which more in due place present to the King upon all important affairs of the Empire whether they relate to Peace or War or whether to Causes Civil or Criminal When they have determin'd them they communicate their judgments to the King in a very short Extract who either ratisies or cancelâ—… them as he pleases and then overlooking the Memorials at large himself gives his own decision as he thinks the Cause deserves They that compose the second Classis are as it were Assistants and Assessors to the King's Counsellors and are very powerfull and much dreaded and respected They are usually of the second or third Order of Mandarins and are many times preferr'd to be Counsellors to the King Viceroys of Provinces and to the principal Offices of the six supream Tribunals Their usual Title is Ta hion su or the Learned in great knowledge This Title is also given to the King's Counsellors besides which the King also consers other very honourable Titles upon the Mandarins of these two Classe's according to their deserts as Tai cu Tai or chief Governour of the Prince Heir of the Crown Tai cu Tai su Grand Master to the same Prince Ho tien ta trion su Chief Letter'd of the Hall of Concord and the like The Mandarins of the third Classis of this Tribunal are call'd Chum xu co that is to say the Classis or School of the Mandarins Their business it is to write or cause to be written out the Affairs of this Tribunal and the King gives them Titles answerable to the Place and Halls where they exercise their Functions They are usually of the fourth fifth or sixth Order of tho Mandarins But they are much more dreaded than those of the two preceding Classe's for that upon them solely it is that the good or ill success of Affairs in a great measure depends for that by altering adding or leaving out a Letter they may cause either the gaining or losing of a Suit. Insomuch that many times through their wilfull mistakes the most innocent lose their Estates their Reputation and their Lives So great a power has Corruption and Avarice over that Nation and such an Energy of Expression and Nicety of Equivocal Interpretation lies in the Chinese Letters Moreover besides these three Classe's there belongs to this Tribunal an infinite number of Scriveners Procters Revâ—…sers and other Officers CHAP. XIII Of the eleven Supream Tribunals or of the six Tribunals of the Mandarins for Letters and the five Tribunals of the Mandarins for Military Affairs BEsides the Supream Tribunal of which we have spoken in the foregoing Chapter there are yet eleven Chief Tribunals more between which the King of China two thousand years before the coming of CHRIST shar'd all the affairs of the Empire and which remain to this present day That is to say six of Learned Mandarins which they call Lo pu and five of Military Mandarins that are call'd ù fu and of which we shall speak hereafter The first of the six Tribunals of the Learned is call'd Li pu whose business it is to take care of all the Manderins of the Empire and has power to confer or deprive them of their Employments The second Hu pu has the Superintendence over all the Impositions and Revenues of the King The third Li pu has the management and ordering of all the Rites and Ceremonies The fourth Pim pu takes care of all the Arms Captains and Souldiers throughout the whole Empire The fifth Him pu takes cognizance of all Crimes and the punishments of all Offenders in the Kingdom The sixth Cum pu has the overseeing of all the King's Works and Buildings These six Tribunals have a Jurisdiction over almost all those that belong to the Court but are absolute over all in the Provinces by whom they are dreaded and obey'd though at never so great a distance as if they were under their Eye But in regard their power is so large and of so great an Extent for fear lest any one among them should make use of his authority to raise Sedition and lay hold of any opportunity to revolt their Employments are regulated in such a manner that there is not one of these Tribunals that can determin the business with which they are intrusted without the interposition and approbation of the rest as we see every day and have found true by wofull experience in the time of our Persecution during which we were sent to all these Tribunals for the determination of several circumstances In the Palaces belonging to every one of these six Tribunals there is always a Hall and an Apartment for one Mandarin call'd Co li or Overseer who examins either publickly or privately all that is done in his Tribunal and if he finds any disorder or any injustice he presently gives notice thereof to the King. Which Mandarin is neither subject nor superiour to his Tribunal but only an Overseer or Controller as we have said before The Chief Presidents of these six Tribunals by reason of their Office are of the first degree of the second Order of Mandarins They are called Xam xu for example Li pu Xam xu that is Chief President of the