks he knows,but a woman k nows better .


considered as part of the name;e .g.

,

“ the island o f Pulo

Condor . Cfiaméer s’

Encyclop a'a’ia .

PUMMELO : M 51 or Ci tr us a’ecumana

,L . A species of

shaddock,

so called because introduced into the W

Indies by a Captain Shaddock . Also known as

pampelmoose,and sometimes Spoken of as the Forbidden

Frui t . I s mentioned in the Sli oo K ing : flawE“ the bundles contained small oranges and p ummeloes

Etymology unknown .

PUNCH and JUDY : fi g} A popular amusement in

China,said to have originated from a strategic ruse

adopted by the Emperor Kao Tsu,B C. 206

,i n which

a number of movable puppets were exhibited upon the

wall o f a city and thus aided the besieged monarch in

effecting his escape .

PUNCH -HAUS (Dutch). F irst appl ied by the natives , andafterwards by the foreign residents

,to hotels at S ingapore .

PUNGHULU . The headman o f a Malay vi llage .

PUNGTARAI SEEDS : fem—Te . The fruit o f a tree

found in Cambodia,and eaten as a delicacy by the

Chinese .

PUN ISHMENTS . Those recognised by the Chinese Penal

Code (gv ) are ( 1 ) flogging on the th ighs with a flat

p iece o f bamboo;(2) exposure in a heavy wooden collar ,

called a cangue;(3) banishment for a given time or

permanently to a given distance;and (4) death by

strangulation,decapitation

,or the so -called “ l ingering

death . See L ing Cfie .

PUNJUM . I nferior si lk made from the outside layer of the

cocoon . From the Indian name fo r a kind of raw silk .

PUNKAH . A Hindi word (pankha) meaning“ a fan .

Introduced into China by Europeans,and now known to

A GLOSSAKY OF REFERENCE 233

the Chinese asmFF? “wind fan,but rarely seen even

in the wealthiest native establ ishments,where servants

with large feather fans sti l l continue to perform thi s

function at their master ’s dinner-table . For the afternoon

nap,smal l slave -girl s are often employed in a similar way .

“PunRa/c says that in its own country it i s pulled by a“ string

,and i s used to ven tila te a room .

”

Tli e Pioneer .

“The Pankha,o r large common fan

,i s a leaf of the

Coryp /za uméraculifera ,with the peti ole cut to the length

“o f about fiv e feet

,pared round the edges and painted

“ to look pretty . I t i s waved by the servant standing“ behind a chair . —R . F . B ur ton .

PUN-TS ‘AO : zls ire-ima . The Chinese M ater ia M ea’ica

,

sometimes called Tfie H erbal,an extensive work in many

volumes on botany,natural h istory

,etc . I t i s the work

o f Li Shih -Chen,who completed his task in 1 578 after

3

2 6 years labour . No less than 1 89 2 species are dealt

with,arranged under 6 2 classes in 1 6 divisions

,and 8 1 60

prescripti ons are given in connection with the variousentries .

PUNTI : ZS ilk— o f the soi l . Native as Opposed to foreign;the Chinese o f the Kuang - tung prov ince as distinguishedfrom immigrant Chinese (see H akkas) from other provinces .

Local,as appl ied to dialects

,etc .;e .g.

,

“with the Pun ti

and Mandarin pronunciations .

PURGATORY . See Cfiaméer of H or r or s and D ev ils .

PUSAN . See Fusan .

PUTCHUCK : 7k é . The root o f a species o f th istle found

in Cashmere . Used by the Chinese as a medicine and

also in the preparat ion of incense . Putchuck i s the term

in use at Calcutta .

PW ANKU . See P ‘an Kn


PYJAMAS . Large baggy trousers made'

of flannel,si lk

,

or cotton,and worn at “night with a jacket called a

“ sleep -shirt by residents all over the East . From theHindi p ae leg and fame? clothing . Also known in Indian

as “

p yjands .

PYLONG : A— a bad man . A pirate,or any desperado .

From the Amoy pronunciation o f the above characters

fifiai lang or p‘ai lang.

Another,but less l ikely

,etymology is TIKEEp a lung,

a kind o f boat used by river pirates .

QUA as a suffix . See H ow qua .

QUANGFOUTCHEE . See Conf ucius .

OUASSA . See Kw aslca .

QUEEN OF HEAVEN : 36E‘ The guardian divinity o f

sai lors,formerly a young lady named Hi Lin , of the

Fuhkie n province . Temples and smal l j oss-houses in honour

o f th is goddess may be seen at short intervals along all

the l ines of water communication throughout the empire .

QUELPAERT or QUELPART : TH.old name Ht jfi

A large island to the south of the Korean peninsula .

QUELUNG . See K elung.

QUEMOY : fi lfi l— golden gate . A small island to the

E . o f the island o f Amoy .

QUI HYES . Bengal Engl ishmen are so called,from the

term “ qui hye ! (correctly“ koi used in call ing

servants .

QUINSAI. See K insay .

QUINTAL . The Spanish hundred-weight,as used in the

Phil ippine Islands .

QUOC-NGU . A system o f transcript ion of Annamite in

Roman letters,dev i sed by the French missionaries .

RADICAL or DETERMINATIVE . That part o f a Chinese


are not included . Four volumes are devoted to the civi lservice

,and tw o to .the mil i tary . From an analysis o f a

recent issue of this work,we learn that

,exclusive o f

Tartar Generals,there are in the E ighteen Provinces

1 757 officials holding seals , o f whom 1 585 are Chinese ,

1 1 7 Manchus , 2 3 Mongol Bannermen , and 32 Chinese

Bannermen . See C/i ina R eview,vol . v i .

,p . 1 37.

RED-CAP MAHOMMEDANS,THE : AW E

“:

[E] ? A

name appl ied by the Chinese to the Mahommedan Tur

komans who came from Persia and other countries beyond

the Caspian Sea,and were distingu ished by the red fez

caps they wore . See B lue-cap M afiommea’ans. £12435 “ red

caps must no t be confounded with {EFifi “ red heads,

a name for certain rebels w ho gave considerable trouble

in the Kwang-tung prov i nce during the early part of thereign of the Emperor Hsien Féng.

RED -EYEBROV VS . See Cr imson Eyeér ow s .

REFORM PARTY,THE : fie E . An association o f

progressive officials,who in 1 898 made a strenuous effort ,

countenanced by the young Emperor,to reform the

administration o f China . They were denounced by a

Censor,and some half dozen were seized and summarily

executed,their leader

,K ‘ang Yu-wei escaping on a British

man-of-war .

REGISTRATION FEE . An annual and highly unpopular

tax of five dollars (one dollar for“ artisans and

imposed upon all Brit ish subj ects residing at the Treaty Ports

o f China and Japan,under the Order i n Council Of 1 865 .

RESCR IPT . See Verm ilion Pencil.

RES IDENT . The officer appointed by the Chinese Govern

ment to reside— e .g. in Tibet, fi flft fi — and look

after Imperial interests .


RHYMES,THE : Ea. See Poetry .

R I : E . Japanese land measure= about miles English .

R ICE-B IRDS : ”

A A species o f ortolan,found in

the paddy-fields of southern China , and regarded by

epicures as a very delicate morsel.

R ICE -CHR ISTIANS . Chinese who become converts toChristiani ty solely with a mercenary obj ect in v iew .

R I CE -PAPER : E RR. The so -cal led “ paper”

used by the

Chinese for pictures and artificial flowers . I t is the cel lular

t issue of the plant called Aralia papyr if era ,the stems

of which resemble a mass o f pith covered by a very thin

epidermis,and are from o ne to two inches in diameter

and several inches in length . The Chinese workmen apply

the blade o f a sharp straight knife to these pith -l ike

cyl inders,and

,turning them around dexterously

,pare

them from the circumference to the centre,making a rolled

layer of equal thickness throughout . This is unrolled and

weights are placed upon it until it is rendered perfectly

smooth and flat . Sometimes a number are j oined togetherto increase the size of the sheets .

Also known by the fancy name TEfl“BOdhi Crape

or the crape o f Buddha .

R IN . A thin round coin of iron or bronze,with a square hole

in the middle,current in Japan . Value one -tenth o f a cent .

R ITES,BOOK OF : fig 53 . See Cfi ing. Contains a number

o f rules for the performance of ceremonies and “ the

guidance of indiv idual conduct under a great variety o f

“ condit ions and circumstances .

RIYO or R IO : fi — a tael . An ounce o f si lver (J apanese).

RIYOBU . See S/cin to .

ROCO . A Malayan pipe .

“About the time it takes to

smoke a ro co”= about 10 minutes .


ROMAN CATHOLIC MISS IONAR IES . The first Arch

bishop o f Peking,Jean de Montecorvino

,was consecrated

in 1 308 and died at Peking in 1 330 . Among the most

eminent R . C . missionaries are Matteo Ri cci,a’. 1 6 1 0;

Adam Schall,a’. 1 666 ;Ferdinand Verbiest , a

’. 1 688;

Francois GerbillOn ,a’. 1 707;Joseph de Premare ,

a’. 1 735;

Joseph de Mailla,a’. 1 748;Antoine Gaubil

,a’. 1 759;

Joseph Amiot,a’. 1 793, and others (se e yesui ts).

Roman Cathol icism,originally styled H5fl the Jesus

Association,has been known for the past two centuries

as f a the Heavenly-Lord Teaching . After alternate

patronage and persecution,i t w as c lassed in the Sacred

Edict as a “ strange doctrine,but i n 1 899 was formally

recognised by Imperial Decree,the Pope being mentioned

as a 393 ,and Bishops receiving equal rank with Viceroys

or Governors o f provinces .

ROMANISATION . A term special ly reserved for the

transli teration o f Chinese characters in rel igious works,

as distinct from the term Orthography (o n) which is ofgeneral appl ication . Portions o f the B ible

,hymn-books

,

etc .

,have been published in “ romanised

,and it is held

that converts learn to read these more easily than

translations into ordinary Chinese characters .

RONIN or LONIN : faA— wave man . A samurai (an)who for some offence to hi s superior has been dispossessed

o f his estate,revenue

,or p ay, and dismissed from service .

An outcast or outlaw . [The Chinese character mean ing

w ave i s always used of persons in a bad sense ] The“ Forty-seven Ronin were the retainers of a certa in

Daimio who had tried to slay a brother Daimio,but

,

fail ing in his attempt,was compelled to perform the

liara Rir i [av ] . The “ forty-seven ” then bound themselves

A CLOSSAKY OF REFERENCE

“to prevent us go ing to the Sacred City peaceably .

Sfiangfiai Cour ier, Nov . 1 877.

SACRED EDICT :Bagffi . S ixteen moral maxims del ivered

in the form o f an Edict by the Emperor K ‘ang Hsi (av ),and amplified into the form of moral essays under his

son and successor Yung Cheng by over a hundredpicked members of the Han -l in College (o n), of whose

compositions the sixteen best were selected . These were

further paraphrased into simple colloquial language by

Wang Yu-

p‘u I 1 an Assistant Salt Commissioner

i n Shensi . They are held to contain the very essenceo f Chinese ethics , and should be publ icly read on the

Ist and 1 5th of every moon in all towns and cities o f

the empire . The following tw o maxims may be taken as

examples

NO . 1 . Pay j us t r egara’to fi lial ana

’

f r ater nal duties ,in order to give due imjbor tance to tfie r elationsfi ip s of lif e .

[These relationships are five between sovereign andsubject

, (2)husband and wife , (3) father and child , (4) elder

and younger brothers, (5) friends ]

NO . 7. Get r ia’ of s trange a’octr ines

,in Order to exalt

tke or tfioa’ox teac/cing. [Among the“ strange doctrines”

mentioned in the accompanying paraphrase are Taoism,

Buddhism,and Christianity . The orthodox teaching is o f

course Confucianism ]SAGE

,THE . A term commonly appl ied to Confucius .

SAGE,THE MODERN . K ‘ang Yu-wei

,the Reformer

,

has been so called . See R ef orm Par ty .

SAIBANSHO : Ef fi gy— place of decision . A Japanese

Distri ct Magistrate .

SAIHA’

I. A Japanese field-marshal ’s bé ton .

SA'

KE'

or SAKI -z Va . ( 1 ) A fermented liquor made from


rice,and largely consumed in Japan . I t contains from

1 1 to 1 7 per cent o f alcohol . The masamune'

brand is

considered to be one of the inost Choice . (2) A wine

made from white grapes .

Some o f the inhabitants o f Takasaki in Joshin met

together in order to see w ho could succeed in drinking

the most saRe'

. Those who could drink but one sho

(about two imperial quarts) were considered to have“ very poor and unhappy brains” and were not permittedto enter the ranks of the competitors . Several drankfrom two to three sho

,but the one who bore away the

prize,namely a roll of silk

,was he who succeeded in

putting down five sho in the short space o f thirty minutes .

SAL TREE : in} jfi o r 36amErie. The tree beneath which

Buddha passed into N irvana (o n) , for which , in China , the

zEsculus Cfi inens is i s substituted — H ongkong D a ily Pr ess .

SALAAM . An Arabic term meaning “ Peace be with you ! ”

The Indian servant brings his master ’s “ salaam ”to a

visitor precisely as a Chinese servant says “ can se e .

SALT COMMISS IONER : g E a . The art o f extracting

sal t from sea-water is referred by the Chinese to a Minister,

named ii i-libE Su Sha Shih,who lived in prehistoric

times . Sal t i s a Governmentmonopoly in China,and the

Commissioner i s a high official charged with the collection

o f the revenue accruing therefrom,together with the strict

repression o f smuggling,which is however carried on to

a very great extent .China is divided fo r purposes o f salt administration into

seven main circuits,each of which has its ow n source of

production . The official s control l ing the administration are

as a rule independent o f the local authori ties . These circui ts

or div i sions are : ( 1) Ch ‘ang -lu E E ,which suppl ies the

1 6


metropol itan prov ince and the North generally , (2) Ho

tung mm,which supplies Shensi and part o f Honan;

(3) Liang-huai awe which suppl ies Anhui,part o f

Kiangsu,Kiangsi and Hu-kuang;(4) Liang-chehmWT,

which supplies Chehkiang and the greater part of Kiangsu;

(5) Fuhkien ,which supplies that province and parts o f

the adj oining provinces , (6) Kuang-tung,which supplies

the two Kuang and parts of Kiangsi and Yunnan;and

(7) Ssuch‘uan

,which suppl ies al l the rest o fWestern China .

The boundaries of each of these circuits are carefully

defined,and salt produced in one circuit is not allowed

to be sold or transported into another,— no t

,at least

,

under ordinary circumstances .

The system o f administration i s nearly the same in

each of the circui ts . The salt is produced in certai n

specified places by evaporation and boil ing,from sea-water

round the coastf and from brine found in wells and

marshes in Ssii ch ‘uan and Shansi . There is no restriction

on the amount o r mode of production,but all the salt

manufactured must be sold at a fixed rate to governmentofficials

,who establ ish depots near the place of production .

