CASE LIII. MISCELLANEOUS ARTICLES. 902 & 903. (Artificial candles, decorated with flowers made from the pith of a plant, known in this country by the term "rice-paper." These candles are used in temples in front of their idols, in the houses of the wealthy, and in the celebration of the new year, a moveable feast, which occurs on the second new moon after the winter solstice. The body or stem of the candle is of wood, and at the top, instead of wick, is inserted a small brass receptacle for oil, as being more economical. 904. A military officer's saddle, bridle, &c. It is one of the most expensive kind, and such as are but seldom seen. Those used by inferior officers are generally of leather and nankeen. 905. A large porcelain dish on a stand, containing two specimens of enamel, in imitation of the Pekin peaches. 906. Lamp carried on the shoulders of a bearer in marriage processions. 907. Lamp pole for the above. 908 & 909. Splendid specimens of embroidery, worked by men, as is often the case in China. The Chinese excel all other nations in the art of embroidery. 910 & 911. Two ornamented stands, and plates of fruit, modelled in clay. 912 & 913. Candles, as described in Nos. 902 & 903. 914 & 915. Ingeniously worked silk tassels, attached to bed-hangings. 916. On the bottom of this case is spread a Chinese carpet, being a specimen of their few woollen manufactures. The pattern is printed similar to our druggets. From the ceiling of this case is suspended a state lantern, richly embroidered and decorated. State chair, as described in No. 372. CASE LVI. CHINESE PAGODA. A MODEL of a pagoda, seven stories high, beautifully carved from gypsum. On the floor of each story is placed a gilt Buddha idol. CASE LVII. ENTOMOLOGY. NUMEROUS specimens of insects. CASES LVIII-IX. CONTAIN a variety of butterflies. CASE LX. VARIOUS specimens of fish from the waters of China, so prepared and preserved as to need only their natural element to give them the appearance of life. CHINESE LANTERNS. THESE depend from the ceiling in all parts of the saloon, and are of almost every imaginable form and size. In scarcely anything do the taste and ingenuity of the Chinese appear to better advantage than in the manufacture of these curious and characteristic articles. They are made of horn, silk, glass, paper, and sometimes of a netting of fine thread overspread with a thick coating of varnish. The frame work is often carved in the richest manner; the silk which covers it is elegantly embroidered or painted with landscapes representing nature in her gayest moods, and the various decorations lavished upon them are in a corresponding style. As a national ornament peculiar to the Chinese, the lantern does not give place to any similar display found in any other country. The partiality of the Chinese for lamps and lanterns, and the general use of them, constitute a marked peculiarity in the customs of the race. A late writer remarks, that a Chinaman and his lantern ⚫ seem wedded together, and the former is rarely found without the latter. They are placed in the streets, temples, boats, &c., and are always to be seen in the hands of pedestrians after dark. The same writer relates the following amusing anecdote, as affording a striking and original exemplification of both the power and habit of the national peculiarity above referred to::-"When Captain Maxwell passed the Bogue in the Alceste frigate, as he came up with the battery of the A-nung-hoy, the fort appeared well lighted, and a brisk cannonade was commenced upon the ship. However, after the first broadside had been fired upon the fortress, and when the vessel was scarcely half a musket-shot from it, the whole place was deserted, and the embrasures were quickly darkened. The Chinese were thoroughly frightened, and ran off with a most edifying precipitation. At the same time, instead of concealing their flight in the darkness of the night, each man seized his lantern, as he had done a hundred times before, and clambered with it up the steep side of the hill immediately behind the fort. The sight of so many bald-pated soldiers, with their long cues dangling at their backs, each with a great painted balloon in his hand, was extremely ludicrous, and took away any slight inclination the marines might have had to get a shot with their muskets at such excellent marks." The lamp oil in common use is extracted from the ground-nut, arachis hypogea, which grows luxuriantly in China. The same is used for culinary purposes, and supplies almost entirely the place of butter. It is said to be of a very good quality, burning freely, and with but little smoke. MAXIMS ON THE ENTABLATURE AND OTHER PARTS OF THE SALOON. "Good sayings are like pearls strung together: inscribe them on the walls of your dwelling, and regard them night and day as wholesome admonitions "-(CHINESE MAXIM.) The "excellent sayings" of the Chinese philosophers are held in the highest veneration. In allusion to the precepts of Confucius, they speak of them as 66 The glory of ancient and modern times."-He is termed, "The instructor of ten thousand ages," and is styled by his followers, "The perfect Sage,"-" Most Holy." H Mencius, a disciple of Confucius, who figures largely in Chinese history, was the writer of that portion of "The Four Books which goes by his name (B. C. 350); contemporary with Xenophon, Herodotus, and Socrates. These maxims (Tuy-lëen) are written on silk or paper, or carved on wood, and are hung in pairs, on the walls or pillars of dwellings and temples as ornaments. In ancient times, before the invention of paper, documents were written on slips of bamboo, on which characters were inscribed with a pointed instrument; a practice in use prior to the invention of pencils and ink. The visiter will observe that over the capital of each pillar is a piece of carving of circular form, gilt, and painted vermillion and green alternately. There are ten of these on each side of the saloon. Each has a Chinese character carved in the centre. The characters on the right to a person entering, form the following maxim :"Loo yaou che ma leih : jin kew këen jin sin." The interpretation of which is, "By a long journey we know a horse's strength; so length of days shews a man's heart."* The characters on the opposite side of the room, commencing from the lower end, form the following maxim:-"Kwa tëen puh na le: le hia puh ching kwan." The interpretation of which is, “In a field of melons, do not pull up your shoe: under a plum tree, do not adjust your cap" i. e., be careful of your actions under circumstances of suspicion. Between these circular carvings are maxims placed horizontally, and extending around the whole entablature. As is customary in China, the maxims here placed opposite each other are embellished exactly alike, though the maxims themselves are not the same. It is unnecessary to give the interpretation of all these, as there are so many. A few are subjoined as specimens :— "As the scream of the eagle is heard when she has passed over, so a man's name remains after his death." "Though a tree be a thousand chang† in height, its leaves must fall down, and return to its root." “Following virtue is like ascending an eminence, pursuing vice is like rushing down a precipice." "Man perishes in the pursuit of wealth, as a bird meets with destruction in search of its food." "The cure of ignorance is study, as meat is that of hunger." "Unsullied poverty is always happy; while impure wealth brings with it many sorrows." "Petty distinctions are injurious to rectitude; quibbling words violate right reason." * The Chinese call the heart, the "well in the centre." A chang is ten Chinese cubits, each fourteen and a half inches. |