Tribunal of Ceremonies Hâ—… pu Xam xu Chief President of the Tribunal of the King's Revenue Every one of these Presidents has two Assessors of which the first is called Tso xi lam or President of the Left Hand The other Yeu xi lam or President of the Right Hand Which Assessors are of the first degree of the second Order All these three Presidents have several other Titles beside for example the first is call'd Ta tam the great or first Hall the second the Hall on the Left Hand the third the Hall on the Right Hand These Six Tribunals are planted according to their rank close by the King's Palace on the east side in large magnificent square Structures the sides of which are every way a musquet shot and a half in length These Structures have every one three divisions of Doors Courts and Appartments The first President possesses that in the middle which begins at the Street with a Portal that has three doors and runs along through other doors portals and courts beautified with portico's and galleries supported by fair pillars till you come to a spacious hall where the first President sits with his Assessors and many other Mandarins who have their particular titles but are generally called Mandarins of the great Hall. Beyond this Hall there is another Court and beyond that another lesser Hall where the first President withdraws with his Assessors when he is to examine any private business or any affairs of extraordinary moment On both sides and beyond this Hall there are several Chambers and other Halls The Chambers are for the use of the President his Assessors and the rest of the Mandarins to take their repose and to eat their Meat which the King gives them to the end that having no occasion to go to their own
have they any Right of succession to the Crown though they should have several heirs males which custom is also observ'd among the people For in China to marry a Daughter is to exclude her for ever from her Fathers Family and graft her into the Family of her Husband whose Sir Name she assumes at the same time instead of her own Thence it comes to pass that the Chineses when they would say that a Maid is ally'd to the Family of her Husband never make use of the word Kin to goe but of the word Quei to return asmuch as to say she is not gon but is return'd to her Family Thus they explain themselves also when they speak of the dead for they do not say such a one is dead but such a one is returned to the earth By the same reason when a Grandfather speaks of the Children of his Son he calls them barely Sun Su my Grand Children but when he speaks of his Daughters Children he calls them Vai Sun Su my Grand Children without for they look upon them to be of the Son in Laws Family The second sort of the King's Kindred by the Female side are the Fathers Brothers Uncles and other Kindred of the Queen the King's Sons in Law their Fathers Brothers Uncles and other Kindred Out of these two sorts the King makes choice of some of the most considerable to compose this Tribunal and to act the same things as the Officers of the Tribunal of the Royal Bloud They differ onely in this that the latter are of none of the nine Orders the former are Mandarins of the first and second Order Though they esteem much more honourable the Titles of Hoam Cin and Fu Ma or the King's Kindred than that of Mandarin though of the first order But this second sort of Kindred was also extirpated by the Tartars with the preceding Family Thus far concerning the Tribunals of the Mandarins and of the Government of the Court. We are now to give a short accompt of the Tribunals of the Provinces Notes upon the fourteenth Chapter He causeth a choice to be made at Pe Kim of several young Gentlemen c. Here we are to observe that in this place the Author onely speaks of what was practis'd in the time of the Chinese Emperours for the Tartar Emperours have alter'd this Custome and never marry their Daughters but to Kings Princes or Great Lords as our Author himself acknowledges a little lower CHAP. XV. TO every one of the fifteen Provinces there belongs a supream Tribunal which has the oversight of all the rest The President bears the Titles of Tu Tam Kiun Muen Tu Yuen Siun Fu with several other names which all signifie no more than Governour of a Province or Viceroy with us These Presidents are of the first second or third order according as the King is pleas'd to regulate them when he sends them into the Provinces They are intrusted with the whole Government as well in times of Peace as in War and with the command of the People and Souldiers as well in civil as criminal matters They give notice to the King and the six superiour Tribunals of all matters of importance On the other side all the Kings orders and dispatches with those of the Superiour Tribunals are directed to this Tribunal and all the Mandarins of the Province are bound to repair to this Tribunal in all affairs of moment There are other Viceroys that govern two