176 CHINESE WRITTEN IN DIFFERENT WAYS.

Though I have given the character Shin for God, yet there is no single name in the Chinese language that exactly expresses the word God or Deity, with the signification that we attach to it. The words that convey the most awe and reverence are: T'heen, Heaven; Shang-T’heen, the Heavens above, or Supreme Heavens; ShinT'heen, the Divine Heavens; Hwang-T'heen, the Imperial Heavens; Shang-te, the Ruler or Potentate on high; and Theen-choo, Heaven's Lord. This last is a novelty to the Chinese, but the term was adopted by the Roman Catholic missionaries as the only one in the language that properly conveyed the Christian idea of Deity. The names Lord, God, Jehovah, Saviour, Redeemer, produce awe and reverence in our minds, because from our infancy we have thus been led to regard them ; but they do not produce this effect on the minds of pagans; hence the necessity of using among pagans such terms as will inspire reverence and solemnity.

The English language is written and printed in various ways, and so is the Chinese. In England we have the old English form of writing, the Roman, the Italian, the Running-hand, and others; and in China they have the Chuen-shoo, the ancient mode, derived from hieroglyphics; the Le-shoo, used by attendants in office; the Keae-shoo, or pattern style, very neat; the King-shoo, or regular running hand; the Tsaou-tze, an abbreviated form

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used in common transactions; and the Sung-te, or regular form used in printing.

In Chinese the sign for a huntsman is a tiger and a torch, for the Chinese hunt the tiger by torch-light. The sign for friendship is two pearls of the same size and purity. The sign for eloquence is mouth and gold. The sign for rice is mouth and joy, because they say rice is the joy of a Chinaman's mouth. The sign for singing is bird and mouth; so that, you see, there is in these cases a clear connexion between the sign and the thing signified.

Some say it is easy to acquire the Chinese language; others say it is altogether impossible; truth lies between the two. It is easy to learn a little Chinese; it is not hard to obtain such a knowledge of it that will be useful; but to thoroughly understand the language, is very difficult indeed.

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CHAPTER XIX.

BOOKS AND LITERATURE.

The Chinese a Reading People.-Chinese Books.-Yih-king. -Shoo-king. She-king.-Le-ki.-Chun-chew.-Taheo.— Choong-yoong.-Lun-yu.-Book of Mencius.-The Reason why the Chinese undervalue Europeans.—Chinese styles of Composition. - Chinese Literature. Chinese Poetry.—

Chinese Maxims.

An odd thing it is that the Chinese, who have been so long a reading people, should remain so far behind Europeans in learning and practical knowledge. They seem in their studies like a squirrel climbing in a revolving cage, always busy, without making progress. They imitate those who have gone before them, but do not endeavour to surpass them. One century finds them pretty much as another century left them. In dress, in manners, in customs, in arts, in sciences, in philosophy, and religion, they are, there is reason to believe, much as they were five hundred years ago.

Books in China are not bound as ours are; their leaves are simply stitched together, and then kept

CELEBRATED CHINESE BOOKS.

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in stiff cases of pasteboard, highly ornamented. The leaves are made of a soft, yellow paper, and are double, not being cut at the edges like European books. They are read, as I have already described, from right to left, beginning at the right hand of what we call the last page, and proceeding down the columns. This appears very odd at first, but the oddity soon wears away.

Among the most celebrated books of China, the names of which are spelt very differently by different writers, are the Yih-king; the Shoo-king, a history of China down to 1120 B. c.; the She-king, a volume of odes; Leki, records of customs; and the Chunchew, which gives an account of the life and times of Confucius: these five books are called the classics; and there are four other books of the Ta-heo, the Choong-yoong, the Lun-yu, and the book of Mencius, containing the maxims of Confucius, which rank but little below them. If you learn Chinese, these books must be read by you.

The Chinese are fond of books, and much esteem learning no wonder, then, that they should value or undervalue foreigners according to their estimate of their knowledge or ignorance. Not knowing the European languages, they judge the foreigners who have intercourse with them by the vulgar jargon they speak, and thus greatly undervalue them. Only let Englishmen attain such a knowledge of Chinese as to be able to express themselves in cre

180 LEARNING IS THE HIGHWAY TO RANK.

ditable speech, and on paper in creditable language, and they will rise in the respect of the natives accordingly.

Those who have been taught to believe that the bald head of a Chinese mandarin contains as little of intelligence as a gourd or a pumpkin, have been led into error. The upper and even the middle classes of the Chinese are untiring readers, and much do they commit to memory; but it always appeared to me that they valued the language of an author more than the information he conveyed; his manner seemed to be prized above his matter.

The Chinese student desires not so much to amplify his mind with ennobling truths, as to store his memory with pointed and elegant sayings. In his estimation there is no literary attainment equal to that of expressing his thoughts with clearness, brevity, and gracefulness. This attainment he knows is likely to lead him to honour; for in China learning is the highway to rank and consideration. A Chinese reader will repeat the favourite sentences he meets with in his books over and over again, until he makes them his own; and these serve him as models for his own imitation.

Though this mode of proceeding may not be without advantage, the Chinese carry it sadly too far. It is a good thing to commit to memory the best passages of the best authors; but to do this continually, like a monk telling his beads, is to linger