care of his Education which happen'd accordingly That this Child became a Man of an extraordinary Valour and that his Sons and Grand Children rul'd this Country But that in the fifth Generation the People rebell'd against this Family which they defeated and exterminated all but one who betook himself to flight This Prince being close pursu'd and not being able to run any farther sate himself down upon the ground despairing to save his life At what time a Mag-pye came and perch'd upon his head and deluded his Enemies who took him for the stump of a Tree and not for a Man. And thus it is easie to see as Father Adam observes that thus far the Relation is altogether Fabulous and clearly demonstrates that the Original of the Emperor of China is very obscure and has nothing of Illustrious or Renowned That which follows is certain and unquestionable In regard the Person such as he was liv'd at the beginning of this Age and made himself sufficiently known by the bloody War which he made upon the Chineses in revenge of the Death of his Father whom the Chinese Mandarins had caus'd to be murdered and of other outrages committed against his Nation Father Adam says that he was Lord of the Valley of Moncheu which Father Martini takes for a great City The Emperor Van-liè gave him the Government of that same Valley and the neighbouring Countries upon condition he should defend them against the Incursions of the Oriental Tartars who were divided into seven small Principalities He was call'd Tiel Mini and died in the year 1628. His Son a Person of more Wisdom and Moderation continued the War till his death which happen'd in the year 1634. Cumtè his Son in some measure compleated the Conquest of the Empire of China but died before he obtain'd the possession of it in the year 1644. His Son Xunchi at the age of six years was acknowledg'd Emperor at Pekim and di'd in the year 1662. Leaving for his Successor his Son Camtri the Monarch reigning at present This Catalogue of the Tartarian Princes of Father Adam's confirm'd by Father Couplet in his Chronology by Father Rougemont in his Historia Tartaro-Sinica and the Embassie of the Hollanders gives us to understand that Father Magaillans had good reason to justifie himself for saying that the Tartars had neither any King nor any word to signifie a King seeing that it was but in this Age that their Princes have deriv'd their Original from a petty Captain of a Hord or chief leader of Banditi's or wandering Tartars Here we are farther to observe that Tartary which comprehends all the Nothern Asia is divided by the Chineses into Western and Eastern The Inhabitants both of the one and the other are for the most part wanderers with their Flocks and Herds and live in Tents But the Western are incomparably more potent then the Eastern in regard they possess all that Country which lies between the extream part of the Province of Pekim and the Countries of the Mogul the Persian and the Muscovite All which they possess'd entirely in the Reign of Saint Lewis The Eastern Tartary reaches from the Country of Leaotûm beyond Iapon and comprehends the Province of Niuchè to the North of Corea The Province of Niulhan to the North of Niuchè that of Yupi to the East of Niuchè and the Country of Yâ—…co to the North-East of Iapon and to the East of Yupi But these Countries are poor and ill peopled There being not above two or three little Cities in them all the rest is barren uncultivated and full of Woods and Mountains Nevertheless these Tartars are not a little formidable when they are united as being harden'd to labour in a rigorous Climate and almost always ahorleback and employ'd in hunting or busied in War. They made themselves known by their incursions into China above two hundred years before the Birth of Christ And in the twelfth Age after the Incarnation they possess'd themselves of the Provinces of Leaotum Pekim Xensi Xansi and Xantum But the Ancestors of the Tartarian Prince who Reigns in China were so far from being Masters of all the Eastern Tartary that they were not Lords of all the Province of Niuchè where as has been said there were seven or eight destinct Sovereigns And Father Adam observes that Tienâ—…um Great Grand Father to the Emperor Reigning at Present when he enter'd into China had not above eight thousand men which were soon encreased by the concourse of the rest of the Eastern Tartars and an innumerable Number of the Western Tartars which the fame of his Victories and the noise of prodigious Booty drew to his Assistance P. 3. The Kingdom of Chahamalaha whose Inhabitants are Mahometans and which borders upon the Province of Xensi This Name of Chahamalaha is not to be found as I verily believe in any Mapp nor in any other Relation But I am perswaded by what our Author say's of it that it is the same place which Father Martini calls Samahania and which as he does I take to be the Country of the Usbegs or of Mavralnara of which Samarcand is the chief City For that we know not of any other