This division still maintains itself in legal and official language, though the practical value of the European clocks and watches, now largely used in China, is gradually substituting for it the occidental division of twice twelve hours.
Industry and Art.—The Chinese are a laborious, diligent, hearty-working and painstaking race, skilful in economizing materials, and possessed of no mean share of inventive power. Foreign nations have borrowed from China many of the comforts and ornaments of life. The very names of such aids to existence as silk, satin, and tea are in most European lands a sufficient proof of this fact, being but slight modifications of the Chinese words sze, sze-tun, and te. Their knowledge of the magnet is supposed to have led them to a knowledge of the compass. Their ordinary ink, composed of lamp-black and glue, is sufficiently pure to be used in the arts. Their ordinary cotton-cleaning machine, for freeing the cotton fibre from the seeds, has not yet k.een equalled by all the mechanical skill of Europe. In all work ing in metals,—in ordinary blacksmith work, metal smelting, alloys, particularly their white metal of copper, zinc, iron, silver, and nickel, their sonorous gongs and bells, that of Pekin being 144 feet to 13 _feet, and their ingenious metallic mirrors, some with engravings ; their manufactures of porcelain, glass, and glazes ; their carving and engraving of gems, agates, and rock crystal, and on ivory and wood, have for centuries been famed, and much of it excites the admiration of Europe, as also does their varnish work. Their lacquer ware is beautiful, though perhaps excelled by that of Japan ; their excellent metallic colours, red, white, green, and violet, are used in paint ing their china-ware. Their porcelain long: ex celled that of all other countries. The gold and silver tinsel cloths of Pekin stand deservedly in high estimation ; and their gold and silver filagree work equals any ever produced by ancient Venetian masters ; and their chasing in silver and enamelling on silver is unrivalled (see Carving, Lacquer-ware, Colours, Ceramic Manu facture, Enamelling, Filagree Work). In weav
ing they are superior, in candle - making not inferior, but in painting and sculpture they do not excel. They are bold, self-reliant, skilful gardeners, and excellent farmers, and date their skill in these back four thousand years.
Husbandry and silk-weaving were the earliest of the arts cultivated by this people. The former was introduced by Shin - nong, the immediate successor of Fo - hi, and silk - weaving by an empress ; and to both of these inventors the Chinese perform annual sacrifices on their festival days. Husbandry is still highly honoured ; and annually, at a grand festival in honour of the spring, the emperor ploughs and sows a field. The Egyptians, Persians, and Greeks held games and festivals, mingled with religious ceremonies, at seed-sowing ; and in England, formerly, the festival of Plough Monday was held, during which the plough light was set up before the image of the patron saint of the village. The Chinese, in the reign of Hoang Ti, invented the magnetic needle, the smelting of copper for making money, and vases of high art ; and money seems to have been coined in gold and silver and lead so early as Confucius' time, but many payments are still made in kind or by pieces of silver. Most of their calculations are made by a reckoning board. Sir John Davis is of opinion that the art of printing, the composition of gunpowder, and the magnetic compass, which are justly considered in Europe as three of the most important inventions or dis coveries of modern times, had their first origin in China. In the beginning of the 100 century printing was invented, and in A.D. 932 that mode of multiplying copies of books received the im perial sanction ; a printed imperial edition of all the sacred works having been then published. The greatest of all the arts was not invented in Europe till 500 years after this. Marco Polo speaks much of the stamped paper money of the Chinese ; and he must have seen their printed books. Their printing types are made from the pear-tree wood, called by them Ly-mo.