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Dr. Abel, as the fan-case, tobacco-pouch, flint and steel, and sometimes a sheath with a small knife and a pair of chopsticks. They are very proud of displaying a watch, which is inserted in an embroidered silk case or pouch.

The winter dress, being nearly as loose as that of summer, is less calculated to promote warmth and comfort than the European costume, and at the same time more unfavourable to bodily activity and exertion. Over a longer dress of silk or crape, which reaches to the ankles, they wear a largesleeved spencer, called ma-kwa (or ridingcoat), which does not descend below the hips. This is often entirely of fur, but sometimes of silk or broad-cloth, lined with skins. The neck, which in summer is left quite bare, is protected in winter with a narrow collar of silk or fur; their loose dresses always fold over to the right breast, where they are fastened from top to bottom, at intervals of a few inches, by gilt or crystal buttons (the latter in mourning) with loops.

In summer the nether garment is loose, and not unlike ancient Dutch breeches; but in winter an indescribable pair of tight leggings are drawn on separately over all, and fastened up to the sides of the person, leaving

the voluminous article of dress above-mentioned to hang out behind, in a manner that is anything but pleasant. Stockings of cotton or silk, wove and not knit, are worn by all who can afford them; and, in winter, persons of a certain rank wear boots of cloth, satin, or velvet, with the usual thick white sole, which is kept clean by whiting instead of blacking, in the usual style of contrariety to our customs. The thick soles of their boots and shoes in all probability arose from the circumstance of their not possessing such a substance as well-tanned leather, a thinner layer of which is sufficient to exclude the wet. The shoes made for Europeans at Canton are perfectly useless in rainy weather, and spoiled on the very first wetting.

The Chinese dresses of ceremony are exceedingly rich and handsome, and contrast to great advantage with the queer, unmeaning capings and skirtings of our coats. The colour of the spencer is usually dark blue, or purple, and the long dress beneath is commonly of some lighter and gayer hue. On state occasions this last is very splendidly embroidered with dragons or other devices, in silk and gold, and the cost amounts frequently to large sums. At the imperial feast of which the last embassy partook at Tien-tsin, the

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crowd of mandarins in full dress, surmounted by their crimson caps and various-coloured balls, certainly produced a striking effect.

The great sin of the Chinese costume is the paucity of white linen, and consequently of washing. Even their body-garment is sometimes a species of light silk, but capable of purification. All the rest of their dress being of silks or furs, there is less demand for white calico or linen, in proportion to the numbers, than in any other country. They spread neither sheets upon their beds nor cloths on their tables, and the want of personal cleanliness has of course a tendency to promote cutaneous and leprous complaints. Their substitute for soap is an alkaline ley, derived from a mineral substance, and rather corrosive in its nature.

The skins of all animals are converted into apparel for the winter. The lower orders use those of sheep, cats, dogs, goats, and squirrels. Even rat and mouse-skins are sewn together for garments. The expensive fur dresses of the higher orders descend from father to son, and form sometimes no inconsiderable portion of the family inheritance. At an entertainment in Canton, where the party, according to the custom of the country, were seated in an open room without fires, the European guests began to complain of cold; upon which the host immediately accommodated the whole number of ten or twelve with handsome widesleeved spencers, all of the most costly furs, telling them at the same time that he had plenty more in reserve. They have one singular species of refinement on the score of skins. The young lamb in utero, after a cer

tain period of gestation, is taken out, and its skin prepared with the fine silky wool upon it for dresses, which of course require, on account of their small size, a great number of lambs to be thus "untimely ripped," and the luxury is therefore an expensive one.

and

The Chinese, perhaps, may be said to possess an advantage in the absence of those perpetual and frequently absurd mutations of fashion in Europe, which at one period blow out the same individual like a balloon, whom at another they contract into a mummy; which are frequently ridiculed and followed in excess at one and the same time. They are not at the mercy and disposal, in matters of taste, of those who make their clothes, and their modes generally last as long as their garments. The human shape and dress are not varied with the infinite mutations of a kaleidoscope; and that peculiar, though indisputable species of merit, "being in the height of the fashion," the honours of which must be chiefly shared with the tailor and the milliner, is nearly unknown to them.