Kingdom of Mahometans to the West of Xensi where there are several considerable Cities Palaces and Houses artificially built and good Architecture store of Gold and Silver-Plates and other things which the Chineses allow the Country of Samahania or Samahan by the report of Father Martini Nor must we be surpriz'd that the Chineses assure us that this Kingdom borders upon the Province of Xensi for that they never travel toward the West nor have any other knowledge of the Countries situated Westward then what they learn from the Information of the Caravans that come once in two or three years to trade in China under pretence of an Embassie For the Merchants make use of that Invention to get leave to enter into China which would be otherwise deny'd them They rendevouze in the Kingdom of Cascar as you may find in the Travels of Benedict Goez inserted into the Relation of Father Trigaut But formerly and especially in the time of Tamerlan who made Samarcand one of the chiefest Cities in the World they went for the most part from that City And it is very probable that those Merchants to give themselves the greater reputation assum'd to themselves to be all of the Kingdom of Samarcand and that the Chineses who want the Letter R and easily confound C. with H wrote Samahand instead of Samarcand For the same reason also the Chineses observing the Merchants arrive à Sucheu the last City of the Province of Xensi and styling themselves all Natives of Samahan or Samarcand might readily believe that Samahan border'd upon the Province of Xensi P. 3. Usanguè This must certainly be the same Country which Father Martini calls Usucang and which is contained within the Kingdom which the Chineses call Sifan situated to the West of the Province
speaks but occasionally of the Affairs of China Father Semedo indeed applies himself wholly to the Description of the Country in the First Part of his Relation wherein he has been very fortunate Father Couplet in his Chronology and Father Martini in his First Decad of the History of China and his Relation of the Tartar War has publisht almost a compleat Succession of the History of that Kingdom The same Father Martini in his Atlas has made a Geographical Description of it so compleat and full that there hardly remains any thing more for us to desire And lastly the Annual Letters and other Pieces which I have cited giving an Account of the various Successes of the Missions which they undertook inform us of several Notable and Curious Particulars But tho' these Authors are every one worthy to be esteem'd and valu'd Certain it is that we wanted still a very great number of Considerable Particulars whither it were that the Subject was too Copious to be exhausted or that those other designs which they proposed to themselves diverted their particular Industries However it were it is apparent that Father Magaillans had it in his thoughts to have supply'd all the Defects which he found in those other Pieces and whatever was wanting that might give us a perfect knowledge of China For they who read this Relation will find that the Matters therein contain'd have either been wholly omitted by all other Authors or else but very slightly touch'd and therefore in regard they are things of great Curiosity I make no question but this Translation will be grateful to the more exact Part of the Learned World. In a word it seems to me to have all those Advantages that suffice to recommend it to the Reader The Matter is of great consequence and becoming the Curiosity of all those that desire to know remote Countries since it has describ'd with an extraordinary Exactness and Part by Part what is most Considerable in that same Famous Empire of China There you shall find it determin'd by evident Proofs that the Countries of Catay and Mangi are comprehended in that Spacious Kingdom It discourses at large of the Chinese Language of the Letters and their Composition of the Words which they comprehend of the Excellency of the Language and how easie a thing it is to attain it which gives us a far different Idea of it from whatever we have had till now Of the Chinese Books and their Antiquity and the great number of them upon all sorts of Subjects Of the Antiquity of their Kingdom and their Kings Of the Certain and Successive Continuance of the Chinese Chronology from the next Ages to the Deluge It shews us the Industry of the Chineses in many things their wonderful Form of Government and all their different Tribunals with a world of other Circumstances There you find an exact Acount of all their Public Works and a particular Description of some Magnificent Bridges the Great Canal the City of Pe Kim their most Sumptuous Houses their Principal Temples and the Vast and Spacious Palace of the Emperor which comprehends within it several others sufficient to make us admire their Architecture and the Form and Contrivance of their Buildings Lastly there is a Description of a certain sort of Wax which is not any where else to be found of the