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no more such birds might be killed. a crow," was the natural answer. Only a crow! exclaimed the legate. "Of all the birds that fly it should have been spared, for it is a sacred animal." He then related a story respecting crows having once performed some essential public service, just as geese are said to have saved the Roman Capitol. This shows at least the utility of being acquainted with the most trivial superstitions of a country.

But the strangest and most unaccountable of the Chinese superstitions is what they denominate Foongshuey, "wind and water," a species of geomancy, or a belief in the good or ill luck attached to particular local situations or aspects, which we had occasion to notice before, and which, among the more rational classes of the people, is admitted to be nonsensical. Before a house is built or a burial-place selected, it is necessary to consult certain professors of the occult science, who, at the price of adequate fees, proceed with much solemnity to examine the situation. After frequently perambulating and examining the ground, and even deferring their decision for months, they will fix on some particular place. The lucky position of a grave is supposed to exercise some influence on the fortunes of a whole family; and if, after all the expense and trouble of consulting the cheats who profess the art, ill fortune rather than good should attend the parties, this is of course attributed to anything except the inefficiency of the foong-shuey. This term may in general be construed by the word luck, and it has been supposed that in a country like China, where nearly all long journeys are performed by water, "good wind and water," or, in other words, good luck on a journey, has by degrees come to signify good luck in every circumstance and condition of life.

It would seem scarcely possible that such fooleries as those above stated should meet with countenance or support in persons calling themselves Europeans; yet in 1821 a Portuguese of some local consideration in Macao contributed to the erection of a pagoda for improving the fortunes of the place! The following notice was exhibited, but it does not appear that the whole of the proposed scheme was ever accomplished. "The Chinese and foreign merchants have hitherto been prosperous, their wealth abounding, and the destinies of the place altogether felicitous. Of late, however, its fortunes have waxed lean, and the influence of the atmosphere been unlucky, so that the acquisition of riches has become less certain. A proposal is accordingly made to erect a pagoda and a pavilion, in order to renovate and improve the commercial fortunes of the island. The plan has fortunately met with the concurrence of the Portuguese magistrate, who has offered one hundred dollars to assist in its execution. Leang-ta-tseuen, whose skill is universally acknowledged, and everywhere attended by incontestable proofs, has visited Macao, in order to fix on a proper spot. He declares that a lofty pavilion should be erected on the sea-side, near the new village to the right of the temple of Ma-tsoo, and a high pagoda on the eastern arm of Monkey Island. He affirms that prosperity and riches will be the result-that both Chinese and strangers at Macao will share in the felicity. He has written a paper on the subject, and drawn out the plan, which has obtained the assent of the Portuguese magistrate; the permission of the Keun-min-foo (the Chinese magistrate of Macao) has also been graciously given. It is therefore resolved," &c.

The Chinese have a mode of divination by certain pieces of wood, in shape the longitudinal sections of a

flattish oval. These are thrown by pairs, and, according to the mode in which they turn up, a judgment is formed of any future event by consulting the interpretation afforded by a Sibylline volume which is hung up in the temple. If the throw, however, happens to be unlucky, they do not mind trying their chance over again until the answer is satisfactory. A plan of divination, of somewhat the same kind, is decribed by Tacitus in his account of the ancient Germans: "Sortium consuetudo simplex; virgam frugiferæ arbori decisam in surculos amputant, eosque notis quibusdam discretos super candidam vestem temere ac fortuito spargunt."*

* Germ. x.

CHAPTER XVII.

LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE.

Chinese characters symbols of ideas Written and spoken languages study Literary habits - - Ethics

count of Europe · lations.

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- Roots or radical characters Written characters Rules for Aphorisms Histories Biographies - Civil code

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- Ac

European trans

THE written language of China realizes to a great extent the theory of a universal medium for the communication of ideas, as conceived by Bishop Wilkins, and methodized by him into an elaborate treatise which he presented to the Royal Society. While the letters of our alphabet are mere symbols of sounds, the Chinese characters, or words, are symbols of ideas, and alike intelligible to the natives of Cochin-China, Japan, Loo-choo, and Corea, with those of China itself. The best practical illustration of a written character, common to several nations who cannot understand each other's speech, are the Arabic numerals common to all Europe. An Englishman, who could not understand what an Italian meant if he said venti-due, would comprehend him immediately if he wrote down 22. This advantage, which belongs to our numerals only, pertains to the whole language of the Chinese, and those other nations who use the same characters, without affixing to them the same pronunciation.

No connexion or resemblance whatever is to be traced between the written language of China and the Egyptian

hieroglyphics. The former, indeed, is a much more artificial and ingenious system than the last, which had not advanced beyond the rude representations of visible objects; while the Chinese, although it seems to have originated in something of the same kind, is now anything but a collection of mere pictures. They have no less than six different forms of writing or printing, just as we have the black letter, the roman, the italic, the written, and the running-hand forms. Indeed the Chinese running-hand might very easily be taken for an alphabetic character, though it differs from most of these systems in being written in perpendicular columns, like the Manchow Tartar language.

The rumoured difficulties attendant on the acquisition of Chinese, from the great number and variety of the characters, are the mere exaggerations of ignorance, and so far mischievous as they are calculated to deter many from the pursuit whose business takes them to the country, and would no doubt be greatly promoted by some practical acquaintance with its language.* The roots, or original characters of the Chinese (or what, by a species of analogy, may be called its alphabet), are only 214 in number, and might indeed be reduced to a much smaller amount by a little dissection and analysis. To assert that there are so many thousand characters in the language is very much the same thing as to say that there are so many thousand words in Johnson's Dictionary; nor is a knowledge of the whole at all more necessary for every practical purpose than it is to get all Johnson's Dictionary by heart in order to read and con

* Since the Treaty of 1842 a marked encouragement has been given by the Foreign Office to young men willing to qualify themselves as translators and interpreters at our consulates. Some of these have attained to a great proficiency in the language.

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