three or four Provinces and are call'd Tsum To as Leam Quam Tsum To or Viceroy of the Provinces of Quam Tum and Quam Si. Quam Tum signifies the Province extended toward the East and Quam si the Province extended toward the West There are other such like Viceroys in China as in the Provinces bordering upon Tartary and other places of importance And besides the Viceroy there is in every Province a Visiter call'd Ngan Tai or Ngan Yuen of which we have spoken formerly Lastly there is a third considerable Officer call'd Tsum pim who commands all the Forces of the Province and is of the first Order of Mandarins These three supream Presidents of the Tribunals of the Provinces have under them several inferiour Mandarins who assist them in the dispatch of business and though these three Tribunals general have their Palaces in the Capital City nevertheless they are not always resident there but keep their Circuits from place to place as business requires But for the particular Tribunals of the Capital Cities they are these that follow Every Capital City has two Tribunals in which properly consists the whole Government of the Province the one for Civil the other for criminal affairs The first is call'd Pu chim su the President of which is a Mandarin of the first degree of the second Order The Palace belonging to this Tribunal like those at the Court contains on both sides two other Tribunals which are not inferiour but Assistants to the first Tribunal That on the left hand is the most considerable and is call'd Tsan chim having two Presidents both of the second degree of the third Order The other on the right hand is call'd Tsan y the Presidents of which are both equal and of the second degree of the fourth Order To all these three Tribunals belong a great number of inferiour Mandarins call'd Xeu lien quen whose business it is to decide all Civil matters and to pay and receive all the Revenues of the Province The Criminal Tribunal is call'd Nghan cha su and the President who is of the third Order has no Assessors but two Classes of Mandarins under him Those of the first Classis who are call'd To su are of the fourth Order They of the second Classis who are call'd Cien su are of the fifth Order and the Mandarins of these two Classes are call'd Tao li or Tao tusâ—… These Tao li are the Visiters of all the Quarters of the Province in which they have their Tribunals Some of them take care of the Post Horses the Royal Inns and the King's Barks so far as their Jurisdiction reaches and are call'd Ye chuen tao Others that are call'd Pim pi tao are intrusted to inspect the several Troops and Companies of the Province others to drain the Lands and level the Highways who are call'd Tun tien tao This Tribunal has power to punish Criminals by banishment as also by confiscation of Goods and loâ—…s of Life And if there be no Visiter in the Province it has an eye over all the other Mandarins and gives notice to the King of what passes in the Province when business requires their information In a word these two Tribunals do the Office of the six supream Tribunals of the Court and are as it were their Substitutes Every Province is divided into Districts and to every District belongs a Mandarin call'd Tao â—…i who is as it were a Visiter or Inspeâ—…er into the manners and behaviour of the Officers within his
certain that Burthens equally pois'd are much more easie to carry In all the Cities and Towns of the Empire there are two Towers the one call'd the Drum-Tower and the other the Bell-Tower which serve to tell the Hour of the Night For the Chineses divide the Night into five parts longer or shorter according as the Nights are longer or shorter and as they are longer in Winter than in Summer At the Beginning of the Night or first Watch the Watchman strikes several stroaks upon the Drum and the Bell answers him after the same manner After that during all the first Quarter the Watchman gives one stroak upon the Drum and another Watchman one rap upon the Bell with a wooden Hammer And this they do all the first Quarter observing the space of time that a Man may say his Creed between the stroak and rap together When the second Quarter of the Night begins then they give two stroaks and two raps apiece at the same distance of time till the beginning of the third Quarter and then they give three stroaks and raps apiece When the fourth Quarter begins they give four and when the fifth Quarter begins five and as soon as Day breaks they redouble their stroaks as they do at the Beginning of the Night So that let a man wake at any time of the Night he shall know by the City Signal what Hour of the Night it is unless the wind sit so as to hinder the sound At Pekim in the King's Palace you may see Drums and Bells upon the high Towers and in the City two other Towers with Drums and Bells The City Drum is fifteen publick Cubits Diameter as is that which I have mention'd in the first remark The Palace Bell is as big as