Riches of China of the Emperor's Revenues of some Remarkable Ceremonies and of so many other Particulars which it would be here too tedious a trouble to repeat The Author was well inform'd of all those things of which he gives us an Account He had travell'd over all the Chiefest Parts of China from the Year 1640. to 1648. at what time he was carry'd to Pe Kim where he stay'd Nine and Twenty Years at the Court that is to say till his Death which happen'd in the Year 1677. without stirring from thence unless it were once that he was sent to Macao by the Command of the Emperor So long and constant a Residence the Knowledge of the Language and Books his Conversation with Persons the most Considerable in the Kingdom the Liberty which he had to enter into the Palace the Choice which he made of the Matters and Particulars of which he gives an Account will easily confirm us that he had a perfect Knowledge of the things of which he gives us the Relation So that altho' the Description which he gives us of the Emperor's Palace does not agree with that which we find in the Dutch Embassie to China yet there is all the Reason of the World to prefer the Testimony of this Author before that Relation The Sincerity also and Reality of Father Magaillans farther appear by this that he makes no scruple to Correct Father Martini where he knows him to be in an Error Tho in other places he confirms by his Testimony the Esteem which all Europe had for the Works of that Father and for that he speaks with Moderation of many other things where the Authors have strech'd too far in their Relations Having thus far given an Account of the Worth and Merit of this Relation it will not be improper to tell the Reader how it fell into my Hands It is now about Three Years since that F. Couplet coming to Rome in the Quality of Procurator for the Missions of China had several Occasions to wait upon Cardinal d' Estrees where I had the Honour to be at that time His Eminency ask'd him several curious Questions concerning China but chiefly concerning Pe Kim the Emperors Court and the Government and Policy of that Great Kingdom To which the Father gave His Eminency all the Satisfaction he could desire so far as he knew But in regard he had never been but once at Pe Kim when he was carry'd Prisoner thither in the time of the late Persecution he answer'd the Cardinal with his usual sincerity That he was not so well inform'd as to those other particular Questions which His Eminency put to him but that he had brought out of China a Portuguese Manuscript written by F. Gabriel de Magaillans where he would find the Plenary Satisfaction of all that he desir'd to know and at the same time presented the Manuscript to His Eminency who having read it over with great delight gave it into my Hands upon a proffer which I made him to Translate it However I found it a more Difficult Task then I imagin'd for tho Father de Magaillan's had deliver'd it fairly written yet by an Unfortunate Accident it hapn'd to be half Burnt so that I was forc'd to have recourse to the Confus'd Original which had been luckily preserv'd which being the greatest part writt'n in loose Papers it requir'd a great deal of time to place them in order and find out the connections The Author had entitl'd his Work The Twelve Excellencies of China But this Title seem'd to me to be too much affected and not answerable to the Subject for it was not limited to
restrain some within the bounds of Duty then the Tartars enlarged their Offers But then such was the eager desire of those persidious Officers to heap up Wealth that at length they surrender'd into the hands of a small Number of half Barbarians the Richest and most Populous Kingdom in the World. In the same Book you see the number of Souldiers that keep Guard upon the Frontiers to the number of Nine hundred and two Thousand and fifty four The Auxiliary Forces that lie ready to March to their Assistance when the Tartars are upon entring into China are innumerable there being Nine hundred fourscore and nine Thousand an hundred sixty seven Horses appointed for those Forces The Emperors Expences for the Payment of the Officers and Souldiers amounts every year to five Millions thirty four Thousand seven hundred and fourteen Livers Were these Books printed and their Maps Engraven with that skill and exactness as Maps are done in Europe they would be the Admiration of all curious Persons It were to be wish'd that some one would take the pains to give us a lively Representation of the Walls Fortresses and other the most remarkable things in this Empire Now by what we have said concerning the Number of Souldiers appointed to Guard the Walls and Frontiers against the Tartars an easie judgment may be made of the Number of those that are employed upon the Borders of the Provinces in the Cities Towns and other wall'd Places of the Provinces of which there is not any one that has not a Garrison They amount to the Number of seven hundred sixty seven Thousand nine hundred