Its distribution is undertaken by the sal t merchants,w ho

are a body of men holding licenses or warrants Elyin

from the Salt Commissioner,i f there i s one

,or the Viceroy

o r Governor who superintends that particular circuit .

The quantity o f salt which ought annually to pass into

consumption in each circui t i s roughly estimated,and

enough warrants are issued to cover that amount,so

that each warrant i s supposed to be used every year .

The warrants are perpetual,that is to say, awarrant once

issued may be used over and over again,may be handed

down from father to son,

o r may be transferred to a


SAMADHI . A t

,

Buddhist term,

i

signifying a power that

enables i ts possessor to exercise an active control over

all h is faculties and keep them in perfect restraint .

SAMANTA BHADRA . See P ‘u H sien .

SAMISEN ' f i g — three strings . The Japanese guitar,

i ntroduced from the Loo choo I slands in the 1 7th cent .

SAMLE I : fifi fi — season fish (A lma m eaesz

’

z) . A fish of

fine flavour but ful l of pitch -fork bones . The character

fill? i s explained by the Chinese to signify the periodicalappearance o f this fish

,which enters the rivers in May

and returns to the sea in September . I s caught in greatquantities i n the Yang-tsze . An inferior kind is common

at Canton,where i t is known as g or E fiffi-Q—not

fl three plow-shares as Dr . Williams says— and

it is from the Cantonese pronunciation of these characters

that our word is taken .

SAMOVAR . A Russian tea-urn,much used in Mongol ia

and S iberia for keeping hot large quantities of thefavouri te beverage .

SAMPA . The Chinese sound of the characters 7ml/zr ee

oa7 5 =hong-boat (ya ) . Also applied to a long shallow

canoe,propelled by paddles and used for smuggl ing Opium .

SAMPAN . A Chinese boat o f any kind,short o f a j unk

,

may be so called . From the Malay sampan,a small boat .

I t i s written in Chinese fl o r“ three planks , but

also y 191 , fill] flfi ,etc .

SAMSENG : E é — three l ives . A term commonly appliedin S ingapore to certain roughs or bul lies who hang aboutprocessions and sacrificial feasts

,and are always ready

for any mischief. They are spoken o f i n the Cfi ina M a il

o f 6th Apri l 1 877 as“ fighting men . The “ three l ives” .

refers originally to the slaughter on various occasions of

A GLOSSAK Y OF REFERENCE 245

a duck,a fowl

,and a pig;but now these rowdies are

cal led “ three -l ife men from the recklessness with which

they expose themselves to danger .

SAMSHOO : E fi — thrice fired . A general name among

foreigners for Chinese fermented l iquors of all kinds,but

special ly appl ied to the ardent spirit known as fi ffi— spirit that will burn

,from its having passed thrice

through the process o f distillation . See Grape and W ine .

SAMSHUI : E 7k . A Treaty Port on the West River i nthe province o f Kuangtung .

SAMURAI : 111 A general name for al l Japanese entitl ed

to wear tw o swords . Now called sh izoku (QR/ j .

SAN KUO CH IH : 2 f . History o f the Three

Kingdoms o r rival States,

1? Sfiu,

W ei,and W u

,

into which the empire w as spli t up at the conclusion o f

the Han dynasty . Upon this History has been founded

a famous historical romance,which describes at great

length the various events of a whole century o f strife and

bloodshed,and is a prime favourite with the Chinese people .

SAN TZU CH ING . See Tr imetr ical Class ic.

SANCIAN . See Xavier .

SANGI : 5 Japanese “ Secretary o f State,there being

one over each of the following departments F inance,

( 2) Foreign Relations , (3) Home Admin istration , (4)War ,(5) Justice , and (6) Opening up new territory .

SANG-KO -LIN -S IN ’S FOLLY . The mud wall buil t during

the war o f 1 860 —6 1 to keep off the Allied Forces from thecity o f Tientsin by the celebrated Mongol general o f that

name fgfi fii lfi‘ ,who was familiarly known to the

Brit ish sailor of the same period as“Sam Coll inson .

SAPAN -WOOD : fin k . A wood brought from S i am,

Manila,and elsewhere

,and used by the Chinese as a dye .


SAPBQUE . The French equivalent o f the word eas/i

[9 .7L] as used in China . From sap eR,a coin found in

Tongking and Cochin -China,and equal to about half a

pfennig (‘

l6oo Thaler), or about one-sixth of a SouthGerman kreutzer .

SARONG . Part of the national costume of the Malays,

consi sting of an oblong cloth from 2 to 4 feet i n width

and about 2 yards in length . The ends are sewn together,

and it is then worn by both sexes as a kind of kil t,

tightened round the waist by certain pecul iar twists . I t i s

invariably o f a check pattern,generally in gay colours .

I s either o f silk o r cotton,or a mixture of the tw o .

Of cotton sarongs,the most valued come from Celebes

,

and are known as Kain Sar ong B agis . Java produces

the painted cotton so much admired by the Malays .

They are called Kain B ataé . Of si lk sarongs,some o f

the finest are the Ra in M as ioli o f S ingapore,and the

Kain Sungkit (si lk and gold thread) of Penang and

Borneo .

SATBON . Soap;from the Portuguese saéao . This term is

heard among the Chinese in Fuhkie n;and in some parts

o f I ndia sa’

een i s the only word used .

SATSU . Same as Kin -sate .

SAVVY or SABE . From the Portuguese saéer to know .

“My savvy” — “ I understand o r“ I know .

” “That boygot plenty savvy “That boy is no fool . ” See Pidgi nEnglis

h /i .

SAYONARA . Goodbye ! [Japanese ] Used by foreigners in

Japan much as Cnin -ell in is i n China . One event on theprogramme o f the Yokohama Races i s the “ SayonaraStakes .

SCRATCH -BACK . A small imitation,in ei ther ivory or


are often torn by the people from proclamations and

such documents,being held to be good for sore places

,

ulcers,etc . O fficials such as the Salt Commissioner and

Taot ‘ai have also oblong seals made o f copper,all o f

which are cal led [w but they use vermilion moistened

with o il. Below them come the Prefects and Magistrates

with square seals En,also red;below them again are the

petty pol ice magistrates with wooden seals i ? 53, andlast o f all the li—fiaos , also with wooden seals called

$25? A mandarin ’s seal of office IS invarlably placed inhis wife ’s keeping

,as very serious consequences

,entailing

even dismissal from office,might result from its accidental

loss . All dispatches,ti tle-deeds

,and such public documents

,

must bear a seal,or they are not accepted as authentic .

During national mourning the colour o f the impressions

of all seals i s changed to blue .

Every official seal i s made with four small feet proj ectingfrom the four corners of its face . Of these

,the maker

breaks off one when he hands the seal over to the Board .

Before forwarding to the Viceroy of the prov ince,another

foot is removed by the Board . A third is sim ilarly disposed

of by the Viceroy,and the last by the official for whose

use i t i s intended . This i s to prevent its employment byany other than the person authorised .

SEAO HAO : fig“1

5g. A tax lev ied upon all j unks trading

on the coast o f the prov ince o f‘ Kuang-tung

,as a

compromise for their being excused from going to the

prov i nc ial ci ty to pay their duties .

SEA -SLUGS . See B iene -a’a - i nar .

SECRET SOCIETIES . Are common all over China . The

principal one i s described under Triad Society (an);besides which may be mentioned the teetotal Vegetarians


BEfig o f the north,in which even smoking is prohibited

,

the Ko -lao [an ] , the Boxers , and the Golden Orchid

é (an) or anti-matrimonial society of the South ,consisting of girls w ho have sworn no t to marry

,and even

o f women who have left thei r husbands and returned to

their parents . All -these are equally under the ban of the law .

SECUNNEE . Helmsman . From the Persian snééan i,through

the Arabic SZlRRfifl a helm .

SECUR ITY CHOPS : fi E . Documents guaranteeing

indemnity from loss . usually demanded by foreign merchants

when engaging Chinese compradores or other servants

holding positions o f trust . The guarantor w ho Signs sucha document i s responsible only i f the principal himself

has been first sued and is unable to pay . I f two or more

security-men Sign a chop,m en is r esp ons iéle only f or

nis ow n snar e,and no t for the whole amount . To

make three men each responsibl e for say Tls . the

security-chop Should be for Tls . o r else each man

Should be made to sign a separate chop fo r Tls .

Great caution i s al so necessary in the wording of these

documents .

SEEDEE or S ID I BOYS . A name often applied on board

Ships in the China Seas to negro sailors in general,but

really a compl imentary term for African Mahommedans ,its meaning being “my lord . Hence the Cia’ of Spanishhi story .

SEEN -SANG or HS IEN -SHENG : i f;éE— elder born .

Foreigners call their “ teachers” o f Chinese by this title,

which as an affix to a name is equivalent to our prefix M r .

SEN : The modern Japanese term for a cent . A Ten

sen i s a sen coined in the year i Q Ten-p o ;a B an -kin

sen is o f the year i f 7KBun -kiu .

2 50 A'

GLOSSAR Y OF REFERENCE

SENDO : M ia. The captain of a vessel (Japanese).

Generally used for sai lors and boatmen .

SENG-K ‘O I : fi g — newly-arrived strangers . The Chinese

in Java cal l themselves,and are generally known

,by

th is name .

SENYO . The son o f a Malay mother and European fatheris so cal led in J ava

,in imitation of the Spanish senor .

Cf. N onya .

SEOUL or SOUL . The capital o f Korea . O fficial names

é? o r ii m,the latter from its situation on the g

river,and fi % fi Kingkitao or Royal Domain .

SEPOY . An Indian soldier,dressed and dri l led in European

style . I t i s a corrupted form o f the Persian word sip a/i i“ a soldier . Absurdly explained as “ three-legged

,the

third leg being the musket as held when standing at ease .

SERANG . A Persian word (correctly written sar /zang)$ 7signifying “ commander

,

” “ overseer,

“ boatswain,and

used on the coast of China for the head or foreman o f

a crew of Malay sai lors,through whom all negotiations

with the crew are conducted . Also sometimes appl ied to

Malay boarding-house keepers and others,in the sense

of the American “ boss .

SERES . . A nation mentioned by S trabo as hav ing first

suppl ied si lk to the ancients,and generally identified

with the Chinese . The word may be compared with the

Tibetan ser and Turki sar i meaning “ yellow .

“ I t seems sufficiently clear that the Ser es mentioned by

Horace,and other Latin writers

,were not the Chinese .

Sir 7onn D avis .

“The i Ts inS of modern Chinese are to be identified“with the Seres o f the Greeks and The“ Seres are first found in history as a tribe o f nomads


and Si lence . The favouri te name among the Chinese for

the great founder of Buddhism . See E ncla’na .

SHAMAN : U»

F3. A Buddhist monk . Also used o f

Brahmans and other ascetics .

SHAMEEN :”(JPE — Sand flat . Formerly a mere mudbank

i n the river close to the ci ty o f Canton,but leased from

the Chinese after the capture o f that place in 1 857, and

formed into an artificial i sland with an embankment of

granite al l round;the expense of this being

borne by the British and French Governments in theproportion o f four to one, according to which ratio the

whole area was subsequently div ided between the two

countries . The one-fifth which forms the French Settlement,

l ong without buildings o f any kind,i s feet in

length by 959 feet greatest breadth .

Shame en was originally the great rendez-vous of flower

boats (an) , and the adjacent quarter of the city w as

chiefly occupied by houses o f il l fame;—a fact which

probably did not escape the notice of the Chinese

authorities when the island was conceded to the “ outer

barbarians . Hence the bad sense in which the words

s/ianeeen are sti l l used in the col loquial of Canton and its

ne igbourhood. Compare K on -lan lzn -l‘

nng.

SHAN -HAI -KUAN : 111 ifi Bea. An important town on the

borders of Chihl i and Shingking,near the point where the

Great Wall reaches the sea,and now on the l ine of rai l

which is to connect Tientsin with N ewchwang .

SHANGHAI : I fi — upper sea;as distinguished from

the‘

J: ii or “ lower ocean . So called Since A.D . 1 079 .

O ld names 75 ‘E u fishing-stake [estuary], and EJ3

[71 ] the Shén [river] from the name of a man Eflflwho is said to have made the Huang-

p‘u. Shanghai


w as i n existence under the Hsia dynasty , say fifteen

centuries B .C. I t was made a magistracy by Kublai in

A .D . 1 2 79 ,and was one o f the five ports opened by

the Nanking Treaty o f 1 842 . Often called the “Model

Settlement” (an) , in allusion to i ts efficient municipal

admin istration .

SHANGHA I ’S SHAME . A title which has been applie d

to the Wo o sung Bar (git/J.

SHANG-TE or SHANG TI : _t $62 The Supreme Ruler;God . This is clearly the meaning o f the term in many

passages in the Classics (se e Term Qneslion).

Also the Spirits o f deceased Emperors,

“ empereurs

d ’en haut as M . Chavannes calls them . Also,according

to Chu Hsi,as stated by Pere Le Gall

,S . J.

,

“ la vertu

active du ciel materiel.

The Portuguese orthography is Xang-Ti;to which we

are indebted for the following gem taken from a ch ild ’s

Pictorial Alphabet“X is Xang-ti

,a god in China bel ieved ;

“ But he’

s mere wood and stone,

so they 're sadly“ deceived .

SHANS,THE . A widely-Spread race

,occupying the southern

and western portions of Yunnan and the frontier landbeyond

,and known to the Chinese as fi fifl. The Shans

o f the border- land between Ytinnan and Burmah style

themselves Jfi “ Shan” i s said to be a corruption o f

SHANS I LU@_west o f the hi lls o ne of the E ighteenProvi nces . Said to be the original home o f the Chinese

people . Capital ci ty T ‘ai—yilan Fu i t L? fir} . O ld nameCkin .

SHANTUNG : LIJfi _ east of the hills . o ne of the E ighteen


Provinces . Capital city Chi-(ar Tsi-)nan Fu flfi [finO ld name Lu .

SHARE (pronounced sfiar ffy). A Japanese term equivalent

to the French espr i t .

SHASTRAS : éfi . Discourses,

or the philosophical section

o f Buddhist l i terature .

SHE-LI or SHAY-LEE : The Chinese transl iteration

of the Sanskrit s’

am’

r a,rel ics

,or parts of the body o f a

saint,gathered together after cremation and preserved in

Buddhist temples,generally beneath a handsome marble

dagoba (gi n) .

SHEEDZAI: fi g . Cantonese term for a “ boy

or valet .

SHENS I : W E — west o f the passes . One o f the E ighteenProvinces . The first syl lable is wri tten Men to distinguish

i t from Shansi,though in Mandarin the two sounds are

identical except in tone (gm) . Capital city H si-an Fu

(o r S i -ngan Fu) E f f} . O ld name iSHIBAIYA. Japanese theatres;li t .