ever any that I saw in Portugal But the sound of it is so loud so clear and harmonious that it rather seems to be a Musical Instrument than a Bell. F. Athanasius Kirker in the second Chapter of his Sixteenth Book of Musurgie or Art of Concords and Discords assures us that the Bell in the City of Erfort under the Elector of Mayence is the biggest not only in Europe but in all the World. Nevertheless we have seen with our own Eyes and observ'd by the tryal which we made in the year 1667. that it is much less than that which the Fathers Iohn Adam and Ferdinand Verbiest got up with Engines to the Astonishment of the whole Court and plac'd in one of the Towers of which we have formerly spoken Of the Truth of which a man may be easily convinc'd that compares the Measures of the Bell of Erfort taken out of Father Kirker's Book and those of the Bell at Pekim compar'd by F. Ferdinand Verbiest after this manner 1. The Bottom of the Bell of Erfort is seven Chinese Cubits and â—… 1. The Diameter of the Bottom of the Bell of Pekim is Twelve Cubits and â—… 2. The Thickness of the Bell of Erfort toward the Closure is 6 10 of a Cubit and 7 10 of 1 10. 2. The Thickness of the Bell of Pekim toward the Closure is 9 10 of a Cubit 3. The Inner Depth which F. Kirker calls Altitudinem inclusae Curvaturae is Eight Cubits and five Tenths ½ 3. The Inner Depth of the Bell at Pekim is Twelve Cubits 4. The weight of the Bell of Erfort is Twenty five thousand four hundred Pound 4. The weight of the Bell of Pekim is a Hundred and Twenty thousand Pound of Brass This Bell is that which is appointed to give notice of the Watch or Hour of the Night in the City of Pekim and I dare confidently averr that there is not the like Bell in Europe and in all probability it is the biggest in the World. When they strike upon it in the Night the sound or terrible roaring rather which it makes is so loud so full and so râ—…sounding that after it has spread it self over all the City it extends it self over the Walls into the Suburbs and is heard a great way round about the neighbouring Country The Kings of China together with this extraordinary Bell caus'd Seven others to be Cast of which there are Five that still lye upon the Ground But of those Five there is one that justly deserves to be admir'd as being all over-cover'd with Chinese Characters so fair so neat and so exact that they do not look as if they had been cast but written upon Paper by some judicious and excellent Writing-Master The Chineses have also found out for the regulating and dividing the Quarters of the Night an Invention becoming the wonderful Industry of that Nation They beat to Powder a certain Wood after they have peel'd and rasp'd it of which they make a kind of Past which they rowl into Ropes and Pastils of several Shapes Some they make of more costly Materials as Saunders Eagle and other odoriferous Woods about a fingers length which the wealthy sort and the Men of Learning burn in their Chambers There are others of less value one two and three Cubits long and about the bigness of a Goose Quill which they burn before their Pagods or Idols These they make the same use of as of Candles to light them from one place to another They make these Ropes of powder'd Wood of an equal Circumference by the means of Moulds made on purpose Then they wind them round at the bottom lessening the circle at the bottom till they come to be of a Conick figure which enlarges it self at every Turn to one two and three hands breadth in Diameter and sometimes more and this lasts one two and three days together according to the bigness which they allow it For we find some in their Temples that last ten twenty or thirty days These Weeks resemble a Fisher's Net or a String wound about a Cone which they hang up by the Middle and light at the lower end from whence the Fire winds slowly and insensibly according to the windings of the string of powder'd Wood upon which there are generally five marks to distinguish the five parts of the Watch or Night Which manner of measuring Time is so just and certain that you shall never observe any considerable Mistake The Learned Men Travellers and all Persons that would rise at a precise hour about Business hang a little weight at the Mark which shews the Hour when they design to rise which when the Fire is come to that point certainly falls into a Copper Bason that is plac'd underneath and wakes them with the noise of the fall This Invention supplies the want of our Larum Watches only with this difference that this is so plain a thing and so cheap that one of these Inventions which will last Four and twenty Hours does not cost above Three pence whereas Watches that consist of so many wheels and other devices are so dear that they are not to be purchas'd but by those that have store of Money Notes upon the Eighth Chapter A.