and seventy Men which in time of Peace Guard and attend in the day time upon the Mandarin's Embassadors and other Persons whose Expences the King defrays and in the Night time keep Guard about their Barques or their Lodgings The Horses also which the King keeps as well for the Service of his Troops as for his Posts and Messengers amount to five hundred sixty four Thousand and nine hundred But when there happens any Revolt or any War the Armies which rendevouze from all the Provinces are almost innumerable And now because my time is short and my occasions oblige me to Brevity I shall here set down the Principal Wonders of this Empire of which the Author before mentioned gives a larger account There are in the fifteen Provinces three hundred thirty and one Famous Bridges not much inferior to that of which we have already spoken and to those which are describ'd by Father Martini and M. Polo in their Descriptions of China And therefore I shall say no more upon this Subject seeing that if I were to describe every Structure in particular that is considerable it would require the labour of several Volumes There are also in China two thousand fourscore and nineteen Mountains Famous â—…her for being cut into the shape of Monstrous Idols as is that which I have mentioned in the Relation of my Travels from the Province of Kiam nân or Nankim to that of Su Chuen and which I sent into Europe in the year 1643. Or for their Fountains their particular Plants and their Minerals of great Virtue or for their extraordinary strength and other Prerogatives which distinguish them from others Their Famous Waters such as are their Lakes full of Fish their hot Fountains no less Medicinal than Wonderful the large Streams and Navigable Rivers are to the number of one Thousand four Hundred Seventy and Two. There are one Thousand Fourscore and Nineteen Peices of Antiquity to be seen as Statues Famous Paintings and Vessels of high Price and greatly esteemed One Thousand one Hundred Fifty Nine Towers Triumphal Arches and other such like Magnificent Pieces of Workmanship Erected in Honour of Renowned Princes Men famous for their Valour or their Learning or of Widows and Virgins renowned for their Chastity and Vertue Two hundred seventy two Libraries embellish'd with sundry Ornaments stored with great numbers of Books and built at vast Expences There are likewise to be seen seven Hundred and Nine Temples Erected by the Chineses at several times in memory of their Ancestors and considerable for their Largness and the Beauty of their Architecture For it is the Custom of the Chineses to testifie an extraordinary Affection and Obedience to their Parents especially after their Death and therefore to make this manifest to the World they cause to be built at great Expences most stately Halls wherein instead of Images and Statues they set up in Cartredges the Names of their Ancestors and Parents Also upon certain days of the Year appointed by the Family to which the Temple belongs they assemble all together in these Halls where they prostrate themselves upon the ground in token of Love and Veneration Which done they offer Incense and afterwards make a spendid Feast at several Tables richly set Forth and adorn'd with an extraordinary Decency and a great Number of Dishes and Viands well dress'd They reckon about four Hundred and Fourscore Temples of Idols very Famous and much frequented by reason of their Riches their Magnisicence and the Pretended Miracles and Fables which they report concerning their Idols In these Temples and in others of which the Number through the whole Empire is incredible no less than three Hundred Thousand Bonzes have their Habitations I must confess I could not conceive there should be so great a Number and therefore I put the Question to a Mandarin of the Tribune of Ceremonies who was one of my friends whether it were true or no â—… For that the Bonzes are under the Jurisdiction of this Tribunal and receive their Licences from it which they call Tutie This Mandarin upon a diligent search inform'd me that within the City and Court of Pekim only there were Six Thousand Six Hundred Sixty eight Bonzes unmarry'd call'd by them Ho xám and five Thousand and Twenty Two Marry'd and which like the former have also their Pass-ports and Licences by which said he you may judge of the number dispers'd over the whole Empire Besides that you are farther to observe that within the Number of three Hundred and fifty Thousand mention'd by the Chinese Historian are only comprehended the Bonzes which have Licences But in regard that among six or seven Bonzes not above one or two generally have Licences should they all be reckon'd into the Number they would certainly amount to above a Million There are moreover six Hundred Fourscore and five Mausoleums Famous for their Architecture and their Riches For in China all Persons are prohibited under great Penalties to bury their dead within the Walls of their Cities or of any other place whatever So that after they have put the Corps in the Cossin all the Chincks and Jointures of which are stopp'd up with Bitumen to prevent the scent of the dead Body they leave them in the House where they died for some Months and many times for two or three years together the Magistrate in all that