“ turf places,

so called

because the first performances were held o n grass-plots .

SHIMBUN : fi i . Japanese newspapers are so called;e .g.

— Cfioya S/zz’

méun .

SHIMONOSEKI,TREATY OF . Negotiated between Li

Hung-Chang and the Japanese authorities after the defeato f China by Japan in 1 895 . By its terms

,the island o f

Formosa,the Pescadores

,and the Liaotung peninsula

,

were ceded to Japan,and an indemnity of Tls .

was exacted . Russia,Germany

,and France combined to

prevent the cession of the peninsula .

SHIN : film— gods;idols . According to Mr . Kingsmill,

“ Shin“ represented philologically the Asuri o f the older Indian

pantheon . See Tef'm Ques tion .


o f purity . Tiny s/zoes are made for sale to Europeans ascharms for the watch -chain . See Sycee .

SHooUN of smoooou;afi fi . Commander-in-chief.

Same as Tycoon (go ), and known to the Chinese as

if I Military Ruler . The last Shogun resigned power ,in 1 868

,and retired into private l i fe under the name of

Ichido . See M z

'

éaa’o .

SHOO KING : — the Book of History . This work

embraces a period extending from the middle o f the 24th

century BC . to B C 72 1 . I t i s said to have been editedby Confucius himself from then existing documents which

came into his hands . See Cfiz'ng.

SHO-RO -DO : fi ifi . A drum tower (Japanese).

SHO -SAKAN : 11‘ E . The old term for Japanese Govern

ment clerks o f the 2nd grade;now changed to N i -to-zoéa

( 33 E ).

SHOW or SHOU :—o ld age . The character commonly

seen,under its seal (QIJJ form ,

thus 659 on Chinesesaucers

,vases

,doors

,windows

,fans

,shoes

,and any

available obj ect . Compare Fa . O ld age and offspring areto a Chinaman the highest of earthly blessings , ranking

far above power,fame

,or even wealth .

SHRIMP BOATS : afi flflfi . Fast-sai l ing boats with tw o

masts,now chiefly used by Hongkong pilots , but formerly

employed by Chinese engaged in the kidnapping trade

round Macao . Sometimes called aa-Z‘

éflg w lfi

SHROFF : ifi Billor fi fi ft éE— si lver expert;a corruption

of the Arabic saM 'a'

f“ banker

,common in every Indian

town . Chinese employed at banks and large mercanti le

establishments to check all dollars which pass through the

hands o f the firm,and el iminate the bad ones . These

men pretend to distinguish three classes o f good dollars,

A CLOSSAKY OF REFERENCE 2 57

of first,second

,and

'

th ird qual i ties;but this“mystery

of the art has been exposed over and over again bytheir rej ect ion o f certain dollars as first class which

had been paid out as such perhaps on the previous

day . Shro ffing schools are common in Canton,where

teachers o f the art keep bad dollars for the purpose of

exercising their pupils;and several works on the subject

have been published there , with numerous il lustrations o fdollars and various other foreign coins

,the methods o f

scooping out si lver and fi l l ing up with copper o r lead ,

comparisons between genuine and counterfei t dollars ,

the difference between native and foreign mill ing,etc .

etc . The best o f these i s the fi fi fi fifi x— See “The

Shroff ’s Mystery,

Caina R eview,

vol. I I I,p . 1

Pillar D ollar .

“Shro ffing i s now appl ied metaphorically to persons .

and

A Shanghai preacher once said in the pulpit,

“God wil l

shroff you,as you shroff dollars .

SHU : 55k. A Japanese coin equal to one -fourth o f a M .

No longer in circulation .

SHUN CHIH : llfi fé — favourable sway . The style of reign

adopted by the first actual Emperor of the present dynasty,

A .D . 1 644— 1 66 2 .

SHUN -NING FU : NE R5“ . A Treaty Port in the province

o f Yunnan,on the road to Bhamo .

SHUN -PAO or SHEN -PAO : [13flit — Shanghai announcements;i451 being a name for the Shanghai d istrict . AChinese newspaper publ ished in Shanghai

,at first under the

editorship o f Mr . E . Major . The title-character fl} usedat one

.

time to be fanciful ly wri tten,i n the style called

“5E ,with a stroke to o much

,presumably because some

1 7

2 58 A CLOSSAK 1/ OF REFERENCE

celebrated call igraphist took it into his head to form it

i n that way . Only the other day we saw M for and

}Q for A ,there being in each case an authority for

such variation .

SHUO wEN zgfi 5c. The celebrated dictionary o f the Lesser

Seal (9 .7L) character , publ ished A.D . 1 00 by 5f Hs'

u

Shen . I t i s a collection o f all the Chinese characters then

in existence,amounting to about analysed by

the author into their original picture elements,with a

V iew o f showing the hieroglyphic origin of the Chinese

language . I t was the first lexicon arranged according

to radicals (go ) , for which purpose 540 were cal led

into use . For a K ey to thi s work.by means of which

characters may readi ly be found,see Cfi ina Review

,V

,

p . 304 .

The following table shews some o f the few characters

wherein any resemblance may be traced to the obj ects

meant to be expressed

S/zao W en .

Unfortunately we are soon at the'

end o f these compara

t ively simple hieroglyphs and have to fall back upon

more far-fetched specimens,such as


elsewhere in China,have recently been translating and

compil ing many valuable works giv ing accurate informationon a variety o f subjects connected with China

,thereby

recall ing the glories o f thei r i l lustrious predecessors o f

the 1 7th and 1 8th centuries .

S IEN PI . See H s ien Pi .

S ILK . Was manufactured i n China many centuries before

the Christian era . Mencius [9 . 7L] said ,“At fifty,

no

warmth without silk;at seventy , no satiety wi thout meat .”

F irst introduced into Europe as a manufacture underJustin ian i n the sixth century;found its way into S ici ly inthe twelfth century

,and was carriod e thence by the Saracens

into Spain . Francis I . planted 1t at Lyons in the sixteenth

century,and in 1 585 i t reached England from Antwerp .

Chinese si lks are many of them rudely manufactured o f

thread,coarse and unequal

,devoid o f gloss

,and deficient i n

either “ tram ”

o r“ organz ine

,

” the fabrics being simply woven

from the raw material as i t comes reeled o ff the cocoons .

Japan suppl ies a much more serviceable article,and couse

quently Japanese si lks are now very considerably in vogue .

S ILKEN CORD,THE . See Gola’

,Sw allow ing.

S I NGAPORE . Of thi s name two etymologies are given,

the first being the correct one . ( 1 ) Singgfia to cal l at ,

and p oonafi a,

place— port o f call;(2) Singa a l ion , and

fioor a/i residence— abode of the Lion;so called because

a prince of Pal imbang (Sumatra) i s said to have seen al ion at this spot and to have built a city in honour o f

the royal beast . Por e or f ar i s the Sanskrit for“ town

”

o r“ city

,and is a common termination in India;e .g.

Cawnpore,the eily of the Klian . The city was founded

and named by S i r Stamford Raffles with the name bywhich the island had been known fo r many centuries .


S I NG -SONG . The pidgin -English term for Chinese thea

tricals,which consist ch iefly o f recitative .

S INK OF IN IQUITY . Shanghai;see M oa’

el Se lf/leni en t .

S I NKEH : fi g — new arr ivals . Immigrant Chinese are so

called in the Strai ts . They are much looked down upon

by the Babas,

o r Strai ts-born Chinese , who are veryproud of their national ity as British subj ects .

S IN IM,THE LAND OF

,;o r more correctly“ of the S in im .

I t is only a conjecture that by thi s term,used in Isaiah

xl ix . 1 2,i s meant China;such conj ecture being founded

on a resemblance of the first syl lable Sin to the name

o f the Chinese feudal State Ts ‘ in on the north -west

of the empire,the existence of which dates back as far

as BC . 847. Moreover,Ts ‘ in appears to have been the

name under which China was commonly known throughout

southern Asia about that epoch .

S INOLOGUE . An advanced scholarof the Chinese language,

l i terature,etc . F rom the Latin Sinae

,called by Ptolemy

the most eastern nation o f the world . These people were

said to dwel l beyond the river Me inam (Serus), and wereprobably Cochin -Chinese . I t has recently been objected

that the word S . wears a French dress,and that to

preserve uniformity,English people should say

“ S inologistbut it i s highly improbable that such a change wil l everbe successful ly i ntroduced .

SINTOO or SHINTO : mg . The ancient religion of

Japan,i . e .

,worship of the Kami

, or gods and spirits o f

all kinds . Usually spoken o f by the Japanese as Kami

no mic/i i,the way o f the gods . Was universal i n Japan

in the sixth century when the Buddhist propagandists

arrived,and at the restoration of the Mikado in 1 868

became again the state rel igion . There exists ( 1 ) Pure


Shinto,and (2) Riy6bu,

or Twofold Shinto, which lattercontains an admixture o f Buddhism . This compromise

was suggested in the n inth century by a clever priestwho declared that the Shinto gods were but Japanesemanifestations o f Buddha . Later on

,even Confucian

doctrines were blended with Riy6bu Shinto.

The characteri stics o f Pure Shinto are the absence o f an

eth ical and doctrinal code,o f idol -worship

,o f priestcraft

,

and of any teachings concerning a future state . There

are about gods,the chief of which is Amaterasii ,

the sun,first -born o f Izanagi and Izanami

,the original

creative principles (see Yin and Yang). Each village hasits special god and m iya o r shrine . The temples contain no

images etc .,but only a steel mirror and a few other trifle s .

S IX DOMESTIC ANIMALS . The horse,ox

,sheep o r

goat,fowl

,dog,

and pig .

SLAVERY in China is now chiefly confined to the purchase

o f girl s for use as servants in large establ ishments . Thesegirl s are o n the whole well treated;and when they reach

a marriageable age,thei r owners are bound by custom

to see that they are su itably married and started i n l ife

on their ow n account .

According to the Penal Code,

no man may sell h is

children without their consent;but there is no doubt that

th is law is not very stringently enforced .

SLEEP AND THE AWAKEN ING,THE : fi

‘t fi M .

Title of an article by the late Marquis Tseng,Minister

to Great Britain,in which he strove to show that China

had been doz ing for centuries but would now awake and

take a leading part i n the world’

s affairs . See Asiatic

Quar ter ly ,January

,1 887.

SLEEVE DOGS : Tiny dogs,usually o f the


bare,whereas large-footed women move about freely

without shoes o r stockings . The practice was forbidden

in 1 664 by the Emperor K ‘ang Hsi,but four years

afterwards the proh ibition w as withdrawn .

An Anti -Fo o tbinding Society was started at Canton in1 899 by K

‘ang Yu-wei (see R ef orm Par ty), under the

style o f 7;{EE Q ,with a membership o f but

th is has probably been dropped . A similar association

was recently founded in Shanghai by a number o f foreign

ladies,and is known as the f E Q translated by Mr

Joseph G . Alexander as “ Society o f the Heavenly Foot .But 36 heaven has here nothing to do with heavenlyand simply means “ natural ” as opposed to “ artificial

,

a very common usage .

SMALL KNIFE REBELS : / j\ 7] g A band o f insurgents

w ho i n 1 853 captured the city of Amoy and held i t fo r

some months . The Small Kn ife Society was said to havebeen a branch of the Tr iaa’ Society (av ), and was introduced

into Amoy by a S ingapore Chinaman in 1 848 . See apaper by G . Hughes in the Cnina R eview

,vol. l.

,p . 244 .

SMELL-DOGS . Pidgin -Engli sh for hounds which hunt by

the nose .

SMELLUM WATER . Pidgin -Engl ish fo r scen t of any kind .

SMOKE MOUNDS : figi? Small furnaces scatte red '

over

China at 2 o r 3 miles apart , and used for l ighting

beacon -fire s on occasions o f great national emergency .

SNAKE -BOAT :35Atagor E fig— paddled , or long , dragon .

A long narrow boat,

o f great Speed,in use among

smugglers and pirates in the Canton waters . Propelled

by short paddles,l ike a canoe .

SNOWY VALLEY . A valley near Ningpo,much visited

by foreigners o n account o f its natural beauties .


SOAP -STONE : $3 25 or 5B} E . Steatite . So called becauseit looks l ike soap and is so easily cut . Commonly used

by the Chinese for seals,small

'

idols,etc .

SOHODZU or TZOW DZA : $ 3? A Shanghai wheelbarrow

,formerly used for carrying passengers

,but now

superseded by the j inr iRisfia (gv ) as far as foreigners

are concerned .

SO -I: fi TZ— rain -clothes;The pecul iar brown hairy- lookinggarments

,o f grass or bamboo

,worn by Chinese fishermen

and others in wet weather,making them “ look l ike

hedge-hogs .

SOLA . See Too/”bee .

SON OF HEAVEN : f T . Sometimes translated “God’

s

Vicegerent o r Lieutenant upon Earth . The title p ar

excellence of the Emperor o f China,who is supposed to

hold his commission direct from on high .

“ I t is pla in , that“ the Emperors o f China

,l ike the popes of Rome

,regard

“ themselves as the exponents of the wil l of heaven .

”

M iddle K ingdom . An attempt was recently made to show

that T i s only an old nominal ending,and has nothing

to do with son;one writer going even as far as to say

f T means “ Little Heaven o r“Our Heaven

,i .e .

,

the Heaven we have to do with ;but S i r E . Satowappeared in the Opposition ranks with the following

quotation from the Concordance f TQ fill?g I.

fi 13.g T tfie Son -of -H eaven is w or tfiy of es teem Oeyona’

all otfier s;tfier ef or e H eaven makes li im i ts son .

“ Brother o f

the sun and moon,and other similar titl es are probably the

inventions o f Europeans,in spite of the very curious passage

in the 5k Tia— “The Lord o f Mankind calls “ the sun

h is brother and the moon his sister”A if}: R. B£155flsuch terms being quite unknown to the people at large .


SONGCHING . The port o f Kelchu,on the east coast o f

Korea in the Hamchiung prov ince , 500 li north o f

VV

onsan . I t has a large trade in dried fish .

SOOCHOW CREEK : fi M fl— Woosung river . An

affluent o f the Huang-

p‘u,div iding the Bri t ish from the

American Concession at Shanghai . So called by foreignersbecause it leads to Soochow . The Chinese say that it i s

the real source o f the Huang-

p‘u (av) .

SOUCHONG : /J\ fi — smal l kind . A species o f tea,of many

varieties . [Cantonese ]SOY . This word is from the Japanese skéyu g 9111 . a kind

o f sauce made from fermented wheat and beans . Has

been wrongly derived by some from the first syl lable o f

Soyer,the great gastronomer o f that name .