admitting the least thought of Revolt to slide into their hearts as rather to be the Bulwarks and Fortresses of his Kingdom These were the Nine Rules or Maxims of Cum fu sius What follows is the Exposition of a Commentatour If the King says he puts in practice these nine Rules he may immortallize his Reign and not onely acquire great Renown but attain the end for which Heaven has advanc'd him to so high a degree of Dignity For if a Prince govern himself well at the same time he shall also obtain that sovereign perfection and universal vertue of Golden Mediocrity He shall be a chrystal mirrour wherein his Subjects may behold themselves and a living Rule and enliven d Model for them to imirate If he esteem and honour men of Learning and Vertue with equal complacency they will discover to him the method and maxims of good Government He will every day become more and more enlighten'd and acquire Prudence Judgment Experience and Knowledge how to govern himself and his people and he will find himself from moment to moment less uncertain and less entangled in the conduct of affairs both of his House and Kingdom If he love his Uncles Brothers and the rest of his Kindred they will live together with him and serve him with concord and satisfaction If he favour and cherish his Grandees they will be faithfull and diligent they will serve him as Instruments to increase his power they will act sincerely and justly in all affairs of importance In a word they will be a help and assistance to him in all things nor shall he ever be expos'd while he makes use of their counsel to be without a Guide and hazard his Dominion by the rash errours of his Government If he consider his Subjects as his own members they will do their utmost to serve him with all the marks of entire sidelity in return of their Prince s esteem and favour If he love his people as his Children he will fill their hearts with joy and affection while they on the other side prostrate themselves at his feet ensâ—…am'd with love and veneration for their King their Parent and their Master If he invite to his Court Artificers and Artists of all sorts they will make it their business to settle or improve Commerce Agriculture and all such Trades and Arts to which they have been bred Thus the Kingdom will be enrich'd and by that means the people the whole Empire and the King himself will live in plenty and enjoy an abounding and durable peace If he be courteous and liberal to Embassadours and other Foreigners the fame of his Vertues will spread it self to all parts of the Earth and distant Nations will glory to be under his subjection If he cherish in his bosome the great Lords of his Kingdom he will excite them to all the heroick and illustrious actions of which their Quality and Nobility renders them capable and all with a respectfull awe and ardent affection for their Prince will embrace vertue and be Guards to the Emperour and Bulwarks to the Empire These are the Reflexions of the Commentator upon the Nine Rules of good Government I translated them out of Chinese into Portugueze to the end that by this Essay men might be able to judge of their Sentiments upon this Subject and the Reader more clearly understand the rest that follows The Mandarins of the whole Kingdome are distinguished into nine Orders and every Order is divided into two Degrees For example It is said such a one is a Mandarin of the second degree of the first second or third Order or else he is a Mandarin of the first degree of the first second or third Order This Division signifies no more than onely the particular Titles which the King gives them without any respect to their Employments For though usually the Mandarins are of an Order Superiour or Inferiour according to the Dignity of their Employments nevertheless that is no general Rule because sometimes is happens that to recompence the merits of a person whose Office has been usually enjoy'd by a Mandarin of the inferiour Order the King may give him the Title of a Mandarin of the first or second Order And on the other side to punish a person whose Office belongs to the superiour Mandarins he debases him to the title of Mandarin of the inferiour Orders And the knowledge distinction and subordination of these Orders is so perfect and exact the veneration and submission of the latter toward the former is so great and lastly the sovereign power of the Prince over the one and the other so absolute that I never met with any thing that could compare with it among all the searches I have made into any of our Governments whether Temporal or Ecclesiastical The Mandarins of the first Order are Counsellors of the King's Council of State which is the greatest Honour and the highest Dignity to which a Learned man can arrive in this Empire They have several Names and several Titles both ancient and modern annext to their Offices of which the most common are Nui Co Co Lao Cai Siam Siam Cum Siam Que yet all these with little difference signifie no more than Assistants Judges Lateral and supream Counsellors to the King. There are also several