they have all which we have in Europe and many more Varieties that we have not the Cheapness of which sufficiently demonstrates their Plenty Now as the Chinese Language is very Laconick and short so is their Writing which is the reason that they express all these things with Six Letters or Syllables The Two first are ù co which signifie that there are Five Principal sorts of Grain Rice Wheat Oats Millet Pease and Beans The other Two are Lo trio signifying that there are Six sorts of the Flesh of Tame Animals Horses Cows Pork Dogs Mules and Goats The Two last Pe quò signifie that there are a Hundred sorts of Fruits as Pears Apples Peaches Grapes Oranges Walnuts Chestnuts Pomegranates Citrons and several other sorts which we have also in Europe except Three which we have not The first of the Three is call'd SuÌ„ sù and at Macao Figs of China not that they resemble Figs in shape but because the Tast of Figs is somewhat like to the Tast of this Fruit which is so Delicious that it may well be call'd a Lump of Sugar The largest and the best are about the bigness of a Quince but somewhat flatter or a little more seemingly crush'd The Colour of it is a lively deep Yellow truly resembling the true Golden Apple The second sort is call'd Li chi and the third Lum yen and at Macao Lichia and Longans These two Fruits whether Eaten newly gather'd or dry'd are of a most Exquisite Tast. It may be objected perhaps that in lieu of these we have Quinces Medlers and Services but beside that those Fruits are also to be met with in the Province of Xan si there is no comparison between the Tast of the one and the other especially the Two latter which are not to be Eaten neither but when they are Rotten All manner of Game is also there so plentiful that during the Three Months of Winter you shall see in several places appointed for the sport of Hunting several Nets of one or two Musket Shot in length spread forth upon Tacks and heaps of several sorts of Land and Water Fowl harden'd and set upon their Legs and as it were Embalm'd from Corruption by the Vehemency of the Cold. Among the rest of their Game there are to be seen wild Bears of three sorts which the Chineses call Gin hium or Men-Bears Keu Hium or Dog-Bears and Chiu Hium or Pig-Bears because of their several Resemblances especially in the Head and Paws The Paws of Bears well boyl'd are highly esteem'd in the Banquets of the Chineses and their Fat is a great Entertainment for the Tartars who eat it raw temper'd with Honey Nevertheless these Bears are very rare and consequently very dear But there are such vast Numbers of all other sorts of Creatures as Deer of several Kinds wild Boars Ellands Hares Conies wild Cats and Rats Geese Ducks all manner of Wood Fowl Partridges Quails of different sorts and shapes which we have not in Europe and all so cheap that I could never have believ'd it had I not been convinc'd by my own Experience for Two and twenty years together that I liv'd at Court. Notes upon the Tenth Chapter A. P. 139. The Wax is the fairest c. OTher Relations speak of this Wax produc'd out of Trees but not with so many curious Circumstances Father Trigaut says that the flame of it is very clear and that it is whiter and not so unctuous as ordinary Wax Another Author writes that it is Transparent and that you may see the Week through it Father Trigaut says moreover That the Chineses make another sort of very white Wax drawn from a Tree but that it does not give so clear a Light as the first Another Relation gives this Description of the Tree and the Fruit of it There is in the Province of To Kien a fair Tree large and well tufted with Boughs call'd Ku ei Xu which grows by the River side In December it produces a Fruit of a dark Green colour as big as a Hazel Nut the green Peel of which dryes up of it self and sheds off by degrees and then appears a certain Substance as white as Snow like to Suet exactly try'd This the People gather at the End of December or Beginning of January afterwards they melt it and make Candles of it which are like to white Wax and yield no ill smell They make use of these Candles all the Year tho they last much longer in the Summer than in the Winter and cost not above Fourteen pence the Pound Out of the Dregs and Lees of this Fruit they press out an Oyl which serves for Lamps This Fruâ—… is very Extraordinary and shews us how Heaven hâ—… favour'd China above other Countrys B. P. 143. Fix'd upon their Legs and as it were Embalm'd from Corruption by the vehemency of the Cold c. This by no means ought to be look'd upon as a thing incredible since it is the ordinary Effect of Cold. All the Spanish Histories report That in the Voyage that Diego d' Almagro made to the Country of