SPARK TRAGEDY . A murderous attack made 2 2nd

August 1 874 by a body of armed ruffians o n the passengers

and crew of the river steamer “Spar k plying between$ 3Canton and Macao . The “ pirates took passage from

Canton in the usual way;and then seizing a favourable

opportun ity,killed the captain

,chief officer

,and purser

,

transferred their plunder to a j unk that came alongside ,

and made o ff. The only European passenger,Mr . Mundy

,

escaped with frightful wounds,and subsequently publ ished

an account of the affa ir under the title o f“ Canton and

the Bogue,

” in which he took occasion to deal with other

questions equally beyond the scope of his work and the

narrow limit o f his experiences i n China . S i nce thatevent

,the hatches leading down to the quarters occupied

by Chinese passengers on all the Canton river steamersare carefully padlocked soon after the vessel starts

,and

a quarter-master watches with a drawn sword to guard

against any repeti tion of such an attack . Loaded rifles


dealing chiefly with names and dates; yet i t was the

work by which Confucius said men would know him

and condemn him;and Mencius considered it quite as

important an ach ievement as the drain ing of the empire

by the Great Yij . Of i t he said,

“ Confucius completed“ the Spr ing ana

’ Autumn,and rebell ious ministers and

“ bad sons were struck with terror . From this has beenevolved the famous 55 E2 “ praise and blame theory

,

“ one word o f such praise being more honourable than“ an embroidered robe and one word of such censure“ sharper than an axe . I n later days

,however

,i t has

rather been around the marvel lous commentary,known

as the Tso Ckuan (av ) , that chief interest has centred .

The Spr ing and Autumn owes its name to the old

custom o f p refixing to each entry in the national annals

the year,month

,day

,and season

,in which the event

recorded took place;that i s to say, as a native authorityputs it

,

“ spring includes summer,and autumn winter

,- sc.

the four seasons . The explanation that “ its commendations3are life-giving l ike autumn

,

’ i s untenable . The following

is a specimen of this renowned work,which

,but for the

famous commentary above-mentioned,would throw scant

l ight on the history of the period referred to“ I n the duke ’s sixteenth year

,i n spring

,i n the king

’

s“ first month

,on the first day o f the moon

,there fel l

“ hailstones in Sung . In the same month six fish-hawks“ flew backwards

,past the capital of Sung .

SQUEEZE . Originally,the comm ission which Chinese

servants,fully in accordance with Chinese custom

,charged

their European masters on allJarticles purchased . Now

extensively appl ied both as a verb and substantive topeculation of any kind . Cf. the Indian a

’as tur i .


“ Formosa has long been v i ewed by native officials as a“ fat field for the practice of what is vulgarly known as“squeezing,

though pol itely termed taxation .

” —H ongkong

D a ily Pr ess,1 0 Oct .

,1 877.

STINK—POTS : K 1575 or E E Earthen jars

,charged

with materials of an offensive and suffocating smell,

formerly much used by pirates 1n the China seas,and a

recognised weapon i n Chinese warfare . The jars,which

hold about half a gallon,are fi l led with powder

,sulphur

,

small nail s and shot . Their tops are covered over with

clay and sealed with chunam . They are then put into cal ico

bags closed at the mouth by a stout string . Several o fthese are packed in a basket with a quanti ty of j oss-stick

and hoisted up to the mast-head . When about to be

thrown,three o r four pieces o f the . j oss-stick are l ighted

and inserted in each bag;and then , when the jar i s

smashed by fall ing on the enemy ’s deck,the joss-stick

ignites the powder and the whole thing explodes,knocking

down o r blinding and suffocating the bystanders . A form

o f stink-pot has been introduced into European warfareunder the name o f “ asphyxiating shells .

”

STONE DRUMS OF THE CHOU DYNASTY :R at z;Ten irregular-shaped blocks of stone d iscovered at Fenghsiang Fu in Shensi in the early part of the seventhcentury , which now stand inside the Confucian temple at

Peking,where they were placed at the beginning o f the

fourteenth century . Each bears an inscription in theGreater Seal character (av) on some subj ect connected

either with hunting o r fishing . These drums are referred

to the Chou dynasty which commenced B C. 1 1 2 2 ;and

the characters,which are now much defaced

,were once

fi l led with gold to preserve them from inj ury,but that


was extracted on their removal to their present site . They

are probably genuine relics o f early ages .

STONE F IGURES (at Chinese tombs) : z;ge é . These

are connected primari ly with ancient Chinese superstiti on

relating to i nv i sible powers of ev i l and the means o f

control l ing them,— in fact

,with fetish worship ;and

secondari ly wi th the honours paid to deceased personages

o f rank in the sacrifice of domestic animals to attend

them in the world of shadows . They have been called

if} {IFkVéng-ekang,

from the personal name o f one 71:

YUan,who was a famous warrior under the F i rst Emperor

and whose statue was set up beside his grave .

STUPA :Fifi 4“ Q . A raised mound o r tower for containing

rel ics— original ly,the various parts in all) of

Buddha ’ s body . Known as D agop (see D agoOa) in Ceylon .

The modern pagoda .

SUMPITAN . The Malay “ blow-pipe or bamboo tube

through which by a strong puff o f breath the natives

discharge small arrows (sometimes poisoned) with great

force and effect . Is chiefly used for kill ing birds .

SUN,THE : B . Symbol of the Male or Positive Principle

in n ature . There is a story , ascribed to a writer of the

2nd cent . B .C .,tell i ng how a general o f the 1 1 th cent .

being engaged in a bloody battle and fearing that

night would interfere with his victory,raised his spear

and shook it at the declin ing sun,which straightway

went backwards in the sky to the extent o f three

zodiacal s igns .

SUNDIALS : g . Have been known to the Chinese fo r

many centuries,but i t i s not clear at what date they

first came into use .

SUNG DYNASTY,THE : Tana. A.D . 960

— 1 2 80 .


as it EB ft:

is 1 m as“The lotus and the sauvastika must have come from

heaven .

SWAN -PAN or SUAN -P ‘AN . See AOacus .

SWATOW :“

11hSE . One of the thirteen ports opened bythe Treaty of Tientsin

,1 858. Originally a small fishing

vil lage,i t is now a bustl ing town with a large export

trade in sugar . All business was formerly carried on

at “Double I sland,where may be seen the ru ins o f

mercanti le houses,godowns

,etc .

,and which i s stil l

inhabited by foreign pilots and their families;but in

1 86 2 the British Consulate was opened at Kak-chio

fi 6 on the Opposite side of the harbour to the town

o f Swatow . Our word is the local pronunciation of theChinese characters .

SVVORD -WRACK . An absurd name for a rowdy gang o f

Chinese who some years ago gave great trouble at

Newchwang . The term i s 7] [E sw ord-smi tk,which

was evidently misinterpreted as 7] £5 E sw ord-r ack,the

tw o Chinese expressions being identical in sound . The w

was probably added by the “ devil .”

SYCEE : $8] fag— fine si lk . Chinese lump silver 18 so cal led,

because,i f pure

,i t may be drawn out under the application

o f heat into fi ne s ilk threads .

Another explanation says that the term originated in

the five northern provinces,as follows . When the Shansi

bankers melt si lver into ingots,after it has been l iquefied

and poured into the mould,and before i t has again

solidified,the mould is l ightly tapped

,when there appear

on the surface o f the silver fine,si lk-l ike

,circular l ines .

The higher the “ touch of the metal,the more l ike fine,

si lk are these circl ings on the surface o f the silver .


Hence ingots o f ful l qual ity are classified as sycee .

See Skoe .

A wag has remarked

Some ask me what the cause may beThat Chinese Silver ’s called sycee.

’

Tis probable they call it soBecause they Sig/i to see i t go .

Must no t be confounded with the Indian word syce,

which means “ a groom s

SZECHUEN or SSU -CH ‘UAN : IE] JII— four streams . The

largest of the E ighteen Provinces . Capital city flfii ETCh ‘eng-tu Fu. O ld name Sku .

TA ! TA ! 47 fl— Strike ! strike ! A common Chinese cryin a riot or other disturbance

,when violence is intended .

Foreign travellers and sportsmen have no t unfrequently

heard thi s threat directed against themselves;and on

the occasion of the Tientsin Massacre,i t i s said that the

whole street in which stood the establ ishment of the

Cathol ic sisters resounded with the ominous word .

TA CH ‘ I N or TA TS ‘ I N : fi fi . A country mentioned

on the Ne storian Tablet (gv j as the seat o f the Luminous

Teaching or Christianity,and further treated in Chinese

accounts o f foreign countries . I t had been identified with

various regions by various writers,unti l Professor Hirth

settled the question by showing in his “ China and the

Roman Orient” that the term could only refer to Syria .

TA JEN : i t A— great man . The title o f Chinese officials

from Tao t ‘ais upwards;in some cases equivalent to“ His

Excellency .

TABASHEER . A sil iceous concretion found inside the

j oints o f the bamboo and employed by the Chinese as a

medicine .

TABIK . The Malay salutat ion=Salaam !


TABLET OF YU : mm lie or M ali a — the Kou-lou

stone,i .e .

,the stone which formerly stood on the Kou - l ou

peak o f Mount fi'

j Heng in the modern province o f

Hupeh . I t i s said that when the Great Yii j : (BC .

2 2 78) rested from his labours of draining o ff the waters

o f the Chinese deluge (fiié j i ), he recorded the eventupon a tablet of stone and placed i t upon the Kou-lou

peak . Ssu-ma Ch ‘ ien,the historian

,passes i t over i n

silence,but it appears to have been mentioned by a Taoist

mystic in the Ist cent . A.D . The spot was visited by

the great Han Yii who died in 824, and again by Chu

H si who died in 1 200,but neither of them could find

the tablet . I t was final ly discovered on another peak i n

1 2 1 2 A.D .,more than three thousand years afterwards .

Imitati ons o f this tablet are to be seen at W u-ch ‘ang Fu

opposite Hankow,and in the Yu-l i n temple near Shao

hsing Fu in Chehkiang;but the inscription on the original

stone,which has long since disappeared

,i s believed by

many to have been nothing more nor less than a gross

forgery of modern times . For translations by Dr . Leggeand Ch . Gardner

,see Ckina R eview

,vol. I I .

,p . 300 .

I t may perhaps be worth noting that the identification

of the so -called “ tadpole” characters [av ] i n which this

famous inscription is written has not been carried out with

perfect consistency . I n the original there are no duplicates ,yet in the modern transcription we find 33 twice over ,and once by itself and once in composition where it

would be quite impossible for any except an enthusiast

to detect the identity o f the tw o . Besides this,the

formation of these characters is such as to leave no doubtthat they were traced with a brush

,and no t with the

stylus employed unti l about two centuries B.C. Rubbings


for a medical man,

and thus commonly used among

foreIgners .

TAIFOO : i t all —great assi stant . The name in use among

Chinese sailors employed on foreign coasting-vessels to

designate the Chief O fficer .TAIKONG or TOKONG : mI — steersman . A head

boatman . Used in the south of China,and equivalent to

low a’a/z (av . in the north .

TAI -MUNG . A small l ightly-bui l t,lorcha -rigged Chinese

war-j unk .

TAIPAN : ft Ef m

great manager . The head of,or partner

in,a foreign house of business . The beggars and little boys

all over the south o f China shout “Taipan ! ” “Taipan !”

to any foreigner from whom they wish to extract a

gratuity,

so general is the bel ief that every foreigner in

China must necessari ly be engaged ‘ in trade . Formerlythe t itle applied to all foreign Consuls .

T ‘AI -P ‘ ING or TAE -PINs Q2F‘ —great peace . The name

chosen by the so -called Long-haired Rebels E 55 fifor the new dynasty which

,but fo r the assistance rendered

by Colonel Gordon to the Imperial S ide,would in all

probabil ity have been establ ished . The rebell ion that goes

by this name broke out in the south o f Ch ina In 1 850 ,

under the leadership of Hung Hsiu -ch ‘ ij an ‘

é’é fi é r

who pretended that he had a mission from God and

called himself the Heavenly Prince f I . As i t spread

northwards,various large cities fel l i nto the hands of

the rebels,among others Nanking

,which the Heavenly

Prince at once consecrated as his capital . These , however ,were gradually recovered by the exertions of the EverVictorious Army and the rebell ion was final ly

crushed by the re -capture o f Nanking in‘ July 1 864 , a

A GLOSSARY OF REFERENCE 277,

day or tw o before which the Heavenly Prince put an

end to his l i fe by poison .

T ‘AI -T ‘A I : i t i . The title given to the wife o f any ofi icial

who wears a button . We have heard of a missionarylady w ho always insisted on being thus addressed by her

servants,to the no small amusement o f the latter . One

of the proper Chinese designations for a lady,whose

husband does no t happe n to be an official,i s fi fifi

n iang—n iang.

T ‘A IWAN : g fi — ( I) extensive bay;(2) terraced bay .

The island o f Formosa once known as Kelung

(av . From its growing importance it was erected into

a 1 9th prov i nce , but after the war o f 1 894—5 i t

was ceded to the Japanese .

“The Chinese name of it,

“Taiwan,or Bay of the Raised Terrace

,probably refers

“to the square flat -roofed block house

,Fort Zelandia

,

“ built by the Dutch when they were in possession of“ the island

,and which is now a mark for vessels making

“ the anchorage at the capital,Taiwan -fu.

— H erker t

T ‘aiwan (now T‘ainan) Fu was one of the thirteen p orts

Opened to trade by the Treaty o f Tientsin,1 858.

TAKOW : 3”fi ~ beat the dog;a corruption of the Originalname 17 éfi beat the drum ,

— from the Chinese name for

Apes ’ Hill,derived from the beating o f the waves upon

its rocks . The port o f the city o f T ‘aiwan Fu,in South

Formosa . Opened to trade by the Treaty o f Tientsin,

1 858, but no t formally occupied until 1 864 .

TAKU : i t 76 . A small vi llage at the mouth o f the Peiho

or northern river,near which were situated the celebrated

forts passed by the all ied forces in 1 858 and taken in

1 860 ,a severe repulse having been sustained there in


1 859 . The new forts now erected on the spot are armed

with Krupp guns .

TA LIEN WAN : 7ka fi at» j : m] faE . A bay at the

southern extremity of the Liaotung peninsula,leased to

Russia,with Port Arthur

,i n 1 898 . See D alny .

TALAPO IN . A Buddhist priest is so called in Burmah and

S iam . I n the presence o f women or in the street,the

p hoongye (pr ies t) always has a fan to screen his face .

This fan is made from the leaf of the Tala-pat palm,

with a handle shaped like an S . Hence,Buddhist priests

have been termed Talap oins .

TAMASHA. An Arabic word meaning “ entertainment,

i , ““ show,spectacle

,etc . Often used in the general sense

o f “ function .

TAMERLANE . See Timour

TAMSUI : 7527k— fresh water;also known as JE E . A

port at the northern end o f the island o f Formosa,opened

to trade by the Treaty o f Tientsin,1 858 . Bombarded by

the French in 1 884 .

“ I t is an uninteresting place .

”

Ckr on icle (5° D ir ectory f or Ckina, yapan ,

etc. 1 877.

