CHINA. Whatever may be the actual antiquity of the Chinese people, no doubt seems now to exist of their having been the authors of what are justly considered in Europe as three of the most important in inventions or discoveries of modern times : the art of block-printing, the composition of gunpowder, and the magnetic cempass. To these may be added two very remarkable ma nufactures, of which they were unquestion ably the first inventors, those of silk and of porcelain. It is curious to contrast inventions of such high utility and importance with the very small progress which the Chinese have made in the sciences, as astronomy, geogre. phy, and mathematics, for which they were not ashamed to be indebted to the European missionaries. With regard to the fine arts, the Chinese have not made much progress. In painting, their colours are beautiful, but their perspective is very erroneous. In music, their instruments are numerous, consisting of different species of lutes and guitars ; flutes and other wind instruments ; an harmonicon of wires. touched with two slender slips of bamboo : bells and pieces of sonorous metal ; drums ; and a sort of clarionet, which emits as nearly as. possible the tones of the Scottish bagpipe.
Through the plain which constitutes the north-east part of China runs the Imperial Canal 700 miles long. Its width, depth, embankments, cuttings, flood-gates, and bridges are on a large scale. It serves partly for navigation, partly for draining, and partly for irrigation. This canal, together with the rivers, gives a very extensive system of inland navigation in China. The plain watered by the canal is perhaps the most populous country upon earth. It contained, in 1813, 177,000,000 of inhabitants. To protect this rich plain the Great Wall was erected, which incloses China on the northern boundary, and extends over mountains and rivers for about 1,400 miles. This great work was constructed about 200 years before the Christian tern, as a defence against the nomadic tribes of Tartars. The main substance of the wall is earth or rubbish, retained on each side by a thick casing of stone and brick, and terraced by a platform of square tiles. From its east ern extremity there is an extensive stockade of wooden piles, inclosing the country of Mougden. The total height of the wall is about 20 feet, on a basis of stone projecting 2 feet under the brickwork, and about the same in height. The thickness of the whole
wall at the base is 25 feet, diminishing to 23 feet at the platform. The towers are 40 feet square at the base, diminishing to 30 at the top, and abuut 37 feet in height.
Of the produce of this remarkable empire, tea is that with which England is most interested [TEA]. Coal, lime, gold, silver, and other minerals are met with.
Of the mechanical ingenuity of the Chinese we have spoken in the Introduction (p. xi). There seems no reason, however, to expect that the Chinese will take part in the Industrial Exhibition of the barbarians' of Europe ; although the European residents at Hong Kong and Canton have contributed towards the funds of the Exhibition.
The materials employed by the Chinese in house-building are wood, of which that most in use is the nan-mon, a kind of cedar : stone, marble, bricks, bamboo, and glazed or porce lain tiles are also employed. The construc tion of houses is directed by a public func tionary, whom we may not inaptly designate a district surveyor. Every one is obliged to build his house according to his rank, and for every house a certain size and details are fixed. The ordinary habitations have one floor. The houses called heon, that is, of many floors,were once very much the fashion,' and some were built about 211 feet high.' Wooden columns, so placed as to support the roof, are common, and are from eight to ten diameters in height. They are fixed on stone or marble bases, but have no capitals. The roofs, which are slightly constructed of bam boo, are often double, and resemble one roof rising out of the other : they turn up at the eaves, at the angles of which are hung grotesque figures of dragons, &c. Not the least singular appearance in a Chinese house is the door, which is often a complete circle ; the window frames and sashes are formed of small pan nels of various forms moulded out of clay, and neatly joined together. Tho sills of doors are of stone. The palace of Pekin is on an immense scale, 2,513 feet by 3,235 feet. It is divided into a number of courts, is corn. posed of towers, galleries, porticoes, halls, and immense buildings, and, as a whole, has an imposing appearance.