Halls in the King's Palace magnificent as well for their Architecture as for their Spaciousness and Furniture which are distinguisht into inferiour or superiour according to the business therein transacted For when the King would bestow any great favour upon some one of his Counsellors he gives him the name of one of those Halls as Chum chie tien that is to say Supream Royal Hall of the Middle and then he adds this new Title to his usual Name The King also gives them other Titles by which they acquire an extraordinary same and honour when they merit those Titles by any glorious Action as Que chu which signifies the Pillar that supports the Empire Of these Counsellors there is no determin'd number being sometimes more sometimes fewer as it pleases the Emperour who chooses them at his own pleasure out of the Mandarins of other Tribunals Nevertheless there is always one call'd Neu Siam who is their President and as it were the Emperour 's prime Minister and Favourite The Tribunal of these Counsellors as it is the highest of all that belongs to the Empire so it is also plac'd in the King's Palace on the left hand of the supream Royal Hall where the King gives Audience and receives the Homages of the Mandarins when he goes abroad And here we must observe by the way that among the Chineses the left hand is the place of Honour This Tribunal is call'd Nui Yuen or the Tribunal within the King's Palace It is composed of three Orders of Mandarins The first are the King's Counsellors of whom we have already spoken These are to view examin and judge of all the Memorials which the six chief Tribunals of
are cut for the Rabbets to borough and Hares to sit in of which those little Hills are very full Nor is the same Enclosure without a great Number of Deer and Goats nor the Trees less frequented with several sorts of Birds both wild and tame Which is the reason that the King often visits this Place to hear the Musick of the Birds and to see the Beasts run and skip up and down Of these Hills M. Polo makes mention in his second Book c. 16. To the North and within two Musquet shot of these Hills stands a very thick Wood and at the End of the Wood adjoyning to the Wall of the Park are to be seen three Houses of Pleasure extraordinary for their Symmetry with lovely Stairs and Terrasses to go from one to the other This is a Structure truly Royal the Architecture being exquisite and makes the eighteenth Apartment being call'd the Royal Palace of long Life A little farther stands a Portal like the former which makes the nineteenth Apartment and is call'd the high rais'd Portal of the North. Out of this you come into a long and broad Street adorn'd on both sides with Palaces and Tribunals beyond which stands a Portal with three Gates built within the outermost Enclosure and is call'd the Portal of the Repose of the North. This is the last and twentieth of these Apartments that make up the King's Palace in a streight Line from North to South Notes upon the eighteenth Chapter I. The first Apartment call'd Tai cim muen or the Portal of great Purity It consists of three great Gates and three Vaults that support a lovely Hall. Behind lies a spacious Court of a greater length than breadth garnish'd on both sides with Portico's and Gallericâ—… supported by two hunder'd Columns This Court is bounded by the Street of Perpetual Repose which is divided by two Gates one upon the West the other upon the East side We have plac'd them at a venture because their Situation is not mark'd down in the Relation II. The second Apartment which ought to be call'd the first because it lâ—…ads into the outer Enclosure of the Palace This Apartment or Portal is compos'd of five Gates three great ones in the middle which never open but for the King himself and two lesser on each side through which all People are permitted to pass to and fro There are also five great Vaults or Arches which support a spacious Hall adorn'd as our Authour describes it and beyond it a Court much larger than the former but in regard we had not any measure of the parts of the Palace I could not tell how to give it its due Proportion This Court like the rest is garnish'd on the right and left hand with Portico's Galleries Halls and Chambers III. The third Apartment call'd the Portal of the Beginning with its Court belonging to it like the former IV. The fourth Apartment and first of the second Enclosure call'd the Tower or Portal of the South It has three Gates three Vaults and a Hall above larger higher rais'd and more majestick than the former This Hall has on each side two Galleries that extend toward the South bounded at both ends by two Pavillions or lesser Halls c. In this Hall hangs the Bell and the Drum mention'd in the eighth Chapter V. The fifth Apartment call'd the Supream Portal with its Court before it form'd of five great Gates with an ascent to it of five magnificent Marble pair of Stairs Before your come at it you cross a great Mote