T ‘ANG DYNASTY : EHA.D . 6 1 8— 907. The E l izabethanage o f Chinese l iterature . Chinese in the south o f China

stil l call themselves “Men o f T ‘ang . See To‘j in .

TANGO . A Korean coin,6 parts copper to 4 parts lead ,

i ssued in 1 883 and intended to be legal tender for 5 of

the old coinage,1 05 being equal to the Mexican dol lar .

Their value has now fal len to over 200 per dollar .

TANGRAM . A very uncommon name for the famil iar

Chinese puzzle i n seven pieces ( «b1575)— five triangles,a

square,and a lozenge .

TANGUT or TANGOUT : E E . An ancient kingdom ,

which existed from A.D . 1 032 to 1 2 2 7 and occupied


Has been styled Rationalism and Naturalism by various

writers . Its leading doctrines teach man that for purposes

of this l i fe his soul was withdrawn from existence as a

unit in an infinite mass o f perfect vital ity which circles

unceasingly in space around the polar star . They further

teach how,by a course o f non -resistance and inaction

,to

bring h is moral and physical natures into perfect harmony

with their environment,the result being a complete v ictory

over all obstacles to human happiness and even over

death itself. Thus death,which would otherwise mean

annihi lation,becomes merely a re -absorption into the

Central Source or F i rst Cause . About the time o f the

Han dynasty (av) pure Taoism became corrupted by

an admixture of superstition in the form o f alchemy and

a search for the el ixir of l i fe . A severe struggle followed

upon the subsequent i ntroduction o f Buddhism,but the

tw o rel igions soon began to flOurish peaceably side by

side,and even to borrow from each other

,so that at the

present day many dogmas and ceremonies are preached

and practised promiscuously by priests of ei ther faith .

Both are really under the ban o f the law (see Sacr ea’

Ea’ict), and both are professedly despised by disciples of

the pure ethics o f Confucius . Thus it is always necessary

to distinguish between the Taoism o f today and that o f

i ts founder two thousand and more years ago . In one

passage,alluding to the pure Taoism o f Lao Tzu

,Chu

H si says,

“ His teach ing may be summed up as the“D octr ine of Sur r ena’er to otker s . I n another place

,

dealing with modern Taoism,he writes thus z— “Buddhism

“ stole the best features of Taoism,Taoism stole the worst

“ features o f Buddhism;i t i s as though the one stole a“j ewel from the other

,and the loser re -couped the loss


“with a stone . He also said “The teaching of Lao Tz i’t“ aims only at the . p reservation o f man ’s vital i ty .

The members of the Taoist Trini ty,

o r Three

Pure Ones,are Lao t ’

I, P‘an Ku

,and YuHuang Shang

Ti . There is also a tri n ity of the Primordial Powers

713,which are . Heaven

,Earth

,and Man .

TAO -SZE of TAO -SSU : i t . Taoist priest (se e last

entry). The celebrated“

Zadkiel , who publishes an annual

almanac in which the p rincipal events o f the coming

year are foretold,calls himself a “Tao sze o f the “Most

Ancient Order of the Svastika (av) . Taoist priests are

generally considered by the Chinese to be able to perform

miracles and work cures (see M esmer ism).

TAO -T ‘A I : g”

6 . Called by foreigners the Intendant o f

a Circuit (of Prefectures), into a number of which each

prov ince is subdiv ided,and wherein he usual ly has general

control over all affairs civ i l and mil itary,subject o f course

to the approval o f the Eu-t‘ai or (and) Tsung-tn (av) .

TAO TE CH ING : E ffi fi . A small treati se , consi sting

of only characters,which S ince A.D . 666 has been

generally accepted as the canon of Taoism,and has been

attributed,but on insufficient grounds

,to Lao Tzii himself

,

being in all probabili ty a work of the second o r third

century after Christ . About a twentieth part o f i t consists

o f what were perhaps genuine utterances by Lao t i ,

handed down by tradition . I t has nothing whatever to

do with the Taoist rel igion o f modern times . I t i s quite

unknown to the people at large,and is very widely

unread by native scholars w ho one and al l regard it as a

spurious production of the Han dynasty . I t is never oncementioned by Confucius or Mencius

,o r even by Chuang

Tzu, the great disciple o f Lao Tzu, whose writings are


devoted exclusively to the elucidation o f Tao as taught

by his Master and w ho flourished as late as the 4th

and 3rd cent . B .C . Yet this precious work has beenincluded in the Sacr ea’ B ooks of tke East . The following

are among the intelligible specimens of this otherwise

obscure work“To the good

,I would be good . To the not-good

,I

“would also be good,— ln order to make them good . To

“ the faithful,I would be faithful . To the not-faithful

,I

“would also be faithful,— in order to make them faithful .

“The truth is not agreeable . That which is agreeable“ i s not the truth . The good do no t argue . Those who“ argue are not good . The wise make no display o f their“wisdom . Those w ho make such display are no t wise .

Some enthusiasts have found the word yekovak i n thefollowing

“That which when looked for eludes the sight is called“I i the Invisible . That which when li stened for eludes“ the ear is called H i T]? the Inaudible . That which when“ felt for eludes the touch is called W ei iii the In tangible .

“These three cannot be thoroughly investigated . Therefore“ they may be brought together under one denomination .

[I-hi

TARTARS or TATARS : é iY or 12 gig ii or fig$5 ,

etc .,etc . Vaguely appl ied to the various tribes inhabiting

the steppes of Central Asia,and to the Manchus

,the

founders o f the present dynasty,that portion of Peking

in which the latter reside being known as the Tartar

City .

“The Revol t o f the Tartars” i s a magnificent essay

by De Quincey , describing the fl ight in A.D . 1 771 of a

whole Tartar nation from Russia to China,where

,after

endless sufferings on the way,the remnant of their host


That excell en t,and by all Physi tians approved , China Drink , called by the

Chineans Tc/za,by other Nations Toy alias Tee, is sold at the Sul taness Head

,

a co p hee house in Sweetings Ren ts, by the Royal Exchange , L ondon .T/ze W eeke/ey N ew es

, 31 Jan . 1 606 .

Here thou,great ANNA ! whom three realms obey

,

Dos t some times counsel take— and some times tea.

Pop e.

By degrees,the word came to be used in England

of any infusion; e .g.,cowsl ip tea

,l inseed tea

,beef

tea,and

Why w ill Del ia thus re tire ?Why so langu ish

,l ive away ?

Whilst the s ighing crews adm ire,

’Tis too late for hartshorn tea .

Cowper,i n his Task

,alludes to tea as

cupsThat cheer but no t ineb riate

and Churchill,i n Tkc Gkost

,thus refers to the old custom

o f foretel l ing events by tea -leaves

Matrons,who toss the cup

,and see

The grounds of Fate in grounds o f Tea .

The best pun on the word is contained in a line from

Virgil’

s eighth Eclogue

Te ven ien te die , te decedente canebat,

quoted in th is sense by Dr . J ohnson .

The growth Of the China tea trade may be illustrated

as follow s z— In the year 1 678, the East I ndia Companycarried to England as a speculation lOs . In - 1 760

the amount had increased to over lOs . In

1 780 ,i t was upwards of lOs . I n 1 869 ,

i t was

lOs,more than half being taken by Great

Bri tain and its possessions .

TEA -BOAT . Another name fo r the H otow (av) .

TEA-CLIPPER . A fast-sail ing ship,built to carry tea from

China to London,with special reference to the great


annual Ocean Race (av) . No passengers were taken,

every available space being fil led with tea and all the

energies o f the crew concentrated upon the race,the

prize for which consisted in a high premium paid upon

the tea carried by the winning vessel .TEA -GOBBERS . A slang name for tea-tasters or Chaasze s

(av) .

TEA-POY or TEPOY : asIt . A smal l table,l ight and

handy,convenient for tea or other drinks . From tea and

the Latin podium,through the French appui (compare

koa’ie and auj our cl

'

kuz), o r the Spanish apoyo a support .The form “ tepoy” i s common

,but o f course incorrect .

Cf. the Persian tinp a'

e three-footed;se . a tea -poy .

“A nest of four tea -

p oys costs from 85 to $ 1 2 .

Tr ea ty Por ts . [Tea-p oys are always made in sets o r nests

o f so many different sizes,the smaller fitting closely inside

the larger .]TEE -TA I or T ‘ I -T ‘A I : ta6

' A high provincial official

in charge of the m i l itary administration of hi s province

as regards native troops,the Manchu force being under

the exclusive command o f the Tartar General (av) .

TELEGRAPHY . As it would be impossible to telegraph

Chinese characters,the following methodhas been devised .

S ix thousand eight hundred and ninety-nine leading

characters have been ranged under numbers 000 1 — 6899 ,

and the transmission o f messages is carried on as with

an ordinary cypher code . This system is said to have

been the invention o f a Frenchman named Viguier,o f

the Imperial Maritime Customs .

TEMPLES . The general name in use for all kinds o f

Chinese places o f worship . May be roughly distinguished

as follows


Eff — Buddhist : always monasteries .

E do . general ly nunneries .

i do . either monasteries o r nunneries .— Tao ist : l either monasteries or nunneries .

‘

E— ( I) Taoist : alwaysmonasteries . (2)Spiri tual shrineso f Emperors a E ,

o f Confucius E‘

,and o f other

deceased worth ies .

fi — ( I) generic term; (2) large Buddhist temples

dedicated to various deities and un inkaOi tea’ Oy pr ies ts ,roadside shrines

,etc .

,etc .

{Ea— the ancestral halls o f private individuals .

Buddhist monasteries are also known as £3 1? 322

gM ,etc .

,etc . All temples

,o f no matter what denom

inat ion,must exhibit on the altar a tablet inscribed

with the words aaE fi “ Lord o f ten thousand times

ten thousand years,

”i .e .

,the Emperor

,as a proof that

rel igious convictions are no t al lowed to i nterfere with

pol it ical fidel ity . Buddhist priests shave the entire head;Taoist priests do not . Red walls imply that the templewas founded by Imperial sanction . The huge figures at

the gates o f an ordinary Buddhist monastery are two

door-keepers,one on either side;and further on , the four

Heavenly Kings,w ho are se t there to guard the place

from evil demons . The first shrine contains images o f the

Three Precious Ones,the Buddhas past

,present

,and to

come,otherwise known as the Buddhist Trin ity (av);

the second contains a dagoba which covers some relic o f

Buddha;and the last a figure o f Kwan -yin,the Chinese

goddess of mercy .

The Confucian Temple 3CE i s to be found in every

1 Occasionally occup ied by Buddhist priests,having passed into their hands by

sale or by the expuls ion o f the Taoists .

288 A GLOSSAR Y. OF REFERENCE

(se e Pr otestan t M issionar ies);and R i cci , no t venturing to

risk a borrowed term for God,coined the expression FEEE?

the sounds of which were meant to represent the Latin D eas .

As regards the Protestant difficult ies o n this point,Dr .

Morrison gave his preference to i131 S/i in ,the common

name for the numerous gods and P‘u-sas (an) of the

modern Chinese Pantheon,i n the hope of convincing the

Chinese “ that thei r ideas o f Skin are erroneous . In this

he has been followed by many,who object to the use

o f Snang-ti on the ground that “ the early sovereigns

“ of the Chinese worshipped the spirits of their deified“ ancestors” under this term . S i r J . Bowring suggested

“

the first letter o f the Greek (9555“God

,and some

Protestants have agreed to adopt the Roman Cathol icT ‘ ien Cna;but the learning o f the missionary phalanx

has now for many years been chiefly arrayed on the

side o f s ang—ti . O ther terms used by the Chinese in

the sense o f God,Providence

,the Creator

,etc .

,are

36 43 , i i i , RUE ,

‘

ifi flsfi , 2To outsiders

,the discussi on presents at least one

feature of absurdity;namely , that every newly-arrived

missionary aa’op ts whatever term may be in force with

his ow n party on the mere assumption that i t is the right

one— an assumption too that he rarely i f ever departs

from in after l i fe . I n fact,to parody the words of a great

teacher,mere accident has decided which of these terms

is the object of his rel iance;and the same causes which

make him a Snin ist i n Ningpo,would have made him a

Shang-ti -i i‘e i n Canton o r Peking .

[At a prayer-meeting where missionaries of different

sects were collected,the minister at whose house the

gathering took place thanked God fo r the abundant


blessing which had everywhere followed on the use o f

the term Snang-ti . His brethren— those at least of the

number w ho used Skin— though prevented by decorum

from rising from their knees,testified their disapproval

by audible coughs .

—Ea’inéarg/z R eview,No .

TERRA JAPONICA . See Ca ten.

THEATRE . Omitting“ all mention o f the so -called

“ pantomimes of the 3 Confucian period,the modern

Chinese drama is bel ieved to date only from the 1 3th

cent . A.D .

,when Mongol Emperors were occupying the

throne o f China . Under the T ang dynasty, 7th to l o th

cent .,a kind o f operatic performance with music and

song had been much in vogue,and from this the

present drama may well have been developed,though

the connecting l inks have not as yet been traced out .

Chinese plays are either civil or ni i/i iary ,i n reference

to the more or less pol ished style employed . Tragedies

and farces are common to these two classes,the mil itary

plays being further characterised by greater rapidity o f

action . The actors are all male,no women having been

allowed to appear since the time of the Emperor Ch ‘ i enLung (av ) whose mother was an actress . They are a

tabooed class,and even their descendants down to the third

generation are disqual ified for an official career . Their

various 7 0783 are classified as follows,each actor being

called upon to perform only such parts as are comprised

under the class to which he particularly belongs

( I) Snéng fit .

a . As the Emperor,o r heavy father .

é . As successful general,o r rising statesman .

e . As “walking gentleman .


The villai n o f the piece . Generally some rebel

ch ieftain or daring outlaw .

a: As Empress,or aged dame .

a. As respectable middle -aged lady .

e . As fast young lady of the period .

a’. As servant-maid .

(4) C/i‘oa

”Hi .

The low-comedy man o r woman .

The stage has no curtain,and no scenery . The orchestra

is on the stage itself,behind the actors . There is no

prompter,and no call -boy. Stage footmen wait at the

sides to carry in screens etc . to represent houses,city

wall s and so on,or hand cups of tea to the actors when

their throats become dry from vociferous singing . Dead

people get up and walk off the stage;or whi le lyi ng

dead,contrive to alter their faces

,and then get up and

carry themselves o ff. There is no interval between one

play and the next fol lowing,which probably gave rise to

the erroneous belief that Chinese plays are long,the fact

being that they are very short . According to the PenalCode (av ) there may be no impersonation of Emperorsand Empresses o f past ages

,but this clause is now held

to refer solely to the present dynasty .

THOUSAND CHARACTER ESSAY :fr at . A piece

o f composition,contain ing exactly IOOO a

’

iflenen i wordsarranged in intel l igible though disconnected sentences .

W as put together in a single night by Chou Hsing-sst‘

i

[aQ a distinguished scholar o f the oth century

A .D . , his hair turn ing white under the effort . Hence


“ the decayed Chows and be a throneless king . The

allusion i s to his moral sway .