Chili several of his Men crossing the high Mountains of Andes growing numm and stiff with cold were frozen to Death either upon their Horses backs or standing upon their legs and leaning against the Rocks In which Postures they were found a long time after without any Corruption The Relation also of Muscovy which I have already quoted once before tells us that there is every Winter a great quantity of Sturgeon of Astracan sold in the Market at Mosco stiffen'd and preserv'd sweet and wholesom by the vehemency of the Cold as also whole heaps of other Fish cover'd over with Snow CHAP. XI Of the Nobility of the Empire IF this word Nobility be tak'n in general for the Nobility of the Kingdom it self which is no more then an Illustrious Grandeur that has continu'd all along for several Ages since it began not above Two hundred years after the Flood and has flourish'd ever since to this present time for about Four thousand five hundred thirty two years certain it is that never any Empire was ever more Illustrious than that of China But if we restrain the Signification of the word to the Nobility only of particular Families we must confess that there are very few noble Descents in the Kingdom for the following Reason For all the Great Lords which are as it were so many Petty Kings Dukes Marquisses Counts c. never last any longer than the Reigning Family with which they perish all together Because the Family which is advanc'd in the room of the t'other puts them all to Death as we have seen by Experience in our Time. For this reason it is that the most Noble House that ever was in this Empire is the Family of Cheu which has lasted Eight hundred seventy five years and expir'd about Two thousand two hundred years ago No Family since that having been able to attain to a Continuance of
unprovided of reason as to believe him to be the real Son of Heaven but onely that he is an Adopted Son whom Heaven has made choice of to be Lord of the Empire for the Government and Defence of the People Nevertheless we cannot deny but that these Titles demonstrate not a little presumption in those that ascribe and in him that assumes them But it is in some measure excusable in a Pagan People and which inhabit an Empire so spacious so puissant and so flourishing So much the rather for that the King never makes use of them when he speaks of himself For in private he onely uses the word Ngo or I and which is common to all his Subjects and when he speaks in publick seated upon his Throne he uses the word Chin which signifies the same onely with this difference that no other Person but himself can make use of it wherein he is more modest than many of our Princes who are continually swelling out the Catalogues of their affected Titles with new Additions The most part of sovereign Princes create Dukes Marquisses and other great Lords as well as the Emperour of China but he outvies them in this that of late days he takes upon him a power of making Gods and Idols It was formerly a custome in this Empire that when the King was desirous to recompence the merits of any Illustrious person for the great Services which he had done the Kingdom he built him up after his death a magnificent Palace where his name was usually set up engraven in Gold with Titles and Encomiums proportionable to his Merits For example Somewhat above a thousand years agoe there was in China a most renowned Captain who for several years defended the Empire and the People and restor'd the King and Kingdom to its ancient lustre after he had wone several famous Victories with vast labour and toils with great expence of Blood and at length the loss of his own Blood while bravely fighting against the Rebels of his King and Countrey Therefore in acknowledgment of so much fidelity and so many heroick actions the Emperour resolv'd after his death to keep up that honour which he had so well preserv'd in his life-time To which purpose he built him a magnificent Temple wherein he put his Statue and declar'd him Emperour of all China This valiant Captain and several others of equal vertue are now ador'd as Pagods or Deities by the King and all the Chineses who forgetting that the Intention of their Ancestours was onely to honour vertuous persons and to excite and encourage others by their example to be valiant and faithfull lost by degrees the knowledge of what they formerly had obtain'd that there was but one onely God and plung'd themselves headlong into Idolatry At present the Kings assume to themselves a privilege to deisie whom they please as it was anciently the custome of the Senate of Rome of which I shall here produce two instances that merit observation When Father Matthew Ricci first enter'd into China it was govern'd by the Emperour Van Lie whose Reign which lasted eight and forty years was no less happy for the Kingdom which he all along maintain'd in peace and plenty than he himself was unfortunate in the Government of his Family For he made choice for Tutor to the Prince who was heir