mark'd in the Draught over five Marble Bridges that answer to the five pair of Stairs VI. The sixth Apartment call'd the Supream Imperial Hall. To which you ascend by five pair of magnificent Marble Stairs each pair of forty two steps c. In this Hall the Emperour receives the Homages and Submissions of the Princes great Lords Mandarins c. which our Authour describes so exactly that there is nothing more to be added onely what Semedo and some other Authours relate that the same Days the same Ceremonies are perform'd in all the Cities of the Kingdom where all the Mandarins meet at the Governours Palace before a Throne upon which are erected the Royal Ensigns where they use the same Ceremonies and Reverences as before the Emperour already related by our Authour Father Magaillans tells us that as fast as the Mandarins come to the place they take their stands according to their Rank and Qualitiy in places appointed for every one of the nine Orders which are mark'd and writ down at the Bottom of little Pillars Father Adam says these Pillars are of Brass and square He also gives us an accompt of the Distinctions of the nine Orders of Mandarins which I never read in any other Authour and therefore it may not be amiss to insert them here The Mandarins of the first Order wear at the Top of their Cap or Bonnet which ends in a very flat Cone a Carbuncle enchac'd in Gold and a Pearl at the Bottom before Upon their Girdles also glitter four Stones highly esteemed in China enchac'd in Gold and cut into long Squares three Fingers broad and four in length This stone call'd by the Chineses Yusce is brought from the Kingdom of Cascar by the Mahometan Merchants that come from thence to China every three years under pretence of an Embassie It is somewhat greenish and resembles a Iaspar onely that it is harder somewhat transparent and enclining to white As for the great Lords who are above all the nine Orders of Mandarins they are distinguish'd from the first Order onely by the Stones in their Girdles which are round with a Saphyr in the middle The petty Kings so call'd though they enjoy nothing of Sovereignty instead of a Carbuncle wear at the Top of their Bonnets a Ruby adorn'd with several Pearls with a Flower of Gold fasten'd at the lower end of their Bonnets that come over their Foreheads The Emperour himself wears a Bonnet of the same form and at the point of it a Pearl as big as a Pigeons Egg with several other lesser Pearls dangling underneath his Girdle also dazles the Eye with the pretious Stones and Pearls with which it is cover'd all over The Mandarins of the second Order wear at the Top of their Caps a large Ruby and another which is less at the Bottom Their Girdles are adorn'd with demy Globes of Gold embellish'd with Flowers of the same Metal with a Carbuncle in the middle The Mandarins of the third Order at the point of their Caps carry a Carbuncle enchas'd in Gold and a Saphyr at the Bottom and upon their Girdles demy Globes adorn'd with Flowers onely They of the fourth Order wear a Saphyr and at the Bottom another Saphyr which is less having upon their Girdles plain demy Globes of Gold onely The Mandarins of the fifth Order wear onely a Saphyr in their Caps in other things like those of the fourth Order The Mandarins of the
or the Palace of â—…en thousand Sports and Pleasures It stands by the Lake on the North side for so we have plac'd it according to our Authour's description There the King reposes when he goes a Fishing or to take his pleasure by water Q. The seventh Palace call'd Hu chim tien or the Palace of the Tiger Walls There the King breeds up wild Beasts of several sorts and goes to see them himself The situation of this place is not particularly set down by our Authour I have plac'd it in that part which I thought to be the most spacious and most proper between the two Walls R. The eighth Palace call'd the Mansion of Fortress of the Middle appointed for exercising the Eunuchs The situation is not mention'd by the Authour onely he places it between the two Enclosures as well as the other six S. The first Temple of the four most considerable in the Palace it is call'd Tai quam mim or the Palace of great Light and dedicated to the Bear-stars It stands within the inner Enclosure and I have plac'd it on the left side as the most honourable place as being upon the left hand of the Emperour T. The second Temple call'd Tai cao tien or the Temple of the most Illustrious and Sovereign Emperour This Temple is dedicated to that famous deify'd Captain mention'd in the sixteenth Chapter whose Name I could never find nor the precise time of his death I have plac'd the Temple at a venture upon the West side of the Lake because our Authour says no more but onely that it stands between the two Enclosures V. The third Temple call'd Macala tien or the Palace of the Oxe's Head But our Authour does not precisely mark down the situation of it X. The fourth Temple Lama tien the Palace or