THUG . A Hindi word,pronounced Tag,

signifying “ deceiver,

and appli ed to assassins of a pecul iar class who first gain

the confidence of their victims and then take a favourable

opportunity o f strangl ing and robbing them .

TIAO : if: Properly speaking a string of 1 000 cash=aboutone dollar

,but varying in different places

TIBET : E fi ,o r under the Ming dynasty ,%fl)f [i i

“The name T ibet,by which since the days of Marco

“ Polo the country has been known in European geography,

IS represented in Chinese by the characters T‘a -p e/z-t

‘e‘

lz

{El453? T ‘ubod,i ntended probably to reproduce the

“ sound of the appellation given to i t among the Mongols .

Dr . Will iams says the word is derived from Tnfio ,

country o f the Tu,a race which overran that part o f the

world in the oth century .

TICAL . A S i amese silver coin equal to about 60 cents .

The new fical has a triple umbrella on one side and an

elephant on the other .

TIC-A-TAC . A kind o f Chinese boat .

TIENTS I N : 96 9i ,being ell iptical for 36 in? Z °

¢ the

ford of the Heavenly R iver . One o f the thirteen ports

opened by the Treaty signed there in 1 858. The foreign

settlement,situated on the right bank o f the Peiho at

the outskirts o f the town,i s cal led 175

“

Hi Tea-c/i a -lin,

grove o f red bamboos,and w as described in the S/zang/i ai

Connie;e of 1 5 Oct . 1 877 as“ a very frequented spot

,to

“which sai lors are in the habit of resorting to get drunk .

”

TIENTS IN MASSACRE . On the z rst June 1 870 the

Roman Cathol ic cathedral and the establi shment of S isters


of mercy at Tientsin,the French Consulate and other

buildings,were pillaged and burnt by a mob composed

partly o f the rowdies of the place and partly of soldiers

who happened to be temporarily quartered there . All the

priests and sisters were brutally murdered,as also the

French Consul and h is chancel ier,another French official

and his wife,besides several other foreigners . For this

outrage a large indemnity was exacted , the Prefect and

Magistrate were banished,and the then Superintendent

o f Trade,Ch ‘ung-hou

,w as sent to France with a letter

of apology from the Emperor .The Chinese at Tientsin had been prev iously irritated

beyond measure by the height to which,contrary to their

ow n custom,the cathedral towers had been carried;and

rumours were afloat that behind the lofty walls and dark

mysterious portals o f the Cathol ic Foundling Hospital,

children ’s eyes and hearts were extracted from sti l l

warm corpses to furn ish medicines for the barbarian

p harmaco p crzia .

TIFF IN . The mid-day meal;luncheon . From the Persianlafannan . There is a strange similarity between this

word and the north -country tifiing,which means to take

a snack at any odd hour between regular meals .

TIGERS . Chinese soldiers are sometimes so called from

the tiger ’s head on their shields,painted with a huge

gaping mouth and eyes,and intended to strike terror into

the hearts of their enemies . The tiger is the Chinese “King

o f beasts,as shown by the markings on the forehead

which run into a very close imitation o f the character

I evang,a king . This character is also reproduced on

the shields above -mentioned . The soldiers are occasionally

dressed in imitation tiger-skins,with tails and all complete;


and yell as they advance to battle,in the hope that their

cries wil l be mistaken for the tiger ’s roar .

TILLA . A word used in Central Asia for about ten

shi ll ings-worth ‘ of silver . Tael .

TIME . See Year,M oon

,etc .

TIMOUR : fli t 53. The great Mongol conqueror,a Turk

by descent,and son of a Governor o f the province o f

Kesh . Was called Timurlenc,

“Timour the lame ,” from

a defect in h is gai t caused by a wound received in battle .

Hence the corrupted form o f his name,Tamerlane . Timur

,

i n a Turkish dialect,means iron

,which sense is preserved

in the first Chinese character employed as above . Born

A.D . 1 333;died 1 404 ,on his way to invade China .

His tomb,known as Gur Amir

,i s sti ll to be seen at

Bokhara .

TINCAL : W W . Borax o f a more o r less impure qual ity .

[Persian ]T ‘ ING-CH ‘AI : fié RE -o ne who w aits to be sent on ofi czal

éns iness . Messengers employed at Chinese Yamens andat Consulates in China are so called .

TI -PAO : fillfi . A headman of the people,selected by

the local Mandarins,and responsible for the peace and

good order of the district over which he is se t . The

post is considered an honourable one;i t i s occasionally

lucrative,but very often burdensome and trying in the

extreme . For instance,i f a ti—p ao fails to produce any

offenders belonging to his district,he is l iable to be

bamboo ed o r otherwise severely pun ished . All petit ions

and other legal instruments should bear the i‘i -pao ’

s

stamp (a ), as a guarantee o f good faith . See Seals,

M andar in .

Besides the above officer,the people have a custom

A GLOSSAR Y : OF REFERENCE

with the production of food,but it soon came to be

widely grown,especially in the neighbourhood of Kirin

where the soi l i s wel l suited to the plant . The Manchus

then brought tobacco to China .

TOJIN : I? A— a man of T ‘ang (av ) . Originally,a

Chinaman;but now contemptuously used fo r all foreigners

by Japanese .

TOKAIDO : flfi fi — the road o f the eastern sea . The

great highway of Japan extending from Yedo to Kiyo toalong the eastern coast .

TOKIO or TOKIYO :mitt — eastern capital . A bastardChinese name for Yedo

,the capital o f Japan

,for which

it was substituted in 1 869 ,when the Mikado took up

his residence there . [Pronounced with the accent on the

first syllable ] The term“ eastern capital refers to the

Bakufu days,when K iyoto and Yedo were distinguished

as Saikiyo, western capital , and Tokiyo,there being then

tw o governments , one do j ar e at the former and one de

facto at the latter .

TOLO PALL : fiffi fi flfim. A sacred ornamental pall

bel ieved by Buddhists to assist the progress and ensurethe happiness of their spirits i n the next world . These

palls are presented by the Emperor to Manchu andMongol princes after death

,as an especial mark of

favour,and are buried with the corpse . I n the lamaseries

of Tibet,however

,there are always some on hand to be

let out on hire to the publ ic generally . From the Sanskritword a

’li ar an i a charm or spell .

TOM -TOM or TAM -TAM . A Hindi word , meaning dr aw

or z‘anzéoar ine .

“These n ight watchmen,with their small gongs (av)

“ and tom -toms,remind us very much of what we have


“ read of the watchmen who by night guarded the streets“ of ancient Rome .

— W al,es in t/ce Ci ty of Can ton .

TONES : g . The modulat ions of t he voice by which Chinese

words of di fferent meaning but of the same phonetic

value are di stinguished one from the other . In the

Pekingese dialect,a corpse

,time

,to sena

’

,and onsiness

are all pronounced ski/i ;but with the aid of the four

tones,these words are -as unlike to the native ear as i f

they were sfiafi,ski/c

,s/i ofi

,and sfiafi . The number o f

tones varies with the dialect;some dialects possess as

many as eight or nine,but Pekingese has only four .

Even thus there are a great number o f words pronouncedexactly al ike both in tone and otherwise

,though written

differently;and it is often only by the requirements of

the subject,that is

,the context

,that the hearer is enabled

to j udge o f the sense .

The tones have given rise to a sti l l -unsettled controversy;many declaring that it i s possible to speak Chinese

thoroughly well without any knowledge of these tones,

while others hold an exactly contrary Opinion . The fallacy

here involved is obvious . A person need have no mnemon ic

knowledge o f the tones,i .e .

,he need no t know a word

to'be o f any special tone;but unless in speaking he

utters the word in i ts proper tone,or approximately so

,

he wil l almost in fall ibly be misunderstood (see M ao-tea).

I t i s a common error to bel ieve that a musical ear i s an

aid towards distinguishing and reproducing the tones o f

the various dialects,for many o f the best speakers are

very deficient in that respect , and vice ver sa.

Down to the 3rd cent . B .C. i t appears that the only

tones distinguished were the 4: even , J: rising , and Aentering . Between that date and the 4th cent . A.D . the


Z‘ sinking tone was developed . I n the 1 1 th cent . A.D .

the even tone was div ided into _t upper and 7: lower ,and a l i ttle later the entering tone disappeared from

Pekingese . The name o f $5) Shen Yo , w ho died A.D .

5 1 3, i s generally associated with the first systematic

classificat ion o f the Tones .

The following mnemonic stanza i s often committed

to memory by Chinese who are learning the southern

Mandarin dialect

A i!“

J: 433

E E E Q

{If} [93 a? 3

lift 3? it! {if

53 ii iii E

TOPAZ . A name applied during the 1 7th and 1 8th cent .

to half-caste Portuguese,then to soldiers o f this c

and finally to menials on board ship,such as bath -room

attendants and others .

TOPE : 598 See Staf a .

TOPEE,SOLA . A pith helmet

,worn as a precaution

against sunstroke . From the H indi sfiola,a pithy reed

,

and tofi ee a hat . Occasionally wrongly written solar

because supposed to have some connexion with the sun .

The word top or topi has been derived from the

Portuguese topo “ a hat,

”

and has been claimed as one

o f the few surviving l inguistic traces of Portuguese

ascendancy in India; i t i s probable however that the

native term is the older o f the two .

TOPOSZE : fit? ffi fi‘

] The Assistant Magistrate or 5} 5 ]


where competition for place 15 so keen,few officials would

dare risk their career in such an unsatisfactory way .

Besides,few Chinese prisoners need more than the majesty

o f the law to frighten them into either tel l ing the truth

o r swearing to a falsehood as the presiding magistrate

may require . The real tortures o f a Chinese prison are

the fi lthy dens in which the unfortunate victims are

confined,the stench in which they have to draw breath

,

the fetters and manacles by which they are secured,

absolute insufficiency even o f the disgusting rations

doled out to them,and above all the mental agony

which must ensue upon imprisonment in a country with

no H aéeas corpus to protect the l ives and fortunes o f

i ts ci tizens .

In al l cases of rendition of prisoners from the colony

of Hongkong to the Chinese authori ties,a guarantee is

required from the latter that at the ensuing trial no

tortures will be appl ied .

“Many who know the punish“ments infl i cted by the Chinese upon their criminals th ink“ them dreadful

,but they are exceeded by those which

“Dav id infl icted upon individuals whose only crime was“ fighting for their country (2 Sam . xi i . I nman ’s

Ancien t Faitfis .

TO -SSU -TI -’

RH . The Mahommedan password in China .

Equivalent o f B ismillan,the first word o f the Koran .

TOUCH : A conventional term used by assayers and

referri ng to the puri ty o f silver .

TOURGOUTHS : tit RE the . A division of the Kalmucks

or Eleuth Mongols .

TOW or TOU or TU : i f . A Chinese peck . See To .

TOW CHANG : Efi fifj‘

j‘

i . A term from the Amoy dialect,

used in the Straits ’ Settlements fo r cue o r pigtail .


TOWER OF S ILENCE . A Parsi burying-ground is so

called . The Parsis do no t commit their dead to the

earth,but expose corpses upon an iron grating

,to the

birds o f the air and to the agency o f sun and dew,unti l

al l the flesh is gone and the bones fal l through into a

pit beneath .

TOWKAY : Eafiz— head of the house . The common term

in the Swatow and Amoy districts fo r mas ter,whether

of a family or shop . The leading Chinese merchants,or

employers o f immigrant Chinese labour in the Strai ts,

are called Kay-tow s (o n) .

TRANS IT PASSES . In consequence o f the heavy inlandexactions to which both foreign imports and native produce

for export had been subjected by the Chinese provincial

customs ’ authorities,i t was agreed by the Treaties o f

Nanking and Tientsin that foreign merchants should be

allowed to commute such duties by a single payment o f

per cent a t valor em on such goods when imported

into or exported from China . Transi t passes are thedocuments which accompany such foreign -owned goods

,

as a proof to the officials en r oute that the proper duties

have been paid . The Chinese call them ( 1 ) E fii fltr ip licate cer tificates , to cover native produce for export ,and (2)mE a

’n ty cer tifi cates , to cover foreign imports

going up country . The system has not been found to

work satisfactori ly,many foreign merchants having taken

out passes for goods owned by Chinese and thus infl icted

great injury upon the native Customs ’ revenue . I n the

case o f imports,i t may be argued that by Treaty British

manufactures should be al low to penetrate China free

of all prohibitive exactions,without reference to mere

ownership .


TREASURER,THE PROVINCIAL . See Fan -t

‘a i .

TREATIES . British,

with China ( 1) dated 1 842

a (2) 1 858

Japan 1 858

Korea 1 884

S iam 1 856n

TR IAD SOCIETY,THE : z

A fi'

. A Secret Society,

sti l l existing in China,though strictly forbidden by the

Government,th e ceremonies of in itiation into which present

many curious coincidences with those o f Freemasonry .

The name chosen signifies the un ion o f Heaven,Earth

and Man,as symbolised in the character 3;w ang a king

o r prince,the three horizontal li nes o f which are j oined

together by a third . I n the reign o f Hsien Feng,the

Society actually went so far as to produce a cash (av )now known to collectors under the name of the “Triad .

On the reverse i t has “3 above the hole and 6) below ,

besides two Manchu characters . The name of this sect

i s sometimes written H t/cr ee r iver s,from the place

where it is said to have originated . Also known as the

Heaven and Earth Society f flBQ . Dates from the

reign Yung Cheng,1 72 3

—36 .

TR IMETR I CAL CLASS IC : 1—2 fi — threee hat aete t

classic . The first book put into the hands o f a Chinese

school -boy,being a short guide to ethics

,history

,

science,biography

,etc .

,all in one . So called because

arranged in rhyming sentences o f tfir ee words to each .

Probably composed during the Sung dynasty by WangY ing-l in

,otherwise known as Wang Po -hou

,and conse

quently about six hundred years old. The following is a

specimen


all ied forces i n 1 860 . I t is a consulting bodyof highChinese officials

,and forms the channel of communication

between foreign Ministers and the Throne .

TSUNG-TUH : AWE? Viceroy or Governor-General of

one o r more provinces,within which he has the general

control of al l affairs civi l and m il i tary,subj ect only to

the approval o f the Throne . The . Viceroy is the survival

o f the “ noble fi fi o f feudal days,and almost as

independent as his prototype . His seal (gv ) i s oblong .

T ‘U SHU . See Encyclop aea’ias

TUAN BESAR .

“Great master,or head of the establishment .

Used in the Straits much as Sanio i n I ndia . (Malay).

TU I -TZU : $3] 35 . Antithetical couplets,i nscribed on scrolls ,

and used as wall-decorations in Chinese houses . The

following is a specimen,taken from the autograph original

o f H . E . Li Hung-Chang,Viceroy o f the Tw o Kuang

ME ii an 1345“ “F I? 75 RR

Be clear as to your duty,and then you may begin to act;

hold fast to truth,and you will be able to substantiate

your words . Move in accordance with eternal principles,

and you will profit thereby;practise self-control , and you

will find yourself in harmony with all men .