to the Crown of a Colao or Counsellor of State a person of great Policy and great Learning whose name was Châ—… Kâ—… Cheâ—… This person abusing the easie freedom which he had of entring into the Palace which his great Reputation and Dignity allow'd him insinuated himself into that Familiarity with the Emperour's Mother that she abandon'd her self entirely to the lust of that great Officer which when the Emperour came to understand he forthwith put him to death As for the Lady she laying deeply to heart the asfront and death of the Colao and fearing the same destiny her self within a few days fell sick and dy'd But then the Emperour in some measure to repair the Reputation of his Mother by giving her Honours more than ordinary solemnly declar'd that she was Kieu Lien pu sa that is to say a Goddess of nine Flowers and erected her Temples over the whole Empire where she is ador'd under this Title as the Curtisan Flora was honour'd among the Romans for the Goddess of Flowers After the death of this Colao the Mandarins advis'd the Emperour to burn the Commentaries which he had made upon the Books compos'd by Cum su sius but he answer'd them with his wonted prudence that he onely punish'd his evil deeds and not the good Works which he had made for the Instruction of the Prince and the whole Empire In short that Commentary is the most excellent Piece which the Chineses have upon that Subject It is full of Moral Discourses well handl'd full of solid Maxims and Arguments and of clear and true Decisions of many difficult Controversies and for those reasons it is a Book which our Fathers who have acquir'd the Knowledge of the Language study very much It is about four hundred years ago that a Bonze of the Sect of those that never shave their heads yet marry by the Chineses call'd Tao Su so insinuated himself into the Affection of the Prince then reigning by means of his Skill in Chymistry and after that by his Magick Arts and other Diabolical Inventions that he not onely esteem'd him as one that was more than a Man during his life but also after his Death declar'd him God and Lord of Heaven of the Sun the Moon and Stars By these two examples it is evident how great the Ignorance of the People is to believe that the Emperour has a power to make an Almighty God of a feeble miserable Man and to what an excess the Flattery of the Learned extends it self who not only approve but perswade the King to Actions so contrary to all manner of Reason Which gives us an opportunity to convince them with the greatest ease in the World by this Dilemma Either the King is more powerfull than this Pagod or this Deity or this Pagod is more powerfull than the King. If they say that the King is more powerfull How comes it then to pass say we that the King throws himself upon his Knees before the Pagod and adores him by bowing his head to the Earth Why does he offer him Incense Why does he implore of him long life for himself and peace for his Kingdom with several other blessings Iâ—… they say as usualthey do that the Pagod is more powerfull then we answer them thus This Power cannot proceed from any other reason but onely that he is a Pagod Now it is the King that makes the Pagod and therefore the King is more powerfull than He. And to let them see that the Pagod has no Power we ask them whether the King can grant them long Life Health Children c. They answer that he is so far from being
Kings and a great Number of the most Eminent Lords magnificently clad and rang'd on both sides in ranks and files according to their Dignities Eighteenthly five hunder'd young Gentlemen belonging to the Emperour richly habited Nineteenthly a thousand Men five hunder'd in a Body call'd Hiao guei that is to say Footmen clad in red Robes embroider'd with Flowers and Stars of Gold and Silver with long streight plumes of feathers in their Bonnets Twentiethly an open Chair or Litter carry'd by thirty six Men attended by another close Litter as big as a Chamber and carry'd by a hunder'd and twenty Men. One and twentiethly two vast Chariots each of them drawn by two Elephants Two and twentiethly a large Chariot drawn by eight Horses and another lesser by four All these Chariots are sumptuously lin'd the Elephants and Horses richly caparison'd and the Governours and Coachmen in costly Liveries and every Litter and every Chariot is attended by a Captain with fifty Souldiers Three and twentiethly two thousand learned Mandarins a thousand in a Body Four and twentiethly two thousand Military Mandarins both the one and the other gorgeously apparell'd in their Ceremony-Robes and these last bring up the Emperour's Train and conclude the Pomp. Notes upon the twenty first Chapter And upon the Emperour 's seven Temples standing in the two Cities Z. Five Temples seated in the new City The first call'd Tien tam or the Temple of Heaven standing as our Authour says two Chinese furlongs from the Principal Gate of the City that is to say from the South Gate a little toward the East It is