The only setter of fashions is the board of rites and ceremonies at Peking, and to depart materially from their ordinances would be considered as something worse than mere mauvais ton. It is their business not only to prescribe the forms on all occasions of worship, or of ceremony, but the costumes which are to be worn must be in strict conformity to rule. The dresses of all ranks and orders, and of both sexes about the imperial palace, are specified, as regards cut, colour, and material, with as much precision as in any court of Europe. From the Tartar religion

APPENDAGES OF DRESS.

of the Lamas, the rosary of 108 beads has become a part of the ceremonial dress attached to the nine grades of official rank. It consists of a necklace of stones and coral nearly as large as a pigeon's egg, descending to the waist, and distinguished by various beads according to the quality of the wearer. There is a smaller rosary of only eighteen beads, of inferior size, with which the bonzes count their prayers and ejaculations, exactly as in the Roman Catholic ritual. The laity in China sometimes wear this at the waist, perfumed with musk, and give it the name of Heáng-choo, "fragrant beads."

The various appendages worn at the girdle, as the purse or pouch, the steel and flint case for lighting the pipe, the watch case, &c., are generally of the finest silk embroidery, which forms one of the principal accom plishments of Chinese ladies. Indeed all the handsome crape shawls taken to England, some of which cost from sixty to eighty dollars, are entirely the work of women, many of whom earn more than twenty dollars a month by their labour. A Chinese is seldom seen without his snuff-bottle, which is of oval construction, and less than two inches in length, the stopper having a small spoon attached, similar to that for cayenne-pepper, with which a portion of snuff is laid on the left hand, at the lower joint of the thumb, and thus lifted to the nose. The material of these bottles is sometimes of porcelain, or of variegated glass, carved with considerable skill in the style of cameos; or of rock-crystal, with small figures or writing on the inside, performed in a manner which it is not easy to account for.

Among the presents sent to, or, in the language of Peking diplomacy, conferred upon foreign sovereigns, is the embroidered silk purse, one of which the old Emperor Kienloong took from his side and gave to the youth who officiated as page to Lord Macartney. This, however, was of the imperial yellow colour, with the five-clawed dragon, and could hardly be worn by Chinese subjects, who always displayed the most profound reverence and admiration when they saw it, and knew it was from the great Emperor's own person. The ornament which has sometimes, for want of a better name,

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been called a sceptre, is, in fact, an emblem of amity and good-will, of a shape less bent than the letter S, about eighteen inches in length, and cut from the jade or yu stone. It is called joo-ee," as you wish," and is simply exchanged as a costly mark of friendship; but that it had a religious origin seems indicated by the sacred flower of the lotus (Nymphaea nelumbo) being generally carved on the superior end.

The Chinese have some singular modes of demonstrating their respect and regard on the departure of any public magistrate, whose government has been marked by moderation and justice. A deputation sometimes waits on him with a habit composed of every variety of colour, "a coat of many colours," as if made by a general contribution from the people. With this he is solemnly invested, and, though of course the garment is not intended to be worn, it is preserved as an honourable relic in the family. On quitting the district, he is accompanied by the crowds that follow his chair, or kneel by the way-side, while at intervals on the road are placed tables of provisions and sticks of incense burning. These honours were shown to a late Fooyuen of Canton, a man of a most eccentric but upright character, who, unlike so many others in his situation, would never take anything from the Hong merchants or others under his authority. He seemed to have a supreme indifference for human grandeur, and at length retired by his own choice, and the Emperor's permission, into private life, from whence it is said he became a devotee of Budh. On his quitting Canton, a very singular ceremony was observed, in conformity with ancient Chinese usage on such rare occasions; when he had accepted the various demonstrations of homage and respect from those who had been deputed by the people to wait on him, he proceeded from his residence towards the city gates, and, being there arrived, his boots were taken off, to be preserved as a valued relic, while their place was supplied by a new pair. This was repeated more than once as he proceeded on his way, the boots which he had only once drawn on being regarded as precious memorials. The conduct of the higher magistrates cannot fail to be influenced sometimes by the ambition