TUKANG . A Malay prefix meaning “workman; e .g.

tuRang-ayer the water workman , se . the house-cool ie .

TUNG -CHE or T ‘UNG CHIH : [a7é: _united rule . The

style adopted by the Emperor who reigned over Chinafrom 1 86 2 to 1 875 .

T ‘UNG -CHIH : [a931 . A Sub -prefect (av ), often calledi nd

“ second Prefect x

T ‘UNG-P ‘AN : 55, $4] A “ third Prefect”

5 IF} ,or Assistant

Sub-prefect .


TUNG WAH HOSPITAL,THE . A hospital at Hongkong

where sick Chinese are treated upon native pathologicalprinciples and under the superintendence o f thei r own

doctors . The influence of this insti tution has been brought

to bear in more than one i nstance on matters quite

beyond its proper sphere of action;hence it is regarded

with no favourable eye by many European residents inHongkong

,who object to the associati on with such an

establ ishment o f any pol i tical or commercial significance

whatever . The name Tung W anmi signifies “ for

Cninese of the Kuang-tung province .

T ‘UNG -W EN-KUAN : E éfi . Otherwise known as the“ Peking College

,

” an establ ishment at the capital for

the instruction o f Chinese students i n the languages,

l iteratures,and sciences of the West

,under the guidance

of foreign masters . The pupils,whose ages have been

known to vary from fifteen to fifty,receive a small

monthly allowance from the Chinese Government to induce

them to attend regularly the classes and lectures provided

for their benefit . A similar institution on a small scale

exists at Canton under the same Chinese name;otherwise

known as the “ Chinese Government School . ”

TURFAN : Id: 6 A Subprefecture in Outer Kansuh .

TURKOMANS or TURKMEN . Inhabit that tract o f desert

land which extends on this side o f the river Oxus,from

the shore o f the Caspian Sea to Balkh,and from the

same river to the south as far as Herat and Astrabad.

Compounded of the proper name Turn,and the suffix

men,which corresponds with the Engli sh termination -snip

or -a’

om . I t i s appl ied to the whole race,conveying the

idea that these nomads style themselves pre-eminentlyTurks . Turkoman is a corruption of the Turkish original .

20


TUTENAGUE . A term first appl ied by the Portuguese

to the spelter or z inc of China . Etymology unknown .

TWANKAY . A kind o f tea fromma T ‘un -ch ‘ i,a town

in Anhui,whence our name . The widow in the burlesque

of “Aladdin i s known by this designation .

TW ATUTIA : i t ilfi iii — great rice drying-ground -A large

town about 1 2 miles up river from the port of Tamsui

i n Formosa,

‘

where all settlements are made o f the tea

which is exported from Tamsui to America .

TWO KIANG,THE : m‘

/I . Formerly denoted the twoprovinces of Kiangnan and Kiangsi;now stands for

Kiangsi,and the two provinces o f Anhui and Kiangsu

into which Kiangnan has been subdivided .

TWO KUANG,THE . The two provinces o f Kuangtung

and Kuangsi (av) are j oin tly spoken o f under the

above t itle .

TWO -TA ILED PIG,THE . A Chinese nickname for the

S iamese national emblem,the celebrated “white elephant . ”

This animal is really an albino o f a l ight mahogany

colour,and is supposed to be the incarnation o f some

future Buddha .

TYCOON : i t E — great Prince . Same as the Shogun (av )or former “ temporal ” Emperor of Japan

,i n whose hands

was all the real power . Submitted to the Mikado in 1 867.

Wrongly written i t E1

great official . The term is said to

have been coined by a preceptor of the Shogun as afitting title under which h is master might be represented

in the Treaty with Commodore Perry,1 854 .

“The full“ ti tle of the Tycoon w as fflf i t zit? E Sei-i-ta i Shogun

,

“ or Barbarian -repressing Commander-in-chie f. ~ The style

“Tai Kun,Great Prince

,was borrowed

,in order to convey

“ the idea of sovereignty to foreigners,at the time of the

308 A CLOSSARY OF REFERENCE

TYPHOON FLY : fi fi . The common dragon -fly i s so

called;the presence of these insects flying round and

round in large numbers being considered as a sign o f

heavy weather .

TZU-ERH -CH I : E fi fi — the “ from near collection .

The name of S i r Thomas Wade ’ s well -known work forstudents of the Chinese (Mandarin) language . So called

from a sentence in the Doctrine o f the Mean (o n) which

says that the way of the superior man 5? 1mfi ii £Z\

E] may be compared with the way of one w ho would

travel far— he must begin from what i s near;the allusion

being to the elementary and progressive nature o f this

manual .

UCHAIN . The old name fo r Young Hyson (av ) tea .

ULA . A Mongol word signifying moun tain;e .g. Khan-ula .

ULA GRASS : flT

EE. One of the three valuable productsof Manchuria

,the other tw o being sables and ginseng .

It i s used by the natives for wrapping round the feet

and also for stuffing mattresses .

UMBRELLA DANCE . See Fan D anee .

UMBRELLAS,RED . These insignia o f rank are o f tw o

kinds, ( 1 ) the large red umbrella fi fi and (2) the

smaller red sun-shade B fifi ,and are both found among

the paraphernalia of civil ians down to the sixth grade

inclusive . The remaining three grades should properly use

blue umbrellas;but a Chih-hsien for i nstance,though

only o f the seventh grade,has almost invariably the brevet

rank of a T ‘ung

-elcili of the fifth grade,and is therefore

entitled to use a red umbrella . The mil itary are arranged

o n a sl ightly different scale,all below the sixth grade

being only allowed a large umbrella of ordinary make to

keep o ff the sun .


“The court was numerous : fan-bearers on the right,

“ and fan-bearers on the left,bearers of the parasol

,etc .

”

[From a description o f the Pharaohs in Evelyn Abbott ’sH ist . of Antigui ty jThe complimentary

,or Ten Thousand Names Umbrella

E;5gQ W an ming san,i s a large red umbrella presented

by the people to any official who may have won their

approbation of his rule . I t is covered with the names of

the subscribers in gi lt characters .

URH (of ERH) YA,THE : fi lm. Otherwise known to

foreigners as the L i terary Expos i tor . A thesaurus o f terms

used in the classics and everyday l i fe of an early period,

embell ished with drawings of a great number o f the

objects,explained and arranged under n ineteen heads .

I t has been attributed to Tzii Hsia , a wel l-known disciple

o f Confucius,born B C . 507, and was incorporated in the

Confucian Canon . Chu H si,however

,whose authori ty on

such points is the highest available,saidX E ]E V} fi

"

E;we are no t j ustified in regarding it as an ancient work .

USURY . Three per cent . per month i s the maximum legal

interest in China,upon money lent under any conditions .

But the accumulated interest may never exceed the

principal . Thus,when interest which has been received

equals the principal sti l l due,the lender should claim

such principal,and

,i f he wishes to continue the loan

,

make a fresh start . Otherwise,the borrower may claim

every item of interest paid subsequent to that date as an

instalment towards clearing o ff the principal .

When money is lent for a period o f years,the interest

is generally calculated as i f there were only ten months tothe year . This is called 5 5? E T”;according to which ,one per cent . per month would be ten per cent . per annum .

310 A CLOSSAR Y OF REFERENCE

VEDAS GOLD . A kind of damask interwoven wi th gold

thread,and about 2 feet 2 inches i n width .

VEGETAR IANS : a. A sect,the members o f which

abstain from meat,wine

,and tobacco . They are violently

anti -Christian,and carried out the shocking massacre o f

missionaries at Kucheng,near Foochow

,in 1 895

VE ILS : E IIJB. Were worn in public by Chinese women

unti l the reign o f the first Emperor o f the Sui dynasty,

A.D . 605—6 1 8

,who abol ished them and substituted a

kind of turban . Veils have always been worn by brides

from the very earl iest ages .

VERMILION PENCIL : Hs i . A Minute 01‘ Rescript

,

endorsed in r ea’ ink

,nominal ly by the Emperor himself

,

on al l documents submitted to the Sacred Glance . The

following specimens are copies from the Treaties o f

Nanking and Tientsin,respectively : Hg, P)? I

'

d f“

?

and fi HfiPIT sign ifying the Imperial consent

to the two instruments i n question . I t i s worthy o f note

that the sign-manual o f the o ld Emperors o f Delhi was

written with red ink .

VICEROY . See Tsung- tu .

VIHARA . A Buddhist monastery .

VINAYA : fi — law . One of the div is ions of the Buddhistcanon (see Tr ip i taéa), containing the rules for ecclesiastical

discipl ine and so o n .

VINEGAR,TO CHOW -CHOW . Pidgin -Engl ish equivalent

o f to Oe j ealous . This phrase is merely a l iteral translation

o f the Chinese metaphorical expression 62Eat

,the origin

of which wi ll be found in C/cinese SRetc/i es,p . 68.

I n the deed of gift by which a Chinese child is transferred

from its parents to another person , will be generally seen

an item o f so many dollars o r taels payable by the


greater or less sum according to position on the published

list . Being now strictly prohibited in Canton , the lottery

is stil l organised in Macao,whence tickets are smuggled

in large numbers to brokers i n the former city for

distribution . Winning tickets are not paid unless their

price has previ ously reached Macao .

WA I -YUN of WE I -YUAN : é § _deputed officer . An

officer of any rank deputed to perform certain duties .

WAMPEE or WHAMPEE : a? Le— yellow sk in . A fruit

found i n Southern China .

WANLI or WENLI : fi g . Style; composition . Readma

’

n-li i n the south . Missionaries speak of Bibles trans

lated into the book- language,as written in “

w en-Ii,

”to

distinguish them from translations into the colloquial .

WAN -SHOU SHAN : fi é flJ— hil l o f an old age of

years . The hill near which the palace o f Yuanming-

yiian (av ) once stood , W an -sfiou being a figurative

expression for the Imperial bi rthday . The Emperor iscommonly spoken o f as aa fit

“ Lord o f years,

”

i .e .

,of all the ages;while

“ Lord o f years”

i s a

title given to the Heir Apparent .WANG : I . A prince .

WANG-HAI-LOU :as iniii — seamen: Pavil ion . A fanciful

name,very commonly given by the Chinese to any

ornamental bui lding which commands a view over sea,

lake,river

,or other piece o f water .

W ARAJIS : Japanese straw sandals .

WAR TAX . See L i léin .

WATER CLOCK . See Clep sya’ra .

WAYONG . The Malay word for “ theatre . Used in the

Straits much as s ing-song i n China .

WEAPONS . See Arms .


WE I -CH ‘ I : g — surrounding checkers . A compl icated

Chinese game played with a checker-board and counters ,

and said to have been invented by the Emperor Yao ,

two thousand years B.C. An analysis of the elements

o f w ei -c/c‘ i appeared in the Temp le Ear magazine for

January 1 877.

WE I -HA I -WE I : fi ffi ffij . A strongly fortified place at

the po int of the Shantung promontory . Surrendered tothe Japanese by Admifal Ting

,who forthwith committed

suicide, 7th Feb . 1 895 , and finally leased by China to

England in Apri l 1 898.

WE IGHTS AND MEASURES .

mtaels I I? catty

E cat t ies 1 p icul (av ) .

I?

Long M casur e.

flf in I ‘

ij‘

ts‘un ( inch).

IOfl“

ts‘un I R c/z‘ i/z (foot : English inches or mett-es). t

R clz‘ i ii I i c/iang.

A inI Q li ao .

Ig o ( see likin).

g a t 5} f én (candareen).

fixf in 1 cfi ‘ ien (mace).

fi ct ion : I fi’

fij liang ( tael).

a“

2

g

§C

I

I

I

I

1 A s fixed by Treaty . The Chinese foot measure vari es in differen t places andin differen t trades . The tailor’ s foot is the longes t

,the me tropol itan foot abou t

of an inch less,and the Canton foot be tween the tw o .


10 ea li o fls/zéng (p int).

fl‘s izing : I file ton (peck).

I o L1» tou I Z;Lana

’

M easur e.

flelzio Immou sq . poles .

mmou I kE c/z‘z'

ng I6 .7 acres .

WENCHOW : {ELM— warm region . A port on the coast

o f Chehkiang,opened to tradeby the Chefoo Agreement

o f 1 876 .

W EN SHU : Bzfi . The Indian Manjusri,a famous

BOdhisatva,worsh ipped in China as the God of Wisdom

,

and popularly depicted as riding on a l ion,the symbol

o f bravery .

WHAMPOA : fi ffi — yellow reach . Strictly speaking theport o f Canton

,from which it i s about 1 2 miles distant .

That foreign steamers p roceed farther up the river than

this point is a privi lege accorded by the Chinese authorities

in the interests o f trade,and might be taken away at

a moment ’s notice by the Superintendent of MaritimeCustoms . [Rule IX .

,Special Local Regulations ] Sail ing

vessels stil l continue to discharge cargo here .

W HANGHEES : fi $ . Canes of all kinds .

WHEEL KING or Chakravarti . A King who rules the

world,and causes the wheel of doctrine everywhere to

revolve . The Sanskri t word is from cfiaér a wheel , the

symbol of act 1v 1ty.

WHITE ANTS : 9 fi . The popular , but incorrect , name1

for termi tes,a genus of insect distinct from the ant ,

though the two are somewhat similar i n their habits .

I It is a curious fact that the Chinese name for this insect is also w /zite an t .


“The Chinese cannot explain the origin of this custom .

D oolittle .

At the oath -taking previous to initiation into the Triad

Society (av) , a white cock is ki l led . I ts death is sym

bolical o f the death of the candidate to the influences o f

the outside world,previous to his re -birth as a j ust and

upright man and a brother . The cock i s chosen because

o f i ts vigilance, and its white colour is emblematical o f

purity o f heart .

WHITE ELEPHANT . See Tw o-tailed Pig.

WHITE LILY SECT : Q fi fi . Name o f a well-known

Chinese secret society,the exact origin of which is not

known . A White Lily society was formed in the 2nd

cent . A .D . by a Taoist patriarch named Liu I-min,and

1 8 members used to assemble at a temple in modern

Kiangsi for purposes of meditat ion . But th is seems to

have no connection with the later sect,of which we first

hear i n 1 308 when i ts existence was prohibited , its shri nes

destroyed,and i ts votaries forced to return to ordinary

li fe . The father of the famous Han Lin-érh,who died in

1 367, was executed for his adherence to the fraternity , the

members o f which are bel ieved to possess a knowledge

o f the black art .

WHITE PIGEON : E] as. A kind of lottery,the simplest

form of which is organised as follows . Out of twentygiven characters

,the players each choose ten

,as inscribe d

upon a ticket for which they pay 5 cash . Then the banker

chooses ten;and to any o ne whose ticket contains five

o f these,he pays 6 cash;i f six , 76 cash;i f seven , 750

cash;i f eight , Tls . i f nine,Tls . 5;i f ten , Tls . 1 0 .