Temple belonging to the Lama It stands in the Plane as our Authour places it in the Middle of a Rocky Mountain made with hands like a Sugar-loaf with a Tower at the Top. Y. Twenty four Palaces for the Mandarins High Stewards of the Emperour's Houshold I have plac'd them on the East side between the two Enclosures where our Authour places them who makes no particular description of them no more than he does of the other Edifices as Houses of Pleasure Libraries Magazines Offices Stables c. Which makes the curious more desirous of compleater descriptions and more perfect draughts CHAP. XXI Of the Emperour's Temples seated in Pe kim and of the manner how the King goes abroad to perform publick Duties BEsides the Temples which stand in the Palace the Emperour has seven more in each of which he sacrifices once a year Five in the new City and two in the old one The first of these is call'd Tien tam or the Temple of Heaven seated two Chinese Furlongs from the principal Gate of the City a little to the East and encompass'd with a round Wall three furlongs in compass One part of this Area is taken up with very beautifull Buildings The rest with a green and very thick Grove whose Trees are of an extraordinary heighth and render the place no less melancholy and gloomy to us than it seems devout and venerable to the Insidels It has five doors on the South side three in the middle like the Palace which are never open'd but when the King comes to sacrifice and two of each side always open for admittance of all that go to the Temple On the South and North side there are seven separate Apartments Six of which are Halls and Portals as large and magnificent as those of the King's Palace The seventh is a vast and high round Hall which represents Heaven supported by fourscore and two Columns the whole painted within side with Azure and Gold and cover'd with Tiles varnshi'd with blew In this Temple it is that the King sacrifices to Heaven upon the day and at the very moment that the Sun comes to the Winter Solstice attended by all the great Lords and Mandarins of the Court and as for the Victims he offers they are Oxen Hogs Goats and Sheep Great preparations are made for the performance of this Ceremony which is very solemn and the Solemnity carry'd on with no less respect and humility For then the Emperour lays aside his Gold his precious Stones and yellow Robes appearing onely decently habited in a plain of Vestment of black or sky Colour Damask The second Temple is call'g Ti tam or the Temple of the Earth It stands toward the West at a distance answerable to that of the first from which it differs nothing but onely that it is cover'd with Tiles varnish'd with green When the King is Crown'd before he takes possession of the Empire he goes to this Temple where he sacrifices to the God of the Earth Afterwards he puts on the Habit of a Ploughman and with two Oxen with guilded Horns and a Plough varnish'd with Vermillion and Streaks of Gold he sets himself to plough a little piece of Ground that lies within the Enclosure of the Temple While he is busie at his Labour the Queen with her Ladies in another part dress him a poor and homely Dinner which she brings him and which they eat together The ancient Chineses instituted this Ceremony to the End their Kings might remember that their Revenues came from the Labour and Heat of the Peoples Brows and therefore ought to be employ'd in necessary Expences and for the good of the Kingdom not in useless Buildings exorbitant Sports and Pleasures or superfluous Riot To the North of these two Temples stand three more distant two Chinese Furlongs from the Gates and from the Walls on the North East and West sides and which are altogether like the two former That on the North side is call'd Pe tien tan or the North Temple of Heaven Here the King sacrifices at the time of the Summer Solstice and at the time of the Vernal Equinox he sacrifices in the Eastern Temple call'd Ge tam or the Temple of the Sun and to the Autumnal Equinox in the Western Temple which is call'd Yue tam or the Temple of the Moon But before the performance of these Sacrifices the King commands a Fast for three Days to be observ'd in Pe kim during which time they are forbid to eat either Flesh or Fish Nor are the Tribunals especially the Criminal to doe any business Which somewhat resembles our Fast of Ember-weeks I ask'd a learned Man one day what benefit they hop'd to obtain by these Fasts and Sacrifices and how they durst affirm that their King nor Queen ever sacrific'd publickly to Idols since the Heaven the Earth the Sun and Moon were all inanimate Bodies that no way merited Divine Honours and Sacrifices which belong'd onely to God by whom they were created To which he reply'd that the word Heaven had two significations By the first was meant the material Heaven call'd Yeu him chi tien which is that which we see and of which we feel the
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.