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COSTUME.

which, with the antecedent shave, occupies altogether a considerable time. Every barber carries about with him, slung from a stick across his shoulder, all the instruments of his vocation in a compendious form. On one side hangs a stool, under which are drawers containing his instruments; and this is counterpoised at the other end by a small charcoal-furnace under a vessel of water which it serves to heat. Their razors are extremely clumsy in appearance, but very keen and efficient in use. It is not the custom for the men to wear moustaches before forty years

age, nor beards before sixty. These generally grow in thin tufts, and it is only in a few individuals that they assume the bushy appearance observable in other Asia

tics.

The women would frequently be very pretty, were it not for the shocking custom of daubing their faces with white and red paint, to which may be added the deformity of cramped feet. In point of health, however, this is in a great degree made up by the total absence of tight lacing, and of all ligatures and confinements whatever about the vital parts. The consequence is that their children are born very straight limbed, and births are scarcely ever attended with disaster. Their dress is extremely modest and becoming, and, in the higher classes, as splendid as the most exquisite silks and embroidery can make it; for the Chinese certainly reserve the best of their silk manufactures for themselves. What we often choose to call dress they would regard as absolute nudity, and all close fitting to the shape as only displaying what it affects to conceal.

Unmarried women wear their hair hanging down in long tresses, and the putting up of the hair is one of the ceremonies preparatory to marriage. It is twisted up towards the back of the head, ornamented with flowers or jewels, and fastened with two bodkins stuck in crosswise. They sometimes wear an ornament representing the foong-hâng, or Chinese phoenix, composed of gold and jewels, the wings hovering, and the beak of the bird hanging over the forehead, on an elastic spring. After a certain time of life, the women wear a silk wrapper round the head

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in lieu of any other dress. The eyebrows of the young women are fashioned until they represent a fine curved line, which is compared to the new moon when only a day or two old, or to the young leaflet of the willow.

Pink and green, two colours often worn by women, are confined exclusively to them, and never seen on men. The ordinary dress is a large-sleeved robe of silk, or of cotton among the poorer sort, over a longer garment, sometimes of a pink colour; under which are loose trousers which are fastened round the ancle, just above the small foot and tight shoe. A proverbial expression among

the Chinese for the concealment of defects is-"long robes to hide large feet." Notwithstanding this the Tartar women, or their lords, have had the good sense to preserve the ladies' feet of the natural size. In other respects, however, they dress nearly as the Chinese, and paint their faces white and red in the same style.

The ordinary dress of men among the labouring classes is extremely well suited to give full play to the body: it consists in summer of only a pair of loose cotton trousers tied round the middle, and a shirt or smock, equally loose, hanging over it. In very hot weather the smock is thrown off altogether, and only the trousers retained. They defend the head from the sun by a very broad umbrella-shaped hat of bamboo slips interwoven, which in winter is exchanged for a felt cap; and in rainy weather they have cloaks of a species of flags or reeds, from which the water runs as from a pent-house. A large portion of the peasantry wear no shoes, but some are furnished, particularly those who carry heavy burdens, with sandals of straw to protect the feet.

In describing the dwellings of the Chinese, we may observe that, in their ordinary plan, they bear a curious resemblance to the remains of the Roman habitations disinterred from the scoriæ and ashes of Pompeii. They consist usually of a ground floor, divided into several apartments within the dead wall that fronts the street, and lit only by windows looking into the internal court-yard. The principal room, next to the entrance, serves to receive visitors as well as for eating; and within are the more private apartments, the

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