The game is said to be so called because gamblers w ho

l ived inside the city o f Canton were in the habit,when

A CLOSSAR Y OF REFERENCE

v i si ting by night the gambling-houses outside the ci ty,o f

taking with them white pigeons which they flew from

time to time to let thei r famil ies know the result .

W IGOUR . See Ouigour .

WILLOW PATTERN . The origin o f this design is no t

known . I t has been explained as portraying the secret

love of a young lady fo r her father’

s secretary,discovery

,

fl ight,pursuit o f relentles s parent

,and final ly transformation

o f the lovers into two-

turtle-doves . The name is further

said to have been adopted because the fl ight took place

at the time when the willow sheds i ts leaves . Unfortunately,

'

the turtle-dove is not regarded by the Chinese as an

emblem o f fidel ity in love .

WILLS : a? — in the European sense o f the term,that is

to say documents control l ing the devolution o f a dead man’s

property,are quite unknown in China . Theoretical ly

,al l

property belongs,no t to an individual

,but to the fami ly

of which he is a member,and at his death goes by law

to his male chi ldren in equal shares,or fai l ing them

,to

collaterals in a certain definite and well -known order .

F inal instructions are often del ivered either verbally orin writing

,but these refer generally to minor details and

would not avai l to vary the normal devolution unless

acquiesced in by the interested surv ivors .

WINE : fig . A conventional name for the ardent spirit

distil led from the yeasty liquor in which boiled rice has

fermented under pressure for many days . See Samslcoo

and Grape .

WONSAN . See Gensan .

W ORLD -HONOURED,THE : {fi g Buddha (go ) .

WR ITING,ART OF . See Cfiaracter s and S/iuo W in .

WR ITTEN PAPER,RESPECT FOR . See Pat er .


W U -CHOU FU : 155 illin} . A Treaty Port on the West

R iver in Kuangtung .

WUHU : fl igl— weedy lake . A port on the river Yangtsze

,in the province o f An-hui

,opened to trade by the

Chefoo Agreement o f 1 876 .

W UNK : fi j i — yellow dog . A term commonly appl ied by

foreigners to the ordinary Chinese dog . From the Ningpopronunciation

,w oun Ryi , o f the above two characters .

W U-SH IH -SHAN : la5 LU— black rock hil l . A hill with in

the ci ty o f Foochow,about 300 feet in height , upon

which stands a residence of the Brit ish Consul .

The “W u-sh ih-shan Case was an action brought in

1 879 by the directors of a temple on this hil l against

the Rev . J . Wolfe to define the rights of the parties to

certain land occupied by the defendant . I t was then

decided that if rent i s owing,

~ a Chinese landlord can

take back h is premises . I f no rent is owing,he cannot

let them to any o ne else;but he can always resume

possession,i f he wants the premises for his ow n use

,by

giving reasonable notice .

W U -SUNG oi: WOOSUNG : M . A town at the mouth

o f the Hwang-poo river,the approach to Shanghai . Above

it i s si tuated the celebrated “V Voo sung Bar , which i s said

to be si lting up fast and gradually closing the mouth of

the river,and has long formed a serious obstacle to the

movements of large steamers . The Chinese Government

steadily refuse to dredge this bar,alleging that it would be

an evi l poli cy thus to deprive Shanghai of its “ Heaven -sent

Barrier” (g.v .j — one o f its natural and most effectual means

of defence . The bar is sometimes called “ Shanghai ’sShame .

XANADU . A corruption o f S/i ang-tu L gli “ imperial


the Japanese vessels were so severely inj ured that theycould no t fol low in pursuit .

YAMATO : fi fi l (formerly k g ). The name o f the

province in which was situated the old capital of Japan.

Now used for the whole empire o f Japan .

YAMBU : 75 g . Corruption o f yuan-p ao, a large shoe o f

sycee . Thus pronounced in Central Asia .

YAMUN or YAMEN : fii Ffi . The official and private

residence of any Mandarin who holds a seal . Offi ces o f

petty mandarins who have no seals are i } F)? Kung so,

publ ic places . The isolated wal l before the entrance gate

("

E2fi s/caa’ow wall) i s , placed there as a bar to all

noxious influences,which are supposed to travel only

in straight l ines (see Feng-sfiui);and the huge animal

painted on the inside so as to attract the attent ion of

the mandarin every time he leaves his Yamen,i s the

t‘an Q the accursed beast '

avar ice,against which he is

thus duly warned . Sometimes an enormous red sun i s

depicted on the “ shadow wall . I t i s typical o f the pure

and bright principle yang (se e Yin and Yang);and

daily suggests to the inmates o f the place the desirabil ity

o f making their administration pure l ikewise .

YANG-KING -PANG : fi fi ifia. A creek at Shanghaibetween the Brit ish and French Concessions .

YANG-KW El-TSZE z‘

tf Liz— foreign devi l . Se eKw ei—tsze .

YANG-TSZE KIANG : tag, (or tag) 71 _: ive t o f Yang

tsze, I}? if being the old name o f a district Has been

erroneously translated “ Son o f the Ocean,from the

first character being wrongly written 7353

,and is often

spoken o f (Illus tr ated London N ew s,8th Dec .

,1 878) as

the “Yang-tsze -kiang river . ” I s also famil iarly known to

the Chinese as the Long River 5 fill , and as l] : tlze

A GLOSSARY OF REFERENCE 32 I

R iver . The Chinese consider the “flit ,which enters

the Yang-tsze near Hsu-chou Fu in Ssn‘

i ch‘uan ,as the

main stream,and not the Chin -Sha river . See R iver of

Golden Sana’.

The Valley o f the Yang-tsze,including the richest

provinces o f Central China and now regarded as the

legitimate sphere o f British influence,was in 1 89 1 the scene

o f serious anti -foreign riOts , tw o British subjects being killed

and many houses and churchesbeing destroyed at variousimportant centres .

YAO ana’ SHUN y

in fl. Two monarchs of antiquity

,held

up by the Chinese as models of p iety and virtue . Yaocame to the throne B C. 2 356 and reigned unti l 2 2 80

,

when he abdicated in favour o f Shun whom he took

from the plough-tail,to the exclusion of his ow n p rofligate

son,solely on account of Shun ’s reputation for fi l ial

p iety and brotherly affection . According to Mr . Kingsmill,

Yao i s the Ouranos and Varuna o f Greek and Indian

mythologies .

YASH IKI . A Daimio ’s feudal mansion .

YAYSOO . See Yefi -soo .

YEAR . See M oon .

The Chinese day is divided into 1 2 hours o f 1 20

minutes each . The months are lunar,and are spoken

o f as “moons” (av) . Twelve of them go to the year,

except every th ird year which has thirteen,an intercalary

(av) month being inserted to make up the difference

with the solar year . Some months have 2 9 ,others 30

days . There are four seasons,which begin and end on

certain days;and the year is subdivided into 24 solar

terms , o f which the more important are

1 . j i g— the beginn ing o f spring . Falls about the2 !


5th February , and is kept as a festival in honour o f

agriculture,an ox being led in p ro cession through the

towns and v i l lages . On the day before,the Prefect i s

carried i n state to perform certain acts o f worship,and

every mandarin,high o r low

,i s bound to yield the way .

Consequently,the higher officials never leave their yamens

on that day ._2 . i% 1m—clear and bright . Falls about the 5th April ,

and i s the day on which the Chinese visi t their ancestral

burying-places .

3. E fi — summer solstice . Falls about the 2 1 5 t June,

and is devoted by the mandarins to acts o f congratulation

at the spiritual shrine of the Emperor . See Temples .

4 . E [fi — frost descends . Falls about the 23rd October ,and is generally spent by the mil itary in reviews and

martial exercises .

5 . é i —winter solstice . Falls about the 2 2nd

December . Ceremonies as at the summer solstice .

6 . fi fi — great cold . Falls about the 2 l st January .

On this day it i s lawful for all who choose to commit

to the ground their sti l l unburied relatives,the ordinary

course being to select some propitious date .

The chief Chinese festivals are the New Year, ,w hen

al l business is at a temporary standstil l,the Feast of

Lanterns (av) , and the Dragon -boat festival (av) .

YEDDO or YEDO :‘

lI. fi — river ’s door . Formerly written

Yea’a’o,according to the Dutch orthography . Same as

Tokio (av) .

YEH,GOVERNOR : B);Q . The infamous Viceroy of

the two Kuang provinces,who w as captured at the

bombardment of Canton in December 1 858 by the

Allied Forces,and banished to Calcutta where he shortly

324 A CLOSSAR Y OF REFERENCE

o f China is so called,from the yellow colour of its water

,

“ saturated with the loam of miles away” brought

down by the river Yangtsze .

YEN : I . Japanese term for a dollar .

YESSO or YEZO . The northern island of the Japanese‘

empire .

Y I H KING . See Changes , B ook of .

Y I N AND YANG : lift;a . North and south banks of a

river;light and shade;male and female;natural and

supernatural,etc . The primeval forces from the interaction

o f which all things have been evolved . Expressed thus

9 by the Chinese,

. the dark half being the yin or female

principle;the light the yang or male .

“The simplest form“ of matter would be the do t From the dot then“ al l things took their ri se;the germ in the centre of the“ egg from which the world had sprung . But the do t was“ not sufficient to express the spreading universe he saw

“ on every side How could'

it be made appear ? The“ answer fol lowed

,by the secret o f existence : l imitation

“The circle w as the natural symbol (suggested perhaps“ by the horizon), beginning and ending in itself simply ,“ and equally confining al l with in it;the circle round the“do t expressed sufficient : the first great thought and“ gave him tools to work with and the new thought“ struck him that if the central germ must spread

,ere

“ i t could do so i t must lose its unity : without divi sion“ there could be no l i fe . He altered his symbol : instead“o f the cen tral spot he now drew tw o .

” —AlaOas ter .

See D octr ine of Me Cn‘ i .

YO -CHOU : 5;IN. A Treaty Port in Hunan .

YOJANA . A measure of distance,said to be either four

o r eight gos/ialas , a goshala being the distance at

A GLOSSAK Y OF REFERENCE 32 5

which the bellowing o f a bull can be heard,o r nearly

two miles .

Such space as man may stride with lungs once fi lled,

Whereof a gow is forty,four times that

A yoj ana .

Arnold ’s L llg‘fif of As ia .

YOKOHAMA : 15mg . A port in Japan .

YONIz?3

5gFE] See L inga .

YOROSHII: E . Can do;good;0 . K . etc . Much used by

foreigners in Japan .

YOSHIW ARA : forme rlyfi E rush-ground , from the numberof rushes growing there

,now fir fi the abode o f j oy .

A large enclosure at Tokio,consisting o f 2 square enb'

of land,where may be seen

Pamaa non n imium bonae p uellaeQuales in media seden t Subura.

I t i s similar to the m pvsia o f the Greeks,establ ished

by Solon,and was first opened in A .D . 1 6 2 6 with the

consent o f the Government,the idea being to remove a

necessary evil so far as possible from the public eye .

The Yosh iwara is also known as XK $2the NightlessCity ,

and conta ins about women . See H aa’aéa -oa

’or i

and yon-naké.

YOURT . A Mongol tent or encampment .

YU,THE GREAT : j : a . A semi -mythological hero

and Emperor who flourished twenty-three centuries before

Christ,and drained the empire from a great flood

,which

has been identified by some with the Biblical Deluge .

See Taé/et of Ya.

YUAN DYNASTY : i f: fill— original dynasty . Founded bythe Mongol conqueror Kublai Khan (an) A.D . 1 2 80;

ended 1 368.


YUAN -MING-YUAN : [5] ID} bright garden .

Formerly the summer residence of the Emperors of China,

lying about 9 miles from Peking . Destroyed by the Allied

Forces in 1 860,out of revenge fo r the i l l-treatment of

a number o f European prisoners captured by the Chinese .

We need make no apology for introducing here the

following clever verses,written by Mr . E . C . Baber in

imitation o f W . S . Gilbert ’ s celebrated ballad “ Brave Alum

Bey .

” l F lat and unintell igible to a new arrival,these l ines

are,to an older resident in the Far East

,ful l o f exquisitely

turned burlesque;and they constitute , moreover , an apt

i l lustration o f Anglo -Oriental terms in general .In Yuen-ming-yuen

,all gaily arrayed

In malach ite kirtles and slippers‘

o f j ade,

’Neath the w ide-sp reading tea-tree,fair damsels are seen

All singing to Joss on the soft candareen .But fairer by far was the small-foo ted maidWho sat by my side in the sandal-wood shade

,

A-sipping the v in tage o f sparkling Lychee,

And warbling the songs of the poet Maske e .

Oh fair are the flowers in her tresses that glow,

The swee t-scen ted cumshaw,the blue p ummelow

,

And dearest I thought her o f maids in Pekin,

A s from the pagoda she bade me chin-chin .One eve

,in the twiligh t

,to sing she began

,

A s I touched the light notes of a j ewelled sampan,

While her own j e tty finger-nails , taper and long,Swept softly the chords o f a tremulous gong .She sang how “a princess of fair Pechelee“Was carried away by the cruel Sycee

,

“And married by force to that tyrant accurs t,

“That Portuguese caitifl',Pyjamah the Firs t.

“Tho ’ her eyes were more bright than the yacon in ’s glow

,

“And whiter than bucksheesh her bosom of snow,

“Ye t alas for the maid ! she is cap tive,and now

“L ies caged in thy fortress, de tested Macao .

1“Each morn ing he wen t to his garden to cull“A branch o f zenana or sprig o f bul-bul

,

“And offered the bouquet, in exqu is ite bloom ,“To Bucksheesh

,the daughter o f Rahat Lakoum.


February 1 875 . The instigators and perpetrators o f thi s

deed escaped detection .

ZAYTON on ZAITUN or TAITUN . Col . Yuleth is city the modern Chinchew Fufi’gmfi near Amoy

,

suggests that from it is derived our word satin (w

has also been derived from fi fi ssz‘

i’

ti tan si lks and

satins): but it“ should

rather

ZEALANDIA,FORT . A stronghold on the S .

of Formosa,

mile s‘

from the capital city,formerly

'

known as T ‘aiwan Eu. W as buil t by the Dutch in

1 630 ,before their final expulsion by Koxinga (an) .

See [Dawni

FOf fS .

ZEHOL . See 76nd .

ZEN . The min iature Japanese din ing -table,suppl ied to

A

each person at meals .

ZENDAVESTA.

“

The Sacred Book o f Zoroastrianism or

the ancient rezigion o f the Parsees . From zena’ or zana

’

Commentary and avesta the Law,

- the Law and the

Commentary .

ZENGHIS . See Geng/i is .

ZICAW EI.

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A Glossary of Reference - Forgotten Books

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