encompass'd with a round Wall three furlongs in Circumference The rest is to be seen in the Plane There the King sacrifices to the Winter Solstice The four other Temples are built altogether like the first The second call'd Ti tam or Temple of the Earth is seated toward the West at a distance from the Principal Gate proportionable to that of the first Here the Emperour sacrifices to the God of the Earth upon the day of his Coronation The third is about two Furlongs distant from the North Gate and is call'd Pe tien tam or the North Temple of Heaven Here the King sacrifices to the Summer Solstice The fourth is about two Furlongs distant from the East Gate and is call'd Ge tam or the Temple of the Sun where the King sacrifices to the Vernal Equinox The fifth is two Furlongs distant from the Western Gate and is call'd Yue tam or the Temple of the Moon where the King sacrifices to the Autumnal Equinox If we must allow sixteen Furlongs in length to the new City according to the Opinion of F. Adam these two Temples ought to be plac'd farther to keep the same distance of two Furlongs from the East and West Gates 1. Two Temples standing on the old City The first call'd Ti vam miao or the Temple of all the deceas'd Kings This is a spacious and magnificent Palace in the chief great Room of State of which are to be seen the Statues of all the Kings of China good and bad from King Fo hi seated all upon Thrones Our Authour mentioning the Situation of it says no more than onely this that it stands in one of the fairest Streets of the City between two Triumphal Arches which are mark'd down in the Plane So that this Temple must not be plac'd to the South of the Palace in regard that space is taken up with the outermost Courts and first Apartments of the Palace Nor did I think it proper to place it toward the West in regard the following Temple is plac'd there nor toward the North which among the Chineses is the meanest place in the City and therefore I have plac'd it toward the East in the Street which is next the East Gate of the Palace 2. The second Temple is call'd Chim hoam miao or the Temple of the Spirit that guards the Walls I have plac'd it according to our Authour within side and near to the Walls Here the King never sacrifices himself but onely the Mandarins A A. The six supream Tribunals of the Learned Mandarins describ'd by our Authour in Chap. 13. He says they are plac'd according to their Order near the King's Palace upon the East side so many spacious square Edifices which have every one three Divisions of Apartments c. I have very near represented them in the same manner placing the first near the inner Apartments of the Palace where the Emperour himself resides The first Li pu has the Oversight of all the Mandarins of the Empire Four inferiour Tribunals belong to this which assemble together in the same Palace in two Rows of Apartments that are to be seen upon the right and left hand the middlemost being appointed for the supream Tribunal And it is the same thing with the other five where the middlemost is still the supream and the inferiour on each side A A 2. The second Hu pu has the Oversight of the Exchequer with fourteen inferiour Tribunals one for every one of the Provinces of China that of Pe kim having no particular Tribunal by reason of the Dignity of that Province where the Court resides A A 3. The third Tribunal Li pu that has the ordering of Ceremonies Sciences Arts c. with four inferiour Tribunals A A 4. The fourth Tribunal Pim pu that has the Care of Warlike Arms and Provisions with four Tribunals under it A A 5. The fifth Tribunal Him pu that judges without appeal of all Crimes committed in the Empire with fourteen Tribunals inferiour to it A A 6. The sixth Tribunal which has the Oversight of the publick Works with four Tribunals inferiour to it B B. The five Tribunals of the Military Mandarins seated to the West of the Royal Palace Our Authour speaks nothing particularly either of their situation or fabrick But 't is very probable they are all built like the former The first which we may suppose to stand most to the North Heu fu or the Reregard The second Tso fu or the left Wing the third Yeu fu or the right Wing The fourth Chum fu or the main Battle The fifth Cien fu or the Vanguard Neither does F. Magaillans speak any thing of the situation of many other Tribunals in Pe kim of which he gives the Description But most certainly they stand in those places where he says in general that there are Palaces and Tribunals in such Streets as in the Street of Perpetual Repose and in other parts mark'd down in the Plane We have nothing to observe upon the Emperour's Pomp when he stirs abroad out of his Palace but onely this that the Description of Father Adam is much after the same Manner THE END An Aridgment of the Life and Death of F. Gabriel Magaillans of the Society of Jesus Missionary into China written by F. Lewis Buglio his inseparable Companion for six and thirty Years and sent from Pe Kim in the Year 1677.